by Seamus Hayes Clarecastle’s Jonathan Clancy has called time on his inter-county hurling career. A member of the squad since 2005 when he was included by the then manager, Anthony Daly, the midfielder was retained by subsequent managers, Tony Considine, Mike McNamara, Ger O’Loughlin and Fitzgerald. He is the second member of the All-Ireland winning squad to retire from inter-county hurling. Fergal Lynch from Clooney-Quin, who is now part of the backroom team, having been appointed by manager Davy Fitzgerald as a forwards’ coach, announced his retirement the week after the All-Ireland final. That success last September was “the highlight” of Clancy’s eight-year inter-county career he told The Clare Champion this week. “Prior to that, there wasn’t much silverware but I wouldn’t change anything. They were great times but very tough, particularly when one was trying to work also,” Clancy added, confirming that he will continue to play with his club. Clancy played two years with the Clare minors and …

By Tim Healy MORE than 100 members of the  pension scheme of industrial diamond manufacturers, Element Six have lost a Commercial Court action against their trustees over the winding up of the fund. Mr Justice Peter Charleton this week  ruled the trustees of the pension scheme of the Shannon comnpany had acted reasonably and in the interests of the scheme members as a whole when they agreed in November 20011 to accept an offer to wind up the fund on the basis of a contribution of €37.1m from the company. The members sued the six trustees claiming breach of trust and conflict of interest in accepting the offer and said they should instead have demanded the company make a €129.2m contribution to make up the deficit in the scheme.   The claims were denied. The trustees, comprising three management nominees and three worker nominees,  accepted the €37m offer in a 3-3 vote in which the management nominee exercised his casting vote. …

THE Waterford Crystal hurling final between Clare, the holders, and Tipperary, scheduled for O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge this Friday night, has been switched to The Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. The game will throw-in at 7.30pm. In the light of recent rainfall and projected weather forecasts, concern had been expressed of the game proceeding at O’Garney Park. Clare had already played two games in the tournament, against Limerick and UCC at the Sixmilebridge venue, and Munster Council were monitoring the situation throughout the week. However, on Thursday a decision was taken by Munster Council to transfer the game to The Gaelic Grounds. This will be the third year in succession that Clare and Tipperary will have contested the final, and the record stands at one victory apiece.

An elderly man is recovering in hospital after being knocked down in Ennis. The man in his 80s was hit by a car as he stepped off the footpath in Francis Street at around 6.30pm yesterday. He was brought to University Hospital Limerick to be treated for minor injuries to his shoulder and head. Gardaí in Ennis are investigating the accident.  

HAVING spent the past year coaching Cork side Newtownshandrum, Ger ‘Sparrow’ 0’Loughlin is on the move once more, this time to take charge of the Kilmallock senior hurlers. The former Clare manager replaces another former Banner boss, Tony Considine at the helm in Kilmallock. During his tenure with The Balbec, Considine guided them to two senior county titles. Considine vacated the Kilmallock hot seat this year after four years in charge and his services were quickly snapped up. For 2014 he will manage Galway club side Turloughmore. Clarecastle clubman O’Loughlin is no stranger to the club scene in Limerick, having worked with Adare previously. He won a hat-trick of titles from 2007 to 2009 with Adare and also brought them to the 2012 county decider, a final they lost to Kilmallock.

CLARE County Council has slipped from third worst to the bottom of the list in a league table of allocations under the Local Government Fund (LGF). Councillors criticised the reduction in national funding under the LGF at the authority’s budget estimates meeting on Wednesday. Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins revealed he contacted a representative of Environment Minister Phil Hogan to complain about the reduction in the LGF and Clare’s place on the bottom of the list. Councillor Arkins said he was informed that Clare’s LGF allocation had to be considered in the context of the expenditure by Irish Water and other local government payments. Councillor Tom McNamara noted that Clare had a compliance rate of about 75% for the Household Charge and over 90% for the Property Tax and yet it found itself bottom of the list in terms of LGF. Councillor Richard Nagle said it looked as if the council was going back to the bad old days of …

HARSH words and some insults were traded at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council, as the emotive issue of high commercial rates for businesses was aired yet again. Independent Cathy McCafferty put forward a motion calling on the county council to rescind fees charged at recycling centres, significantly reduce commercial rates and calling on the Minister for either Finance or the Environment to clarify which specific local services the local property tax is supporting. However, her own voting record was queried by Councillor Patricia McCarthy, who noted that the Derry native had backed increasing the town charge for Shannon from what was originally proposed in the draft budget for 2014. Councillor McCafferty was one of a majority of councillors who last month voted to reduce the town charge from 2.11 to 2.06. However, the original proposal from the council executive had been to cut it to 1.90, before a majority of the members opted to up it, to provide …

TO put it very mildly, Shannon’s Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) hasn’t been working that well of late, something proved by the foul smells that have plagued the town. Given its performance, it was somewhat surprising to learn that Clare Council Council have spent close to €3.5 million on it since 2010. Following a motion from Councillor Gerry Flynn, members of Shannon Town Council received a report on the WWTP at their meeting on Tuesday, which had details of the current maintenance contract. The report, prepared by county council water services engineer Sean Ward, stated, “The current contract is for the operation and maintenance of Tradaree Point WWTP, the pumping stations contributing to it and two stormwater pumping stations. The contract was awarded in 2010, based on a competitive tender, for an initial period of two years with the option to renew for a further two years. The contract was renewed in 2012. “Yearly costs from 2010 to date are …