IT is most likely that the five teams to lose senior status will come from the eight that will compete for the Senior B Championship. To hold onto senior status, victory in the opening round is essential. Last year’s intermediate champions, Whitegate, have a difficult first round on Sunday against Éire Óg. The town side may not have won a game in the league to date but, potentially, they have a squad that should see them as strong contenders for the B championship title. A final decision if All-Ireland hero Shane O’Donnell will play is unlikely to be made by manager, Seamus Durack and his backroom team, until near match time. The full-forward suffered a hamstring injury when training with the county squad a few weeks back. He hasn’t played since but the word from the Clare camp is he will resume competitive action this weekend. Should this be the case, it will be a massive boost to the town …
Read More »Shane O’Donnell makes a smart move
CLARE hurling star, Shane O’Donnell has been unveiled as a SFI Smart Futures ambassador. The position is part of a three-year plan to deliver increase in uptake of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, in launching Science Foundation Ireland’s Smart Futures initiative, outlined how the aim is to achieve a 10% increase in the uptak in STEM subjects at second and third level by 2016. Smart Futures is a partnership between Government, industry and educators, which provides post-primary students, guidance counsellors and parents with important career supports in the areas STEM. The new three year strategy aims to raise awareness of STEM career opportunities among students, parents, guidance counsellors and people who influence students by encouraging industry to play an increased role. Shane, who is studying genetics at University College Cork, has been recruited by SFI to become an ambassador for Smart Futures. The 19-year-old became one of the most talked …
Read More »O’Donnell on target for GOAL
ALL-Ireland hurling hat-trick hero, Shane 0’Donnell will operate on a more leisurely pace on Christmas Day that he did in late September when he officially launches the annual GOAL Mile. O’Donnell will be up bright and early on Christmas morning and he is hoping that the people of Ennis and surroundings will come out and join him in support of the event. The now traditional seventh GOAL Mile will take place on Christmas morning in the Fair Green, St Joseph’s Hospital side, at 11am. Shane will be blowing the whistle to get this year’s mile underway. Mary Collins, organiser told us that she is delighted that Shane agreed to get on board and support the GOAL Mile. “It’s fantastic that Shane will be there to blow the whistle and get the mile going, he is a real role model to so many people in Clare. The GOAL Mile is always a fantastic event taking place every year in the Fairgreen …
Read More »The O’Donnell impact
BOB O’Brien could afford a wry smile as he listened with interest to the half-time conversation among the Éire Óg U-8 hurlers during a recent underage hurling blitz involving teams from Clare and Limerick. The main topic of conversation among the young hurlers at the tournament in Old Christians was who could be the number 22, as they attempted to repeat Shane O’Donnell’s sensational tally of 3-3, which steered Clare to their fourth thrilling All-Ireland senior hurling success. The Éire Óg hurling academy manager smiled as he reflected. “What Shane O’Donnell has done for the game is incredible. These six or seven-year-olds want to line out in the No.22 jersey and become the next Shane O’Donnell. Players were telling each other, I am 22 in this game and you can be 22 in the next game. It is fantastic for the game of hurling and is a great boost for the club,” he said. This is just one example of …
Read More »The stuff of dreams
By Seamus Hayes Man of the match in Saturday’s All-Ireland replay, Shane O’Donnell, did not know he was in the starting line-up until just over two hours before the throw in. “We were getting food at St Patricks College when Davy brought me aside and told me I was starting ahead of Darach. I was delighted. The way the game went is just the stuff of dreams. It was absolutely amazing,” the 19-year-old Éire Óg clubman said. “Anyone of 24 or 25 could have started. Cathal McInerney has been getting on before me in recent games. It’s just testament to how hard people are working inside at training. I was just lucky enough to get the call and it worked out well. The lads gave me the ball and it was handed on a plate to me to score the goals,” according to the second-year genetics student at UCC. He quipped that he will be returning there “early enough this …
Read More »Baby Shane in dramatic debut
SHANE O’Donnell wrote himself into the history books on Saturday and a child born early on Monday morning, in the most dramatic of circumstances, will bear his first name. Shannon’s Laura Hinsley gave birth to her fourth child and first son at the side of the road close to the Clare-Limerick border, after a dash to the hospital didn’t quite succeed. Describing the morning, she said, “My husband was doing 160km going in the road but I knew once we hit Bunratty that it was coming. He had to pull over across from the Two Mile Inn. We went from flying down the road to pulling in and the baby was just there! He delivered the baby, made sure it was crying and put his hoody around it and drove on again to the hospital; it had happened in a matter of seconds. I’d say we were only stopped for about a minute and a half, it was that fast. …
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