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AN INTERNET posting that invites people to take a trip down memory lane has become a huge hit with 30 somethings from Ennis.

‘You’re a true 30-something from Ennis if you remembet…’ has so far attracted comments from 814 users of the social networking site Fa- cebook. Users are asked to submit their recollections of life growing up in Ennis. The thread, first posted in early January, catalogues the events, buildings and people that made up the social scene in the county capital throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Many of the comments posted on- line refer to former shops, pubs and fast food outlets.

One user recalls “Buying a blank video tape in Hurdy Gurdy’s for £13, taping the Friday night movie on RTE, watching it the following day and wondering, in awe, if technology like this could ever be equalled…”

Another writes that “you’re a true 30-something from Ennis if you re- member when the Queen’s disco gave a dinner of roast chicken, chips and peas, and gravy, and all for a fiver”.

Discos at the Cloughleigh Commu- nity Centre, Chapel Lane are also re- called, as is the Little Theatre Café, which one Facebook user says had the “best ice-cream in the world with the sweets on top”.

Another comments that true En- nis 30-somethings will remember “Smyth’s on Carmody Street and Broderick’s and Arthur’s on Parnell Street where you could buy loose eye N | Rae

Knox’s supermarket, Crubeens and a chip shop in Chapel Lane, Layden’s Pub in the market and Denis Moran’s — “the only place where you could buy net curtains and a bra at the same time” – are among the other old

Ennis businesses recalled.

One post remembers, “When Cheers (pub) first opened and they had the Cheers Ennis logo on all the pint glasses and the ashtrays, everyone had one! Place was robbed of glasses and ashtrays every night haahah.”

The price of fast food is a popular topic, with one post wistfully recall- ing when a bag of chips in Enzo’s cost SOp and another noting that a bag of chips in Oodles, formerly located at

Drumbiggle, cost 30p.

The heyday of bands like Bitter Harvest who made up the local mu- sic scene in Ennis is also remem- bered with one user commenting that “You’re a true 30-something in En- nis if you remember The Big G (Gen- erator) on bank holiday Monday’s in Henry J’s.”

Another person recalls, “Taking that long dark road to the rugby club to hear Bush Plant… and then trying

to find your way back.”

School memories also figure prom- inently throughout the list with one person recalling former principal of Ennis National School “Gary Stack giving a free for stupidity against you on the hurling field in the “Nash.”

THERE’S a great thirst in Tulla for cups of tea, coffee and, later in the day, something a bit stronger.

Friends and neighbours will be drinking up on Friday, February 12 when local women, Kay Madden and Lavender Wright have their an- nual ‘open house’ serving cuppas in a good cause.

Kay and her friend and neighbour, Lavender, have been hosting a coffee day in Main Street for 12 years now in aid of the Clare 250 Cancer Cen- tre to raise funds to send patients to Lourdes.

Kay is modest about the amount raised last year because the pair don’t like anyone calling to feel un- der pressure to donate any specific amount.

‘“Let’s just say it was a significant amount and it sent a good number of people to Lourdes. We just put a box by the door and people can donate any amount they want. We just keep the tea and coffee coming. We want it to be another great community day,” said Kay.

Friends, neighbours and the wider community are all invited to call to number 23, between 10am and 10pm, for a hot cuppa, soup, lovely home baking and even an Irish coffee.

The two women are no strangers to the seriousness of cancer, having both walked that road ten years ago.

“I was nominated back then to go to Lourdes and I really believe that the strength I got from that trip and all the support and help I got were what turned me around,” said Kay.

Over the last twelve years, Kay and Lavender, with the support of neigh- bours and friends, have raised money every year through the coffee days, car boot sales and donations.

“T really want to thank my neigh- bours and friends. They have been SO supportive to us. They come along and help us set up in the morn- ing, they make the tea and coffee and Irish coffees and at ten at night they help me wrap up. They’re wonderful. They have me where I am today,” said Kay.

Both Kay and Lavender have had to confront dealing with the terrify- ing disease so they know how im- portant care, research and the moral and emotional support offered by the people who take part in the Clare 250 is. Apart from the good cause, the day is an occasion where neigh- bours and friends come to call, sit down and take time out.

“One of the highlights of the day is when the children get off school and they come in. It’s great for the younger people to be part of this

community day.

“We have everyone – older people coming after they’ve collected their pensions and children coming after school – it’s a real community day, a team effort and that’s why it’s so special,” explained Kay.

Clare hits the sweet spot in Lonely Planet guide

BEN Escorcio is going for all Ire- land glory, having already won West Clare’s Got Talent and numerous other competitions in his young life.

He will showcase his singing abil- ity this Sunday evening on the popu- lar RTE television competition, The All Ireland Talent Show.

The teen will not only represent Clare but the whole of Munster when he does battle for judge John Cree- don’s team.

The second-year student in St Flan- nan’s College, Ennis, has not revealed the song he will sing in an effort to

make it to the semi-final, but he is hoping the people of his new home in Milltown Malbay, Clare and Munster will like it.

Born in London, Ben moved to Australia with his parents Sandy and Leo, and his brothers when he was young. He went to school there- and was educated before the family moved to Ireland and settled in Mil- town Malbay.

Ben is no stranger to performing, competition or even television. Last year he won not only the local com- petition West Clare’s Got Talent, but also made it to the final of RTE 1’s ‘Jam the Musical’.

While living in Melbourne, he was part of the largest dramatic society in the city. As well as playing a main role in ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Oliver’, he also had a part especially written into “The Pirates of Penzance’, and won the Guild of Victoria.

On moving to Clare, he continued to work on his singing. Just months in the county, he joined Clare’s famed Lismorahaun singers, and took up singing lessons with the choir’s founder, Archie Simpson.

Then a few short weeks ago, the talented teen auditioned for the All Ireland Talent Show in Cork. On the first day of auditions, John Creeden

put Ben through to his final 16.

“Tt was brilliant. When John said I was through, I could have run and shrieked with joy. Luckily I remem- bered I was on camera,” he laughed.

On day two of the auditions, the judges had to narrow down their se- lection to just eight acts and Ben was once again called up.

‘As soon as we got back home, we began brainstorming for song ideas, with only a few weeks to prepare,” he said.

GARDAI investigating the death of Brian Casey last night issued a fresh appeal for information – in advance of the file on the case being sent to the DPP this week.

The 26-year-old from Lissycasey sustained serious head injuries in an incident in Ennis on St Stephen’s Night and died in hospital two days later. After the file is received by the DPP, a decision will be taken on whether charges will follow.

Two men are charged with as- sault causing harm to Mr Casey, at O’Connell Square, Ennis, on De- cember 26/27. The accused are Har- ry Dinan (29), of Waterpark Heights, Ennis, and his nephew Kevin Dinan (22), of Clarehill, Clarecastle. They were charged on December 28 and re-appeared before Ennis District Court on Friday where they were further remanded in custody to ap- pear again next Friday week.

A team of gardai have been work- ing on the investigation and the case file is nearing completion. Several statements have been taken and CCTV footage from the area has been viewed.

FIRST year students from Mary Im- maculate Secondary School in Lis- doonvarna have been chosen to take part in a pilot EU project to explore the European Charter of Human Rights.

The Mind Mosaic project, which is being trialed by the Léargas group in just 13 Irish schools, aims at helping

secondary school children to come up with their own opinions about the charter. The school which does the best will win the chance to see their ideas turned into a giant mosaic by a professional artist.

‘The idea is to develop the kids un- derstanding of the European Charter of Human Rights. The charter itself is quite technical so what we have been working on is finding ways of

helping them to understand the char- ter and how it impacts on their own life,” said teacher Shane Slattery. “Over the weeks they are being asked to try and understand what the charter is about and put it into their own words. The next step is to take the words of the charter and then come back with their own ideas about it. So they might draw a picture about what freedom means to them

or write a poem about equality.”

More than 300 children are tak- ing part in the project across five EU countries. If the students in Lisdoon- varna find the course acceptable, it may be rolled out to every EU sec- ondary school in the coming years.

“We have been compiling all the work here on the display wall in- cluding the pictures and poems that the children have made. The idea 1s then that, if it’s good enough, some- one will come along and construct a physical mosaic from their work,” continued Mr Slattery.

“We have a lot of work done al- ready. Right now we are taking all of our rough work and putting them together for the mosaic. The kids re- ally like it – it’s very hands-on from their point of view. They can have discussion and really get involved in it, rather than just reading about it in a text book.

“Our job after this is also to as- sess this as an educational tool. Some parts of it are quite difficult for them to understand, like some of the words, because it is essentially a legal document.

‘“[ have been keeping a record of the progress and when we are finished I will compile a report on how we have got on with the project as a class.”

Funding not exactly flooding in for victims

LEAVING cert students are being urged to look at the agri-food sector when deciding what to put down on their CSO form with the sector be- ing branded as a central part of the new smart economy and one of the leading areas which will help lead Ireland out of recession.

Agri Aware last week launched a

new campaign to help show inter- ested students where they can go to find a route into the industry. The campaign, which is called ‘Food Routes — Your Guide to Agriculture and Food Courses’ includes a the booklet and website and has been compiled with the help of Teagasc and the ASA (Agricultural Science Association).

“This is a great time to consider

a career in this area. With exports worth over €8 billion, the agri- food industry has been indentified as key to the economic recovery of our country and of huge strategic importance for food security,” said Agri Aware Chairperson, Mairead oay

“T encourage any student with in- terest in industry to check out this resource. A fulfilling career is read-

ily available for hard working and enthusiastic graduates.”

According to the Head of Educa- tion at Teagasc, Paddy Browne, the new resource will help students and teachers alike to get useful informa- tion about agri-food industry.

“Never before has there been so much debate on agri-food related issues such as climate change and food security — it is a very exciting time for the industry, with equally exciting opportunities available in Ireland and around the World,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Clare TD and Junior Agriculture Minister, Tony Killeen (FF), has reminded growers across Clare that the closing date for re- ceipt of applications for the third round of the grant aid scheme for the development of the horticulture sector is February 19.

“This aid, which is set at 40 per cent (50 per cent in the case of young farmers) of total eligible capital in- vestment, will fund projects in com- mercial horticultural production carried out during 2010,” he said,

“The scheme covers all horti- cultural sectors – protected crops, nursery crops, field vegetables, soft fruit, apples, beekeeping and in limited circumstances mushrooms – and is aimed at assisting growers to efficiently produce high quality products in what is now a very com- petitive market.

‘There is a need to sustain exper- tise within the sector and maintain production capacity to maximise volume and food security.”

FIANNA FAIL county council- lor Pat McMahon has called on the Minister for Transport to revise his view on funding for damage caused to roads during the recent bad weather.

Minister Noel Dempsey has said that additional money will not be made available to local authorities to repair roads damaged in recent weeks. How- ever, his party colleague, Councillor Pat McMahon said the statement is “outrageous” and has called on the minister to rescind it.

The Newmarket-on-Fergus council- lor made the comments during a de-

bate on roads at a meeting of Shannon area councillors last week. He said the minster was “irresponsible” to make such a statement.

“He’ll have to rescind that state- ment. That’s outrageous. He consist- ently amazes me,” he said.

Cllr McMahon said the minister had shown “naivety” in his attitude towards local government.

Independent councillor Gerry Flynn said there were problems on roads where surface dressing was in place. “Tt really highlights the idea of sur- face dressing and is it value for mon- ey? .. It has been a complete waste of taxpayers’ money,” he said.

“Local people were prisoners in

their own homes. The local roads and footpaths were impassable,” he said.

The mayor of Shannon, Councillor Sean McLoughlin (FG) asked would money be set aside to repair the roads where potholes have become a domi- nant feature. “Will the council be de- manding special money? I think the council should demand money. Every road you drive on has potholes,’ he ene

Independent councillor Patricia Mc- Carthy said, “It would appear liquid poured on the roads is not suitable. There isn’t a road in the town or sur- rounding area that isn’t without a pot- hole. The concrete roads are literally falling to pieces.”

‘Whatever review 1s going on has to take into account the centres of popu- lation. It’s not simply a rural isolation. It’s an urban isolation,’ she said.

Fine Gael Councillor John Crowe said that in the past, the roads in the Shannon area were “exceptionally good, but very, very good roads are deplorable at the moment. There is a major, major job to be done.”

Councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG) said, “We were too late dropping grit. The locations we dropped it in seemed to work. It isn’t feasible to have 20,000 workers in the county working on it,” he said.

He acknowledged the excellent work put in by council employees during

the cold snap. “The council don’t have the manpower and resources to grit every footpath in the county. We have to take individual responsibility too,” ltemcrs BCG

Senior Executive Engineer with Clare County Council, Eugene O’Shea said the type of material used on some road surfaces was not suitable given the “unprecedented” weather. He said that a more permanent finish would be desirable “but it comes at a cost and you can only do so much.”

In relation to funding, he said that the county engineer has asked each area council for a list. This will be submitted to the Government and funding will be sought.

THE Government should shelf capi- tal projects such as the Gort/Crush- een bypass in favour of funding emergency works on Clare’s belea- guered road network.

That is the opinion of north Clare County Councillor Martin Conway CSCO Mays loe- lionel ela onmerr ime lexomcee per potholes around the county will cause a Serious accident if they are not addressed immediately.

With reports coming in of potholes,

many more than a foot in depth, around the county, Cllr Conway says that quick action is needed in order to avoid a tragedy.

“We have a situation where the roads have deteriorated dramatically over the last number of weeks. We need Clare County Council to carry out an audit on the roads that have been damaged, put together a costing on how much it would cost to bring these roads back to the former stand- ard and we need to present that to Government,’ he said.

“A special fund needs to be estab- lished by the Government to fund this work. Even if a capital project, such as a bypass, needs to be put on hold so that this work can be fi- nanced, then that needs to be done.”

With the local authority budget in the poorest state for many years and funding from central government continuing to be cut, it seems likely that Clare County Council will not be in a position to fund repairs with- out outside help.

“We are already in a situation where

Clare County Council has seen a cut of around 10 per cent in it’s road budget already. We are in a situation at the moment where the budget has been cut for roads by around 30 per cent since 2007. This means that we have to focus on what is the absolute priority and there are roads in every corner of Clare which are 1n a critical condition at the moment,’ he contin- aren

“Motorists are now contending with an obstacle course when driv- ing on the county’s roads. People

are swerving around these potholes to ensure that they don’t do damage to their cars and unfortunately this could very easily lead to a death on our roads,” he said.

“People unfortunately don’t have the chance to drive with any level of comfort or security on the roads. They are watching their cars, they are watching for damage and this is just not good enough in a modern society.

“Even in a recession this is not an acceptable situation.”