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In terms of debut seasons as manager, David Sullivan has achieved everything he could have asked for with Scariff-Ogonnelloe, writes Ivan Smyth. After taking the reins from Jim Minogue, David Sullivan has helped Scariff-Ogonnelloe reclaim the county title after coming unstuck against Newmarket at the semi final stage in 2020. His side are now just 60 minutes away from securing a second Munster crown in three years although the Tipperary native admits he found settling in to the new role with Scariff-Ogonnelloe challenging initially due to the pandemic. When Sullivan was appointed, COVID restrictions meant GAA teams could not train together. “It was tough to be honest. I’m hands on when it comes to coaching. I like to see the players on the field and go from there. I have to give credit to our S+C coach Ronan Moore as he did up plans for the girls which kept us going.” “It wasn’t a perfect way to start by any …

ENNIS hotelier Allen Flynn is delighted with the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions. The virus has plunged the hospitality and tourism industries into chaos over the last two years, but yesterday’s announcement of a major easing of restrictions has sparked much optimism that 2022 will be different. Speaking to the Clare Champion on Friday, Mr Flynn said it was great to see things going in the right direction. “It’ll make a massive difference. We’ve had a very tough period since Christmas as a result of Covid, everyone wants to do their bit, ensuring the health and safety of customers and staff was paramount, everyone wanted to buy into that, and we’d like to think we’re coming out at the other end much stronger.” Given the nature of his business, he expected it would take a few days to get ready. “In our industry you can’t just flick a switch, there are staff who may be on vacation, there are temporary lay …

Eoin Brennan previews the TUS Dr Harty Cup Semi-Final between St Joseph’s Tulla and De La Salle Waterford Uncharted territory for St Joseph’s Tulla but a first ever Harty Cup Semi-Final appearance is at least against somewhat familiar foes as De La Salle provided the opposition in the opening round of this year’s competition back in early November. It was a tie that the Waterford side shaded by 0-20 to 0-18 but Tulla will definitely feel that with more of a clinical edge, they should have edged matters. Fourteen wides left the East Clare school frustrated but with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps they wouldn’t have reached the penultimate stage were it not for their determined reaction to that performance and opening reverse. After all, since then St Joseph’s have been ravenous in their trailblazing pursuit of a first ever Munster Senior A PPS Hurling Championship crown. Having carved out a never-say-die attitude along with being boosted by successive victories …

AIR pollution levels in Ennis were higher than in Beijing at the weekend with the EPA’s air quality monitoring station showing a significant spike in pollutants, despite a smoky coal ban being in place in the county capital since 2011. Fears this “very harmful” pollution will result in “significant adverse health impacts” has sparked renewed calls from a former Mayor of Ennis for the establishment of an Ennis Clean Air Strategy. On Sunday evening at 7pm the EPA recorded a sharp rise in the levels of particulate matter associated with the burning of solid fuels, almost ten times higher than the EPA’s daily limit. Particulate matter (PM) are minute particles of dust, soot and smoke and the daily limit for PM10 is 50 ug/m3. PM10 of 485.38ug/m3 and PM2.5 of 467.58ug/m3 was recorded in Ennis on Sunday along with sulphar dioxide measuring 67.22ug/m3. On the same day, China’s capital city experienced moderate to good levels of air pollution. Councillor Johnny Flynn …

When it comes to Harty Cup, more than talent is needed to get a team over the line, writes Ivan Smyth, and St Joseph’s Tulla have shown they possess that extra ingredient needed to progress deep in the competition. Their resolve in getting to this stage has been admirable having overcome St. Colman’s College Fermoy in extra time to secure their first ever Harty Cup win before backing it up when beating Christian Brothers College (CBC) Cork after trailing by seven points at half time. Terence Fahy, who presides over the team alongside Tomás Kelly (Inagh-Kilnamona) and Aidan Harte (Gort), acknowledges that his side have shown their grit to battle through two tough encounters after losing their first game to this Saturday’s opponents De La Salle College. “We were backed in to a corner against Fermoy but the guys showed great resolve to come back at the death to earn extra time and then get over the line. Then in …

THE majority of Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted from tomorrow morning, the Taoiseach has announced this evening. Pubs and restaurants are being permitted to return to normal opening hours from tomorrow, with the 8pm closing time being axed. Social distancing requirements are also being dropped as is the requirement for vaccine certificates, although mask wearing will remain in place for the coming weeks at least. Limits on numbers attending both indoor and outdoor events are also being scrapped. Earlier this week 5,000 tickets for this Sunday’s Clare and Limerick senior hurling tie were sold, but the door is now open for more to be made available. “It is time to be ourselves again,” said the Taoiseach this evening, as people received the most positive news on Covid-19 since the pandemic began. Pubs around the county are set for their busiest weekend for some time, while it seems that finally normality will resume to most aspects of life.

As an experienced member of the Scariff-Ogonnelloe team, Mairead Scanlan knows how difficult it is to win silverware, writes Ivan Smyth. Having been a key member of the side that lifted the McMahon Cup for the first time in 2019, Scanlan admits this Championship campaign has been filled with difficult hurdles to overcome. However, Scariff-Ogonnelloe have managed to navigate all obstacles thus far with the joint captain keen to recapture the clubs’ second senior provincial crown. “It has been an unbelievable run. We have gone the hard way. The five team group made it difficult and we were joined by Kilmaley and Newmarket. We manage to top the group and still had to play Inagh-Kilnamona. Usually, we are second and they win their group but it was different this year. We had two tough games in the county final.” “Those games really stood to us. We are battle hardened and have won all our Championship games bar the drawn final. …

THE West Clare Cancer Centre will be hosting its annual mini marathon fundraiser over the course of next weekend, writes Conor Clohessy. As was the case last year, it will be held virtually and while the event which has raised over €5 million in its time is usually run off on the last Sunday of every January, this year participants have the 29th and 30th to do their 10km in their own time. Organiser Willie McGrath said: “We ran the marathon virtually last year as well, and found it was a huge success. Going forward, it might be the way to do it; but having said that, we’re still hoping that by next year restrictions will be lifted. We’ll be celebrating 25 years, and it would be lovely to think that we could bring the crowds back to Kilkee.” Funds from the mini marathon have facilitated the construction of palliative care suites with en-suite assisted facilities in West Clare, such …