Sports

There are 37 motions to be discussed by delegates at the 2019 Clare GAA Convention this Thursday evening, but one of those could lead to a new administrative home for the association in the county in 2020. Tulla GAA Club is behind the motion, which calls for the board to sell their property in Clareabbey and move their headquarters to Caherlohan. The motion states that this could be looked into in the next three months. Caherlohan, which is located in the parish of Tulla, is currently the site for Clare GAA’s Centre of Excellence facility while Clareabbey is the current administrative base. The Clareabbey site also includes dressing rooms and a pitch along with adjacent car parking spaces. Meanwhile Tulla GAA Club is also calling for club delegates to the county board meetings to be subject to the five year rule, which is currently in place in relation to the term that officers can hold in their board positions, while …

Derrick Lynch Secretary of Clare GAA Pat Fitzgerald has hit out at the “unwarranted character assassination” on him in light of social media commentary, which he says also impinges on his family. The Sixmilebridge clubman has used his address to the 2019 Convention of Clare GAA to highlight the issue which he described as a “particularly disturbing development” during the year. The matter has been referred to an Garda Siochana after Mr Fitzgerald made a formal complaint to Clare GAA in recent weeks after he felt that “enough is enough”. His report to delegates states that: “For years I have been pilloried on social media and other online platforms, subjected to cheap shots by a majority of people who haven’t the decency or courage to put their names to the posts. For most of the time, I have chosen to ignore the diatribe. I have always prided myself on being a person with solid principles and values, or decency, integrity …

Derrick Lynch Clare GAA is being warned that efforts must be redoubled to fund raise additional monies other than gate receipts if the board are to maintain the current level of expenditure. It comes as the financial report, which will be presented to delegates at the 2019 Convention this Thursday evening, shows a surplus of €257,277.  That figure represents an increase of almost €103,000 on the 2018 surplus with overall expenditure and income remaining largely unchanged. The outgoings for the year were a total of €2,009,993 (down €123,134 on 2018) with an income of €2,267,270 (down €20,119 on 2018). In his summation, independent auditor Anthony Fitzpatrick commended the audit committee and team managements for working closely and efficiently in controlling costs in a very demanding and challenging environment. He noted a considerable drop off in fundraising and advised that this be addressed as a matter of urgency. The 2018 accounts showed a fundraising profit of €66,580 with that dropping to …

There has been widespread criticism of the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) executive following a controversial ban handed out to a player arising from posts made on social media. The offending posts relate to a post from on the CDSL Facebook page last March in which the league expressed it’s support for the then under-fire former CEO of the FAI John Delaney. The post was made after details of a €100,000 payment to the FAI by Delaney was revealed and was the first of many revelations which would ultimately lead to him leaving his position. The Clare League posted at the time that they acknowledged the contribution made to the Clare League by Delaney during his time as CEO, which included attending many functions and bringing the FAI AGM to the county in 2011. The player in question, who was not signed to any club at the time of his initial online remarks, posted several comments in which he was …

Senior Hurling Challenge: Galway 4-16 Clare 0-21 The Brian Lohan era might not have gotten off to a winning start, but on a cold December day the first encouraging shoots of optimism were certainly there to be seen. Indeed in the opening five minutes, the die-hards who turned out were already commenting on the direct approach being taken by Clare. Puck-outs were sent long down the wings, defensive clearances hit the danger zones as soon as possible, while the first and only short Banner puck-out of the day did not materialise until the 55th minute. New faces in the form of Paidí Fitzpatrick, Keith Whyte, Domhnall McMahon, Stiofán McMahon and Oisín Donnellan were given their first chance to impress the new management, while the likes of David Reidy, Colin Guilfoyle and Eoin Quirke made welcome returns to the senior panel. It was as of much interest to those watching on from a Clare perspective to keep an eye on positional …

Brian Lohan’s first outing as Clare senior hurling manager comes this weekend when they take on Galway in a challenge game in Ballinderreen on Saturday afternoon. The two-time All-Ireland winning defender was officially ratified at the October meeting of Clare GAA for an initial two-year term with a third season on offer pending a review. It ended months of speculation as to the future of the Clare senior hurling management with a turbulent process eventually coming to a conclusion with the four-time All-Star’s appointment. Early season training is now well underway, with a large training panel being cut down for the upcoming Munster league and National league. There are two outings for the new set-up in the next week, with Saturday’s clash with Galway being followed on Sunday December 15 with a showdown against All-Ireland champions Tipperary in Nenagh for the opening round of the Munster league. Lohan spoke to The Clare Champion to reflect on his first few weeks …

Anyone who knows Donie Garrihy knows that he wears his heart on his sleeve, and that was never more evident than in the aftermath of Sunday’s Munster final loss. He had just seen his team battled bravely against all kinds of adversity and come up short in a game they will feel was one that got away. It was a cruel finish to a positive year and he was not hiding the emotion of the occasion. “We kept our integrity for the whole game and asked lots of questions of Templenoe. We had a great chance for a goal early in the second half and it would have been game on had we scored that. We could have been up at half time too and we gave them some chances for scores and didn’t score ours. We weren’t razor sharp today and that cost us in the second half. We asked plenty questions of them but I liked the way …

An Ennis derby and a Shannon Town inter-club clash are the pick of the ties after the draws were made for this season’s Banner Carpets and Flooring Clare Cup. It will be an all-town affair in the second round when Avenue United take on Ennis Town at Roslevan, while there will be more than just bragging rights on the line when Shannon Town A meet Shannon Town C. There are five opening round ties where Newmarket Celtic A begin the defence of their title against Hermitage B, Bridge United A meet near neighbours Kilkishen Celtic and Kilrush Rangers face Shannon Hibs B. Elsewhere Tulla United host Lifford and Manus Celtic B meet Ennis Dons. The second round is: Bridge Utd A or Kilkishen Celtic v Kildysart Celtic; Turnpike Rovers v Shannon Town B; Cloughleigh Celtic v Newmarket Celtic A or Hermitage B; Avenue Utd A v Ennis Town; Shannon Hibs A v Manus Celtic B or Ennis Dons; Moher Celtic …