Clare 2-12 Roscommon 1-9 INCREDIBLE. The Clare senior footballers will hit the road again on Sunday when they head to Croke Park for an All-Ireland quarter-final meeting with Galway or Kerry. Clare played pulsating football in the opening 35 minutes with Gary Brennan ruling midfield and Jamie Malone continually running at Roscommon down the middle. Brennan was imperious in that opening half and although he tired after half-time, the Clondegad man showed the country what he can do.This was the first time Clare have won three All-Ireland qualifiers in the same season since the back door was introduced in 2001. First half goals from David Tubridy and Jamie Malone were the key scores. Malone’s goal was one of the best ever scored by a Clare team playing championship football. Seán Collins, Eoin Cleary and Keelan Sexton were all involved in setting up the lethal Corofin man who buried a sensational finish into the Roscommon net. Malone was also involved in …

SEVERAL club members and the wider Clooney community will tog out next week – not to fulfil a GAA club fixture but to lend a helping hand to fundraising efforts for a fellow parishioner. When Kilburn Gaels lifted their first ever London championship trophy in 2010, they were coached by Clooney clubman Noel Harrison. A key player on that championship-winning team was Gort’s Cathal Forde. Fast forward 18 months and all associated with the London club were utterly devastated when Cathal collapsed and died at a training session. It subsequently emerged that he died as a result of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS). Some time later, Noel Harrison was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He will soon be returning home to Clooney permanently and will receive ongoing treatment provided locally by MS Ireland. Following Cathal’s death, the Cormac Trust, a group set up following the similar death of Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen got in contact with the Forde family, and provided …

Minister Paschal Donohue has come under fire from a local lobby group over the use of Shannon Airport by US military troops in the wake of the Nice attack. Shannonwatch, which is campaigning for an end to the military use of Shannon Airport, has taken issue with  Minister Donohue over his defence of the use of the airport by US troops. Minister Donohoe said a careful response is needed to terrorism attacks like  in Nice where 84 people were killed. However, Shannonwatch claimed that “ferrying armed troops to the Middle East through Shannon Airport to continue the cycles of war and violence isn’t a calm or measured response”. Minister Donohoe said the Tánaiste, Frances Fitzgerald, had met with the Garda Commissioner on Friday last and added that gardaí are prepared to tackle and prevent such attacks here. “It’s so important now that the response back from all of us isn’t a cycle that can harden the worst impulses and lock …

IRISH Water is like a teenager going out to a disco, so conscious is it of its image, according to Councillor Cathal Crowe. At last week’s Shannon Municipal District meeting, the Meelick man spoke about how quick the controversial utility had been to get in touch with him after he posted a critical tweet. “They’re like a 15-year-old going to a disco; they are very image conscious,” he claimed. While he said that local staff are outstanding, he was very critical of failings of Irish Water on a recent occasion when there was disruption to services in a number of areas in South-East Clare. He said they had informed people that the problem was a leak in Kilkee, while separately they had said a crew was sent out on a Sunday, when that was not the case. “The communication is absolutely dire; it’s chronic,” the Fianna Fáil councillor claimed. Councillor Mike McKee said that a number being used by representatives …

    An Ennis man, who was reported missing for nine days, has been found safe and well on Saturday afternoon. The family of Aaron Lysaght (21)  had  issued an appeal for the public’s assistance in tracing the whereabouts of their son who went missing from Prospect, Coolcullen, County Kilkenny. The last visual sighting of Aaron Lysaght (21) was on July 1 when he was visiting a friend in Midleton, County Cork. All other contact after this date was by phone or text message up until July 14 when he sent his father, Seán a text message via WhatsApp at 7.51 am. Gardaí were trying to establish whether Aaron remained in the Midleton area or whether he travelled back to Castlecomer where he was living with his girlfriend for about three months. His family were hugely relieved when they made contact with him on Saturday afternoon. Seán and his wife, Tina travelled to Cork City from 10am on Saturday morning as part …

THE head of Clare’s garda division has criticised the process whereby gardaí have to investigate each other when complaints relating to garda discipline are made to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Chief Superintendent John Kerin of the Clare Garda Division also said he is aware of incidents where false allegations were made to GSOC against members of the force in the county. “Neither myself nor superintendents are overly happy with the situation whereby members of the public make a complaint to GSOC regarding garda misconduct and we end up investigating 95% to 96% of these complaints, even though they were made to GSOC. I appreciate that GSOC review the investigations but, in fairness to members of the public who have issues with the gardaí, I feel those complaints should be dealt with by GSOC and not garda officers to ensure the integrity of the investigation and that gardaí are not investigating gardaí.” The GSOC Annual Report 2015, published this week, …

  Holidaymakers and locals have been urged to confine swimming to times lifeguard hours after four teenagers were rescued from Kilkee Bay on Thursday night. Shortly before 9pm the alarm was raised when four swimmers were reported to be in trouble in Kilkee Bay. The Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard and the Shannon based search and rescue helicopter were tasked by Valentia Coastguard to launch a search. Members of the Kilkee unit launched their rescue boat and found the four swimmers in the middle of the bay near speed limit marker buoys for any motorised craft such as jet skis in about ten minutes. The casualties were all taken on board the boat and assessed within about. No of them were hurt and had no injuries so medical assistance was not needed. The helicopter was stood down when it was confirmed the swimmers were safely ashore on the slipway in Kilkee. Officer in charge, Martony Vaughan advised all …

People are being urged to dig deep and support the inaugural Clare Relay event, which involves 70 charity runners travelling 140 kilometres across the county this Saturday. As part of its efforts to raise more than €240,000 this year, the Clare Crusaders Children’s Clinic is organising a sponsored relay from Loop Head to Killaloe. The relay will involve teams completing the 140km route in groups of between six and 10, each running 10km. The proposed route includes points at Loop Head, Cross, Carrigaholt, Kilkee, Kilrush, Cooraclare, Kilmihil, Lissycasey, Ennis, Barefield, Spancilhill, Tulla, Bodyke, Tuamgraney, Ogonnelloe and ending in Killaloe. Starting from Loop Head at 6.30am, it will finish in Killaloe at 8.30pm. Along the way, people will have the opportunity to make a donation to the bucket collectors. The time allocated to each leg is about one hour and teams can complete more than one leg during the day and one member of the team has to carry a phone. The relay …