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Clare Senior Hurling Quarter-Final Preview: Sixmilebridge v Eire Óg It is a first championship meeting since 2015 for this pair with Sixmilebridge running out comfortable 2-19 to 1-10 winners in that opening round tie. The Bridge have been impressive in their run to the last eight racking up 6-36 in their two championship wins over Clarecastle and defending champions Ballyea. Their new management team of Tim Crowe, Davy Fitzgerald and Paddy Meehan have hit the ground running as they look to capture the title for the fourth time this decade. Their previous wins came in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and if you believe in patterns then another in 2019 could well be on the cards. Eire Óg have also been enjoying a positive championship season after a disappointing Clare Cup campaign saw them fail to gain promotion from Division 1B. They belied that form with a battling victory over Kilmaley in the opening round but lost out to Clonlara a …

When Ralph McTell penned those now immortal lyrics of ‘Clare To Here’, it captured that sense of being away from home when there was nothing to keep the emigrant rooted. For Melbourne native John McMahon, the distance to Clare might still be the same as it was in 1864 but the circumstances of his journey compared to that made by his ancestors are light years apart. John’s great-grandfather was born in the townland of Bonavilla just outside the village of Mullagh in West Clare. He was a tenant farmer like the vast majority of his generation, but with 20 acres and a horse at his disposal, Pat McMahon was a little more prominent than most. He and his wife Brigid (neé O’Connor) had four young children with ages ranging from the eldest at 8 years old to the youngest who was just 1 year old at the time of their upheaval. The fact that Pat had a horse to aid …

REPRISALS against his brave work in opposing an authoritarian regime saw 30-year-old Sayed Ahmed flee Bahrain and begin a journey that saw him end up in Lisdoonvarna. Home for Sayed, his wife, son and brother has been the direct provision centre at the King Thomond Hotel since April of last year but with refugee status now secured, they are moving to Dublin, where Sayed has a college place and where he expects to get work. He was first arrested in 2006 for being part of a group arranging a protest at his school and from then on, he was in the crosshairs of the authorities in his home country. “From then to 2015, I kept being sent to jail for a few months at a time. I don’t know how often. I might have been arrested 13 or 14 times; it happened at least once every year. But I was lucky. I wasn’t like other people, who have been sentenced …

A KILLALOE based tennis coach, who has introduced the sport of tennis to residents of a Greek refugee camp, is urging the public to support charities like Lighthouse Relief who are helping those fleeing war torn countries. Wesley O’Brien, a coach at the Killaloe Tennis Club said while the issue may have gone off the news cycle, it is still a major international crisis that needs continued support. He said rather than sitting on a beach in Lanzarote he wanted to do more with his skills and wanted share the joy of tennis with those less fortunate. In 2018 he got in touch with a number NGOs and was directed to Lighthouse Relief, who work with refugees from Syria, Iraq and Turkey. The charity has a base on the island of Lesvos where they have a first responder team who help migrants fleeing by boat. Their second base is at the Ritsona refugee camp where they cater for more than …

CLARE’S Rose of Tralee Vickie O’Connell is calmness personified. Even with a whirlwind week of public engagements ahead of her, for the moment, the Kilrush woman is ensconced in her own little bubble, living in the now. But that’s certain to change this week as the 28-year-old joins up with the other Roses for the glam and glitter of the international festival that transforms the town of Tralee and catapults the contestants into the public limelight. Vickie, an administrator for membership and real estate at Trump International in Doonbeg, is relishing all the excitement it will bring and cannot wait to hit the dome stage on Tuesday night. “Since my selection as Clare Rose, I’ve started on a journey, an amazing journey to be honest. I’m going to embrace and enjoy every single minute of it.” The journey commenced last March when Vickie was selected from 28 contestants, a record entry for Clare. This week she has been taking part …

ALMOST one in four of the Banner’s pubs closed down between 2005 and 2018. This week, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) produced figures for the amount of pubs operating in each of the 26 counties in the Republic in 2005 and 2018. In the year 2005, as the Irish economy boomed, Clare had 373 pubs. However, last year the figure was down to 289, a drop of 22.5%. During the years in question, pubs had to deal with greater enforcement of drink driving and lower alcohol limits, as well as a very severe recession, while the smoking ban was introduced just nine months before the start of 2005. According to DIGI, the drinks and hospitality sector in Clare still enables 6,682 jobs and €285 million in tourism spend. The average county saw its number of pubs decline by 17.9%, so Clare is on the high side. Limerick was worst hit, with 27.8% of pubs closing and Dublin did …

If it wasn’t for The Rape Crisis Centre Arlene Hayes says with certainty, she wouldn’t be here today. To mark the impact they have had on her life she has organised an 80s disco to raise much needed funds for the service. ENNIS based retail manager Arlene Hayes has been carrying a heavy weight on her shoulders for almost 30 years now. The happy, bubbly person who lights up when you invite her for a chat, is a survivor of historical sexual abuse. Those closest to her didn’t know she was carrying this burden with her through life, and even she herself didn’t really know until it all came flooding back. Arlene’s earliest memories are of her regular happy childhood in Ruan, trying on her communion dress and going to neighbours to collect communion money. She recalls picking hazelnuts in the fields and collecting mushrooms. “I remember my mother on a Friday night making popcorn. She would get the Quinsworth …

“It is just so horribly symbolic, that of all the people who happened to be watching that silly staged riot that night, that [Lyra McKee] was the person who was killed, because she was the person who was a spokesperson for ordinary young people trying to make a life in the North” Susan McKay, at the Scariff Harbour Festival. By Carol Byrne DERRY Girl Susan McKay gave an insightful talk at Scariff Library where she detailed her harrowing job as a Troubles journalist. The key message was the need to come together in a spirit of reconciliation and mutual understanding. As the Scariff Harbour Festival celebrates cross-border relations and provides a platform for this dialogue to take place, Susan commended its organisers for its efforts. “I think that this festival is really fantastic because it does attempt to bring a Northern element to the far South West. Lots of people live their lives in the Republic without ever thinking about the …