EVEN though Clare are All-Ireland champions, Pat Kelly argued that Tipperary and Kilkenny are still the two best teams in the game. “To me Kilkenny and Tipp are still the best two teams in Ireland. I know we’re All-Ireland champions but they’re still the benchmark. We’re going to have to be ready for them next year. We’ll probably be back training on November 7 or 8, that’s the way it’ll be. We’ll enjoy our few weeks, we’re All-Ireland champions, they’ll be mad to beat us next year and knock us down a peg or two,” he commented. The Inagh/Kilnamona number one said relief washed over him when the final whistle sounded. “It’s just relief, your heart would be racing. You’re over the line, you can just relax, you celebrate because you’re over the line. In fairness, if we’d let that slip it’d be a travesty; it would have been worse than the last day. The last day was bad but …

CORK were simply beaten by a better team, Jimmy Barry Murphy readily acknowledged after the game. “My initial thoughts are that, on both days, we were playing catch up from the word go and it’s a difficult thing to do. When you’re in that situation you have to do everything right to get back into a game. We did an awful lot of things right, but it’s got to be perfect at that stage and our luck eventually ran out. We were beaten by a much better team on the day, on both days, I’ve got to acknowledge that they deserved it,” he said. Asked if Cork could have won the game if they had taken the lead after drawing level from eight points behind, he said, “That’s one of the great imponderables, if we’d taken our chances when we got back level it may have been a different story but we didn’t. There was too much to make up, …

WHEN James McGrath sounded the final whistle, Clare achieved something that didn’t look likely when they lost to Cork in the Munster Championship or when they stumbled past Wexford in the qualifiers. Just before getting on the bus to leave Croke Park, Domhnall O’Donovan acknowledged earlier in the year, he didn’t think Clare were real contenders. “At the start of the year, if you’d told me I’d be here, I wouldn’t have believed you. Then, as we built momentum, we were thinking ‘we could actually do this’. Tipperary were knocked out and Kilkenny were knocked out and it was a much more even championship and we realised anyone could beat anyone, so we realised we could do it, if we believed.” The Clonlara corner-back said he was in a state of shock when the game ended. “I couldn’t believe it, I was in shock. I’m delighted that getting that point in the draw actually meant something; if we lost it …

DOZENS of concerned people attended a public meeting on Tuesday night at the Oakwood Arms about the odours that have lingered around Shannon in the last few weeks. The anger at the meeting, which was attended by representatives of Clare County Council, but not the EPA, was palpable. There were different views on the type of odour causing the problem, with several people saying it resembled sewage and others saying it was like raw eggs. Many expressed their concerns about the impact upon their health and said they are worried about the impact of air quality on children. There was also much anger after Clare County Council engineer, Sean Ward, acknowledged that the local sewage treatment plant is not adequate, but that there is no prospect of it being improved in the immediate future because the millions required to do so is not available. The meeting was chaired by local man Chris Price and with emotions running high, he had …

UP to 150 people are expected in Coole Park and Gort this weekend for the 19th annual Lady Gregory Autumn Gathering. This year, the gathering centres on women writers and includes readings and workshops by a number of well-known writers and academics. “By inviting famous women writers of Irish descent from around the world to follow in the footsteps of this remarkable woman, we are honouring Lady Gregory’s contribution to Irish arts and culture in this unique gathering. We seem to be attracting a wider international audience, both male and female, with this enhanced Gathering. “Spread over five days instead of three, from Thursday to Monday, more overseas visitors will be attracted to South Galway and to Ireland, in support of the Gathering Ireland 2013 initiative,” explained honorary secretary of the event, Marion Cox. Last year’s events as part of the Gathering were booked out and Marion is expecting a large crowd again this year. “The feedback has been absolutely …

Gardaí in Ennis are warning people to take care when buying smartphones in cash from sellers they find online. According to Superintendent Derek Smart, there have been up to five incidents in as many weeks of people in the wider Ennis area arranging to meet sellers in public places, giving them money in exchange for the smartphone, only to later discover it doesn’t work. “We have had a number of incidents where people are buying iPhones on DoneDeal.ie and other websites, going to meet the sellers, looking at the phone which appears as it should, paying their money and only finding out when they go home that it is a dud phone,” he said. “We are concerned that other people may have been victims of this scam but may not have come forward to gardaí for various reasons. We are asking people who have been victims of this sort of crime to come forward and report it to gardaí,” he …

THE opening of the Gort to Tuam motorway would be a “game changer” for Galway and would bring with it a “much-needed economic boost”, according to one local representative. Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins has written to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to ask that every effort is made to ensure early delivery of the new Gort to Tuam dual-carriageway. “I have written to Minister Brendan Howlin and informed him that this road is a very necessary piece of infrastructure for the people of East Galway and beyond. I have urged him to ensure all financing matters are finalised so it can proceed to construction as soon as possible” she said. “Having proper road facilities in the county will open up all sorts of opportunities in terms of foreign direct investment, given improved accessibility. The motorway will deliver a much-needed economic boost to Galway East and to all the towns and villages along the route and trigger a revitalisation …

A MAJOR international conference focusing on sustainable destination development through partnership, balancing conservation and tourism will be held in the county later this month. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark LIFE programme will host the conference at The Falls Hotel and Spa, Ennistymon on October 17 and 18. The event will feature contributions from leading local, national and international experts on sustainable tourism, including representatives of Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism (France), Solimar International (USA), Cultural Site Research and Management (USA), Tourism Ireland, the Office of Public Works and Fáilte Ireland (Ireland). The conference announcement comes just days after the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark was shortlisted in the Best Destination for Responsible Tourism category of the 10th annual 2013 World Responsible Tourism Awards. Commenting on the background to the conference, Carol Gleeson, manager of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark LIFE programme said, “LIFE is designed to explore how best to develop and manage sustainable tourism …