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ENNIS Samaritans are urging peo- ple not let their worries spiral out of control and to seek support for emo- tional distress this Christmas and during the coming year.

According to a new survey carried out on behalf of the Samaritans, over half of the population (59 per cent) in the Republic of Ireland has worried this year about debt and money.

The survey also found that exam stress and pressure to achieve high marks in studies were one of the big- gest worries for 52 per cent of young

people (aged 18 and 24), while lone- liness was one of the top worries amongst 17 per cent of young people (aged 18 and 24) compared to only eight per cent of older people (aged 55 plus).

Mary Lynch of Ennis and Clare Samaritans said: “In the last year, Samaritans received more _ than 375,000 calls in the Republic of Ire- land and many of them were about the worries identified in this survey, with approximately one in every ten calls linked to financial stress.

The poll of 1,000 people asked the public to identify their five big-

gest worries over the past year. After money, the other top-five sources of anxiety were problems in relation- ships with family and friends (re- ported by 38 per cent of people) and fears about job security (35 per cent) followed by concerns about physi- cal health (32 per cent) and domestic politics (28 per cent).

Ms Lynch said sharing problems allows people to cope better with life’s challenges.

“If people don’t talk about their problems, they can build up over time and spiral into more serious emo- tional distress. Sharing your troubles

can be a huge relief and is often the first step to finding a way of coping with the challenges that life throws at all of us. Samaritans-trained vol- unteers are available 24/7 to offer confidential support to anyone feel- ing anxious, unhappy or distressed this Christmas and throughout the coming year,’ she said.

The Samaritans offer confidential, non-judgemental emotional support on a 24-hour basis. They can be con- tacted by calling 1850 60 90 90, by email at jo@samaritans.org or face to face at the premises on the Kilrush Road in Ennis.

DOZENS of households in Newmar- ket-on-Fergus will receive special deliveries on Christmas Eve — in the shape of food hampers. Given the poor economic climate, demand for food has doubled this year.

The Obair Social Inclusion Project has teamed up with St Vincent de Paul for this year’s Christmas Food Appeal. Locals in the village have been very generous in donating food and this will be divided into hampers and distributed to families in need.

Trolleys have been set up in the Su- per Valu and Spar supermarkets in the village, while a collection also

took place at the four churches in the parish. The response has been very positive and locals are still being urged to donate non-perishable foods in the run-up to Christmas.

Several groups in the village are represented on the Social Inclusion Project committee. These include The Going Strong group, the Farm- ers’ Market, Meals on Wheels, the scouts, Brothers of Charity and Acorn Women’s Group.

“We were sponsored signs and money from Obair to advertise the food appeal and we have put signs on trolleys in our two supermarkets. They will put together hamper bas- kets and give them out on Christmas

Eve,’ explained co-ordinator Siob- han O’Driscoll.

She said that the demand has in- creased this year, compared to last year.

“We are hoping to do between 30 and 40 hampers. They will be given to the most vulnerable in the vil- lage such as the elderly or the un- employed. We have an increase in demand. It would be double what it was last year due to the economic climate. People are very good. They are coming in every day with new toys and books,” she said.

While sufficient toys have already been donated, foods will be accepted until Wednesday of this week.

“We are looking for non-perishable foods such as biscuits, tea, coffee, sugar, selection boxes, pasta, rice, jam and honey. People are great in these times,” she said.

While St Vincent de Paul has spear- headed a food appeal for many years, last year was the first time that the Social Inclusion Project got involved and the response has been phenom- enal.

“We started last year. There are a lot of new families in the village and there are a lot of elderly people. Some people don’t have a lot,’ said Ms O’Driscoll. Anyone who wishes to make enquiries about the food ap- peal should phone 061 368030.

A BUDDING east Clare writer has been short listed in the Concern

Cecil Woodham Smith Creative Writing Competition 2009.

Ana Flynn from Mountshannon was short listed for the senior cat-

egory of the prestigious international AMEN EOD

The talented young writer is a past pupil of Raheen Wood Steiner

School, Tuamgraney and the Alfa Project, Active Learning for Adoles- cents in Scarriff.

She is currently studying Televi- sion and Digital Film in Ballyfermot College of Further Education, hav- ing deferred, for a year, her place on the honours media degree course in Queen Margaret’s College, Edin- burgh.

Entrants to the Concern creative writing competition were asked to write a letter to President Obama on one of three critical issues; world hunger, climate change in the devel- oping world or child labour.

Ana wrote a letter highlighting child labour from the point of view of a 15-year-old girl from Kenya.

The competition received more than 800 entries from places far and near including Japan, Niger, Liberia, India, USA, UK and of course Ire- land.

Ana’s letter, along with other prize winning and short listed letters, has been published in a book

AN INNOVATIVE project by Kail- rush Community School was proving the ideal Christmas present for west Clare people at home and abroad, at the Christmas market in Kilrush on Thursday last.

The Kilrush secondary school de- veloped a 2010 calendar ‘Present- ing the Past’ featuring the people and places of Kilrush as part of a new Kilrush Local History Group, founded by teacher Laura Hogan in November 2009.

Principal Rock Kirwin – said, “Schools are the heart of every com- munity, so it seems only natural that we should take on the responsibility of researching and recording the his- tory of Kilrush town. We have great plans for our local history group.”

Ms Hogan said, “We’ve been con- sidering establishing a group like this for quite a while. As a history teacher, I’ve always been conscious of the rich historical heritage of the town itself and I’ve tried to use it in class wherever possible. I’ve worked with several classes completing projects on local history, and this is the obvious next step: involving the students themselves in researching and recording the history of their home place.”

The group’s first endeavour, the calendar, features many fascinating photos, which give a glimpse into the past. Many have not been widely seen before, like photos taken from the steeple of St Senan’s Church in one

Others show how iconic local buildings have changed, an 1888 photo of Patterson’s Stores is paired with a photograph of its demolition,

and an interior view of the Church of Ireland over 100 years ago is com- plemented with recent photos of its present use as Teach Cheoul.

The calendar is priced at €10, and has proved an ideal Christmas present.

“We’ve included lots of group pho- tos in the calendar. For example, Mags Rush gave us a fantastic photo

of a mouth-organ band formed in the CBS in 1949, and Pat Galvin kind- ly donated a picture of the Kilrush Scouts in 1954. I think people will be surprised by the amount of names and faces that they will recognise,’ said Ms Hogan.

The calendar is available at many different outlets in Kilrush and cop- ies can also be ordered through Kilr

ushLocalHistoryGroup @ yahoo.com or by visiting Kilrush Local History Group on Facebook.

FOUNDED in the wake of the first ever Lisdoonvarna Festival, the Celt- ic T-Shirt Shop has become an insti- tution in north Clare.

Later this month, the Lahinch shop will celebrate three full decades of making some of the most unique clothes ever produced in the county.

To mark this anniversary, the shop has been hosting a competition to find the best picture of someone wearing A Ora Cem Koroma OPM MESA SCoMUe)e (Cn

“It was just after the first Lisdoon- varna Festival that we started. My husband Mike did all of the posters for the Lisdoonvarna Festivals and

after the first festival we got the idea of making tee-shirts. It was just an experiment to see would they work, because in those days people didn’t buy tee-shirts the way they do now,’ said Lisa O’Connor of the Celtic T- shirt Shop.

‘We did more the next year and they worked well again and then Mike got the idea of putting a Celtic design on the tee-shirts. There was noth- ing like that happening at the time, I think there was one other company making tee-shirts with Leprechauns and silly slogans, which was just for tourists really. So we made up a few tee-shirts and took them around to the shops at the end of the season an

they liked them.”

As the tee-shirts became more pop- ular, Lisa and Mike obtained their current shop, right on the promenade in Lahinch and soon people from all over the world would be wearing their iconic Celtic designs.

“It’s exciting to think that people from all over the globe have been into the shop. Printing cannot be re- produced automatically and I think that is what has kept us apart from the other artificial printers around. It’s great that customers can come in and see the printing being done in the shop. There has been a lot of big changes in the business over the years.

“At the start it was all wholesale to the shops and then we got the shop ourselves. In the last year, business has really changed in Lahinch. There are fewer people around and it is tougher for everyone, So we will have to see what comes in the future.”

There is still time to enter the 30th anniversary photo competition, more details are available from www.celt- ict-shirtshop.com.

AS THE year draws to a close, the Burren Chernobyl Project can look back at 12 months of help and progress with some of the most needy people on the planet.

Work has continued at the chil- dren’s orphanages, where groups of volunteers have travelled throughout the year – bringing food, nappies and other invaluable resources.

Great work has also been achieved at some of the adult asylums, where teams of builders and painters have made the place a much more com- fortable one to live in.

“Tt been another really busy year,

with volunteers going out to Goro- dishche and Cherven and more vol- unteers going to Tarasiki for the building work and painting. We are particularly thankful this year given the changed economic circumstanc- es that so many people did volunteer for Burren Chernobyl – particularly the builders, who have had a very bad year. But we still have had build- ers going out to finish some of the building works in the Internats or asylums,” said Cormac McCarthy of the project.

‘Belarus never would have had the best economy anyway, but the eco- nomic downturn does effect every- one, SO we are very conscience that

we need to maintain the fundraising and the donations that people are so generous in giving. It’s always the more needy people who suffer most in a downturn.”

The project has currently a number of Christmas fundraising projects on the go and are also hoping to recruit an experienced pediatri- cian to travel to Belarus in the New Year. Any interested doctor should contact Brian O’Sullivan at medical @burrenchernobyl.ie.

“At the moment we are selling the Burren Chernobyl Christmas cards in all the towns and villages around Clare but if anyone can’t find them they can get them from the main

office. People can also go onto our website and get bank details there or they can donate through our site on my.charity.1e where people can do- nate using their Laser or credit card,” continued Cormac.

“If people want to put on their own fundraising event we can create a page for them on my.charity.ie. We are also looking for a doctor with pediatric experience to head out in the New Year in January with the head of our medical team.”

For more information on any of the projects being run by the Burren Chernobyl Project contact the main office on 7071130 or check out www. burrenchernobyl.ie.

Credit Unions to help bail out flood victims

can reveal that a key member of Cratloe’s his- toric senior championship winning management team could be line for the team trainer’s role.

Fiach O’Loughlin, who is credited with turning Cratloe’s season around after linking up with the squad mid- term, is hotly tipped for the team

trainer’s post — the job seen as cru- cial to the re-building process to be undertaken by Ger O’Loughlin, starting with the National League DOB h Baal las

Fiach O’Loughlin’s prowess as a trainer led Cratloe to their famous county final winning day on Novem- ber 1, ironically the same day that Clare senior players met and voted no confidence in 2009 senior man- ager Mike McNamara.

He came to the training role in Cratloe via professional rugby, hav- ing been a key member and captain of Shannon’s All-Ireland League winning team in 2009. Now, his me- teoric rise in hurling could be capped with landing the plumb county senior or bae cM Oe-BUOUDOTSam [Oly

However, Ger O’Loughlin, who was ratified as new senior man- ager for “at least two years” at last

Thursday’s annual Convention in the Auburn Lodge Hotel is remaining tight-lipped on the make-up of his backroom team.

“T’m only in the job since Thursday evening so the situation is that over the next 5 or 6 days, I will hopefully have that put to bed,” he told

THE acquisition of a county field for camogie was the main thread of the Clare Camogie AGM that was held in the Auburn Lodge Hotel last Wednesday evening. While the 2008 equivalent was a timultuous affair that spanned over two meetings and saw significant change at the top ta- ble, this time the executive presented an united front in the pursuit of their main goal, based on a long standing commitment from the Clare County Council to provide the organisation with a playing field.

In her annual address, Chairperson Orla Considine stressed the need to “continue to develop our game and the numbers of those that are play- ing.

“While this is relatively within our control, I also must appeal to those who can assist in this process.

“T call upon the Council to uphold the promise made to Clare Camogie all of 20 years ago to provide a play- ing field at Doora. This field has now been developed, there is a playing surface with goal posts and also a small all weather training facility attached. The field will be ready for the final touches and for playing in the new calendar year. I ask those in the position of realising this to now do so and be seen to stand behind their commitment and not let down the female population of this county yet again. Be assured that we will

not stand for anything less than the fulfillment of commitment already acknowledged. You the councilors and council management can be seen as the people who have looked at the development and appreciation of Clare Ladies in the important man- ner it deserves.”

Treasurer Michael Maher, along with announcing an annual profit of €490.89 in his report giving an over- all healthy balance of €5,695.94, also threw his support behind the iniative.

‘“T suppose one of the main reasons that you are not electing any new of- ficers, barring perhaps the PRO, 1s because of our expectation that we are going to have a pitch by this time next year. I think the people that are working in Clare camogie deserve to have the pitch and as far as I’m concerned, the only one that has to sign the dotted line is the County Manager. We have one hundred per cent support from all the County Councillors and I think that is a great achievement. It’s a great achievement for yourselves the fact that you are thought of so highly by the people that you have elected and I would ask now that the County Manager deliver the pitch.

“The promise was made, it’s there and ready to play on in early spring and it would be a great boost for eve- rybody who has worked so hard and get very little credit. So I’m asking the County Manager to deliver.”

THE Interprovincial Championships, that have been sponsored to the tune of over €500,000 by Clare’s Martin Donnelly over the past seven years, are on a “stay of execution” from the GAA’s top brass.

That’s the verdict of Clare’s county secretary Pat Fitzgerald, whose an- nual report praises Donnelly’s sup- port of the series, but hits out at the failure of the GAA authorities’ dedi- cation to the inter-provincial con- cept.

“Through Martin Donnelly’s un- flinching support the Interprovincial Championships are a competition that seems to have been drawing its last breath for the past few years has, almost miraculously, continued to

Survive, says Fitzgerald.

“But [I’m fearful that the compe- tition, which once had supporters streaming through the turnstiles in their droves, is on a stay of execu- tion.

“The GAA at national level has emphasised repeatedly that they are fully behind the inter-provincials but actions do speak louder than words. What it now needs to do is decide on dedicated dates for the competition and then, with sufficient time on their hands, press ahead with a proper and sustained marketing campaign.

“If that is done, the public might start voting with their feet once more and turn out in large numbers as in the days of yore,” adds Fitzgerald.