It is possible to complete the Clare senior hurling championship in time for the winners to participate in the Munster club championship, a special meeting of Clare GAA was told on Tuesday night. For this to happen, however, it will depend on which clubs progress to the concluding stages and it may require some dual clubs playing every five days, the meeting, which was held at the County GAA headquarters in Clareabbey, was told. According to County GAA secretary Pat Fitzgerald, having the hurling championship completed in time to compete in the Munster competition “will be very tight’ . “It is our right to take part in the Munster championship and we have five or six teams who will give it a good rattle” board treasurer Bernard Keane said before asking clubs “to think outside the box one more time”. The meeting decided by a large majority to revert to last year’s format with regard to relegation. Five teams were due …

How can we make Clare communities more inclusive? A conference being held on  in Ennis on September 20 aims to answer this question. The event brings together people interested and involved in inclusive and accessible employment, education and lifelong learning, community – led development and social enterprise. The event is co-hosted by Brothers of Charity Clare, Clare Volunteer Centre, Let’s Get Started, East Clare Community Co-op, EmployAbility Clare, and Obair New Market on Fergus. Keith Bates, who is Head of Employment at the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities in the UK is a keynote speaker

Shannon Airport’s steady recovery in passenger numbers continued for a third consecutive month in August, figures revealed by the airport today show. Passenger numbers for the month show that 170,000 people travelled through Shannon in August, a 3% increase on August 2012. The increase comes on the back of strong gains also in June – the first time in five years growth was seen in month-over-month figures – and July. Transatlantic services again showed the greatest uplift in August, with 35% more passengers travelling between Shannon and the US/Canada compared to 12 months ago.

FORMER GAA president, Sean Kelly has welcomed as “extremely positive” the majority vote by MEPs today in favour of new measures to regulate the online gambling industry and prevent corruption in sport. The Kerry man, who has long experience as a GAA player, coach and administrator, is particularly worried about how online gambling could impact on junior and underage sports. “The adoption of the report Online Gambling in the Internal Market is very significant for sport,” Mr Kelly said at the European Parliament, Strasbourg. MEPs backed the key elements of the report proposed by the Ireland South MEP to prevent match-fixing and any fraudulent or negative influence that online gambling could have on sport. As a member of the Committee on Culture and Education, Mr Kelly co-signed and tabled a number of key amendments to the report which calls for a strengthening of EU-wide policy.  “Sporting federations and gambling operators should include, in a Code of Conduct, a ban on …

HOTELIERS have rejected as “outrageous” claims by Hotels.com that the average hotel price in Ireland has increased. Figures from the Central Statistics Office, which are based on a nationally representative sample of prices, show that inflation in accommodation services was at 0% for the twelve months to June 2013 and was in fact down at -1.1% for the twelve months to July 2013, the Irish Hotels Federation asserts. “The figures used for the Hotels.com survey are based on a very limited share of Irish hotels online sales and the sample size is only reflective of accommodation available on the Hotels.com website. It is too small to be representative of the 60,000 hotel and guesthouse rooms available for sale every day in Ireland,” said Lahinch-based, Michael Vaughan, Irish Hotels Federation . “It is irresponsible and misleading for Hotels.com to give the impression that hotel prices have risen when this is clearly not the case as borne out by the most recent CSO …

THE National Youth Council of Ireland has urged young people to register to vote ahead of next month’s referendums on the Seanad and on new Court of Appeal. “With just days left to register to vote, we would urge any young person who is 18 years of age on or before October 4 to apply for inclusion on the supplementary register. They can do so up until Tuesday, September 17,” said James Doorley, NYCI deputy director. The NYCI also highlighted the importance of fist-time voters making sure they are registered, as an estimated 50,000 young people are turning 18 in 2013.* Mr Doorley explained: “Not being on the register is a key reason why young people don’t vote, with many not even aware they have to register. In fact, a previous NYCI study found that 26% of 18-25 year olds were not registered to vote, rising to 36% among 18-21 year olds. “We strongly encourage young people to register and …

EAST Clare has fared out very well at this year’s Tidy Towns competition, with gold and bronze medals going to Mountshannon and Tuamgraney respectively, while Tulla received the endeavour award for the county. Mountshannon was awarded gold in category A of the Tidy Towns competition with 311 points, just five points shy of the national winners Moynalty, County Meath. Indeed its potential for national success was something that was pointed out by the Mountshannon’s tidy town’s adjudicator. “If you sustain your current enthusiasm and commitment and attend to the relatively few remaining issues for attention Mountshannon has the potential to again secure the top prize,” the adjudicator commented. Mountshannon also received a highly commended in the county awards. Another East Clare village celebrating this week is Tuamgraney, having taken a bronze medal in category B with 304 points, seven points more than their 2012 effort. Their potential for national success was also noted in their tidy towns report. “If you sustain …

THE Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council has called on the Government to review how State and European grant aid for farmers is distributed in light of what he described as “unprecedented challenges faced by the West of Ireland farming community”. West Limerick farmer and Councillor John Sheahan said that farmers who owned land classified as Special Protection Areas (SPA) are at a disadvantage as the funding allocated through schemes such as CAP Pillar 2 and AEOS are “insufficient” to cover both the loss of revenue from not being able to farm the land or the cost of preserving and protecting the SPA.