Category: News

THE HEAD OF the Clare Garda Division has expressed concern at the high rate of retirements from the force, which will result in dwindling numbers involved in policing across the county. More than 20 gardaí in the Clare Garda Division – where the force had stood at around 320 – retired last year and at least 12 are expected to leave the force this year. A recruitment embargo means that no new gardaí will be trained in the next few years. Chief Supt John Kerin is very much in favour of community policing and ensuring significant numbers of gardaí are visible on the streets. Yet, some decisions will have to be taken in an effort to cope with the decreased numbers.

WHITEGATE businesswoman Deirdre Collins has shown she’s got great taste, having nabbed a Gold Star at the Great Taste awards.

The food science graduate has gone from taking home a day’s pay of just € 40 from her stall at the farmers market to a position where she has won a prestigious award, launched her ‘Eat Well Be Happy’ range into the UK market and is employing five people.

Now she is about to officially launch the new product which won her the Gold Star – her Thai butternut squash and lentil meal.

Already Deirdre has secured orders from stores countrywide and, since she launched on the UK market six months ago, Dee’s Healthy Burgers range is being stocked in The Health Store, Queenswood Foods and Rainbow Wholefoods.

Her meat-free feeds can also be found in the cold compartments at Dunnes, Supervalu, Centra and Superquinn.

From humble beginnings in 2009, the enterprising Clare woman has stormed ahead.

“I graduated in food science so I know a bit about what goes into food and, more importantly, what I don’t want to go into my food. I started really reading labels and you wouldn’t believe all the things that are added to foods which are supposedly healthy. So I decided to start making my own,” she told The Clare People .

From selling the product wrapped in paper at markets and often taking home little or no money for a lot of work, Deirdre decided to take the idea up a notch. “We moved on to cooking them (the burgers) at agricultural shows as a healthy alternative fast food and one which coeliacs and vegetarians can eat.”

Widely recognised as being one of the most successful business ideas showcased on the 2009 season of Dragons’ Den, Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy range has been steadily growing in popularity among a diverse customer base of vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and anyone keen to follow a healthy balanced diet.

“Over the last two years, it’s been full steam ahead for the company and our brand. We’ve recently hired two new staff and increased the number of stockists we supply across Ireland. At this stage, we’re in the chilled grocery departments of the main supermarket multiples and convenience stores, including Dunnes Stores, Tesco, SuperValu, Centra and Superquinn.

“We’re also stocked by numerous independent health stores and gourmet food halls throughout the country. Now that Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy logo has become a familiar sight in retail outlets throughout Ireland, we’re thrilled to be taking the next step by beginning to export. It’s certainly an exciting time for the business.”

THE Clare home which was once owned by Lady Gregory and where WB Yeats was a regular visitor has been put up for sale.

The 18th-century Mount Vernon is situated close to the dramatic shoreline of the Atlantic Coast, near New Quay, and overlooks the cliffs of Aughinish. It was once the summer home of art collector Hugh Lane and later passed to Lady Augusta Gregory of Coole Park.

The house was originally built for Sir William Peerse of Roxboro, a friend of George Washington and a soldier who served in the US War of Independence.

The three tall cyprus trees in the garden of the house are believed to have been a gift from George Washington and the house itself was named after Washington’s residence in Virginia.

After the property passed to Lady Gregory, it saw as guests many of the artists and writers who were the force behind the Celtic revival. WB Yeats, AE (George Russell) Synge, Sean O’Casey and George Bernard Shaw all stayed and worked at Mount Vernon after it passed from Hugh Lane to his aunt, Lady Gregory.

The house boasts fireplaces designed and painted by pre-Raphelite painter Augustus John, as well as other period items.

The reception rooms feature painted panels from Sir William Gregory’s time as Governer of Ceylon.

The five-bed property is on sale, along with walled gardens and six acres of land.

There are also separate servant or guest quarters.

However, for those interested in buying a slice of history, the details of the asking price have not been disclosed, with prospective buyers advised to contact the auctioneers, Premier Property Ireland, to know more.

MANY tributes have been paid this week to the late Mary Bredin, who was Ennis’ link to the silver screen thanks to her name appearing on the credits of a string of major Hollywood films in the 1960s and ‘70s.

This brush with fame and celebrity has been recalled by members of the wider Bredin family following her sudden death at the age of 72.

Ms Bredin trained as a hairdresser in the 1950s, serving her apprenticeship with Kay O’Grady on Parnell Street, before opening up her own salon above Moloney’s shop on the same street.

However, it was her move to London in 1959 that launched her career as the ‘hairstylist to the stars’, as her niece Shirley Bredin told The Cla re People this week.

“She was itching to go travelling and she was only around 20 when she went to London, working in the West End. She got work with the British film industry and through this she met Raquel Welch,” she revealed.

“She always wanted to go to America, but it was hard to get a visa, but was able to go over when Raquel hired her as her own personal hair stylist. She travelled everywhere with Raquel and worked on a number of films with her,” she added.

Her first break in Hollywood came with the 1968 film, Ina dmissa ble Evidence that starred James Coburn, James Mason, Ian McShane and Raquel Welch.

Bredin was also associated with Welch in a host of other films, working with her as lead hair stylist and supervisor in films such as Ha nnie Ca ulder

THE new € 2 million Killaloe Canal Improvement Works project that was officially opened last week can be the spark for an upsurge in tourist traffic and activity along the Shannon navigation system.

That’s according to the coalition of forces that brought the ambitious project to fruition over the past year – Fáilte Ireland and Waterways Ireland, who spearheaded the key improvement works in Killaloe as part of a Lough Derg initiative also involving Shannon Development as well as Clare and Tipperary county councils.

The project involved the laying of 755 metres of moorings, the underpinning of the old Killaloe canal wall, the installation of the flood control gates and the creation of a looped walk along the shore and canal wall.

“Killaloe is a key destination and gateway in the lakelands and inland waterways area for domestic and internaitonal visitors,” said the Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland.

“The development here in Killaloe is a key part of our strategy in Waterways Ireland and is key in encouraging further economic activity in the town and indeed the wider Lough Derg area,” he added.

“The Killaloe canal signifies Fáilte Ireland’s commitment, as the national tourism development authority, to ensuring that there are plenty of reasons for visitors to come and indeed return to Clare, this year and into the future,” said Fáilte Ireland’s Fiona Monaghan.

“The improvement works undertaken in Killaloe have been extensive and will prove important in increasing visitor numbers to this very scenic area of the mid west,” said the Minister for the Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan in officially opening the new facility.

“This project funding jointly by Fáilte Ireland and Waterways Ireland, will make an excellent facility for walkers, tourists and those who enjoy waterway activities. This development will only add to this region’s reputation as one of Ireland’s most attractive and enjoyable destinations for visitors, from home and abroad,” he added.

The project was underataken as part of the wider development of the inland waterways system from Fermanagh as far as Limerick under the working title of Product Development Studies for the Lakelands and Inlands Waterways area.

The studies chart the future development of tourism and recreation in the inland waterways, with the new Killaloe facility being held up as a prime example of the development of top-class facilities.

THE areas of children’s rights and children’s education will dominate discussion at the 2011 Merriman Summer School, which begins in Lisdoonvarna next week.

Directed this year by Prof Nóirín Hayes of DIT, an expert in early childood education and children’s rights, it will address issues relating to Irish childhood past and present and consider a vision for the future. ‘Changing Irish Childhoods’ is the title and the school will run from August 17-21.

The school will be opened in the Pavillion Theatre, Lisdoonvarna by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD. Speakers and panellists include Fintan O’Toole, Mary O’ Rourke, Joseph Dunne, Maria Corbett, Carl O’Brien, Fergus Ryan, Sheila Greene, Dympna Devine, Brian O’Neill, and Siobhán Parkinson. The closing lecture will be given by the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Michael D Higgins. Topics will range from exploring the boundaries between childhood and adulthood, to children and the new media.

There will be daily lunchtime poetry readings during Cúirt an Mheán Lae, with one of Ireland’s most distinguished poets, Eavan Boland, reading on August 18, followed by readings by Gabriel Rosenstock and Peter Sirr.

Morning seminars in Irish and English delivered by a range of experts will deal with subjects as diverse as Naonrai Gaelacha, assisited immigration to New Zealand for workhouse girls in the 1870s and debutantes in 18th-century Limerick.

A special session on youth mental health and well-being will include a presentation on a collaborative project by artist Seamus McGuinness and psychiatrist Kevin Malone, and a dramatic presentation from Jigsaw, a Youth Mental Health group from Galway.

There will be walking tours of Lisdoonvarna, book launches and, of course, the perennially popular Club Merriman in the evenings.

Full details of the programme, including information on the morning seminars, as well as information on the speakers, registration and accommodation are on www.merriman.ie.

A PACKAGE containing € 207,000 in cash which was detained by Customs at Shannon Airport may be linked to a sweepstakes scam, a court heard yesterday.

The cash was detained in May of last year and Customs officers have since been given time to investigate the circumstances surrounding its discovery, after they made a number of applications before the district court.

The investigation is ongoing on an international scale.

A fresh application was made before Ennis District Court yesterday, where Customs sought an additional three months to investigate the case.

Patricia Smullen, an officer with the Revenue Commissioners, told the court that cash – which was in seven currencies – was seized on May 17, 2010.

“I have reasonable grounds to suspect the cash is criminally linked,” she told the court.

The court was told that the company which it is alleged owns the money claimed it was involved in mail marketing.

However Ms Smullen said this has not been supported.

She said it is believed the money may be linked to a “sweepstakes scam.”

She said that some of the written information obtained as part of the case – which was in Japanese – referred to winnings, when translated to English.

Ms Smullen said it was a “very complex case” and the investigation is ongoing in a number of jurisdictions.

Solicitor Caitriona Carmody told the court that she had previously represented a company in relation to this case, but she did not have any instructions for yesterday’s application by Customs.

Judge John O’Neill said he noted the evidence from Ms Smullen and granted the application “on the basis of the reasons outlined”; that it is a “complex” and “ongoing” matter. The extension was granted until November.

The court heard previously that Customs has sought details of the ownership, source and intended use of the cash and further time was required for this to be investigated. Enquiries have taken place in the UK, Australia and a number of other jurisdictions.

The package was detained by Customs officers, after an individual arrived in to the airport from The Netherlands on a private aircraft.

THE fact that two priests are being ordained in the Diocese of Killaloe within weeks of each other is a sign of hope and encouragement.

That’s according to Diocesan communications officer Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who said the ordinations of Fr Ger Fitzgerald and Ger Jones create much positivity.

Fr Fitzgerald, from Castleconnell in Limerick, has taken up a post in Ennis, having recently been ordained, while Ger Jones from O’Briensbridge will be ordained on Sunday, August 21. He will be based in Nenagh.

“It is a cause of huge joy to us in the Diocese to welcome two new priests. It’s a wonderful sign of hope. It gives us great encouragement in our Ministry that young men are willing to take on that challenge,” said Fr Quinlivan.

“The priesthood is a wonderful, fulfilling life. It is filled with more joy than sorrow. It is a source of joy and true happiness and fulfillment,” he said.

He believes that despite the negativity surrounding the Church, overall there is a positive attitude towards priests.

“A lot of what has been spoken about in the public domain in relation to priesthood has been largely negative. Yet we are all deeply enriched by it. The vast majority of our people are still phenomenally positive towards our clergy,” he added.

“We are no longer perceived as being on a pedestal; rather we are seen as we walk alongside people. We don’t stand ahead or behind them,” said Fr Quinlivan.

“In recent times the number of young men considering and actually pursuing a vocation to the priesthood has declined.

“This year is very special for us (with two ordinations). We currently only have one student studying for the priesthood in the Diocese,” he said.

He said that the trend of clusters of parishes – whereby parishes are grouped together – which have been established in recent years is poised to continue. This is necessary due to a shortage of priests.

“One of the things that we would always do at an ordinary ceremony is we welcome a new brother into the priesthood. It’s like becoming part of a close family. We work closely together.

“Clusters are important in that this is the way we are meant to administer to others, to work together, to bring about change,” said Fr Quinlivan.

A NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS car enthusiast who has had two major organ transplants is revving up to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation.

Brendan McCarthy underwent a heart and lung transplant in 2000. Five years later, he returned to hospital for another lung transplant. Brendan was forced to undergo the double transplant after being born with a congenital heart condition.

Now Brendan and fellow Newmarket man James Shanagher are aiming to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation by setting off on a sponsored ‘Wheels of the West’ drive around parts of North Clare and South Galway.

However, to take part in the event, drivers’ cars must fall into a specific category. Brendan explains, “It’s been done with the VAG club – Volkswagen and Audi club – so anybody can take part as long as they own a Volkswagen or an Audi.”

After receiving the support of the IHF, Brendan was keen to support the work of the foundation.

He says, “I like driving and I thought this would be a good way to raise money for the Irish Heart foundation… Every year the Irish Heart Foundation helps fund research to help prevent disability and death from heart disease and strokes. This is the reason behind starting the wheels of the west charity drive.”

The drive will set off from Glór car park in Ennis on August 20 at 11am. Brendan says, “We will then continue on to Lahinch followed by the Cliffs of Moher, Liscannor and Ballyvaughan, finishing back in Ennis. On each stop, we will be fundraising on the streets wearing branded t-shirts and using brand buckets all with the logo of the Irish Heart Foundation. The foundation has agreed to send all this equipment to us and has said they are 100 per cent behind the drive.”

Brendan aims to raise € 10,000 and hopes to attract the support of Clare businesses to help him achieve his target.

Anyone wishing to donate can contact Brendan on 087 3885116 or Jamie on 087 7871870 or email wheelsofthewest@gmail.com.

SOME of the Banner county’s finest baking proved tempting enough for one of the biggest names in Hollywood to make a brief stopover in Ballyvaughan last month.

Acclaimed director Steven Spielberg returned to the north Clare village three weeks ago for a bite to eat at the Ballyvaughan Tea Rooms.

The American’s private jet made a stopover in Shannon Airport while en route to the royal wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco. And the chance to taste another slice of homemade baked mixed berry cheesecake was enough to persuade the Oscar-winning filmmaker to spend three hours in Ballyvaughan.

“When he came in, he said ‘I’m back for the cheesecake’. It was a bit surreal,” said Alan Clarke, who, along with Jane O’Donoghue, runs the Ballyvaughan Tea Rooms.

The 64-year-old sat with a group of 10 friends and family members at the back of the premises.

Alan said, “That was the only thing he wanted, a bit of privacy. He’s a very, very nice man, down to earth and his wife is a lovely woman as well. No airs and graces. They just wanted to be treated like normal people.”

Spielberg previously visited Ballyvaughan in 2009 and is known to be a big admirer of the Burren region.

Alan said, “It was a bit surreal to meet him once. You wouldn’t expect him to come back again. You see this guy sitting at the Oscars, one of the most high-profile directors in the world and you never expect him to be sitting down in front of you on a Saturday afternoon. It was unexpected and pleasant.”

He continued, “The last time he came, he loved the cheesecake. He loves the Burren and he loves coming to Ballyvaughan. He’s very open and vocal about it.”

After finishing his meal, Spielberg posed for photos with Alan, Jane and staff. He clearly enjoyed his latest sample of Clare’s hospitality, telling Alan and Jane, “I’ll be back again.”

The Ballyvaughan Tea Rooms were opened by the O’Donoghue family in 1981.