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Ennis Track have secured a sensational victory as they were crowned Junior men’s champions at the ECCC Cross Country Championships, writes Ivan Smyth. The Casey brothers, Dean and Dylan, finished in first and second as Ennis Track shocked Europe with a brilliant team display. With four runners competing for each club and the top three finishers scoring points, the Casey brothers produced some inspired running to help their club take home team gold. The pair ran an aggressive race in the early stages and they maintained their form throughout despite some fierce opposition in Portugal. Ennis Track are the champions of Europe! Fantastic performances all round and led home by Dean and Dylan Casey in first and second. pic.twitter.com/u5dxpwji2R — Rory Chesser (@Chase_Chesser) February 6, 2022 Niall Murphy produced a display filled with grit as he crossed the line in 11th place on a morning where Ennis Track simply obliterated the field. This is the first time Ennis Track have …

THE Giant’s Playground in the Burren was one place that made a great impression on Justine Mitchell who plays Elaine in the RTE hit show Smother. The show was filmed in North Clare and on a Zoom call with the press last week she said the location had stunned her. “The Giant’s Playground in the Burren, that was incredible. It really did feel like we got there and moments before like two dinosaurs had stopped fighting each other and gone around the corner somewhere. It has this ancient feeling, and it’s really good for you soul, you go like I’m so tiny, I’m so tiny!” She said the opening shot of the second series of Smother helped evoke the feeling the Burren gave her. “We are tiny little specks on this eternal landscape, and that’s so good for your head.” James O’Donoghue who plays her on screen son Calum was also hugely impressed by the North Clare landscape. “We all …

HAVING first decided to postpone its 2022 show, Shannon Musical Society has now decided to cancel it altogether. Its production of Little Shop of Horrors was going to happen in April, but the Society felt that despite the loosening of restrictions, allowing it to go ahead could potentially result in serious problems. Aodán Fox was set to direct the production, and he said it had been a difficult decision. “It was a tough call to have to make to be honest, but there were several concerns. The fact that we could have been in a position financially to put ourselves in major danger if we had all the outlay and we were hit by Omicron, either the week before or the week of the show and have to cancel, that was a major concern. “It could put the Society in grave danger of not being able to continue. After chatting it out with the cast and the committee, it was …

THE family of a Kilrush woman who was murdered 17 years ago has welcomed the transfer of her killer from an open to a closed prison, writes Dan Danaher. The Clare Champion has learned that Raymond Donovan was recently transferred from Shelton Abbey Open Centre to Castlerea Prison, which is a closed medium security prison. It is understood that Donovan was transferred to a closed prison after allegedly contravening prison rules. Ann Walsh from Pella Road, Kilrush, was 23 years and four months old when she was strangled by her former boyfriend, Raymond Donovan from Cooraclare in the grounds of St Senan’s Church, Kilrush on August 24, 2005. Donovan was convicted of her murder at the Central Criminal Court in Ennis with Mr Justice Paul Carney imposing a mandatory life sentence following a unanimous guilty verdict by a jury. Ann had been going out with Donovan for three years but had split from him a year previous to the attack. …

ENNIS’ deputy mayor has admitted he was “mortified” to discover he had accidentally used a disabled parking space, sparking calls for a re-paint of the spaces to make them more noticeable. Councillor Paul Murphy made the admission at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District saying parking in the space was “not deliberate”. He explained he had reversed into a space at the Active Ennis John O’Sullivan Park Lees Road in the dark and it was only on his return to the vehicle that he realised it was a disabled parking space. “I was mortified, it is something I have always frowned on,” he said. “The colour of the space wasn’t even blue, just in spots. The wheelchair sign was there, but it was extremely faded.” Following the incident, he brought the need to re-paint the spaces to the attention of Ennis Mayor, Councillor Ann Norton who as well as her role in the council is a well known …

A BUMPER crowd is expected to attend Bellharbour on Sunday, where the County Clare Hunt are hosting their eagerly-awaited point-to-point fixture, writes Michael Duggan. The recent lifting of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions have come at just the right time for pointing fans, and Sunday promises to be a fantastic day’s racing. Quin man, Paul O’Neill, who is one of the chief organisers of the meeting, told The Clare Champion earlier this week: “We are so looking forward to this weekend. Thankfully, things are slowly but surely returning to normal post-Covid, and the easing of restrictions has been sweet music to our ears. “Anybody travelling to Bellharbour on Sunday does not have to do anything other than turn up on the day. All the pre-registering issues and stuff like that have been done away with and that certainly makes life easier for all concerned.” In recent times, the hosting of a point-to-point has evolved into a fun day for all, and …

SHOCKING video footage of attacks on homes and cars in Ennis, understood to be linked to an ongoing feud, circulating on social media in recent days, have been condemned as an “absolute disgrace”. Calls are now being made for more resources to be made available to gardaí in Clare, as well as for the re-establishment of an Ennis specific Joint Policing Committee (JPC). Videos of car windows being smashed and a home being targeted in the county capital were shared across social media. Other footage shows a high-speed car chase with a vehicle on the wrong side of the road. Chair of the Clare Joint Policing Committee Councillor John Crowe commented, “It’s an absolute disgrace and as a community and as a county we can’t stand for the likes of this carry on.” He continued, “It’s getting out of control, not alone in Ennis but all over the county. I know the powers that be are doing the best they …

Eoin Brennan looks ahead to this evening’s vital national league encounter with Cork National League Division 2 Round 2 Cork v Clare at Páirc Uí Chaoimh Cork, Saturday 7pm (Maurice Deegan, Laois) As significant as securing an opening victory over Offaly was in what is a perpetually cut-throat Division 2, the real acid test arrives this Saturday evening as Colm Collins’ side face Cork as part of a rare National League double header between the counties in Páirc Uí Chaomh. Clare have a healthy league record against the Rebels, with three victories in the last four meetings and even last year’s loss proving sufficient for the Banner to advance to the Division 2 Semi-Finals at the expense of Cork. However, it’s 11 years since Clare last played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, not to mind its state-of-the-art upgrade. Indeed, that 2011 clash was a forgettable 15 point reverse in the Munster Senior Quarter-Final (1-23 to 0-11), with only four of the …