Interest in the first white-tailed sea eaglets born on Bushy Island, near Mountshannon, is expected to soar next month when a satellite-tracking transmitter is attached to one of them.

THE owner of an Irish bar in Oklahoma City, whose mother hails from County Clare, has told of the devastation caused by the recent tornadoes that struck the area. Sean Cummings  also witnessed the generous spirit that is helping put the community back together.

It should be business as usual this Thursday for the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, which had to close its main kitchen for almost a week. A temporary closure order was issued by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) on Thursday of last week according to details published on the authority’s website.

A Clare man who is head of the governing body of IT Tralee will retire from the position at the end of July.

More than one-fifth of all drivers in Clare had penalty points last year, a new report has shown.

HAVING failed to justify favouritism in each of their last two meetings, it is surprising to find Clare again carry the favourites’ tag on Sunday when they face Waterford at Thurles in the opening round of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship.When the sides met in last year’s semi-final at the same venue, Waterford scored a two-point win. Everyone who saw the game will know Clare had enough chances to come out on top. It was a similar situation in the opening round of the league in February, with just the minimum separating the sides at the final whistle that time and Waterford getting the winning point in injury time.Those results will ensure Clare won’t get carried away with the pundits’ views this week as they complete their preparations for Sunday’s game, which throws in at 4pm in Semple Stadium.Clare aren’t expected to name their starting line-up until later in the week but the expectation is that the team will be …

CLARE selector Mike Deegan is “concerned that people are getting carried away” with their expectations ahead of the 2013 Schampionship. “It has happened before and one would be afraid that it would seep in. We try to keep that away from the players. People wrote off Waterford at the beginning of the recent league. This is a very experienced Waterford team and to write them off would be totally wrong. They have one of the best half-back lines in the country and it’s a serious ask to beat them,” the Cratloe man said this week.“We started the season aiming to compete in the league and to hold our place there but championship is championship and everyone wants to play come championship time. Of course, we have been looking forward to Sunday’s game, especially after last year. We were bitterly disappointed to be so close and to lose out. We had the winning of that game and you always look for …

Comment FOLLOWING the runaway wins of Cork and Kerry over Limerick and Tipperary in last weekend’s Munster Senior Football Championship first-round games, there has been much discussion about the championship format.While Cork and Kerry were expected to win, the size of their winning margins is what is causing concern. Indeed, the winning margins of both teams could have been much greater, such was their dominance on the day.Clare followers are fearful their side will suffer a similar fate when they face Cork on June 16 in Ennis.That there must be a serious examination of the current format is obvious but suggestions coming from provincial officials in Munster that a return to the seeded draw, whereby Cork and Kerry are placed on opposite sides of the draw each year, is surely not the solution.After many years of trying, Miltown Malbay man Noel Walsh succeeded in getting a motion passed, which led to the introduction of the open draw in the Munster …