In what was a hectic weekend from the Clare point of view, Sidaz Jack, bred by Ennis man Jerry Moloney, won the William Hill English Greyhound Derby. Mullagh native and Ennis-based Paddy Darcy had the honour of winning the final of the Greyhound and Petworld Golden Muzzle in Limerick. Galway track record holder, Mall Brandy, owned by another Mullagh man, Michael Casey, was on fire again at the College Road venue with a brilliant 29.83 run in a 550-yard final.

Jim Bolger and his son-in-law, Kevin Manning, combined to land last Saturday evening’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh as 6-1 shot Trading Leather upset some more fancied rivals to claim Ireland’s premier classic.

ENNIS Swimming and Lifesaving Club had a very successful weekend in University of Limerick arena at the Irish Age groups Division 2 Championships. The club brought 11 swimmers to this national gala to compete against over 500 athletes from 72 other clubs from around the country.

AER Lingus has announced it will be significantly increasing the frequency of its Boston and New York services from Shannon next year, which, a spokesman for the airline said, would see the creation of around 100 new jobs.   The expansion, announced on Wednesday, would require additional cabin crew, pilots and ground-handling workers, the company said. It’s also likely to create jobs in Clare’s tourism industry, particularly as American visitors are far higher spenders than Europeans. The extra flights would also benefit US companies that have bases in the West of Ireland. The additional services should result in around 50,000 more people flying between Shannon and the US next year, most of whom will be Americans visiting this country. Overall, there should be around 177,000 on the two routes in 2014, while this could rise to over 210,000 in 2015. Aer Lingus had no transatlantic services from Shannon for the first 10 weeks of 2013 and for the rest of …

AS Nelson Mandela remains in a stable but critical condition in hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, a Scariff woman this week recalled a family connection to the anti-apartheid icon – a man described as having a “very, very warm handshake”.

A PONY sold for just €20 at Spancilhill was subsequently ridden and beaten by a group of children in an estate in Ennis.

KILLALOE gardaí have confirmed they will take no further action against a retired businessman who has occupied his house in a local ghost estate, despite the absence of electricity, running water and sanitary services.