Category: News

FIFTH Avenue may have been covered in green white and gold this St Patrick’s Day, but the mayor of Clare was determined to have saffron and blue on show as he led a delegation to promote business in the county.

Mayor, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) led the 150-strong Clare contingent in this year’s New York St Patrick’s Day Parade with more than two million people lining the streets and US broadcaster NBC beaming live images across the United States of the Clare contingent.

The TV station’s commentators spoke of Clare’s tourist attractions, including the Cliffs of Moher.

The New York visit also featured a number of one-to-one meetings with key business and tourism representatives aimed at showcasing County Clare’s attractiveness as an investment location. Over 120 key business leaders in the United States attended a networking event in New York aimed at showcasing Clare’s attractiveness as an investment location.

Organised by Clare County Council and hosted by the Consul General of Ireland in New York, the event was attended by senior representatives and CEO’s of leading American companies, including Novartis, Horizon Medical Group, Abbott, OCO Global, Jana Foods and Medicomp.

The financial sector was strongly represented with the managing director of Credit Suisse and a senior analyst with JP Morgan attending. Clay Constantinou, a US Ambassador during former President Bill Clinton’s second term of office, also attended the event.

Mayor Hayes said the event provided Clare County Council with a rare opportunity to make a presentation to some of the key business and tourism players in the United States.

“The evening allowed for one-toone interaction with representatives of leading companies in the US. Specially prepared promotional material on the airport, Shannon Estuary and the renewable energy sector were distributed. This material was prepared with the support and assistance of companies in the Shannon region.”

The Clare delegation also attended meetings with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, CIE Tours International and Tourism Ireland.

AN EMERGING writer from Shannon was the toast of the Clare diaspora in New York and the families of victims of 9/11 after her play ‘Liberty’s Ladder’ hit the Broadway stage as part of the St Patrick’s festival weekend.

Kelly O’Keeffe and the cast of ‘Liberty’s Ladder’, which includes John Higgins, a brother of the President of Ireland, were honoured at a number of functions after the play was performed in the Stage Left Studio off Broadway and Rory Dolan’s in Yonkers.

The play, which commemorates 9/11 and Ireland’s links with America, was written by 31-year old O’Keeffe 10 years after her own brush with 9/11 – she was on her way for breakfast in the Windows of the World restaurant at the World Trade Centre when the first plane hit plane hit.

“It was a very special moment for the cast as they met family members directly impacted by 9/11 and the loss of so many people,” Kelly told The Clare People . “They were really moved by the play and thanked me and the cast for the moving tribute. Teresa Mullan, the mother of Michael Mullan, presented a memorial patch to us as a token of her appreciation.

“Rosaleen Tallon, sister of Sean Tallon, a firefighter lost in 9/11, invited us for dinner in Yonkers and we used Sean’s Ladder 10 firefighter helmet for the performances in New York. There were people in the audience who had been in America 55 years; others, like Denis Meehan, had travelled 150 miles from upstate New York.

“New York Irish DJ Tony Fallon, members of Clare County Council and the Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes, who have supported the project from the start, paid tribute to all involved and made a moving tribute to family members of those lost in 9/11,” she added.

AMATEUR dramatics are alive and well in Clare, as groups from the county won out at the prestigious West Clare Drama Festival.

The Doonbeg Drama Group won the confined section on their home turf, while Corofin Dramatic Society was equally successful in the hotly contested open section.

As well as winning the overall confined section of the festival, Doonbeg also won three subcategories for its performance of Conor McPherson’s play ‘The Weir’.

Mark May won the best actor accolade for his performance as Jack, while his co-star Ken Blowers was announced as Best Supporting Actor when adjudicator Myles Purcell made his decision known.

The play’s producer Mary J Egan was also honoured on the night.

The Amphitheatre Company from Kilkee also did well at the Doonbeg festival.

The group came third in the confined section for its production ‘Agnes of God’.

Kilkee’s Emer Gleeson also won the best category award for her portrayal of Agnes in the play.

Schull Drama Group came second with its production ‘The Birthday Party’ and the group’s Joan Giller won Best Actress for her role as Meg.

As well as winning the open section for ‘The Subject was Roses’, Corofin Dramatic Society also secured the Best Producer award, when John Clancy was declared the Overall Winner.

The group’s Maura Clancy was also named Best Actress for her role as Nettie Cleary, with James Raleigh declared Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Timmy Cleary.

Last year’s All Ireland winners Kilmeen Drama Group came second in the open section for its production of ‘The Weir’.

While Nenagh Players came third in the category with their play ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, it also succeeded in winning the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards.

Kevin Walshe won Best Actor for his Dr Jekyll while talented young actress Jenny Bracken won Best Supporting Actress for Elizabeth Jelkes.

The adjudicator Mr Purcell also awarded Doonbeg for producing the most entertaining play; Helen Aherne from Brideview Drama Group for the best comedy moment; and named Bridget Keaveney from Garrymore Drama Group as the most promising actor. Best Set went to Nenagh Players, as did Best Lighting Effect.

THE County Final of the Student Enterprise Awards supported by Clare County Enterprise Board was held in the West County Hotel, Ennis, on the March 8 last.

According to Sinéad Dixon of Clare County Enterprise Board, this year the county final has been a huge success with 260 students participating on 62 projects. The mentor visits provided by the County Enterprise Board for each team to work with a business consultant to help with their mini-company has also proven very beneficial to students getting their business plans completed. Sinéad said she was delighted to see so many innovative and good business ideas being showcased. Clare County Enterprise Board aims to foster and develop enterprise awareness among secondary school students and to use the experience of setting up and running an enterprise as the primary means of learning about self-employment as a career option – she said that speaking to some of the young entrepreneurs she was very impressed with the confidence, enthusiasm and business acumen displayed by the students. According to Sinead, participation in the Student Enterprise Awards Programme is a great learning opportunity for students as they gain invaluable, on the ground experience outside of the conventional classroom environment. The role of the teacher involved is also of great importance.

Clare County Enterprise Board sponsored all of the prizes at the event. The awards were adjudicated on by Seamus O’Sullivan and John Quinlivan, Business Consultants; Mary Rogers, Enterprise Ireland and Eoin Tynan O’Mahony, Manager of Plato Mid West. The first prize winners of the junior and senior categories will go on to represent Clare in the National Final of the Student Enterprise Awards, which takes place in Croke Park Dublin on April 18. For more information on the awards or on other services being offered by Clare County Enterprise Board contact Sinéad Dixon, Clare County Enterprise Board, Enterprise House, Mill Road, Ennis, by telephone at 065 6841922 or by email- ing sdixon@clareceb.ie. Winners on the day included: Junior Category Winner – First place went to Knot Me from St Anne’s, Killaloe; second place went to Green Lights from St Anne’s, Killaloe; and third went to Festive Fun, also from St Anne’s in Killaloe. Senior Category Winner First place was awarded to Inky Pinky from Colaiste Muire, Ennis; second to Rí Rá from Scariff Community College; third went to Vege Box from St Anne’s, Killaloe. The special award for Business Plan was awarded to Beatz, Colaiste Muire, Ennis, while the special award for Best Stand Presentation went to Fusion from St Joseph’s in Tulla. The special award for Innovative Concept was awarded to Communiflash, St. Patrick’s Comprehensive in Shannon. Teachers Draw went to Michele O’Sulluvan from St Joseph’s, Tulla.

A DREAM come true is how a Barefield pre-third level student described his experience of an all-expenses trip to Hong Kong last year.

In the meantime, Dan Hassett of Trinaderry was also awarded the President of Ireland’s bronze medal.

That accolade was achieved through a multi-activity programme which included community involvement working with inter-cultural youth groups, personal skills development with a voluntary network, physical recreation programme and an ad- venture journey which took him to the summit of Croagh Patrick and a 40km two-day cycle in Mayo also.

Dan was the first ever learner in the Youthreach Programme delivered by County Clare Vocational Education Committee in its Adult & Community Education Centre in Ennis to undertake a Gaisce award attempt.

Not alone is he now going for the silver level of the Gaisce awards but, by virtue of his exemplary success, the entire group of Youthreach learners in Ennis has begun to take part in the elementary level of the Gaisce adventure. Example is everything, it shows.

The Youthreach learners will, among other things, be out to match the achievements of students of St John Bosco Community College, Kildysart, who can boast a remarkable series of successes in Gaisce awards for several years.

Dan Hassett, son of Winnie and Brendan and sibling of five sisters and four brothers, put in for the trip to China after Eddie Keane, co-ordinator of the Ennis Youthreach Programme, indicated to his students that EIL Ireland was seeking four Youthreach applicants to join with an equal number from mainstream schools to sample what was on offer.

“My jaw dropped when I got a reply saying my essay application had been short-listed,” recalls Dan.

He will be forever grateful for the opportunity afforded by EIL Ireland, the learning organisation based in Cork. This is a not-for-profit body promoting relations through a range of cultural, educational and voluntary activities. Dan’s particular project is run in association with Hong Kong Commission on Youth.

“A truly life-changing experience I will never forget began on 9 August,” recalls Dan. “I had never seen a place like Hong Kong whose buildings are to close that all seem to be high-rise, apparently reaching the sky and going on for miles and million.”

Eddie Keane looks on Dan’s experience as a great honour for the Youthreach Programme and all associated with it in Ennis. Undoubtedly, he adds, it was a wonderful experience for someone never outside Ireland before. “Dan had to be admired for taking the challenge on board by virtue of the mentoring system in place in the Youthreach Programme,” he adds.

A FINAL exhibition of work by Roma families living in Clare will take place next month at Ennis Community College.

Clare Family Learning Project will welcome its Turkish partners for the final meeting and exhibition of families participating in the EU Comenius Regio Project.

The project has been successful in engaging Czech and Slovak families living in Ennis in a number of classes. In total, 42 adults are currently attending a number of classes including family music, family cookery and health and exercise with the Clare Family Learning Project.

Some of the participants have now moved onto more formal learning with workplace education and English language classes. Schools who are partners have now moved onto more formal learning with workplace education and English language classes. According to those involved in the project, schools that are partners have mentioned improved attendance by children of those parents. The exhibition takes place at Ennis Community College on April 30 and May 1.

A new booklet aimed at helping Czech and Slovak children to adapt to the Irish education system was launched in Ennis last September.

‘Helping Children To Do Well in School’ is collaboration between the Clare Family Learning Project, Ennis Educate Together School, Ennis Community College and Clare Immigrant Support Centre.

The views of Czech and Slovak parents with children attending Ennis Community College and Ennis Educate Together were sought during the preparation of the booklet, which received funding from the European Union’s Comenius Regio Project.

The Ennis project is twinned with a similar EU initiative in Aydin, Turkey.

The Clare Family Learning Project was developed by Clare VEC’s, Clare Adult Basic Education Service. The project provides support to parents helping their children’s literacy and numeracy skills.

THE last traces of the old Golf Links Hotel in Lahinch was demolished on Friday, as the area known as the “pump-house”, located on the southern most point of Lahinch beach, was removed by Clare County Council.

The structure, which has stood on the Lahinch seafront for more than 120 years, was originally built to service the old Lahinch Gold Links Hotel in 1890. The concrete pumphouse was used to pump fresh sea water to the hotel, which was then used to provide hot and cold, saltwater baths for its guests.

The hotel itself, which was located at the highest point in the village of Lahinch, was built to cater for the large number of tourists who flocked to play on the famed Lahinch Golf Course. It burned down in suspicious circumstances in the 1920s and the pump-house was all that remained of the historic structure.

Despite countless storms and high tides over the last century, the pumphouse has survived everything that the Atlantic Ocean has thrown at it over more than 120 years. The location, which could be accessed by a narrow cliffs side path, has been a popular teenage hangout for decades.

A spokesperson from Clare County Council confirmed that it has been concerned about the locations safety in recent times.

“The structure has become dangerous due to coastal erosion. Local groups have on numerous occasions in the past requested the council to remove this structure as it had become a gathering place for groups of youths and posed a serious health and safety risk to the general public,” said a spokesperson.

“So the works involved the removal of a serious health and safety risk.”

Over the last decade the pump- house has become a favourite hang out for the scores of local surfers who live in Lahinch and the surrounding area. A number of local surfers have expressed their disappointment that the structure has been removed.

It has also been suggested that one of the locals waves could be named in honour of the pump-house.

The old Golf Links Hotel was constructed a large tract of land which covered, in part, the area currently occupied by the Lahinch playground. It was build in close proximity both to the Golf Course and the Lahinch stop on the West Clare Railway, which is located on present day Station Road.

A NORTH Clare fisherman, whose customers have included Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, has earned a reprieve in a bid to keep his business on Liscannor pier.

At Ennis District Court on Friday, Judge Aeneas McCarthy ordered Clare County Council to cut through the “red tape” to facilitate William O’Callaghan (72), a man he described as having made a “major contribution to tourism in North Clare”.

Mr O’Callaghan, who has operated an angling tour business on Liscannor pier since 1984, was brought to court by the council for failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice served in 2009.

The case relates to a mobile home on Liscannor pier used as an office by Mr O’Callaghan. The court heard that the Council received a complaint about an unauthorised structure on Liscannor pier in April 2009.

Anne Colleran, executive technician and planning enforcement officer, told the court that the structure was deemed unauthorised as it had been put up without planning permission.

Ms Colleran said Mr O’Callaghan failed to comply with a notice from the council ordering him to remove the structure. She said that while there is no registered owner of Liscannor pier, Clare County Council is responsible for the maintenance of the area.

Ms Colleran said Mr O’Callaghan had applied to the land registry to take possession of the area of ground where his business is situated. The court was told that Mr O’Callaghan pays commercial rates to Clare County Council. Ms Colleran said the payment of rates did not “regularise the situation”. She said the council accepted that Mr O’Callaghan had operated a suc- cessful business from Liscannor pier for 27 years. She added, “He has our sympathy and he’d have our support if he went to an authorised structure.”

Solicitor for O’Callaghan, Micheal Glynn, told the court that his client had met with the council in 2009 in an attempt to resolve the matter. Mr Glynn said his client’s previous customers included world leaders such as Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and former President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery.

Mr O’Callaghan, a former schoolteacher, told the court that he had represented Shannon Development at major tourism conferences around the world. He said he had recently spent € 540,000 on a top of the range angling boat. He said he required an office on Liscannor pier to carry out safety exercises with customers. Mr O’Callaghan added that it was also vital to maintain a prescence on the pier during busy periods to prevent vandalism. He added, “If Clare County Council develop the pier, I’d be willing to surrender what I have as long as I am accommodated.”

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said that at a time when tourism is of such importance to the Irish economy, it would be in the interests of the local community, society and Clare tourism for Mr O’Callaghan to be accommodated. He said, “This man has made contacts all over the world, he is known all over the world.”

Judge McCarthy said the council should come up with some sort of plan to develop Liscannor pier to “circumvent the red tape”. He adjourned the matter until September 28.

THE felling of the last tree in the village of Ballyvaughan has provoked an angry row within the local community – with a number of local groups claiming that it was cut down illegally.

The tree was located in front of L’Arco’s Italian Restaurant in the village – a premises owned by former Clare TD, Madeline Taylor Quinn, and her husband George Quinn.

Clare County Council confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that no permission had been sought for any tree felling work to be undertaken in Ballyvaughan on or before February 29, when the tree was cut down.

A spokesperson from the Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns committee said the people of the town are furious that the tree was removed.

“There is a lot of upset and anger among the people up here.

“Every member of the Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns Committee has been inundated with calls about it so we decided to contact Clare County Council and see what could be done,” said a committee member form Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns.

“The council agree that the situation needs to be rectified. People are really very angry about this situation and want this rectified.”

A spokesperson from the Ennistymon Area Office of Clare County Council contacted the Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns Group last week, confirming the council intention to seek to restore a new tree to the site on the village main street.

In a statement released to The Clare People yesterday, the Ballyvaughan Community Development Group said they were very “upset” that noone in the village was notified before the tree was cut down.

“We are very upset that the tree has been cut down.

“The Community Development Group are surprised and upset that this happened and also with the manner in which this has taken place,” said the statement.

“We now want to work with everyone involved in this situation and insure that a solution is found which would see a tree being reinstated for the village.”

The tree itself was planted more than 25 years ago and is the last of more then a dozen trees which were planted in the village at that time.

A LEAVING Cert student from Clare has won the national Doodle 4 Google Competition. Last evening (Monday), Patrick Horan from Clonlara was announced as the winner of the competition.

A desire to turn back time and see how people lived in the past has won Patrick the fourth Doodle 4 Google competition. Patrick, a sixth-year student at St Munchin’s College in Limerick, looked to the past for his inspiration.The theme of this year’s competition was ‘I wish…’.

Commenting on the inspiration for his doodle, Patrick said, “Many of us look towards the stars to make a wish. I wish I could turn back time to see our world in past times. My doodle shows the mechanisms inside a clock slowly turning back the hands of time, making my wish come true.”

Patrick’s doodle will be seen by millions of users when it appears on the Google Ireland homepage on Friday, March 16. Patrick’s school will be awarded a € 10,000 technology grant, while both Patrick and his teacher will receive a personal laptop.

This is the second time a student from St Munchin’s has won the com- petition – Evan O’Sullivan-Glynn won the very first Doodle 4 Google competition in 2009.

Sophia Foster-Dimino, an official Google doodler, travelled from Google’s offices in Mountain View, California, to present Patrick with his award at a special prize-giving ceremony in Google’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin.

“This is my first visit to Ireland and, with over 2,300 entrants, it is obvious that Ireland’s reputation as a cultural and artistic leader in Europe is well deserved. The creativity exhibited by all of the five group winners was fantastic. I really struggled to pick the overall winner. I can’t wait to see Patrick’s doodle on the Google Ireland homepage.”

John Herlihy, Head of Google Ireland said, “The Doodle 4 Google competition shows the power of imagination and how talented Irish children are. Everyone involved should be extremely proud of their achievements. Google is committed to encouraging creativity and innovation amongst the next generation and the standards shown by this year’s entrants confirm that Ireland’s future is in safe hands.”