Tag Archives: David O’Brien

THE buzz was back on Saturday night with the return to normal pub and restaurant opening hours and the removal of a most pandemic restrictions for the first time in nearly two years.  “We went from a stroll straight into a marathon,” said Clare VFI Chairperson and Ennis publican Charlie O’Meara, “but it was great to be doing it. We found people were in earlier and there was a lull for an hour or two after 8pm. We didn’t expect that. People were in great form and glad to be out. I think the pattern will settle in a while.” Miltown publican David O’Brien, of Michael A’s, described the scenes as reminiscent of a St Stephen’s Night. “Nobody was talking about Covid for the first time in a long time,” he said. “It felt like things were nearly normal again. We know it’s not over, but there was a release for people.” There’s hope too that the staycation boost will …

ALL involved with the Clare footballers know that if they have any chance of competing with Kerry on Sunday in Ennis, they will need to be much more clinical and energetic than they were against Limerick on May 28. Their second-half display was particularly limp and given that Clare conceded two early goals against Kerry last year in Killarney, at the same stage, they simply must be switched on for as close to 70 minutes as possible. “A lot of them would have been happy with how they played in parts of the match against Limerick. In Division 2 this year, we played poorly for 20 minutes against Cork but still ended up winning the game. But when you play against a top team, the pace of your game cannot drop at any stage. If the pace of your game slows down, it has to be because you wanted it to slow down. “That first 20 minutes of the second …