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AN incredible 92 years in the mak- ing, Irish-American artist Ruth Mc- Namara-Duff stages her debut Irish exhibition at the Kenny Gallery in Lahinch this week.

Born in 1915, Ruth has worked as a professional artist in California all her life.

It was during a trip to her ances- tral home in Clare, however, that the creative seed for her latest series of work was sown.

““T visited Ireland in 2000, and went to the Cliffs of Moher. I was amazed at the beauty of them. I said, ‘when

I get home I’m going to paint LOO Cliffs of Moher’. I didn’t do quite 100 of them but it was a great inspi- ration to me,” she said.

“T have done a number of oils and watercolours of the cliffs. Even though they are similar in lots of ways, they are all very unique and CHES Keno) 0 me

Ruth’s grandmother, Ella Kennedy, left Clare at age 14, during the fam- ine, and sailed to San Francisco on a mammoth voyage through the Straits of Magellan on the southern tip of South America.

It was there that she met fellow Clare emigrant James McNamara,

who worked mining for gold in Grass Valley, and the pair gave birth to sev- en children, including Ruth’s father Owen.

“This journey is almost like I’m completing their journey back to Clare again. It’s like the end of a large circle. In a lot of ways, this trip is for my father,” she said.

“T feel that I wasn’t born myself un- til I was 40. I don’t think that I really found myself until then. You do get a different perspective on life.

“Right now, I am so eager to do things and to paint. I have a lot of canvases at home in my apartment and I know exactly what I want to do

with them.”

In total, Ruth has painted the Cliffs of Moher more than 60 times. She will show 15 pieces at the exhibi- tion, which she shares with Irish art- ists Tom Greaney, Roger McCarthy, Mary Horan, Michael Hanarahan, Deborah Donnelly, Marie Noonan McDermott, Carmel Madigan, Una O’Brien, Kate Beagan and Simone Walsh.

The exhibition features a wide range of styles and mediums and opened in Kenny’s Gallery Lahinch on July 21.

For more, check out www.lahin- chartgallery.com.

WHILE the poor weather is having a direct effect on the incomes of the thousands of people in the tourism and agriculture industries in Clare, it is also having effects, both directly and indirectly, on thousands more.

Reports on the ground indicate that Clare publicans have had a slower trade than normal so far this year, but only marginally so.

“Obviously it is down a bit but noth- ing compared to places like Dingle, where they are reporting close to a

50 per cent drop. It’s down a bit but not dramatically so, and it’s nothing that could not be levelled off with a good run at the end of the year,” said Michael Martin of the Clare Vintners Association.

“All we can do is hope for four or five good weeks and see what hap- pens. We were obviously getting wor- ried in June and at the beginning of July but things are starting to pick up again.”

However, those Clare people with shares in the C&C drinks group have lost more than 20 per cent of their in-

vestment in the company as its shares have plummeted in the last month.

In excess of €500 million has been wiped off the value of the company in a matter of weeks as a result of the poor performance of its headline product, Bulmers. Bulmers, or Mag- ners in the UK, is regarded by many consumers aS a Summertime drink and sales have been hit badly as a re- sult of the poor weather.

Meanwhile, people who suffer from mental illnesses such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), are not adversely effected by poor weather

condition. SAD is a form of depres- sion brought about by the change of seasons and affects roughly three per cent or almost 4,000 people in Clare.

“From our own experience here in Clare, it does not seem that there is an increased incidence of SAD dur- ing times of bad weather,’ said Denis Creedon, Director of Nursing for the Clare Mental Health Service

“Indeed, we haven’t heard of any weather-related increase in any men- tal health issue as a result of the weather, not in Clare at least,’ Ms Sie (oy ecy-s(ee

BUSINESSES in north and west Clare stand to lose millions in rev- enue due to bad weather over the summer periods.

Expert insiders claim that tourism numbers have already dropped by as much as 25 per cent in coastal areas this year, while numbers in Ennis and Shannon are reportedly on a par

to last year’s figures.

‘The impact could be as much as 25 per cent year-on-year. The de- crease is in the domestic market, the people have just not been coming,” said Michael Vaughan of Vaughan’s Lodge in Lahinch.

“It’s a problem from Kilkee right up to Lahinch, Liscannor and Bally- vaughan. It is hitting the hotels, the restaurants and the holiday homes.

In living memory, I cannot remem- ber a summer as bad as the one we are having.”

Indeed, the poor numbers holiday- ing in the west have seen a number of hotels being forced to drop their rates, despite large increases in ex- penditure due to inflation and in- creased fuel charges.

“I don’t think people are being let go yet. But extra people are not be-

ing taken on in the same way as they would in other years,’ continued Mr Vaughan.

“The CSO figures show that the people between 35 years and 45 years are not holidaying in Ireland and that is the sector who we are missing on the ground.

“It is thought that people in this age group may not be coming on holidays because of the increases in mortgage interest rates.

“I don’t think that this will have a long-term effect on the tourism product in Clare. It is an industry of swings and roundabouts, things op- erate on a cycle and will usually level themselves off over the course of a year or a few years.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Clare Tourism Forum told

PHILIP O’Reilly, Property Plus has taken on a 2,300 sq. ft. family home, located at Claremount, Clarecastle, guiding at €600,000.Approximately 1.5 km from Clarecastle village and just two km from the Ennis bypass link, this property, which occupies a 0.6 acre site, would make a perfect family home.

The internal accommodation com- prises a very spacious entrance hall- way, with understairs storage and direct access to the family room, reception and kitchen/dining rooms. The reception room has solid yellow birch, polished wooden flooring a bay window overlooking the landscaped

front garden and a large picture win- dow overlooking the rear gardens, there are also sliding double patio doors on the gable end overlooking surrounding countryside.

The kitchen/dining room has ce- ramic flooring, solid white oak wall, base and display fitted units with laminate work surfaces and ceramic tiled splash backs. There’s an inte- erated fridge/freezer and dishwash- er, electric double oven and ceramic hob. There is access from the kitchen to the family room, the utility and the attached garage. Meanwhile the dining room has double sliding patio doors leading to a large flagged patio area and the rear garden.

The formal dining room has solid

wooden flooring, ceiling coving, a corner feature fireplace with gran- ite base and wooden surround a bay window overlooking the front gar- den. Also on the ground floor is a well fitted utility room, a guest WC, and a garage (which could have al- ternative use as a home office or play room).

Upstairs, there are four large bed- rooms and the family bathroom. The master bedroom is en suite and all four bedrooms have fitted ward- robes.

Outside, there’s a large patio area to the rear, with countryside views.

For full details contact 065 6844448.

CRUEL pet owners took dumping to a new extreme when they flung a Iit- ter of kittens into a recycling bin.

The tiny creatures were only saved from their fate when their desperate cries were heard by a pub manager who went to investigate and found them dumped among the cardboard boxes.

Tailrace Bar manager John Ryan said the dumping of the helpless kit- tens was “the last straw” in the Par- teen pub owner’s decision to install concealed CCTV cameras to catch people dumping every kind of rub- bish at the recycling bins in the car- park.

“It was pouring rain and they were soaked through. I’d say they were about four weeks old. If they had been left there, they would have cer- tainly been killed by dogs or foxes or, if they had escaped that, they would have died of cold or starved. I can’t understand how someone could do that, just dump live animals and walk away.”

Animal welfare concerns have con- firmed that if the person or people who dumped the kittens is found, they will be facing prosecution for cruelty to animals as well as a litter- ing fine.

John and his staff at the pub adopt- ed the three tiny kittens and fed them baby formula until they had fully recovered from their ordeal before finding kind homes for them.

“We christened them all ‘Lucky’ because that’s what they were,” said John.

‘When they recovered, they took to following us around, bawling up at us for food. It was a heartless thing to do to dump them.”

The serious issue of dumping has plagued John and pub-owner, Ger Mulconry.

“People dump bags of household rubbish that have nothing to do with recycling or they bring their bottles but throw down the boxes and bags the bottles came in. We’re constantly filling our own bins that we have to pay to have collected with the rub- bish people dump there.”

As well as household rubbish, bags, boxes and now live kittens, John has also had to pick up dead dogs.

But footage from the hidden TV cameras — which can cover the whole car park — could be used to prosecute dumpers who don’t respect the facility.

“It’s what has to happen — that or the whole thing will have to go be- cause we’re picking up after people every day,” said John.

THE SOUTH East Clare show is now considered to be one of the top ten agricultural shows in Ireland and the 17th annual show at the weekend didn’t let the side down.

With 24 classes in the horse show event this year, 27 classes in the cat- tle section and 13 classes in the dog show, none of the four legged friends felt left out.

The home industries section was a major attraction as always, with the collective talents of the bakers, pre- serve makers and flower arrangers

of South East Clare making a lovely spread and a delicious task for the judges.

New to the show this year was the vintage classic cars day out, which was a big attraction.

As well as a festival atmosphere, there was the Best Dressed Lady competition, the Little Miss, the Bonny Baby and the Fancy Dress competitions.

Show Chairman, Pat Hayes thanked everyone involved in organising or helping on the day, particularly the landowners and main sponsor Tom Marsh.

CLARE had a strong representation at this year’s Lancome Irish Girls Close Championships that went ahead at Ballinasloe last week.

Day one opened on Wednesday and conditions proved blustery and windy throughout the course.

Renowned competitor Sarah Cun- ningham of Ennis enjoyed a suc- cessful opening round and advanced to the next phase of the tournament playing some solid golf.

Ciara Pender, also of Ennis, had a very memorable day and holed out

on the difficult par three eighth on her way to victory over Tara Grib- ben. There weren’t too many surpris- es on Wednesday, but unfortunately from a Clare point of view, Diandra O’Connell, who travelled to the Gal- way course in fine form and full of hope, was beaten by Zarah O’Reilly.

As the week wore on, Sarah Cun- ningham was the only Clare repre- sentative to make it to the semi final stage but she was pipped on the third play off hole. It was Kate Gallagher who put an end to Cunningham’s challenge and she went on to take the top prize.

ALMOST two years after the first emergence of the dreaded HSNI1 Strain of bird flu, its effects are still being felt across the world.

Even though Ireland has yet to con- firm a single case of the dreaded dis- ease, the related industry and social pass-times continue to be affected on an almost daily basis.

An example of this was seen last week when the Minister for Agri- culture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan, announced an immediate ban on pigeon racing to Ireland from France and the Channel Islands.

This action was taken following the confirmation of cases of HSNI avian

‘flu in swans in the Moselle region of eastern France and a subsequent deci- sion by the French authorities to ban pigeon racing throughout France.

Minister Coughlan also confirmed that her officials had been in close contact in recent days with colleagues in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Belfast and, given the all-island approach which the two Departments have been op- erating, said that a similar measure was also being introduced in North- ern Ireland today.

“The current ornithological advice available to the Department, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, suggested that the recently confirmed cases in the Czech Repub-

lic, Germany and France did not sig- nificantly increase the risk to Ireland and that the overall risk of the intro- duction of HSN1 avian “flu to Ireland remained low,” she said.

‘Nonetheless, these measures are appropriate and entirely consistent with the actions taken by the French and UK authorities.”

Racing between Britain and Ireland and throughout the island will con- tinue to be permitted.

Coughlan reiterated that, notwith- standing the current low risk to Ire- land, there was no room for com- placency and she urged continued vigilance among the general public.

She strongly advised the poultry industry of the need to maintain very

high levels of biosecurity and added that a considerable amount of infor- mation and advice, for the poultry industry and the general public is available at www.birdflu.ie

Poultry flockowners have also been reminded of the grant scheme, in- troduced by Minister Coughlan’s department, for the installation of water chlorination facilities in com- mercial poultry units.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s helpline to which unusual patterns of wild bird or poultry mortalities should be re- ported is 1890 252283.

IT seems that the European Om- budsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, is going to have to brush up on all things Irish, as it was revealed last week that at least three of the Irish Farming Organisation have lodged official complaints with his office.

The ICMSA and Farmers for Fair- ness in Europe (FFE), lodged a join complaint with Ombudsman, target- ing both the European Commission and the Council of the European Union on grounds of maladministra- tion by failing to ban Brazilian beef imports.

The complaint, which was drawn up in ICMSA Head Office, centres on what ICMSA President, Jackie

Cahill, has described as ‘the incon- trovertible evidence’ that the failure to ban beef imports from Brazil is in breach of EC law.

“We think we have identified the Commission’s vulnerable spot on this issue, which infuriates us all. The European Ombudsman func- tions in a similar way to the ombuds- men in member states – he must now undertake a full investigation of all the trails and reports drawn up by the Commission — including any that are as yet unpublished. He must then present his report with recommenda- tions to the European Parliament.

“The complaint is to be issued in the name of FFE and the presidents of the 12 associated farm organisa- tions and according to Mr. Cahill the

‘wriggle-room’ that the Commission have been using on the issue of Bra- Zilian beef will be severely circum- scribed by the formal complaint.”

The formal complaint is of the na- ture of a double-whammy in that the ICMSA/FFE complaint will also argue that the maladministration on the question of Brazilian imports coupled with the onerous regulations imposed on native European beef farmers amounts to an infringement of the rights of those farmers as Eu- ropean citizens as established and guaranteed by the European Court of Justice under the Treaty that estab- lished the European Community.

As a part of the FFE, the ICSA has also echoed the dissatisfaction of the ICMSA with the situation surround-

ing Brazilian beef.

“The Commission is failing in its legal duty to EU citizens by continu- ing to allow beef imports from Bra- Zil,’ said ICSA president Malcolm Thompson.

“The combined efforts of the or- ganisations in FFE are targeted at forcing the Commission to act on the clear veterinary evidence and other information collected by the Food and Veterinary Office of the European Union arising from nu- merous official missions undertaken by that office. In addition, FFE is confident that the Ombudsman will have to factor-in to his deliberations the complete ban on Brazilian beef imports operated by both the US and Australia.”

IT WAS a tale of two teams, two managements too.

Clare players and the backroom of Paidi O Sé, Vincent O’Connor and Kieran Kelleher made a hasty retreat to the dressing room. They wanted out of Cusack Park after the end of what has been a very disappointing year for Clare football.

Apart from the early National League wins over Carlow and Lei- trim, it was a harrowing year, poll- forked by some very disappinting displays.

Take your pick: Monaghan in Cu- sack Park, Roscommon in Hyde Park and worst of all Waterford in Fraher Field. Throw in this Tommy Mur- phy Cup semi-final before a couple of hundred, hence the rush for the dressing room.

Antrim were in no hurry. Play- ers gathered at midfield — first they warmed down, then manager Enda Gormley talked about the road to Croke Park.

Antrim are on that Dublin road and this was a big win, went Gormley’s line as his side exacted some revenge for their defeat to Clare in an All-Ire- land qualifier in Casement Park last year.

Then Gormley broke away to field questions and talked about the importance of this victory for the development of Antrim football. “Certainly at half-time we had a lot of work to do,” admitted the former Tyrone star.

“Clare definitely had the lions share of possession in the first half when

we got caught too deep at times. But in the second half our defence did very well and coped with what Clare could throw at us. We broke well from defence and set up some great attacks.

“A big this for us was midfield in the second half. Joe Quinn put on a great display in the middle of the park and fielded eight or nine ereat balls. That gave us a platform. We were putting good ball into the spaces and forwards ran on to it very well,” he added.

And, no forward impressed more than Conor McGourty who finished with a personal tally of 1-5. Gormley wasn’t surprised. “Conor McGourty is an outstanding talent and we knew that this performance was in him. He’s just one of a number of out- standing players in this team.

“We take a lot of heart from this result and are looking forward to the final. It’s great for these lads. It’s a long time since these footballers played a game in Croke Park. Many people have made little of the Tommy Murphy Cup but for this team and its development it’s very important.

“It’s a big stepping stone — we’ve said that we’re using this year’s Tom- my Murphy Cup to build for next year’s National League campaign. The fellas have responded really well and we’re looking forward to our day out in Croker.”

Clare, meanwhile, look towards a very uncertain future.