Sports

HEAD Coach Adam Griggs has named Clare’s Eimear Considine at full-back in his Ireland Match Day 23 to face Wales in Saturday’s Women’s Six Nations game in Cardiff. Considine returns to number 15 as one of the three changes in personnel from the victory over Italy last time out. Ireland will be captained by Ciara Griffin in the opening game of their 2021 Championship campaign at Cardiff Arms Park (Kick-off 5pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), with Griggs’ starting XV showing three changes to the side that beat Italy at Energia Park last October. Commenting on his selection, Head Coach Griggs says the competition for places within the squad has intensified in recent weeks as the squad stepped up their preparations at the IRFU High Performance Centre. “We are extremely confident in the squad we have selected,” he said. “We have had a great deal of time to prepare together and this group of players have earned the responsibility …

Clare senior football champions Kilmurry Ibrickane have added one of the best known names in Clare football to their backroom team for the 2021 campaign. St Senan’s Kilkee clubman and former county star David Russell has been confirmed as part of manager Aidan ‘Horse’ Moloney’s backroom team, with the ‘Bricks bidding to retain their title after winning a 16th senior championship last year. Russell, who coached Naomh Eoin to the Clare Junior A football title in 2014 and 2017, also had spells involved with his native club Kilkee and Cooraclare. He faced Kilmurry Ibrickane on the field in county finals twice in his club career, winning his second county title in 2005 scoring 0-3 in their in their 3-8 to 1-9 win. He was on the losing side when the sides met in the showpiece again in 2009, with the Brick’s winning 0-12 to 2-3 before going on to contest the All Ireland club final. It is understood that the …

An update on the GAA’s fixtures calendar for the 2021 season is expected to be outlined later today (Thursday). Intercounty teams are set to return to training on Monday April 19, with a regionalised format set to be adopted for the National Football Leagues in order to reduce the amount of travel for teams to limit the risk of Covid-19. Ahead of that, two proposals have been put forward for counties in the National Hurling league to choose from with the decision on the preferred option having an impact on when competitive action will return. One option is for the 12 teams in Division One to be split into two groups of six, which would see a minimum of five games for each team. Those games would be played over five consecutive weekends, with the top two teams in each group contesting the National League final, while the bottom two teams will play off in the relegation decider. It is …

Clare’s opponents in the 2021 National Ladies Football league have been confirmed along with a proposed date for the first competitive fixture. Evan Talty’s tenure as Clare boss will begin on Sunday May 23 with a campaign in Division 2A of the league. Similar to their male counterparts, teams grouped in a regionalised format in order to reduce travel as part of Covid-19 concerns. Clare will face familiar opposition, including the Meath side who ended their All Ireland Intermediate run at the semi final stage last year before going on to claim the title. They will also face neighbours Kerry along with fellow intermediate side Wexford. The four Ulster counties of Tyrone, Monaghan, Armagh and Cavan making up the four team Division 2B. It is expected that a fixture list will be issued in the coming days along with a return to play document and guidelines to be followed for host venues. Clare’s three league fixtures will take place on …

The 2021 Eurocycles Eurobaby Junior Tour has fallen victim to Covid-19 for the second year running. The popular cycling event, which has been one of the highlights in the Clare sporting calendar over the last few years, was scheduled to take place from July 13 to July 18 this year with stages across the whole county. A statement from the organising committee confirmed that the event has been cancelled with race director Alice Sherratt outlining the reasons behind the decision. “This type of decision is never an easy one to take considering it is now, as of this very week, 12 months since our last announcement. It has become increasingly frustrating to try and assess the current environment and plan for a safe and successful international event of which we are confident that we could deliver. The level of interest from international teams wishing to come to Ireland and race continues to grow and by adopting the same protocols for …

Sport was always destined to be a part of Áine Donegan’s future and to many it will be no surprise that it is golf that is opening up the door of opportunity for the Ennis woman. That opportunity comes in the form of a college scholarship to Indiana University, with the Lahinch clubwoman set to make the move stateside this August. It was initially meant to begin last year but like most things, the outbreak of Covid-19 meant that it had to be put on the long finger. From an early age, sport was part of Áine’s life and she explained that golf was a central part of that. “I grew up in Woodstock and nearly everyone in the estate plays golf because Woodstock golf course is just across the road from us. Dad plays too and he was the one that introduced me to it from an early age. There was a real community feel about it in our …

The Government’s latest announcement on Covid-19 restrictions outlined that a return to action for the thousands of golfers in Ireland will not happen until the end of this month. April 26 has been confirmed as the date when the fairways will reopen, with courses closed since the Government’s decision to move to Level 5 restrictions in January. It is understood that strict guidelines will likely be in place when the sport does return, with bookings limited to fully paid up members of each club who must be resident within their own county. One of the courses in Clare that are ready for that April 26 date is East Clare Golf, with club chairman Pat McNamara outlining that works have been underway to ensure everything is in place for when members can be welcomed back once more. “There was some major work done on our greens and the lockdown has given them a chance to be at their best. We have …

The new coach of the Clare senior footballers is looking forward to getting the new season underway after being announced as part of the Banner set up. Sligo native Gerry McGowan has been confirmed as the new coach for the Colm Collins managed outfit, taking over from Brian Carson in the role. Carson stepped away from the role after two years having joined the Banner set up in 2018. The former Sligo player becomes the sixth coach to work with Collins during his eight year tenure in charge of the set up. Paudie Kissane, Ephie Fitzgerald and Mick Bohan each served for one year before Alan Flynn and Brian Carson each spent two years in the role. McGowan, who was a selector with the Sligo squad in 2018, helped guide his native Tourlestrane to five consecutive Sligo senior football titles alongside joint manager Eamon O’Hara. He outlined that his initial contact with Collins was positive and that the similarities in …