ENNIS accountant, Michael Vaughan and his wife, Rose, had good reason to celebrate when their horse, Fairy Wing (4/1 joint-favourite), landed the Ladbrokes Bet In Play Handicap at Dundalk last Friday evening.Returning to action after a 179-day break, Fairy Wing, who landed a Bellewstown handicap in facile fashion last August, was nestled at the bottom of the handicap on the nine-stone mark in this one-mile handicap and he won with a fair bit in hand.Shane Foley’s mount, who is trained in Moone, County Kildare by Jessica Harrington, was always prominent, making full use of his light weight when forging clear in the closing stages to beat the Johnny Murtagh-ridden Aragorn Rouge by three parts of a length.Obviously a talented sort, Fairy Wing has scope for further improvement and now that he appears to thrive on the all-weather surface at Dundalk, he is likely to reappear there in the not-too-distant future, according to his trainer. She stated, “Fairy Wing is a …

Full autonomy for Shannon is inevitable after the Booz Report this week recommended an end to the DAA’s management of the airport, said to Fine Gael senator Tony Mulcahy.He said the report strengthens the arguments put forward by various agencies and organisations regarding an autonomous airport and free zone.  “I spoke with Minister Varadkar today [Wednesday] and reiterated my long-held belief that Shannon Airport will require full autonomy if it is to prosper in the future. The Booz report clearly backs up this view and I would be confident that once due diligence has been undertaken in relation to the financial implications of such a move, that the minister will issue a decision that will benefit Shannon Airport, the surrounding free zone and the wider Mid-West Region.”Clare TD Joe Carey welcomed the decision to publish the report and also backed its findings. “I welcome the decision taken by Minister Varadkar to publish the Booz and Co report today and have …

THE final round of the Mid-West Alliance will take place this Sunday at Dromoland. Reigning champion, Dromoland professional, Dave Foley, is two shots behind Tony Cleary going into the final round. Both are members of the host club. EnnisENNIS seniors’ group held a team-of-four competition, in which 84 competed last Thursday when the winners returned 83 points. They were Paddy Cahill, Michael Finn, Pierce Cahill and Tony Kehoe. They were followed on 81 points by Johnny Cullinan, Sean O’Gorman, Frank Landy, and Jimmy McNamara.In third spot on 79 points were Tom Pender, Tom Duggan, Tony Coote, and TJ Kerins followed by Maurice Walshe, Michael Cummins, Michael Connolly and Pat O’Reilly on 78; Jimmy Kearns, Conor Murphy, John O’Loughlin and Tom Fox on 78; Luke Coote, Tim Kelly, Pat Cusack and Pat McGuire on 76 and Paddy Lane, Ferdie O’Donoghue, Johnny Stack and Brian Warner on 75.LahinchIN the men’s singles Stableford competition at the Castle course on Saturday, Don Dillon (13) …

Twenty new jobs are to be created in Clare when a specialist child and adolescent facility opens in the county in the coming months.Nua Healthcare, which provides residential care, community outreach and day services to adults and children with intellectual disabilities, acquired brain injuries, mental health issues and Asperger’s Syndrome, among others, made the jobs announcement on Wednesday. The company already has 14 facilities in Kildare, Laois and Offaly. It is expanding its services this year, creating 80 new jobs by opening additional specialist facilities in Offaly, Wicklow, Kildare and here in Clare. Currently, the organisation employs over 180 full-time staff.A location for the Clare facility has yet to be identified but Ed Dunne, CEO of Nua Healthcare, believes the staff will be in place by June and that planning will not be required for the building, which he says is likely to be a 3,000 square foot, six-bedroom detached home.“This will be a community-based care setting, not a hospital,” …

The Create The Magic initiative, aimed at improving customer service in a bid to make Ennis the friendliest town in Ireland, is set to be re-launched. In preparation for the tourist season and ahead of St Patrick’s Day, Ennis Chamber and Ennis Development Forum, in association with KT Sullivan & Associates, have announced a re-launch of the popular initiative. Create The Magic was launched in March 2011 in recognition of tough economic times for local businesses and their customers.  “It is an initiative that has challenged business owners and employees to work together to really listen to their customers and raise the bar on their service offering.  It is intended to bring positive energy, pride and success into the community and enable Ennis and Clare to be the first out of recession and to be considered the friendliest town and county in Ireland,” explained a spokeswoman for Ennis Chamber. “The initiative has since broadened to encompass collaborative marketing initiatives to …

HAVING witnessed the great uncertainties of  the coursing game after coming away empty-handed from the national meeting in Clonmel, Clare owners experienced a huge  turnabout in fortune when  landing a historic double at the Irish Cup meeting at the Limerick Race Course near Patrickswell last weekend. As well as bringing another JP McManus Irish Cup title across the Shannon to County Clare, they also won the Patsy Byrne Select All-Age Bitch take to signal a fairytale ending to the coursing season for the Banner County.Central to the great occasion were members the O’Donoghue family from Cree and the Hehir family and members of the Gaisce syndicate from the Miltown Malbay area.Owned by eight-year-old Jenna O’Donoghue, Ballinagun, Cree, and trained by West Clare native, John Browne, Jeru Cavendish (Sienna Steel-Jeru) was an exciting and popular winner of the Irish Cup (64) worth €80,000 to the winner of which €8,000 goes to the winning nominator, Dick Spring, Tralee, the former, Tánaiste and …

THE spotlight was on Clare owners after winning the two finals on the Saturday night card at the Galway Greyhound Racing Stadium. The successful Clare owners were David Browne, a native of Leitrim, Kilmihil and  Sean Hehir from Dunsallagh,Miltown Malbay.The 12-race programme was part of the nationwide fundraising events on behalf of Down Syndrome Ireland and Garryfine Ben, the 7/4 favourite, was the winner for David Browne in the A4 550 final. The favourite, in trap two, and Clapton Master, in three, had the best breaks and in the race to the opening bend were in front of Winter Dream. Garryfine Ben (Royal Impact-Burnpark Hanna) started to come on top as they neared the halfway and was three lengths to the good over the final two bends. His winning margin was a length and three parts of a length in 30.54 from Winter Dream. Third home was Somebody Special, trained by Noel Mullins, Gort, for members of the Rooster Syndicate …

The Munster Juvenile Championships for U-9 to U-13 were held over Saturday and Sunday at the Nenagh Indoor Arena and Clare athletes performed very well, with Shauna O’Gorman (Kilmihil) taking a silver medal in the girls’ U-10 300m. Four Clare athletes won bronze medals, Noah McConway (St Cronan’s) in the U-9 long jump, Shane Meehan (Marian) in the U-11 long jump, Tony Odubuto (Ennis Track), in the U-13 long jump and Thomas Clancy (St John’s), who won bronze in the high jump.On day two, the Clare athletes set high standards when taking three individual gold medals. Sultan Akinwale (Ennis Track) was the star performer when taking double gold in the boys’ U-10 60m and 300m.Ben Whelehan (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) won gold in the boys’ U-11 300m with Shane Meehan (Marian) second.In the boys’ U-12, there was a silver medal for James McGuire (Ennis Track) in the 600m, a bronze medal for Caoilfhionn O’Dea (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) in the 600m and …