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ELEANOR Walsh was joint-manager when Scariff-Ogonnelloe first contested an All-Ireland Club Final in 2013, writes Eoin Brennan, and along with Mike Rodgers, the Waterford native helped guide her adopted club to the brink of national success, only to be halted at the final hurdle by Carlow’s Myshall. She’s being one of their driving forces behind building strong, durable foundations for the East Clare Club ever since including several managerial and administrative roles. In fact, she was chairperson during that momentous 2019 season of highs that saw Scariff-Ogonnelloe garner historic county and provincial senior crowns. Eleanor is back on the line in the All-Ireland series, as both a mentor and supportive mother as her daughter Abby is one of a strong injection of teenage debutants that have established themselves on Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s flagship side. With her selector role primarily to scope out the opposition, it’s enough of a remove to allow Abby express herself fully, something that she along with fellow newcomers …

A MAN accused of repeatedly hitting his wife and dragging her across the kitchen floor during an alleged assault in Clare has been refused bail, writes Ronan Judge. The alleged incident occurred at the couple’s home address in Clare on Tuesday. A 38-year-old-man was brought before an in-camera sitting of Ennis District Court this week charged with assault causing harm to his wife. He is also charged with possession of a small amount of cannabis. Both charges arise from an alleged incident at a house in Clare on Tuesday, February 15. A local garda gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. The court heard that in reply to one of the charges, the accused man said, “It’s everything, correct”. Solicitor Tara Godfrey was assigned legal aid to represent the accused and she said her client was applying for bail. The application was opposed by the State. The garda said bail was opposed on a number of grounds including the seriousness …

WITH half of the teams in Division 2 still unbeaten heading into Round 3, it’s the clash of Roscommon and Clare that will take precedence in the race for promotion to the top tier, writes Eoin Brennan. For the winner, keeping pace with Galway and Derry is essential as none of the top four have met yet so far but for the loser, it would be a significant set-back in what appears a very high standard at the helm of Division 2. While Connacht rivals Galway and Roscommon were expected to be in the shake-up to bounce straight back up, Derry’s star was also expected to rise after winning last year’s Division 3 honours. Clare remain the outsiders but in truth, they have been ever since returning to Division 2 in 2017 as every year, they have been placed among the bookies favourites to fall through the trapdoor but it’s almost seen as a badge of honour for the Banner …

She’s been there from the outset of the Scariff-Ogonnelloe revolution a decade ago, writes Eoin Brennan, and while she wasn’t saying it out loud, there was a clear sense that Susan Vaughan is on the final leg of a memorable journey with her native club and is determined to make it count. An integral part of their breakthrough season in 2013 when winning county intermediate and Munster junior titles, a subsequent All-Ireland Final defeat to Carlow’s Myshall was in fact Vaughan’s last camogie match until after her international rugby sevens career concluded. That was in 2019, a perfect dovetail as it turned out, as her return coincided with an even more auspicious run of firsts for Scariff-Ogonnelloe at senior level. Blazing a new trail through Clare and Munster, the East Clare side become the first Banner club to win a provincial senior crown in 30 years. Unfortunately, that’s where their meteoric ground-breaking adventure ended as four-in-a-row chasing Slaughtneil just had …

RESIDENTS of neighbourhoods in Ennis are “living in a nightmare” fearing a return of flood waters, a meeting of councillors heard, as it was confirmed funding has been made available to carry out a feasibility study aimed at finding a solution to the issue. The worries of residents from Victoria Court, the Lahinch Road and lower Cloughleigh were highlighted at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. Councillor Pat Daly stated that flooding is a “big issue” for residents in these areas. He pointed out his brother is among those affected saying, “They are living in a nightmare, always worried there could be a flood in their gardens and houses.” At the meeting Councillor Johnny Flynn sought an update on previous requests for a solution to the flooding affecting properties in the area. He recalled flooding in 2012 / 2013 left one businessperson counting the costs after €30,000 in catering equipment was destroyed. “This urgently needs to be addressed,” …

ENNISTYMON CBS secured an excellent Munster schools double at UL this Saturday with a comfortable dismissal of Presentation Ballingarry. The north Clare side defeated their Tipperary opponents 2-21 to 1-7, adding the hurling title to the football one they took last weekend. John Kelly was on hand for the Clare Champion to record the victory.

THE proposed development of training facilities at Cahercon proved not to be economically viable, the Dáil heard recently and the matter was again raised by Councillor PJ Kelly at a meeting of Clare County Council.  He requested a report outlining the employment related projects now being pursued in the Shannon Estuary. The report subsequently received from Director of Service Liam Conneally said, “There are very real opportunities for both Moneypoint and Cahercon and all of Clare to play a key leading role in the establishment of a hub for offshore wind energy together with the route to market and supply chain associated with the Offshore Renewable Energy industry. “In this regard Clare County Council have been actively supporting and liaising with the key Offshore Renewable Energy companies seeking to build Offshore Floating Wind farms off the Clare Coast. “These companies will utilise the Shannon Estuary, for manufacturing, assembly, servicing, and associated supply chain requirements of the large-scale turbines and critically …

Clare’s ongoing quest to dine at the top table of camogie takes an intriguing new direction in 2022 with the integration of junior and senior squads under a collective management team, writes Eoin Brennan. It’s not an innovative model as it has proven successful in other counties. However, in Clare’s case at least, an ill-fated initial attempt to field teams at both senior and intermediate in the county’s first season in the top tier in 2009 under Bertie Sherlock, seemed to leave a lasting scar. Those wounds were only tentatively healed when Ann-Marie McGann and Tim McGrath resurrected Clare’s second team five years ago and since that departure, there has been a growing pool of adult players proud to play for the Banner. Playing numbers were an issue in 2009 as was the additional work-load on management, with Clare in a much healthier position on both fronts this time around according to joint-manager John Carmody. “When you think about it, …