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WHEN Avril Brand lived on Robin Island her home was overlooked by the old Irish cross used by exiled Irish Catholics as a place of worship in the 1800s.

The majority of these Irish expatri- ates were banished to Van Diemen’s land by the ruling British in the 19th century, with a pit stop on the South African island to be used as labour- CHa DOM BOLom OND EN ToNe

For others life in the small west Af- rican island had become unbearable due to foreign rule and famine and the boat was the best hope of surviv- al, even in another land that colonists fought and killed for.

Almost two centuries on and like many South Africans, Avril and her husband Gerhart made the journey to the native home of those exiles in the hope of finding peace and a new life.

Now settled in their west Clare cot- tage, the photo on the mantle piece is not that of de Valera but of politi- cal hero Nelson Mandela, and on the walls, vibrant paintings of native Af- rican animals replace the traditional Sacred Heart.

With reminders of their homeland peppered around the walls, their new Tullybrack house is now home and life in Ireland has quickly become the way of life for the former Robin Island tourist guide and her former prison warden husband.

Born in Cape Town, Avril and her husband moved to the wine region of

South Africa after they got married. Then for six years they lived on the world famous Robin Island.

Her husband was the prison warden on the island for six of the eight years it functioned as a “regular” prison and signed the amnesty of the last political prisoners to leave the infa- mous prison when he first arrived.

At the time Avril worked as a tour- ist guide for the prison services and later worked for the Robin Island Museum when the prison became a national monument.

It was through this job that she met Mandela numerous times as he brought friends and dignitaries on a tour of the prison he was incarcer- ated in for almost 20 years.

Looking at the signed picture that takes pride of place in her sitting room she recalled, ““What a man. He always remembered a face.

“Our greatest hope was Nelson Mandela and we had a great few years (after he became president),”’ she said.

After the election of Thabo Mbeki, Avril said that the great African hope was gone as “reverse racism” replaced apartheid.

“As an ex-prison officer, even though he worked there after all the political prisoners had been released, it was impossible for my husband to get work,’ she said.

Violence became commonplace as robberies, rape, and torture were inflicted randomly. Many of those to meet a torturous end were friends of the Tullybrack residents. Life was

becoming unbearable.

“When you start going out with a revolver and sleeping with a revolver, and you know you will have to shoot to kill, it is time to move, because you have stopped being yourself,’ she said.

In 2002 her husband saw an adver- tisement for jobs in Ireland.

‘He didn’t know where Ireland was so I had to show him on a map,” she laughed.

Always interested in history Avril recalled how she had read the history of Brian Bort: long before she ever thought of coming to Ireland.

She laughed as she recalls the re- action of friends and family to her proposed move.

‘People would say “oh you are go- ing to Ireland, that is a very danger- ous place,’ and they were having friends being killed left, right and Cons tonee

Her husband got a job with Tesco and moved to the country he was soon to learn a lot about.

Avril and one of her three daugh- ters followed soon after.

After six months in Dublin, they moved to Ennis where they lived for two years.

“Then we got the dog and decided to settle. Ireland really became home when we got the dog so we needed to get a home, and | wanted to get out of the town and into the country.”

The couple bought the house in Tullybrack and moved in with their rescued dog Butti (meaning little brother), who is probably the only

dog in west Clare that understands Afrikaans better than English and Irish.

“When we were coming to Ireland we decided to find out what Irish people are like and that we would adapt to how they live. We know a few South Africans here, but most of our friends are Irish. They find us weird and we think they are weird, but we are very similar. We have the same set of values, very similar cul- tures, likes and dislikes and a very similar history,” she said.

“T miss South Africa, but with sev- eral years passed you forget and start to romanticise. Then you hear what is happening and you realise how lucky you are.

‘The freedom you have here is in- credible. To be able to go for a walk with the dog without worrying what will happen is wonderful. Ireland is so beautiful. I don’t like driving so much because you miss the scenery and the changing of the seasons. You don’t have that in South Africa,’ she Cree

“And our neighbours are wonder- ful. They are still people in the sense that they still care and they are won- derful.”

Avril is better known in west Clare for her art. Although her first memo- ries of drawing are not necessarily happy ones, having being chastised as a child for her drawings in school, Avril is now happy to fill her days painting and introducing others to the art.

She has never had an art lesson in

her life, as art was not encouraged as a career path when she grew up.

Instead she taught herself the tech- niques needed to produce amazing paintings of wild animals and scen- ery.

Now Avril is inviting people into her home for individual lessons and one-day courses for small groups.

Those who avail of the course do not even have to bring their own materials as she provides all that 1s required for an introduction into the world of oil painting.

“I give people canvas to draw on – giving them paper is patronising – and when they have finished painting on the canvas they can take it home. They will have something for them- selves to encourage them to continue Oe RUNLn en tcame

While not everyone can draw, Avril believes that everyone can paint.

“I don’t like using photos in the class. Instead I bring them back to their childhood, to a time when you draw from what is within you. Chil- dren have no inhibitions,’ said the talented artist.

Ms Brand initially started the one- day course as a one-off experience, but it proved so popular that she is now holding introductory workshops in her home in Tullybrack during most Sundays.

Information on her art and her workshops are available from www. clareartist.com.

INTERNATIONAL golf comes back to Shannon for the first time in many years this week when the club plays host to the third annual European Seniors’ Team Championship.

The course was put on the world map over 30 years ago during the heady days of the Shannon I[nterna- tional Pro-Am that attracted some of the top professionals of the day like Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Hu- bert Green and many more.

Now, it’s the turn of some of Eu- rope’s top amateurs to take the Shan- non stage from Wednesday to Satur- day of this week. Twenty teams from around Europe will compete for the coveted title that’s now in its third year of competition.

Ireland enter this event as defending champions, having won the title last year in Bled Golf Club in Slovenia. Captained by Tommie Basquille, a past President of the Golfing Union of Ireland from 2007, the Irish team boasts a strong team as they go in search of back-to-back titles.

Leading the Irish team will be Irish Seniors and European Seniors

Champion Adrian Morrow from Portmarnock Golf Club. A past Irish international at full senior level and two-time South of Ireland champion

at Lahinch, Morrrow is joined on the team by John Carroll (Bandon), Maurice Kelly (Killeen), Liam Mc- Namara (Woodbrook), Hugh Smyth

(Mourne) and former Walker Cup

star and British Seniors Champion

for 2007, Arthur Pierse (Tipperary). Speaking ahead of the event, Shan-

non captain Billy O’Sullivan said “We have great pleasure in hosting this event at Shannon Golf Club and we extend a Cead Mile Failte to all the visiting participants together with their supporters, and indeed all the visitors who may come to enjoy this Championship.

“Over the past year a lot of hard work has gone into the preparation of our course and club house for this wonderful Championship. I hope that these efforts will be reflected in a greater sense of enjoyment of our facilities by all our visitors.”

President of The Golfing Union of Ireland, Barry Doyle (Carlow) thanked Shannon Golf Club for their wonderful facilities. “Shannon Golf Club has very kindly hosted many International, National and Provin- cial Championships over the years and will provide the players with a wonderful experience and lasting memories. A big thank you to all at Shannon Golf Club for their efforts and hospitality which will be second to none.”

A 19-year-old driver took off after being spotted by gardai, speeding along roads where schoolchildren were walking, sending dust and gravel flying and ignoring a stop sign before jumping from the car and es- caping on foot, a judge was told.

On another occasion, Patrick Mur- phy of Tiermane, Mullagh, over- took a line of cars, including that of an off-duty garda, on a continuous white line.

The court heard Garda Gary Lade

was on duty in a patrol car in Kilmi- hill on April 10 at 1.10pm when he spotted the accused driving and talk- ing on his mobile phone.

Garda Lade told Ennis District Court that he knew that Murphy didn’t have a licence.

‘He drove off at speed past the sec- ondary school. It was lunch-time and there were a lot of students walking on the road. There 1s no footpath,” he told Judge Leo Malone.

“T put the flashing blue light on and drove after him. He undertook a vehicle, sending dust and gravel

spinning and drove on to a junction, where he failed to stop at a yield sign. He then overtook a car and a lorry on a continuous white line.”

In Church Street, Murpy got caught in traffic, the witness said and aban- doned the car, running through a number of premises before climbing a wall and disappearing into a field.

But later that day, he walked into the garda station of his own free will and made a full statement in the mat- com

On February 9, the court heard, Murphy came round a bend at speed

in his Honda Civic and whipped the wing mirror off a car which had been forced to pull over. He failed to stop.

On April 1, Judge Malone was told, Murphy overtook an off-duty garda in a line of several cars on a continu- ous white line, coming up to a blind bend. Murphy has never held a driv- ing licence and was not insured when the dangerous driving offences were committed, the court was told. He was pleading guilty to all offences, his solicitor, Patrick Moylan told the court.

He said Murphy had left school af-

ter his Junior Certificate and had dif- ficult family circumstances.

‘He believed he was insured at the time. He had paid instalments on his insurance but the cover had been withdrawn because he had failed to produce a driving licence.”

Judge Malone said he would re- mand Murphy in custody for two weeks so that he could have a pro- bation report drawn up. Having been in custody for a month already, the judge said he would take any period of detention into account in his final ose Kovereruatee

THE Citizens Information Service are advising anyone who want to know about grants in relation to go- ing back to education that there is a new online resource www.studentfi- nance.ie offering a comprehensive, user friendly guide to student grants and supports in further and higher education. According to Paul Woulfe manager with the network of advices centres, “More and more mature students and parents are seeking advice in relation to support available in persuing third level courses. There is a lot of confusion around the crite- ria for applying, the means test and who administers what grant. This site provides information on the full range of student supports, including maintenance grants, the Fund for Students with Disabilities, the Back to Education Allowance and the Stu- dent Assistance Fund.” Studentfinance.ie has been designed to help users to quickly and conven- iently identify the various sources of financial support for which they are eligible and how they can apply this online resource. ‘Every year in dealing with queries

at our information offices around the county it is obvious that there is sig- nificant knowledge deficits for many students, prospective students and their families in relation to the main- tenance grant schemes and associ- ated financial support programmes. Studentfinance.ie is designed to fill this gap in a clear and accessible for- mat.

‘The maintenance grant is the main source of financial assistance and any- one who is think- ing of embarking on further study should investigate whether they are eligible, and, if so, submit an application,’ said NZ Daa oltd bree

“The maintenance grant section of stu- dentfinance.ie is the most comprehen- sive source of infor-

mation on the available schemes that you will find anywhere in Ireland. It provides a handy step-by-step guide to eligibility in clear, plain English,” he said.

The Citizens Information Service through its network of offices offers a free and confidential information and advice service to members of the public on their rights and entitle- ments.

AN annual day out in west Clare that started life as a cattle show now pro- vides numerous competitions for a variety of animals, a sports day for children and adults in the area and numerous events for a family Sun- day.

The Mullagh Agriculture Show was founded in 1995 as acattle show, but now features more than 80 class- es for horses, donkeys, sheep and of course, cattle.

As well as the usual young horse and brood mare and foal sections, the agricultural show now boasts Sections for coloured horses, ridden hunters and a registered Connemara Pony section.

While the show is top of the list with many farmers and breeders, the emphasis is on the family and a day out for the community.

As well as the ever-popular sports day, special children’s entertainment is provided while the adults are dis- tracted with the different showings.

With more than a decade of shows behind them, the organisers of the Mullagh Agricultural Show are as busy as ever planning this week’s event.

More than a 1,000 people attended the last number of shows in the com- munity sports field.

On Sunday, August 17, those at- tending can expect more of the same fun and frolics. Judging will begin at llam.

The show will feature qualifiers for the All-Ireland Yearling Con-

nemara Filly, the All-Ireland Two Year Old Filly Championship, the National Irish Draught Foal Cham- pionship, the Celtic Ross Munster Irish Draught Foal Championship, the All-Ireland Donkey Mare and Foal Championship.

The sports day will begin at lpm with events for children, teenagers and even parents.

The ever-popular dog show will begin at 2pm, with the funfair, trade stalls, face painting and bouncy cas- tle running all afternoon.

ANOTHER semi-final. One step away from their second successive All-Ireland Junior final but manager Colm Hanley thoughts are only con- centrated on Sunday. Although Clare are favourites to overcome the chal- lenge of rookies Laois this weekend, Hanley refuses to take their oppo- nent’s inexperience for granted.

“We are happy to be in the semi-

final and are almost back to where we want to be I suppose so we are back to basics for the week now to get ourselves prepared for Sunday. It’s going to be a good battle because Laois are a very tough side. It would be very easy to underestimate them but they are going to be physical, they are going to be dogged and the way this weather is going, if we get a bad evening, all of a sudden things are very level.”

Clare are unbeaten in both league and championship this year at their own grade, picking up the Division 2 league title along the way but the most striking aspect of the current side is their balance, richness in depth and blend of young and expe- rience that have propelled the side this far. And Hanley has nothing but praise for his players.

“The things is that there is more talent in this county, certainly com-

ing through the ranks, than there is in any other county. You could see it last year with the likes of Kate Lynch and Carina Roseingrave really ex- celling with the juniors and they are still hurling for the minors this year and really performing as well. Chloe Morey as well came through this year and if you add that to the likes of Laura Linnane, Deirdre Murphy, Claire McMahon and so on, then without a doubt it is definitely a more

balanced side. It’s a much fitter and stronger side than last year because the girls have bounced back really well from the disappointment of last September and have really put mas- sive work in. So overall we are de- lighted with where they are at at the moment and we couldn’t really ask for more. Hopefully that will stay the same for the next few days and be enough to get us over the semi-fi- nal.”

A MOROCCAN chef, who is in Ireland sending money home to his wife and five children, pleaded guilty before a court yesterday to throwing a glass at a barman and to criminal damage to a pub window.

The court heard that Jama Moukrim (45) with no address on record threw a glass containing beer at a barman in The Diamond Bar after the bar- man refused him any more drink on the grounds that he had had enough. The offence was committed on Feb- ruary 4, 2007, the court heard and the glass didn’t hit the barman.

On April 3, after being refused entry to Bar 26 on Abbey Street, he broke a window, causing ©50 worth of damage, Ennis District Court heard.

On September 14, he ordered and ate a meal at the Prince Dragon and

had no money to pay for it, Judge Leo Malone was told.

On September 6, a Garda witness said, Moukrim had to be taken into custody for his own safety. “He was very drunk and had to be rescued. He was asleep on the ground in Abbey Street,” the garda said.

Tara Godfrey, his solicitor said that the Morrocan national had been working as a chef but had been in custody since July 18.

After asking if he could pay com- pensation for the meal and the win- dow, Judge Leo Malone was told that he could.

“If he ever comes before this court again on any such charges, I will im- pose a prison sentence,” the judge Sr HKOR

THE Citizens Information Service ion Ennis is advising those who are working and have returned to educa- tion that they may be able to claim relief for eligible courses.

Tax relief for third-level tuition fees is available for approved under- graduate and postgraduate courses (full-time and part-time) that are in private or publicly funded third-level colleges in Ireland, in publicly fund- ed or duly accredited third-level col- leges in any other EU country.

Tax relief is at the standard rate of income tax (20 per cent). The max1- mum relief allowable for the aca- demic year 2007/2008 is €5,000

According to Paul Woulfe, manger

with the county wide information service many people who are not re- celving grants and paying for courses are not aware of this.

“When tax relief on third level edu- cation was introduced in 1996/97 it was quite restricted. However since then the relief has been expanded as the Celtic Tiger exposed this coun- try’s paucity of certain skills. So if you or a dependent are on a course costing €5,000 (excluding registra- tion and capitation fees) you can claim back €1,000 backs from the taxman.

The relief can be claimed either on the individual’s tax return at the end of the tax year or during the tax year when the fees have been paid.

Most undergraduate students in

publicly funded third-level courses in Ireland do not have to pay fees. For students who do pay fees, under- graduate courses must be of at least two years duration to qualify for tax relief. Tax relief is also available for approved training courses in the ar- eas of information technology and foreign languages.

The tuition fees must be paid by you on your own behalf or on be- half of your spouse, your child or someone for whom you are the legal eabe-Nueue-Nee

Application forms (IT 31) are avail- able from the Revenue Commission- ers’ website at www.revenue.ie, by telephoning LoCall 1890 306 706 or from the citizens information centres throughout the county.

THOSE who thought that Kilkee was the preferred place of Limerick people to just “hang out” and relax were forced to think again on Satur- day last as a group from the Limer- ick Masters Swimming Club hosted a 12-hour swimathon around Kilkee er MA

The 250-mile swimathon began at Qam and finished at 9pm, as water wrinkled bodies emerged from the salty water.

The day-long event was organised to raise funds and awareness for the charity Muscular Dystrophy Ireland.

The swimathon was also organised as a training session for eight brave swimmers from the Limerick Mas- ters Swimming Club, including one from Clare, who are preparing to cross the English Channel in mid- September, weather permitting. This is also to raise funds for the MDI OitTeIA

These channel swimmers were in the water of Kilkee Bay for a total of

four hours during the west Clare part of the fundraiser.

MDI Lily O’Brien’s_ chocolates were also sold on the day.

Philip Mudge, a member of the Channel Swim Team, said all the swimmers have been training ex- tremely hard over the past year and are “100 per cent dedicated to raising as much money as possible to fund Muscular Dystrophy Ireland’s Medi- cal Research Fund.”

The two relay teams of four people will be swimming across one of the

busiest shipping lanes in the world and facing seasickness, jelly fish and severe cold waters.

Joe T Mooney, CEO of Muscular Dystrophy Ireland, added, “we would like to sincerely thank the Limer- ick Masters Swimming Club Relay Team for organising the swimathon and their remarkable commitment to high endurance training really de- serves a huge amount of admiration as they raise awareness and money for medical research into the cond1- tion Duchenne MD”.

A LOCALLY-BASED environmen- tal group has instituted High Court proceedings against plans by Whelan Limestone Quarries Ltd to expand their flagship operation at Fountain outside Ennis.

This follows the Cairn Environ- mental Protection Group Ltd insti- tuting judicial review proceedings against An Bord Pleanala over deci- sions 1t made to give the go-ahead for three separate developments at the large-scale quarry.

In the proceedings, the Environ- mental Group of Bushy Park, Ennis, is seeking that decisions granting permission relating to the continu- ation of quarry operations; the up- grading of the road entrance and the extension of the landholding for the purposes of relocation and upgrading of the polishing area for the quarry, be overturned.

Already, An Bord Pleanala has dismissed one appeal by Cairn En- vironmental Protection Group Ltd and granted permission for two other AAA aed E-ReMeCoaKo) eo) eeToOL AE

It is not expected that the proceed- ings being instituted will have any material effect on the Whelan opera- tions prior to a court decision being made.

In an affidavit lodged to court, local resident and director of the company, Michael Halpin states that “since the date of its incorporation, the compa- ny and its members have been partic- ularly concerned with the activities of Whelan Limestone Quarries Ltd and the planning status of that com- pany’s quarry and source of stone”.

Mr Halpin states, ““We have made

numerous complaints to Clare County Council about the lack of planning permission for large tracts of Whelan’s quarry and partaken in a number of applications made by Whelans at both council and An Bord Pleanala level.

‘Moreover, we made a complaint to the Commission of the European Community about the manner in which the planning status of Whe- lan’s was being dealt with and the European Court of Justice delivered a judgement in our favour on July 3 last which dealt with the complaint.”

The environmental group are seek- ing to have the decisions quashed based upon an alleged procedural er- ror by Clare County Council in deal- ing with one of the applications.

Mr Halpin contends that An Bord Pleanala is precluded from consider- ing the appeals before it as the plan- ning application by Whelan’s must as a matter of law be declared and deemed to be withdrawn. Mr Halpin is also seeking that “pre-emptive cost orders” be put in place to ensure the company is able to bring proceedings at a cost which is not prohibitive.