Sports

ENNIS boxer Paddy Donovan had been due to have his sixth professional fight in the UK on Friday week, but it is now set to happen next month. “The fight that was to be on January 22 had to be cancelled because of Covid, there’s no boxing being held in the UK, the British Boxing Board of Control have suspended all boxing. It looks like he’s going to be fighting on February 19, in the UK again,” his trainer and manager Andy Lee said. At present no opponent has been finalised. The 22 year old Donovan has won all of his first five contests, three by way of knockout and is widely seen as an outstanding prospect.

Confirmation last week that the re-arranged Olympic Games will go ahead in Tokyo this summer has provided a timely boost to Ennis swimmer Rory McEvoy, he spoke to Ronan Judge. 22-year-old Rory McEvoy is at the start of an intensive block of training at the Sports Ireland campus in Dublin as he bids to to book a place on the plane to Japan.  The postponed Irish Olympic Trials are just around the corner and after the uncertainty of the last 12 months, McEvoy is fully focused on the task at hand. After a welcome visit home to see family at Christmas, McEvoy is back in the pool with fellow members of Swim Ireland’s high performance unit as Olympic preparations step up a notch. “Since we came back last week, it’s full steam ahead for the next two weeks. I’m based in Dublin and training out of the Sports Ireland campus in Blanchardstown. We’re in the thick of one of the …

By Ronan Judge THE chairman of one of Clare’s biggest GAA clubs has called on the association to do more to stand up for employees who are the subject of online attacks. Chairman of Sixmilebridge GAA, Paddy Meehan, told The Clare Champion that some of the abuse directed at Clare County Board secretary Pat Fitzgerald, is “unbelievable.” Allegations of online abuse against Pat Fitzgerald are the subject of a garda investigation. Meehan says, “Pat Fitzgerald is a paid employee of the GAA and I don’t believe they have stood up for him and I don’t think they have backed him 100%. Maybe if employers start backing people… because you see it nowhere else. There was a case in Kerry there where a former soccer player was being abused and it went to court. It has to stop, this online abuse, people hiding behind computers. That’s where we’re coming from. I have often went to the Clare County Board, had issues …

Munster MFC Final: Kerry 2-14 Clare 1-7 Clare’s bid to bridge a 67 year gap without a Munster minor football title just came short as Kerry continued their dominance of the grade with an eighth consecutive crown. It was already a historic night in the Gaelic Grounds with silverware being handed out three days before Christmas, but for Kerry it will be a night that will live long in the memory with another record going into the history books. There may not have been any silverware coming back out the Ennis road with the Clare squad, but there are plenty positives to be gleaned from a year that yielded a Munster final appearance that looked unlikely in the shadow of two lockdowns. There can be no fault attributed in terms of the workrate and effort of this Clare side who battled to the end, but at times the execution was not at the level shown by their opponents and those …

Derrick Lynch The new chairman of Clare GAA has outlined his three goals for the coming year with improvements at Caherlohan, progression in coaching structures and addressing the huge financial issues of the board being the main targets. Cratloe’s Jack Chaplin was unveiled as the successor to Joe Cooney in the chairman’s role at this week’s Annual Convention. He overcame Cooraclare’s PJ McGuane in the race for the position, gaining 116 of the 183 votes cast. McGuane congratulated Chaplin on his victory and outlined that it was the last election that he would be contesting in Clare GAA. It is the first time Chaplin has been elected to the executive of Clare GAA, but he has served as chairman of Cratloe for 17 years over two terms. He has also represented Cratloe as a county board delegate for a number of years while also serving as part of the master fixtures committee. The former referee outlined that while a daunting …

Munster MFC Semi-Final: Clare 4-20 Limerick 1-10 A third Munster final in the last four years awaits the Clare minor footballers after another impressive showing saw them overcome Limerick at the LIT Gaelic Grounds on Wednesday evening. Dermot Coughlan’s charges controlled the game from start to finish with their workrate and ability to transition quickly from defence to attack proving to be a potent combination, as they set up another final showdown with Kerry next Tuesday evening. That workrate in the middle third was a crucial element while the willingness to get up in support of the attack created several overlaps and scoring chances. Clare will need to be even more clinical in front of the posts if they are to reach the provincial summit, but on this performance there will be plenty positives to take into that tie. Having reeled off 1-18 from play last time out, it served as a warning that there was plenty scoring potential in …

Derrick Lynch Treasurer of Clare GAA Michael Gallagher has reiterated his warning about the finances of the board being in an extremely difficult position ahead of the coming year. The Doonbeg clubman addressed delegates at this week’s online convention in which he detailed the challenges facing the board and the realities that must be faced if a turn in fortunes is to be achieved. He likened the boards finances to a well, and stated that “the well is now dry, and it is up to each of us sitting around our computer screens this evening to take on the stark task of replenishing it”. This years accounts show that Clare GAA is carrying a deficit of close to €500,000 with that figure including a loss of almost €200,000 on the sale of part of the land purchased for the Caherlohan Centre of Excellence. Mr Gallagher addressed that issue and detailed that approximately 47 acres were purchased in April 2005 at …

Outgoing chairman of Clare GAA Joe Cooney has been praised as being a “tireless worker” for the Association in the county as his term of offices came to an end. The O’Callaghan’s Mills clubman oversaw his fifth and final Convention in the chair this week, having taken over the reins in 2016. In total, he has spent a decade on the executive having been elected as vice-chair in 2010. Several delegates put their thanks for his work on the record, with fellow clubman Neil O’Brien outlining his hopes that he would continue to be involved in some capacity with Clare GAA. Secretary Pat Fitzgerald also paid tribute to Mr Cooney, and praised the “enormous work” he had done. He said that he was always available day or night, and that whatever was needed to be done was always done. He thanked him for always being courteous to “me and my family”, and said that he could best be summed up …