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Kildysart manager Noel O’Grady insists his side will not be using past final heartbreak as added motivation ahead of his side’s showdown with Corofin Despite this being his side’s fourth final in six year at the intermediate grade, O’Grady believes his charges must look forward and not back as they prepare for a final, which many predicted would come to fruition before the competition started. “We are just focused on this year. The lads have to work hard and do their jobs on the pitch. “We have a new management team this year so we have just been focusing on the task at hand The past defeats haven’t been mentioned by us. They (the players) may be thinking of it themselves but we’ve not mentioned it.” O’Grady knows his side cannot afford the slow start that ultimately cost them in their semi final defeat to Corofin last year as they fell nine points behind in the opening quarter. “There is …

Corofin manager Douglas Hurley believes his side’s intermediate final with Kildysart has all the ingredients to be a classic. “We both did well in our semi finals so it’s all set up for a cracker. It could turn in to a shootout. We hope we get better weather than what they got for the intermediate hurling final. It should be a good game for the neutrals but we know it will be a huge battle.” Although Kildysart have experienced their fair share of painful defeats in finals, Corofin have recent heartache after falling at this stage to St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield last year. “Every year is different but there was a lot of hurt there. The lads can use it as motivation if they like but we’ve come in and tried to just focus on this year. We controlled one half of that game last year so we have to try and control the full game against Kildysart.” Hurley knows now …

CHANGING misspellings on signs around North Clare could actually require a plebiscite of locals, this week’s meeting of Kilrush and Ennistymon Municipal District Councillors heard. Those erecting signs with the incorrect spellings are taking their interpretation from the Ordnance Survey map of 1914, the meeting was told. Green Party Councillor Liam Grant put forward a motion asking for the correct spellings to be introduced. “I am calling on the West Clare MD to change the road signage for Lahinch, Ennistymon, Corofin and other towns to the previously used and most preferred spelling. “I realise this issue has been raised in the past so I would also like an update on any progress made and if any funding has been secured. “These are tourist towns, and the names form a very strong part of the brand. We had thousands of visitors attending the Irish Open at Lahinch Golf Club greeted by road signs reading ‘Lehinch’. It’s confusing and damaging for the …

FOR the first time since the pandemic struck, the Adoration Chapel in the Town Centre has reopened. Parish priest Father Arnold Rosney said that it had been a long spell of closure. “It has been closed since Covid started in March of 2020. We had no choice but to close it. “Even when the country reopened we weren’t in a position to reopen it because the room is quite small. Sadly we had to suspend morning mass there, which was upsetting for many people, but we had no choice.” He said it is great to be able to open the doors once again. “We’re thrilled to be able to open it today. What we’re doing is opening it from 2-5pm from Monday to Friday, for private prayer to begin with. Then, all going well, from December, we’re hoping to have Adoration resuming. “That would mean that people who were normally on the roster or new people, can sign up for …

DEPUTY Michael McNamara has predicted Clare people will experience another national Covid-19 lockdown this winter following a spiral in confirmed Covid-19 cases, writes Dan Danaher. Speaking to The Clare Champion, Deputy McNamara said he always expected there would be another lockdown after the introduction of the most severe restrictions in Europe during the summer when other countries had deemed this was a time the virus would be less transmissible. The East Clare Deputy criticised the government for not working to find a different alternative to lockdown to protect the country’s struggling health care system. One of the more practical solutions, he said, was to dramatically increase ICU capacity with extra beds and staffing, which wasn’t done in the required numbers. He recalled a major hospital to deal with Covid-19 patients was built in Wuhan, China in 14 days, yet Ireland only followed part of their response in terms of restrictions without properly addressing the chronic shortage of ICU bed capacity. …

THE ESB and the government are being urged to seek another investment partner for the proposed €2 billion windfarm off the Clare coast following the “devastating” withdrawal of Norwegian firm Equinor. Clare Dáil Deputies Cathal Crowe and Violet-Anne Wynne have expressed different views on the impact of this setback for a major element of Moneypoint’s €5 billion Green Atlantic initiative. Deputy Wynne believes the future of the offshore windfarm project is called into question. “Are other foreign investment partners going to be similarly off put by Ireland’s excessive bureaucracy in terms of planning and regulation?,” she asked. While Deputy Crowe accepts it is very disappointing that Equinor have withdrawn from their partnership with the ESB to develop the offshore Green Atlantic windfarm, he thinks the project can still very much proceed. Deputy Crowe is calling on the ESB and the government to immediately put their heads together and find a replacement partner. Equinor has pulled out of the Irish market, …

WHILE there was widespread shock following the standing down of the Doolin Coastguard Unit on Tuesday, there have been issues around its operation for a number of years, writes Owen Ryan. After six people resigned, the Irish Coastguard moved to shut down the unit this week, even though there were still 12 volunteers remaining, and it had been one of the busiest units in the country. One source that is close to the Doolin Coastguard said that claims of “bullying and harassment” that led to the departure of six volunteers from the unit was not caused by the 12 remaining members. A person close to the Unit said that problems have been festering since well before the death of Caitriona Lucas in 2016. He said that after a falling out between members who had once been quite friendly, other people involved took sides, which he said “shouldn’t have happened”. He also said that some of those who have just resigned …

Glowing tributes were paid to an Ogonnelloe solider at his Funeral Mass on Sunday following a tragic accident while on holidays in Spain a few weeks ago, writes Dan Danaher. There were heart-rending scenes when Private Gerard McMahon (24) was laid to rest with full military honours in the New Cemetery, Ogonnelloe. His sudden death came about a week after he had just returned home from a six-month tour of duty with the 63rd Infantry Group in Syria. Speaking at his Funeral Mass, the chief celebrant, Reverend Father Paul Murphy, the chaplain to the 1st Infantry Battalion in Galway recalled how one of his friends summed up the deceased. “One of his best friends said: ‘he didn’t say much, but you could write a book about him”. In a moving tribute, his mother, Carmel, recalled their lives changed forever on October 15 when they got the dreaded phone call that no parents wants that their beautiful son, Ger had died. …