TO commemorate Nigeria’s Independence Day next Tuesday, the Association of Nigerian Community in Clare (ANCC) has planned a series of activities in Ennis that include football, a party with dancing, singing, fashion and Nigerian food. It is 53 years since the first Independence Day. The activities start on Sunday with a football match against the Moroccan football team in Clare. The grand finale of the celebration will be a party organised by the Association of Nigerian Community in Clare. The association has invited mayors of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council, Bishop of Killaloe Kieran O’Reilly and garda representatives to join the occasion. One of the prime objectives of the Association of Nigerian Community in Clare is to foster closer working relationships within all communities and also with the Nigerian embassy in Dublin. It exists as an advocate and to support the welfare needs of Nigerians as well as to progress integration and to be valued residents of Clare. …

Clare 5   Limerick 3 THURSDAY evening was an historic occasion for Clare soccer as the first competitive match was played under the league’s new floodlights at the County Grounds in Doora. Adding to the sense of enjoyment was the fact that the game was the opening round in this season’s Oscar Traynor, inter-league junior football competition and Clare marked the occasion with a merited victory over neighbours Limerick, one of the fancied teams for the title. A superb first half saw Clare dominate and deservedly take a 3-0 lead to the break. It could have been a bigger lead for the home team, had they availed of all of the chances they created. Eoin Hayes capped an excellent performance with a hat-trick. His first came in the eighth minute, his second four minutes into the second half, a score that put the winners  four clear, and his third  in the third minute of injury time, when he converted a penalty …

WIN, lose or draw, Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council will host a joint homecoming event for the Clare senior hurlers and their management in recognition of their hurling exploits this season. The homecoming will also celebrate the success of the Clare U-21 hurlers in winning back-to-back All-Ireland titles and the squad, along with their management, will also be introduced to the crowd at Tim Smythe Park, formerly known as The Fairgreen, on Sunday night. Entertainment will commence at 6pm and both teams are expected to arrive at 7.30pm. The homecoming event will be broadcast to worldwide audiences on the Ennis App and on www.ennisapp.ie. Public parking arrangements and traffic restrictions will be in place. Road closures will be in place from 4.30pm to 12 midnight  at  Steele’s Terrace/Newbridge Road from College Road to Kelly’s Korner Roundabout, at New Road from its junction with Tulla Road and Newbridge Road, at Dr Daly Road from its junction with New Road …

WHILE tens of thousands of Clare fans will watch their team in Croke Park this Saturday, many more will be cheering from around the world. Some will be shouting at big screens from bar stools early in the afternoon. Others will be wiping sleep from their eyes while cowering beneath mosquito nets. More will be shouting into the silence while clinging to their headphones. PE teacher Jayne McMahon from Ennis is living in Ulsan, an industrial city located on the south-east coast of Korea. There are some Irish there but none from Clare, as far as she knows. She will watch the match alongside a Cork man. The Gort Road woman hopes this will enhance the atmosphere. “Unfortunately, due to the time difference, I had to stream the last game on my laptop at home at 11pm Sunday night. I wasn’t in the most exciting atmosphere but I was still sitting on the edge of my seat with the tension …

A TEAM of inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) visited Shannon on Wednesday to carry out an investigation into an “appalling and overpowering” odour that has been present in the town for almost a week. The inspectors will try to establish the likely cause and origins of these odours and determine the appropriate corrective and preventative actions necessary to address the problem. Their visit coincides with a call for a full independent audit of all Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control (IPPC) licences held by the EPA on industries in the town amid fears, expressed by Senator Tony Mulcahy, that there is a “serious accident waiting to happen”. The Clare Champion has learned that a Clare County Council employee, who was delivering goods in Shannon, was forced to leave the site after experiencing difficulty breathing. He contacted senior officials in the environment department, who commenced their own investigation. However, the council is not authorised to enter a number of sites …

A CLARE senator has accused his party, and the Government, of lying to the electorate ahead of next Friday’s referendum. Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy said he will not be towing the party line in the referendum and will vote against the abolition of the Seanad. The Shannon man slated his party’s claim that the cost of the Seanad is €20 million per annum. Fine Gael states the figure is made up of Seanad members’ salary costs of €4.2m, members’ expenses of €2.5m, staff costs of €2.1m, indirect costs of €9.3m, including ICT at €1.9m, superintendent at €1.6m, procedural sections of €2.8m and other supports of €3m. There is a further cost of €2m in Seanad pensions. “The savings of €20m are a lie. My party aren’t telling the truth to the public. The savings are actually €8.6m and you have to divide that in half because you have to take out the USC (Universal Social Charge), the PRSI and …

ONE man with recent experience of preparing for an All-Ireland senior hurling replay is Galway’s Joe Canning. The Portumna man was in Thurles last Saturday week as a Bord Gais ambassador at the All-Ireland U-21 final. Canning rescued a replay for Galway with an injury time equaliser, 12 months ago. The replay with Kilkenny was the first in an All-Ireland since 1959. With hindsight, he says Galway would prepare differently but he feels gearing up for a replay is a challenging proposition. “We lost, so we’d have other ways of going about it that we might think of now. At the same time, it’s unknown territory for every team that’s in it. When you’re going into an All-Ireland, you’re thinking you’re going to win or lose, you’re not thinking about a replay,” he suggested. Canning remembers the weeks bridging the draw and replay dragged appreciably. “How to deal with the three weeks between the matches is the big thing. You’d …

Banner Ladies 6-24 Liscannor 1-4 FIRST off, let’s acknowledge the speed, skill level and fluency of the Banner Ladies’ first-half display. The champions played sublime football in the opening 30 minutes as they careered through Liscannor, establishing a 5-13 to 0-2 lead. While the huge Liscannor following in Cooraclare would understandably not concur, it was worth the admission fee to witness the imaginative, free-flowing excellence of Niamh O’Dea, Gráinne Nolan, Aoife Keane and Naomi Carroll. They played the game at a pace armed with precision and movement that Liscannor could not live with. Of course, it was very disappointing that the senior ladies football county final was so desperately one-sided. Saturday evening was perfect for football. The pitch was in top-class condition, the crowd sizeable and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association was represented by national president Pat Quill. Everything was set but the gulf between the competing teams was far too wide for any hope of a relatively even contest. …