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A WEEK after the Queen’s historic state visit to Ireland, a city bearing the Royal Charter has emerged as the biggest obstacle to the € 30m windfall that would come to Ennis if it plays host to Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2012. The Clare People has learned that moves are being made within elements of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann to bring the traditional music festival to Northern Ireland for the first time in its history, with Derry emerging as a possible venue to play host to the 2013 Fleadh.

Sources within Comhaltas Ceoiltóirí Éireann have told The Clare People that any decision to bring the Fleadh to Derry in 2013 when it will be UK City of Culture could scupper Ennis’ 2012 bid.

“If it goes to Derry, the chances of it coming to Clare in 2012 will recede,” one Comhaltas insider revcaled this week.

“This is because the usual thing is for a town to get the Fleadh two years in a row, but giving it to Derry will strengthen Cavan’s bid to be given the Fleadh for a third year in 2012 before they would then hand over to Derry the following year.”

The precedent for Cavan to be given the Fleadh three years in succession is there as Tullamore hosted the festival in 2007, ‘08 and ’09, but Ennis is still seen as favourite to host what would be the 62nd staging of the event.

“Ennis put in a great bid,” the Comhaltas member revealed. “And it’s between Ennis and Sligo, unless this Derry thing takes off and happens, which is now a real possibility. But Comhaltas could be split on the issue. There are elements who want to bring the Fleadh to the north and the good- will of the Queen of England’s visit to Ireland in last week could strengthen that view, with traditional music seen as another bridge between Ireland and Britain.

“However, there are elements of Comhaltas Ceoiltóirí Éireann in the north who don’t what the festival in Derry in 2013, principally because it’s the British City of Culture and principally because the Fleadh is an Irish festival,” the spokesperson added.

The Ennis bid to host the 2012 Fleadh, which would be worth an estimated € 30m to the county, was launched in April when the local committee that draws together the local branch of Clare Comhaltas, Clare County Council, Clare GAA, Ennis Town Council and Shannon Development met with Comhaltas Ceoiltóirí Éireann chiefs.

The Clare submission identified 25 venues in Ennis that would facilitate the 2012 event that would cater for up to 200,000 music lovers from across the world, with new Clare County Council headquarters on New Road designated as the hub of operations.

Ennis previously hosted Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 1956 and 1977.

RUAN musician Tara Breen is living the dream she never had – within the space of five days, she’s showcased her considerable talents as one of the hottest prodigies in traditional Irish music before two of the most recognisable figures in the world.

On Thursday, the 21-year-old played before the Queen of England in Dublin Castle, while on Monday she moved down the road to College Green to play for US President Barack Obama.

“I can’t believe it really,” she told The Clare People on Monday. “To get the opportunity to play before one of them was great, but to be one of the few people for both the Queen and President Obama is unbelievable.

“I feel very privileged to have been given the chance. To be honest, I’m still in shock over it and it probably won’t sink in for a couple of weeks that I got the chance to play for them. It’s certainly a great memory to have,” she added.

The invitation to perform before Queen Elizabeth came from legendary traditional and folk musician Dónal Lunny, whose 2010 TG4 talent show called Lorg Lunny first exposed Ms Breen’s talents to a nationwide audience.

The programme led to the formation of the Ciorrus, a traditional group that also includes Clareman Dermot Sheedy that launched its debut album at last year’s Ennis Trad Festival.

“We got the call for the Obama gig,” Breen told The Clare People . “We were just told to be there at 3.30pm to play on College Green at 5pm. Coming so soon after playing for the Queen, it’s great.

“It was absolutely brilliant to play before the Queen. I don’t usually get nervous before playing a gig, but was petrified beforehand. Once we started, the nerves went and I really enjoyed the performance. Afterwards we got to meet her and I found her very ordinary. We were introduced to her and shook her hand. She had the banter with us and said she loved the music and the dancers,” she added.

THE first step towards the establishment of the first all-Irish secondary school in the county is being taken by the Clare Vocational Educational Committee, on foot of a mounting campaign by Irish language enthusiasts.

As part of this process, Clare VEC has embarked on a wide-ranging consultation process with members of the public on the future status of Ghaelcholáiste an Chláir in Ennis, an arm of Ennis Community College that has catered for the needs of those wishing to receive secondary education through Irish for nearly two decades.

The move by Clare VEC is in direct response to a decision taken last year to accept in principal a proposal to create a new standalone secondary school in Ennis where every subject would be taught through the medium of Irish.

“The Gaelcholáiste currently shares resources with Ennis Community College such as the science lab and music rooms. But it is short of space and, because of its reliance on the facilities of the community college, it is challenging to provide an Irish-speaking environment and the provision of all subjects to Leaving Certificate through Irish,” a VEC spokesperson

“Clare Vocational Education Committee is exploring several options to further develop and expand Gaelcholáiste an Chláir if there is sufficient demand,” the spokesperson added.

As part of the VEC survey to take place between now and deadline date of June 17, respondents are being asked their views on whether the Gaelcholáiste “should establish independent status and move to its own campus”, or whether the school “should remain as it is, operating within Ennis Community College”.

This project to establish all-Irish secondary education was born in 1993 when Ghaelcholáiste an Cháir opened. Since then the school has built up to a full 6 year secondary cycle with an annual intake of approximately 30 pupils.

The project was initiated by parents and involved polling parents of potential pupils as well as supporting the Vocational Education Committee and Department of Education to find the way to fund the project.

IRISH shoppers are clearly gasping for a taste of Clare after water produced and bottled in the Banner County became the best-selling product of its kind at one of Ireland’s largest retail stores.

Clare Spring Water, which directly employs 15 people and a further 11 through sales, was set up in 2009. Managing Director, Paul Connellan told a meeting in Ennis last week that Clare Spring had become a bestseller at Dunnes Stores over the past 12 months.

Mr Connellan recalled the company’s success at a meeting organised by the Clare branch of Network Ireland. Mr Connellan said that LEADER funding of € 200,000, secured through the Clare Local Research Company, had been hugely important in the establishment of Clare Spring Water.

Mr Connellan said the company, which produces water at its € 4.2 million plant in High Street, Lissycasey, has sought to ensure its competitiveness through careful control of costs and efficient waste management.

The company made history last year by becoming the first ever to produce a biodegradable plastic bottle, an innovation that helped it win an annual contract to supply 14 million bottles of natural spring water Schipol Airport in Amsterdam.

He said that research into the area of plant-based plastics had led to the development of the biodegradable bottle. He added that the Schipol contract had given “tremendous confidence” to the company, which also exports bottled water to the UK. He said, “Foreign markets are interested in what’s evolving and changing and innovative”. Mr Connellan said the company had received a “lot of goodwill and local support”.

A “HANDFUL” of sites in the Ennis area have been identified for a potential new town library.

Earlier this year, Clare County Council sought expressions of interest from the public in their efforts to identify a site/existing completed building for the re-development of the main public library and head quarters for Clare library service in Ennis.

The council was looking for a site of 1,600-1,800sq metres or alternatively an existing building with a floor area of up to 4,000 sq metres.

Speaking last week, County Librarian, Helen Walsh said there had been a good response to the appeal. “We wanted to see what was out there. We didn’t want to be overloaded so that’s why we were specific in the notice.”

She explained that any new site would have to meet a specific set of requirements in order to secure government funding. A new site, she said, would have to be in close proximity to local schools; be located in Ennis town centre and have sufficient space for parking. She said that a “handful” of sites have emerged and will now be further examined.

The current De Valera library building has been in use since 1973 but is now considered too small for the population of the town.

Ms Walsh said that the “size and history of Ennis demands that it have a good civic building”.

She added, “Some of the library buildings that have been built up and down the country over the past few years have been fantastic, award standard. That’s the kind of building we would be looking at. It would have to be a building for the future.”

Ms Walsh said that a site would have to be acquired before any approach could be made to the Department of Environment for funding.

She explained, “Any big capital projects like that, they would have to be built within a year. There could be no overrun into the next budget.”

The Post Office field had previously been identified as a potential site for a new library building. However, Ms Walsh said that the field “did not present as a site this time around”.

THE Irish tourism industry is being strangled by the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) system preventing the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector, the Director of the Shannon College of Hotel Management, Mr Philip J. Smyth has said.

In his keynote address at the 60th anniversary of the college last Friday, Mr Smyth said that Sunday trading has become a “write off” for many operators in the industry because of the JLC. Under the JLC, minimum terms and conditions of employment in the catering sector above and beyond the national minimum wage are set, including premium payment for weekend and overtime work.

He said that Shannon College is the only third-level college/institute in Ireland with a 100 per cent graduate employment rate. “The concept of having to protect workers in the tourism sector is outdated and the sooner we abolish the JLC, the sooner we will begin creating jobs and fulfilling the enormous potential of the industry,” he said.

Mr Smyth told the gathering of over 200 guests that the prospects for growth in the industry are being hampered by a lack of national pride in service delivery. “As a population, we do not have a sense of service to match our wonderful sense of hospitality,” he said.

Congratulating the Shannon College of Hotel Management – a subsidiary of the Dublin Airport Authority – on its 60th anniversary, Director of Shannon Airport, Ms Mary Considine said its dedication to excellence has been nothing short of remarkable and that the college “has made an enormous contribution to the hotel industry here in Ireland and, indeed, globally”.

“To think that today, in such a challenging global economy, graduates from the college not only enjoy a 100% employment rate but are essentially headhunted by some of the world’s leading hotel groups speaks volumes for the standards that the college continues to deliver,” she said.

Since the first class of 18 students joined Shannon College in 1951, the college has grown to accept 100 students each year. It now offers two level 8 degree programmes (BBS and BComm) in business studies and international hotel management. It currently has 400 students enrolled, 200 of them Irish and the other half from 25 countries across the globe. Current students are undertaking professional work placements in 100 hotels across 16 countries worldwide.

A FARMER who was verbally abusive to a garda and told her ‘you won’t take my land’ has been handed a one month suspended sentence.

Ger Neylon (50), whom the court heard has an address at Main Street, Tulla, appeared at Shannon District Court (sitting in Ennis) on Thursday.

Mr Neylon was charged with public order offences arising out of an incident at Sixmilebridge on April 22 (2010).

Insp Tom Kennedy said the accused was in an intoxicated state when he was noticed by a garda.

Insp Kennedy said that he became verbally abusive to the garda, to such an extent that he was arrested. He said that the man told the Garda that “you won’t take my land, you c***”.

Insp Kennedy said that Mr Neylon repeated the comments to the garda. The court heard that Mr Neylon is a single man, who has 57 acres of land, but is in receipt of farm assist payments.

Solictor for the man, Jenny Fitzgib- bon, made an application on behalf of her client for free legal aid.

She said that her client had been on the way home from a wedding in Limerick and had received a lift as far as Sixmilebridge. She said that it had been his intention to hitch back to Tulla.

She said it had been a ‘“long wedding’ and that her client could not recall the incident in Sixmilebridge. She said he realised that this is no excuse and that he wished to completely apologise.

Mr Neylon said, “I’m sorry. I apologise.”

Judge Joseph Mangan refused the application for free legal aid, saying that the man owned 57 acres of land.

He said the accused had missed a previous court date and now expected the state to pay his legal bills.

He said he was not impressed by the man’s behaviour, adding the comments, as described by Insp Kennedy, “speak for themselves”.

He handed down a one month suspended sentence and ordered that the accused enter a bond to be of good behaviour.

A ROMANIAN brother and sister who were caught with 25,000 cigarettes between them at Shannon Airport almost two years ago have been fined. Dafina Danila and Eugen Danila both with addresses at Lower Sherrod Street, Dublin 1 appeared at Shannon District Court on Thursday, charged with offences contrary to the Finance Act (2001).

The court was told that Ms Danila was stopped at Shannon Airport on November 7, 2009, with 13,800 cigarettes in her possession. The value of the cigarettes was € 5763.57. The court heard that the offences carry a fine and potential prison sentence.

Mr Danila was charged with having 12,200 cigarettes in his possession on the same date at Shannon Airport. The value of the cigarettes was € 5095.33.

The court was told that the maximum number of cigarettes allowed to a person returning from Tenerife is 250. The pair, who have no previous offences, were on their way back from Tenerife. State Solicitor, Martin Linnane, told the court that Ms Dafina has said that the cigarettes were for personal use. He said that in order for one person to consume over 13,000 cigarettes for personal use, they would have to smoke around 36 cigarettes every day for a year. Judge Joseph Mangan remarked that you would need a “spare chimney to get through that (amount) in a year”.

Judge Mangan said that a person who is returning from holiday may bring back a “moderate” amount of cigarettes for personal use.

However he added that there are other times when a person brings back cigarettes for the purposes of a more sinister application. Mr Linnane said he was not aware that this was the case. Judge Mangan imposed a fine of € 350.