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Ireland chef d’equipe Michael Blake speaks to Dan Danaher and looks back at his riding career, what he had to do to buy his first pony, setting the world bareback championship record, and guiding Ireland’s showjumpers to a string of successes   MICHAEL Blake has made history by bringing the Aga Khan trophy back to Tuamgraney following a very successful showjumping year that included qualifying for the Olympics less than seven days before the thrilling jump-off against France in the RDS. On paper, Michael knew he didn’t have the riding pedigree to become Ireland’s Showjumping Manager. However, through hard graft and precise planning, the Tuamgraney man put himself firmly in the hunt for selection. From 2012 to 2016, Michael took over the Ireland Youth Showjumping team and helped young riders to an impressive haul of medals. In 2017, the senior riders asked him to get involved so he became Development Manager and started working with Chef d’Equipe, Rodrigo Pessoa. This …

Eoin Brennan previews the weekend’s hurling action with quarter-finals and relegation play-offs on the menu   Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Finals Cratloe v Newmarket-on-Fergus at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 3pm Commencing Saturday’s derby-fest in Cusack Park is a rivalry that has rather cooled in recent seasons which is perhaps indicative of differing development paths. In fact, it’s a full decade almost to the month since Cratloe and Newmarket’s last senior championship clash, one that the Blues won’t be forgetting in a hurry as 3-10 to 0-9 county final victory over their neighbours finally bridged an seemingly interminable 31 year gap to their previous Canon Hamilton crown. In hindsight, Newmarket will be relieved to have snatched that solitary crown as they were in danger of not fulfilling their potential with a golden crop of players following final defeats in 2006, ’08 and subsequently in 2013. Cratloe did bounce back to win their second title in five years in 2014 but that was …

UL Hospitals Group, Chief Executive Officer, Professor Colette Cowan has apologised to every patient that has experienced excessive wait times or a poor care environment in UHL. Professor Cowan made the apology during a three-hour discussion between senior officials in the UL Hospitals Group, national HSE officials and Mid-West Oireachtas representatives during a joint Health Committee meeting in Dublin on Wednesday. Responding to Deputy Maurice Quinlivan’s question about what management was doing to relieve chronic waiting times in the UHL emergency department, shr said, “We don’t feel comfortable about patients waiting for treatment in the ED, but it is a capacity issue. “We have looked at developments in our community and are developing the Enhanced Community Care Programme, which will create alternatives for elderly people, apart from the ED. “UHL is a very busy hospital. All our patients tell us the care is good, the difficulty is getting through the ED door. We need another second 96-bed block, which would …

A multi-agency search and rescue operation was mounted this morning after a tractor was discovered overturned in a river in North Clare. The alarm was raised at around 10.30am after a passer-by called the Irish Coast Guard to report finding the vehicle lying on its side in the Aille River at Coolagh Bridge close to Doolin. The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard, Clare County Fire and Rescue Service, National Ambulance Service and the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter were all alerted and tasked to the incident. Gardaí were also informed. Volunteers from the Doolin unit of the Coast Guard made their way to the scene. Members checked the tractor’s cab and the area around the vehicle but found no trace of the driver. Units of Ennistymon Fire Service arrived soon afterwards and personnel, trained in water rescue, also carried out a search of the river downstream from the scene. A comprehensive search of the area was completed however …

CONCERN has been expressed about the delay in the scheduled time frame when the new multi-million Euro Ennis Primary Care Centre will be fully operational. Deputy Michael McNamara recently asked the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly when the Ennis Primary Healthcare Centre at Station Road Ennis will be fully operational. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that HSE Estates has advised that the centre is scheduled to become operational during the third quarter of the year. “The opening of the Station Road centre will be a significant development in the delivery of community-based health services for the people of Ennis and the surrounding area,” Minister Donnelly explained. However, Deputy McNamara is concerned about the latest delay after he was informed by Mid-West Primary Care Manager, Carmel McLaughlin the HSE Estates Department has advised this centre will become operational “in the latter part of 2022”. “The centre is currently being equipped and services will commence operation on a phased basis,” she stated. As …

Michael O’Connor watched Clonlara’s forwards point their way to a 1-25 to 3-13 win over Crusheen in the Senior B Championship   Reigning senior B champions Clonlara are back in the semi-finals of this year’s version following a deserved six-point win over a shot shy Crusheen side at the Clare GAA centre on Thursday evening. A sizable attendance was present for the first ever competitive Clare GAA game played at the GAA centre. The excellent conditions at the GAA centre allowed for a fast-moving game that was dominated in the main by Clonlara bar the last quarter when Crusheen initiated a late attempt to put respectability on the scoreline. Both sides showed positional and personnel changes from their last championship ties as Ross Hayes pointed for their games first score as Cian Moriarty and Oisin O’Donnell hit scores over after four minutes. Clonlara took absolute control of the game up to the end of the opening quarter as Cathal O’Connell …

A CLARE man used a hatchet to allegedly assault a vulnerable man with special needs, a court has heard. At Ennis district court this week, Judge Mary Larkin refused bail in the case of Andre Donegan (30). Donegan, with an address at Smith’s Gardens, Kilkee, is charged with assault causing harm to an adult male.  He is further charged with the production of hatchet during the course of a dispute, in a manner likely to intimidate or cause injury. Both charges arise from an alleged incident at St Patrick’s Terrace, Kilkee, on June 1, 2019. Donegan has indicated that he will plead guilty to assault.  Opposing Donegan’s bail application, Garda Jack Cagney of Kilrush garda station told the court that on the date in question it will be alleged Donegan used a hatchet to strike the left side of the alleged victim’s head.  The man was hospitalised and received treatment for a wound, the court heard.  The court heard the …

A UNIQUE and inspiring exhibition is to be hosted by KAVA in Kinvara, and opens on Culture Night (September 23). The show, entitled ‘Altered State/the liquid of our modernity’ is by sculpture artist David Dunne and will run until October 2. It features work that reflects on the interconnection between art, nature, science and technology. Dunne’s practice embraces installation, sculpture, video and live art. The work has been influenced by the Arte Povera movement in making site-specific interventions. Utilising wood, steel, concrete and low–tech archival electrical elements, this exchange of materials informs an intuitive, methodological response to particular archaic industrial situations. Dunne outlined that the show draws inspiration from “the satirical title The Valley of the Clueless (Das Tal der Ahnugslosen) given to two regions in the southeast and northeast parts of the former East Germany from the mid-1950s to early 1990”. “In these two regions TV programming and public broadcasts from West Germany television were out of reach with …