Once again, it’s time for the Clare Champion’s Christmas Window Display competition. The competition is open to all shops and businesses in Ennis and the aim is to enhance the festive atmosphere in the town in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Our theme for this year is ‘A Christmas Fairy Tale’. Entrants should choose one or more children’s fairy tales and give it a Christmas twist. The fairy tale itself doesn’t necessarily have to be about Christmas but it can be interpreted in any way to fit the theme.Entry forms will be available from next week, at the Clare Champion offices and entry is free. The winners will be announced before Christmas with prize winners receiving Clare Champion advertising vouchers. This is the tenth year of the competition, which has firmly taken its place in the build up to Christmas in the town of Ennis.

GARDAÍ, the coast guard, fire services and ambulances were called to three separate emergencies in Clare last night. Two vehicles crashed through the front windows of busy filling stations in separate incidents in Ennis. In a third emergency two units of the coast guard as well as the coast guard helicopter were called to assist Clare fire and rescue services and gardaí in a search for a person reported to have entered the River Fergus. Events began to unfold at about 8.45pm. A full-scale emergency call-out was sparked after a van was reversed into a busy supermarket, causing injuries to shoppers and staff on the Gort Road. Gardaí, ambulances and fire brigades rushed to the scene at Lynch’s Centra immediately after the incident occurred. An eyewitness described how the small van was reversed almost up to the check-out. A number of people, including the van driver, were attended to by emergency personnel and some were brought by ambulance to hospital. …

CLARE garda Joe Hayes is to receive his second national award this month for saving a drowning woman’s life last year. The Irish Water Safety’s SEIKO Just In Time Award is presented to those who come to the assistance of a person in difficulties in water. Garda Hayes, from Ennis, is being honoured for jumping into the River Shannon last June and rescuing a woman from the water. The presentation will be made by Minister Fergus O’Dowd at Irish Water Safety’s National Awards Ceremony in Dublin Castle later this month. Thirty-seven rescuers from 22 dramatic near-death incidents will receive recognition at Irish Water Safety’s National Awards Ceremony. Thirty-six lives were saved from drowning through the brave actions of Garda Hayes and other rescuers. Fergus O’Dowd, TD Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and Environment, Community & Local Government will present the SEIKO Just in Time Rescue Award to these rescuers in appreciation for saving …

By Seamus Hayes Eleven years after their last title win, Sixmilebridge are back as Clare senior hurling champions. At rain lashed Cusack Park on Sunday, they dethroned champions Newmarket in a fiercely competitive tie. The final scoreline of 1-10 to 0-11 is an accurate reflection of a tie which produced some great hurling despite the atrocious conditions. The winners had a dream start when top scorer Niall Gilligan scored the game’s only goal as early as the second minute when he drilled a penalty to the net following a foul on Alan Mulready. From here they held the lead until two minutes from the break when Colin Ryan levelled. The holders hit the last five points of the half to move from being three in arrears to holding a two point lead at the break, 0-9 to 1-4. A hungrier Sixmilebridge returned for the second half and they held their neighbours and great rivals scoreless for twenty six minutes during which …

By Seamus Hayes An outstanding performance from team captain David Tubridy steered Doonbeg to a three point win (0-15 to 0-12) over Lissycasey in the second of the Clare senior football championship semi-finals on Saturday. The win on a Kilmihil pitch that held up remarkably well considering the continuous rainfall before and during the game means that they will play Cratloe in next Saturday’s final. This was Tubridy’s day and the Clare star kicked ten of his side’s fifteen points. Tubridy’s display allied to a powerful third quarter when they scored 0-6 without reply, turned the tables on a young Lissycasey outfit that had started impressively and raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after ten minutes. Another key factor in the magpies victory was the introduction of Shane O’Brien for the second half. The dual player came in at centre forward and he helped create a number of the winner’s second half scores on a day when Colm Dillon was …

Every now and then, a test car comes along that delivers a lot more than expected. From the off, though, Citroën’s C4 Picasso impressed me greatly. I wasn’t even sure what it looked like, having had to miss the Irish launch, but what greeted me was an exceedingly handsome car, with looks that are up to the minute. The interior is even more impressive, with a 7” touch screen easily accessible on the dashboard. If that’s not enough, this is joined by a secondary 12” widescreen, which is used to display all kinds of information and also becomes the clearest satnav screen I’ve ever seen in a car. This kind of technology is rarely seen in the class and it’s good to see such a step forward. The screens are used to control virtually every aspect of the car, including the audio, navigation and even the climate control systems. This allows Citroën to reduce the number of hardware buttons on …

A REDUCTION in the rates rebate for vacant commercial buildings, proposed in the Local Government Bill 2013, “would have a huge negative impact on Shannon Airport”, it has been claimed by a Fianna Fáil TD. Under the current system, commercial properties are subject to rates payable to the local authority but, in Clare, a 100% rebate is subsequently applied where the property is unoccupied. In the Dublin City, Cork City and Limerick City local authority areas, property owners are entitled to only a 50% refund of their annual commercial rates liability if the property is empty. The new bill, which is being debated in the Dáil on Thursday, will standardise vacancy refunds across the country at 50%. Deputy Timmy Dooley said he plans to raise the issue in the Dáil. “I am deeply concerned about the impact it would have on landlords across the county, recognising that there has been a considerable downturn in commercial activity. Landlords are under enormous …

THIS weekend, 22 of South Galway’s best-known rugby and GAA personalities will go toe-to-toe in a different discipline to raise money for Gort RFC and Southern Gaels Gaelic Football Club. Hundreds of people are expected to turn out to support the 20 men and two women when they step onto the canvas in Sullivan’s Hotel on Saturday night for the White Collar Boxing event. “We have been getting a really good response so far. People are really looking forward to the event. We have had lots of interest on Facebook and have already got more than 1,200 friends on there. We have the potential to hold 1,000 people and we would be expecting at least 600 to 700,” outlined Ronnie Giblin, one of the event organisers. All proceeds from the night will go to Gort Rugby Club, which covers South Galway and North Clare and Southern Gaels Gaelic Football Club, which includes the parishes of Ballindereen, Beagh, Kinvara, Gort and …