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AS THE amateur musical and drama season prepares to take hold all over the county, the Shannon Musical So- ciety 1S preparing for a first with this year’s production.

This year the society will become the first amateur society in Ireland to perform Joe DiPietro’s ‘All Shook Up’. The musical, which was a huge success on Broadway, is based loose- ly on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night’ and inspired by the music of Elvis USA

The society will be having a launch night on Wednesday, September 3, 1n the Oak Wood Arms Hotel at 8pm.

“Each year we host a night to en-

courage new people to come and join the musical society. It’s really more of an informative night, I think a lot of people think that it’s all about music and if you don’t have loads of talent you can’t join,” said Mary O’Loughlin of the Shannon Musical Society.

“It’s much more than that. Every- thing involved in the musical, except for the orchestra, 1s produced by lo- cal people. We have the costumes, the stage crew – the whole set is made from scratch, the front of house team and the booking office. So there is a great amount for people to be doing beside the work on the stage itself.

“It’s a great social outlet for people, especially if you have just moved to

Shannon. The society can be a great way for getting to know people and getting involved. It’s a great team effort and right across the board in terms of ages.”

This years production will be di- rected and choreographed by Oliver Hurley while Carmel Griffin will the musical director.

The musical society are hoping for a good turn out at the up coming launch night.

“Tt can be difficult enough some- times to get new male members but once they join up they stay with us for years and years. They might be that bit shy at the beginning but once they get involved in it they love it,’ she continued.

“It’s going to be afun show this year. The show will use a lot of the Elvis songs to help tell the story. There is a great story running through it, the music is really secondary – it helps to tell the story.”

Anyone interested in joining the So- ciety can take a browse through the website on Www.shannonmusical. com or call Siobhan on 086 2142554 for details on membership.

A KILRUSH man who claimed that he had been dismissed by a Kilmihil construction company was instead made redundant, an Employment Appeals Tribunal found.

Tony Killeen, Shragh, Kilrush, took a case against LM Keating, Kilmihil, after he was let go from the company in April 2007. He gave evidence that he began working for the respond- ent as a teleporter driver in August 2003. His first construction site was in Kilmihil, but he also worked on other sites as a general labourer. He drove a dumper and did a lot of snag- ging on other sites, he said.

Construction work continued to be carried out on other sites after he was dismissed and he was not offered employment on these sites. The tel- eporter that he operated continued to be operated by other employees after

he was dismissed, he claimed.

A construction director with the re- spondent company told the tribunal it has a total workforce of approxi- mately 90 employees of which 30 are employed in construction.

The witness gave evidence that the claimant was employed as a teleport- er driver and it is the policy of the company to assign teleporter drivers to a specific teleporter, to develop expertise and to foster good practice TparcNDel Red at-b Aeon

Construction work finished in Kilmihil in April 2007 and the claimant was made redundant as no vacancies existed on that site or any other site for a teleporter driver.

The tribunal made a majority deci- sion that the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy and said it was “satisfied that a genuine redun- dancy situation existed and he was fairly selected for redundancy”.

THE Gort Family Resource Centre will this week celebrate 5 years of community work in the area with the announcement of a number of new opportunities for local people.

The centre, which is based in the town’s square, is about to extend its premises and and also expand on the number of community facilities and courses on offer.

“The resource centre is driven by a group of volunteers who represent the different people and needs of the community. It’s open to all and anyone interested or curious should come in,” said Sandra Farrell, Centre Administrator.

“We have now expanded our offices by taking on the second floor of our premises here in the square. That will allow us to increase what we can do with and for the local people.”

The group provides a range of serv- ices including citizen information days, migrant information, employ- ment and career guidance, money advice and budgeting and work with the gay and lesbian community.

“We have a lot going on at the mo- ment. We were lucky enough to get funding for six computers and have been running programmes for older people to get some basic computer skills. That is very popular and we are about to start a new eight week course from the beginning of Sep-

tember,’ said centre co-ordinator Ann Rozario.

“We are also about to start parent- ing classes for single parents. There are still places in that so anyone in- terested should give us a buzz. We have new programmmes starting all the time and are always looking for people interested in volunteering.”

Indeed, the actions at the centre are driven almost exclusively by volun- teers.

‘“T have been helping out a lot with the directory which is a book of useful local number in English and Portuguese,’ said volunteer Helen Scribens.

“It’s nice to do something for the local community – to give something

back. You get to meet a lot of differ- ent new people from the area. It’s a lot of fun.”

The centre has recently taken on a development officer who will look at different ways to grow the service over the next number of years.

Frank Murray, who was one of the founding members of the Gort Bra- Zilian Association, will look after the development of facilities for the Bra- Zilian community, the elderly, lone parenting youth and isolated men.

New events and programmes are being announced in the resource cen- tre on a regular basis.

To keep in touch with goings-on contact 091 6309021 or call into the centre.

CLARE V.E.C. students had plenty to smile about after the announce- ment of last week’s Leaving Cert results.

Overall eight students taking part in the Back to Education Initiative sat the leaving cert maths and their results were of the highest standard, with six Als an A2 and a B2.

The group studied part-time for the Leaving Cert since last September with the Back To Education Initia- tive (BTEI). The Back To Initiative provides part-time further education

programmes for young people and adults, with the aim of giving people the opportunity to combine a return to learning with family, work and other responsibilities.

The BTEI is operated by County Clare VEC as part of the National Development Plan and is funded by the Department of Education and Sci- ence and the European Social Fund. It operates throughout the county and has over 900 adults studying various subjects ranging from FETAC Lev- els 3,4 and 5, up to Leaving Cert.

The BTEI, through a preparatory course, also introduces prospective

students to the requirements of stud- ying for the Leaving Certificate

Mike Ryan BTEI co-ordinator, congratulated the students and their tutor Vinnie Normoyle.

“We are delighted with the results, they were excellent. It was down to the hard done by the students them- selves and also the work done with them by Vinnie. I know the students appreciate everything that Vinnie SERCO ComoUNe Mm Nelss 00 Me

Mr Ryan added that further support and guidance would be offered to students on an ongoing basis

TiO rome ilouomr- DuomelluKone a aenelele

learners availing of adult basic edu- cation and a further 700 engaging in community education.

The recent re-development of the Adult Education Centre in Ennis has led to the provision of more services through the BTEI.

The centre provides learning op- portunities in reading and writing, language support, youthreach pro- gression, the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) and family learning.

Services include a créche, night classes, e-learning and adult learners guidance.

THE people of Clare have been in- vited to get their hands dirty and take part in areal life Time Team style ex- cavation in north Clare next week.

The Caherconnell Stone Fort in Carron will be the venue for an open week long excavation, with members of the public being given the oppor- tunity to work side by side with ex- perts.

The excavation will be co-ordinat- ed by Dr Michelle Comber of NUI, Galway and archaeologist Graham Hull of Crusheen company TUAS.

This is the second in a series of open excavations at the Caherconnell fort, which is widely believed to be one of the most archeological signifi- cant findings in the area.

Last year excavation revealed the stone fort in Caherconnell was in- habited for centuries later than it had been previously thought, meaning that the traditional Gaelic way of life existed in the Burren for hundreds of years after the Anglo-Norman inva- sion.

This year’s excavation will focus on a souterrain or underground passage which has been recently discovered at the fort. It is believed that the pas- sageway may have been used as a means of escape or even as a primi- tive refrigerator by the locals, but there is no way of knowing for sure without excavation.

“Tt’s actually very exciting. There is something there, some form of Souterrain, but until we excavate we won’t be able to find out exactly

what,” said Graham Hull of TUAS Ireland Ltd.

“There are a number of different things that the souterrain could have been used for. We don’t know all the answers and digging helps us to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

“Volunteers are very welcome. We will give all the basic training need- ed on site. As well as that people can come up and look at the work and someone will be there to speak with them and explain what is going on.”

The fort, which is owned and oper- ated by the Davoren family, has been

described in academic studies as “a perfect fort” as it is twice the size of the standard cashels and is possibly Ireland’s best preserved stone forts.

The dig will take place from August 24 to 31 and anyone interested in tak- ing part should call 087 9693189.

FANCY getting your hands on a Sunderland jersey signed by the great Roy Keane himself? Well that and much more is on offer at a char- ity auction in aid of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind to be held in Lis- doonvarna later this month.

The auction, which will take place in the newly redeveloped Lisdoon- varna Town Hall Pavilion, has been organised by local man John Stack. This October, John will travel to Spain in to tackle a gruelling six day cycling odyssey to raise much need- ed funds for the charity.

“T was in Cuba last year for a_ six-

day charity cycle and this year I’m off to Majorca. It’s organised each year by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and they look for volunteers to come onboard, raise the money and do the cycle.

“Each person has to raise €3,300 to go on the trip and the most of that goes straight to the charity. At the moment we have 12 people from all over the country taking part but we have room for a few more if anyone is interested.”

The cycling trip will see John tackle high temperatures and rough terrain on his journey around the Spanish island.

“Tt’s going to be a tough challenge.

We have six days of cycling and be- tween 40 and 80 miles of cycling each day. A lot of the route is up decent hills and mountains so we will be tired afterwards,’ continued John.

“I’ve been doing some good train- ing, sure I’m cycling for years, but it will be tough going.”

The auction will take place on Sat- urday August 23 and John is asking anyone with good to donate to get in one lae

“Tl take absolutely anything for the auction. Anything from farm produce to silage bales to new po- tatoes, furniture and concrete,’ he continued.

“T’ll take anything that is saleable, I don’t mind if it costs a euro or a hun- dred euro so long as it’s saleable. If people just get in contact with me I will sort it out. If people down have anything for the auction but still want to donate they can give cash and people can also still get involved with going on the cycle itself. There is plenty of time still.”

Anyone who would liek to learn more or donate products should con- tact John on 086 2552709.

STUDENTS at Ennis Community College have been rewarded for an- other term of academic achievement

Leaving Certificate student Ruth Ni Chathair was named Roche Ireland Student of the Year at Ennis Com- munity College, at a presentation last week.

The award is based on a number of criteria including academic success achievement and takes into account achievements in external activities such as music and sport. This is the fifth year the award has been pre- sented.

Ruth who has recently completed her Leaving Certificate, receives the

honour for her outstanding personal and academic achievement.

Victor Akujobi, a gold medal win- ner at 2006 Damovo Junior Science Olympiad, was named as runner up alongside fellow Ennis Community College Student, Katelyn Ni Sceir- eR

The presentation was attended by Michael Ledwith and Helen Minihan of Roche Ireland and Matt Power, Principal, Ennis Community Col- lege. The award marks another term where the school achieved success in a national competition.

Earlier this year students Rebecca Murphy, Victor Akujobi, Shona Ni Meachair and James Philips repre- sented Ennis Community College at

the 2008 National Electronic Quiz in Galway. Despite winning the re- gional rounds, the Ennis team had to settle for second place over all after loosing out to a Cork school in the overall standings. The annual quiz took place simultaneously in UCC, DUPRE AMM Tem U

The award also continues Roche Ireland’s strong association with lo- cal schools. Roche participates in the Junior Achievement programme, which is designed to build bridges between classrooms and workplaces. Roche has built strong links with lo- cal national schools, where children have benefited from Roche person- nel teaching JA programmes in their schools. Each year employees of Ro-

che Ireland volunteer to teach classes from local schools. The employee meets their class once a week for six to nine weeks. Junior Achievement outlines the topics to be covered, which are determined by the age of the class concerned.

THE loss of Ronnie Drew is being felt sharply in every corner of the island this morning. There are few who will feel this loss keener than friend and long time collaborator Mike Hanrahan.

The Ennis musician and former member of Stockton’s Wing has be- come almost synonymous with Drew over the last decade.

‘For me there was only one Ronnie Drew and what I learned from him as an entertainer is one thing but to know him as a friend is a totally dif- ferent ball-game,” said Mike.

“When the lights went up you had Ronnie the stage man but when the lights went out the gig was over. I knew him as a person, as a dear loved friend and as a family man. It might sound mad but stardom didn’t sit very well with Ronnie – he didn’t buy into it. He understood that he had to show up at openings and get his picture in the paper but he didn’t let that take over.

“IT knew him as a person, and as an individual he was a simple dignified man, very caring and understanding.

‘For me I can easily separate Ron- nie the entertainer and Ronnie the man, and I’d be proud to know either 0) md oles 00 ae

Hanrahan and Drew’s first offi-

cial collaboration came in the 1997 production of the hugely successful stage show ‘Ronnie I Hardly New Ya’. The pair have worked together on countless other projects over the last decade.

“He was a very dignified man and we all wondered if going public on his illness was the right thing to do. But I think he used the TV to come to terms with his own mortality and his own sickness,’ continued Mike.

“In doing that I think he has touched thousands of people who have been affected by cancer. I will forever hold him in such esteem for that.

“He had great courage to tell the story in the way he did, when the Late Late was hammering down the door to try and get him to tell the Story.

“When he eventually told the story he did it in his own way. He gave people so much hope, the amount of emails that we received after that from sufferers of cancer was unbe- lievable. It was beautiful.

“By dealing with his own illness he was able to help people deal with their own situation. That was Ron- nie’s way all through his life.”

IT was a case of 36st time into the breach for Lahinch man Pat Conway last week as he, along with four other brave swimmers, took on the might of Liscannor Bay.

This year’s annual Lahinch to Lis- cannor Charity Swim was undertak- en in some of the worst weather in recent memory, with high winds and rough seas making the crossing a se- rious challenge for all concerned.

A group of five swimmers, in- cluding Pat’s son Damien, Johnny O’Loughlin, Brian McCarthy and Tom White, took to the rough wa- ters and in the process raised some

€6,000 for the Burren Chernobyl Project (BCP).

‘Pat has been doing this swim now for 36 years and we feel really lucky that in the past number of years he has fundraiser for Burren Cherno- byl,’ said Lisa O’Connor from the Burren Chernobyl Project.

“It’s such an important fundriaser for the organisation. It’s a great day and a lot of people come out to sup- port it both in Lahinch and Liscan- nor but besides that Pat always does a lot of fundraising in the town before the event itself.

“Pat does a wonderful job and the local people and businesses are so generous.”

Funds from this years event will go to a number of worthy projects in the Belarus where the BCP has made great strides in helping vulnerable people effected by the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.

Indeed, Lisa’s daughter Tessa has just returned from an aid trip to Belarus. “There are so many differ- ent projects going on over there at the moment. We have several group out at the moment in the children’s orphanage Goradishche; we have a group from the Special Olympics who were just out and did a fantastic job out there in children’s summer camps, we have had a physiotherapy group and a group out there doing ar-

tistic work and painting,’ continued Lisa.

“We have just opened a day-care centre in Cherven last week. This facility will allow families to keep their children at home while they can go out and work during the day. It will let a lot of families keep their children at home instead of having to put them in one of the government asylums.

“It was just opened there in the end of July and will be of huge benefit to the locals there and especially the children.”

To learn more about the Burren Chernobyl Project check out www. burrenchernobylproject.ie

TOPICS ranging from the rainfor- est to the preservation of historical documents are among those up for discussion at events to mark Heritage Week in Ennis, next week.

Heritage Week is part of European Heritage Days, a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union, co-ordinated locally by Clare Soi Geniiale

A series of talks looking at the her- itage issues as they relate to will take place in venues across Ennis from August 24-31.

Bridgid Barry, Clare Biodiversity Officer presents “From the Rainfor- est to County Clare’ a talk on global issues of biodiversity in a Clare con-

text, in Glor on August 28.

The following day, Friday, August 29, Catriona Lynch, Clare Database manager will compare marine spe- cies survey work carried out in the coastal rocky habitats of county Clare, and the eastern Aegean is- lands of Greece, in a talk entitled MBE Ubetcameni elm c-liommeKOet Mm Gstaeee to County Clare’.

Audiences can also learn about the work involved in preserving the so- cial history of Clare at “The Care and Conservation of Books’ – a special talk by Rene Franklin, Clare County Archivist, that will take place at the DeValera library, on August 26

Ms Franklin will talk about the challenges of safeguarding rare doc- uments and will outline the methods

used for preserving old books to pho- tographs.

She hopes that by hosting the talk more people will be encouraged to use the archive service and to pre- serve their own personal pieces of KO as

‘People often may not realise the damage that can be caused by certain factors in the home. I’m just trying to highlight in a practical way really, what people can do,” she explains.

“Tl give examples of conservation treatments and of special conserva- tion projects that would have gone through. I’m also going to have some exhibitions of stuff in the archives that people might like to see. They can then have a look through them.”

“We’ll also have a few rare books

and manuscripts. Then if people have any questions I’d be delighted to an- swer them”.

Samples from Clare County Coun- cil’s collection will be on display as well as a rare example of Francisco O’Molloy’s Grammatica Latino- Hibernica (Rome, 1677) which was studied by the monks in the Friary in /SIVeVKMUIMO Nom MAROON AAA

The book is being made available by Michael McCarthy, historian/ tel- evision producer-director and author Oi