Clare lose to Waterford in Minor semi-final

A brace of second half goals ensured a Waterford victory by 3-09 to 0-12, after Clare were held to just three points in the closing 30 minutes in last night's Munster Minior Hurling Championship semi-final.

Waterford may have bagged an early first half goal, but Clare held command after 20 minutes by 0-07 to 1-01. There was little to talk about on the score-sheet before the interval with Clare outscoring the Decies by two points to one in the closing minutes of the half. However, the hosts were firmly on the back foot on the restart as Waterford bagged two quick-fire goals and showed no mercy to finish with a hard-earned six-point win.

CLARE: R Taaffe; T Purcell, K Ryan, N Purcell; S O’Connor, P O’Connor, C McGuane (capt); C McInerney, S Golden (0-1); D Keane (0-1), E Hanrahan, A Considine; C O’Donnell, C McGrath (0-8, 4f), D O’Halloran (0-2). Subs: G Guilfoyle for Hanrahan (40), E Boyce for T Purcell (40), D Liddy for Considine (51), A Mulready for O’Donnell (54).

WATERFORD: S O’Keeffe; L Egan, T Costello, M Wyse; J Dee, Philip Mahoney, D Fives; K Moore, M O’Neill (0-5, 4f); F Murray (0-1), R Cahill, B O’Halloran (1-0); P Prendergast (1-0), J Dillon (0-1), Paudie Mahoney. Subs: I Galgey (1-2) for Moore (30).

Referee: D Copps (Cork)
Sources - Irish Examiner/Irish Independent

Waterford progress to Munster minor hurling semi

A brace of second half goals ensured a Waterford victory by 3-09 to 0-12, after Clare were held to just three points in the closing 30 minutes in last night's Munster Minior Hurling Championship semi-final.

Waterford may have bagged an early first half goal, but Clare held command after 20 minutes by 0-07 to 1-01. There was little to talk about on the score-sheet before the interval with Clare outscoring the Decies by two points to one in the closing minutes of the half. However, the hosts were firmly on the back foot on the restart as Waterford bagged two quick-fire goals and showed no mercy to finish with a hard-earned six-point win.

CLARE: R Taaffe; T Purcell, K Ryan, N Purcell; S O’Connor, P O’Connor, C McGuane (capt); C McInerney, S Golden (0-1); D Keane (0-1), E Hanrahan, A Considine; C O’Donnell, C McGrath (0-8, 4f), D O’Halloran (0-2). Subs: G Guilfoyle for Hanrahan (40), E Boyce for T Purcell (40), D Liddy for Considine (51), A Mulready for O’Donnell (54).

WATERFORD: S O’Keeffe; L Egan, T Costello, M Wyse; J Dee, Philip Mahoney, D Fives; K Moore, M O’Neill (0-5, 4f); F Murray (0-1), R Cahill, B O’Halloran (1-0); P Prendergast (1-0), J Dillon (0-1), Paudie Mahoney. Subs: I Galgey (1-2) for Moore (30).

Referee: D Copps (Cork)
Sources - Irish Examiner/Irish Independent

Two Clare Schools Part Of Pilot Plan For High-Speed Wireless Broadband

Two schools in Clare are to get high-speed wireless broadband connectivity as part of the Government's pilot plan to give students instant internet access anywhere in the school, according to Junior Minister Tony Killeen.

St Flannan's College in Ennis and St Caimin's Community School in Shannon are among 78 schools nationwide that will get high-speed broadband as part of a EUR16 million investment. The schools are part of the 100 Megabits per second (Mbs) post-primary schools project launched by the Government today. Under the existing Schools Broadband Programme, primary and post-primary schools can access a basic level of broadband connectivity. The 100mb/s post-primary schools project is a wireless pilot initiative that runs until the end of 2011.

Minister of State Killeen said: “This marks the next phase in the Government’s ambition to develop our schools into centres of e-learning and to make technology an integral part of the learning process. High-speed wireless broadband means that students will be able to upload and download material faster, access high-volume digital educational content and connect instantly to websites from any part of the school. In fact, the speeds will be similar to those offered to high-end national and multinational companies operating here.”

The Clare T.D. added that the Government is making enormous strides in developing our schools information communications technology (ICT) capacity. “Earlier this year, the Department of Education and Science announced that over 70 primary schools in which major construction work was completed last year would each get EUR5,000 per classroom to buy computer hardware, software and digital equipment. This is the first time there has been an ICT allowance per classroom at Primary School level. This announcement at second level shows that the Government is committed to building schools’ ICT capacity in today’s increasingly knowledge-based society,” said Minister Killeen.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has now begun a tender process for broadband service providers.