Category: Uncategorized

A BRAND new solo exhibition of paintings from north Clare artist, Sara Foust takes up residence in he Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon this week.

The exhibition which is entitled The Other Place, includes a number works painted by Sara over the last 12 months. After focusing on coast- al areas in her last exhibition, Sara has decided to turn her attention to woodland for this latest collection of V0) 0.@

‘“T wanted to explore a different sub- ject matter with this exhibition. One of the main reasons that I focussed

on trees was that it can be really hard to find a nice woodland around here – it’s fairly barren. They’re there but they’re tucked away,” said Sara.

“My own way of working with colour is far more vibrant than what you might see with your own eyes. At times it’s riding that line between representation and abstract – a lot of people are scared of abstract art, but my work can straddle that line a lhit- tle bit.”

The exhibition features a number of scenes taken from woods in the Clare area. The paintings span dif- ferent times of the year and attempt to capture the woods as they pass through the different seasons.

This collection attempts to create the feeling that the woodland is a distinct arena to other areas.

‘The idea of the other place was a combination of a lot of other ideas that I have been playing with. One of the main ones is that we are still here in Clare, we’re still in a local place but it’s a very different feeling out in the woods. It a completely different personal feeling of nature,’ contin- ued Sara.

‘There is so much a sence of pro- tection, enclosure and quiet. It’s a really different feeling and experi- ence of nature. I learned a lot as I was working through the exhibition and different aspects became really

fascinating.

“In some painting the interesting thing was to focus in on something small like a section of bark and it’s texture, while in other ones I became fascinated on the dabs of light locat- ed underneath the tree. To see how the shadows of the trees flutter down in the undergrowth and the play of the different shades of light.”

‘The Other Place’ runs in the Court- house Gallery until May 24, from Tuesday to Saturday each week.

FIVE staff members of The Lodge at Doonbeg Golf Club have skilled up on information technology through a special upskilling course.

They were presented with cer- tificates from FAS, whose Skills for Work computer-based course was facilitated by the Clare Vocational Education Committee.

The staff members – Harry Crowe, Anna Cooney, Dermot Healy, Len

Wilson and Michael Ryan – took the course for 15 weeks at the West Clare Resource Centre in Miltown Malbay where training was provided by Jenny Bostock of Clare VEC.

Doonbeg General Manager, Joe Russell and HR Manager, Patrice Scanlan facilitated their employ- ees in attending training during the LO) 0. GOTO ENA

Commenting on the development, Joe Russell said The Lodge at Doon- beg was committed to its employees

and their professional growth. The programme provided the training necessary for them to enhance their skills, further improving what has always been a wonderfully talented team. ;

Skills for Work, a new FAS Serv- ices to Business programme, is being offered to people in employment at a number of Clare locations.

It is designed to provide easy access to training for employees, improving essential information technology

and communications skills as well as educational levels in the workplace.

Training is fully subsidised by FAS and focuses on _ industry-specific topics, such as health and safety, customer care, familiarisation with computers, personal and interper- sonal skills, etc.

Classes are usually on-site and fully funded. Certification is through the Further Education and Training Awards Council of Ireland but op- wLOyat-N B

With a workplace Skills For Work course, employees can avail of train- ing to start on the one-step-up cycle. In gaining enhanced confidence and skills, participants can go on to ac- cess a broader range of training op- tions.

This in turn assists the employer in taking one-step-up in terms of effec- tiveness.

Several such courses are running successfully in companies around Clare.

MORE than eight in 10 Ennis resi- dents believe that the town needs a stronger selection of stores to shop in and the same number are proving it by going to shop elsewhere at least once a month.

Nine in 10 of those shoppers spend more than €50 on their away trips, while 83 per cent of those surveyed believe that Ennis will benefit from the development of a world-class shopping centre and 83 per cent say that a new retail development at Cu- sack Park would add to the town’s economic prosperity.

Questions asked in the survey de- termine that “the provision of world- class retail and entertainment serv- ices 1n the heart of Ennis will retain customers within Ennis town, break habitual spending habits outside the confines of the town and will add significant revenue to the local econ- omy’, according to the summary of the findings, conducted and drawn up by CREST Retail Excellence Ire- land.

76 per cent of those questioned for the survey felt there should be better restaurant and entertainment choices in the town.

Of the stores currently operating in Ennis, women aged 30-50+ years said that Dunnes was the store they most liked, while 20-30-year-old fe- males most like Cornucopia.

Willow was the retail outlet of choice for 14-20-year-olds.

Men aged between 14 and 30 years named Manix as their favourite store and those aged 30 to 50-plus chose Dunnes.

The total sample used for the survey was 839 residents or 4.15 per cent of the population of Ennis, as recorded in the 2006 census.

The sample included 518 women and 321 men who were interviewed on three separate days between March 1 and 8 last by trained re- searchers conducting face-to-face interviews.

The report concludes that an “in- town development of scale would substantially benefit the economy” of the town and the “vast majority

of Ennis residents are fully support- ive of a new in town retail develop- jee 8 i

Reacting to the survey, a spokes- person for the Aisling Chiosoig Part- nership described the results as a remarkable vote of confidence in the proposed RiverSide Quarter.

“Clearly the people of Ennis want this project to go ahead. They want the range of retail outlets that the RiverSide Quarter will provide and they recognise the prosperity it will bring to the town in terms of jobs and increased retail spend.

“With the people of Ennis behind the concept, we feel very confident about the future. We also believe that the incredible support shown by the survey will be consolidated when the detailed plans and illustrations become available for all to see,” he SrBKOe

QUERRIN National School is very proud of its pupils who have ensured national recognition for the west Clare school.

School principal Elizabeth O’Shea paid tribute to Michael Duffy and Ronan Allen who were crowned Clare winners of the Engineers Ire- land STEPS to engineering K’NEX Regional Challenge, which took, place last week in Limerick Institute of Technology.

The two fifth class pupils will now represent Clare at the Engineers Ire- land K’NEX Challenge National Fi- nal in Dublin in June.

They will compete with other pri-

mary school children from across Ireland for the prestigious title of Junior Engineer of Ireland 2008.

Under the watchful eye of the schools other mainstream teacher, Mairead Allen, fourth and fifth class boys and girls entered the competi- nO

The school has been involved in the competition for a number of years.

The two-teacher school with one special education teacher was de- lighted when the two boys secured the regional title, as were the boys themselves.

“T can’t believe we have won. We have been practicing for the last three weeks non-stop. I love playing with K’NEX. You can make any-

thing from it,” said Ronan.

“T am very proud of them. They are excellent children, not just those two children but all of them and their parents are also very supportive,” said Ms O’Shea.

“This success was a joint effort from everyone in the school.”

John Power, Chartered Engineer and Director General of Engineers Ireland, congratulated Michael and Ronan.

“We wish them well in the national finals. The STEPS to engineering K’NEX challenge is a fantastic op- portunity for young people to expe- rience first hand how creative and interesting engineering is. The stand- ard of entry of the K°’NEX models

from Clare was very high and this is just one of 21 regional finals that will take place before the final in the Helix in June,” he said.

This year’s K°’NEX Challenge has taken place in 750 primary schools and has involved 1,500 primary school pupils from across the country. Each team of two children competed against the clock using their imagi- nation, creativity and skill to plan, design and construct an engineering model. The pupils worked under the theme, ‘celebrating the past, creating the future’, with the educational con- struction toy, K°NEX. The Clare Re- gional Final was officiated by judges John Culligan from Eircom and Ci- aran McManus from ESBI.

THE story of one of north Clare’s least celebrated superstars will be brought to dramatic life this evening at Glor in Ennis. “Submarine Man” tells the story of Liscannor’s John P Holland, inventor of the submarine and one of Ireland’s most remarkable engineers.

Written by Aidan Harney and di- rected by David Horan, the play tracks Holand’s life from his time as a school teacher in Clare to his in- volvement with the Fenians in New York, and his development of the submarine with the US navy.

“Holland, to me, is as intrepid an explorer as Sir Edmund Hillary on

Mount Everest, Neil Armstrong on the moon or Ernest Shackleton the great Antarctic explorer.

“Towards the end of the 1800s in the United States, in particular, but around the world there was a real race on to see who could conquer the mistress of the deep,” said writer Aidan Harney.

‘His story 1s simply the story of a man who had a dream and pursued it until he achieved it – although it nearly killed him along the way. I decided to write the play to try and make the life and times of this little- known man more accessible to peo- ple and to explore his contribution to Irish history.”

Harney’s early career was as a

journalist and actor, but he is now with Engineers Ireland. This love for engineering, writing and the stage made him the perfect person to bring Holland to the stage.

“It’s really an amazing story and the Fenian connection is incredible. When he arrived in New York in the 1870s, he got involved with Clan na Gael and, particularly, the famous O’Donovan Rossa.

“Rossa was so fascinated by Hol- land’s constant ramblings about the submarine and its potential as a weapon to solve the Irish question that he gave John Breslin, another very famous Fenian, and John De- voy, another huge figure of Irish his- tory, the job of working with Holland

to see if it was possible to build,” LoyeTebaLeCcremawlerIF

‘Fenian backers got nervous when Holland’s early prototype sank to the bottom of the Hudson river and almost killed poor Holland himself. They claimed he had built himself a coffin.

“When Holland spent a huge sum re-surfacing and repairing the sub- marine, the Fenians had a falling out and John Breslin, one night, actually stole the submarine from its moor- ings. Breslin forgot to seal the turret, the Fenian Ram, as it was known, subsequently flooded and sank.”

Submarine Man takes place in Glor this evening, May 6. Tickets are priced €18/€16.

MEZZO-soprano Naomi O’Connell from Ballyvaughan and tenor Dean Power, a native of Clarecastle, will perform at a free lunchtime concert on Friday at European Commission headquarters in Dublin to celebrate Europe Day.

Naomi is completing her final year of a BA in performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, while Dean is in the final year of the Bachelor of Music “Performance Course’ at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Both Naomi and Dean began their vocal studies with Archie Simpson in Clare and now study in Dublin WA LOM\Z EV aYas BIESONITTEE

Over the last four years, Naomi has won 11 first places in Feis Ceoil and last year won three prizes in the Veronica Dunne international singing competition, including the

Dame Joan Sutherland prize for the most promising young singer as well as overall fourth prize in the com- petition. Next September, she will continue her studies with a Masters Degree at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.

Dean has also won numerous priz- es at Feis Ceoil and this year was overall winner in the Ballymena Feis as well as coming joint first in the Male Voice Repertoire and Grand Opera competitions. He has travelled widely, singing in the Irish dance show, “Rhthym Of The Dance’ and has sung tenor solo in Handel’s OW SSE

The Dublin concert takes place from | to 2pm on Friday at the EC building in Dawson Street.

MORE than eight in 10 Ennis shop- pers think that the town needs a better selection of stores. And the shops that they most want to see in the Clare capital are the high-street stores which are popping up in other Irish cities and towns.

The majority of those calling for a better shopping selection are the young shoppers of the future, with 96 per cent of those aged 14 to 20 say- ing they believe that Ennis requires a

stronger selection of stores.

The British high-street stores fea- tured largely in the survey, both in a question in which respondents were asked, unprompted, which stores they would like to see in Ennis and in a question involving choice of named NIKO) KeKe

Unprompted, River Island, alwear and Marks and Spencers were the first choices for women in the age brackets 14-30 and 40-50+, respec- AYO WA

Brown Thomas, Next and Deben-

hams were among the stores of choice of women in the 30-40 age group. The stores that men aged 30-50+ most want to see come to Ennis in- clude Marks and Spencers, Argos and Homebase, with TK Maxx being first choice for the 14-20-year-olds and Jack and Jones the store most wanted by 20-30-year-old men. Other stores on the top six wish list for Ennis shoppers are No Name, Woody’s, Debenhams, ‘TopShop, B&Q, JJB Sports, Champion Sports, Footlocker and Superquinn.

Given a list of named stores and asked which they would most want to see coming to Ennis, women in the 14-20 age group favoured Zara, with Marks and Spencers as their second 1 aToy (exer

Those in the 20-30 age group pre- ferred their first and second choices the other way around.

Females surveyed in the 30-50+ age bracket all gave their first prefer- ences to Marks and Spencers.

Shaws was a popular second choice for women aged 40-50+-.

Between one third and a half of the female respondents were interested in seeing Eason’s open a store here. Up to one third of women, according to age group, would like to see Moth- ercare open its doors in Ennis.

Between 23 and 36 per cent of women across the age groups sur- veyed said they wanted an Evans store in Ennis.

Eason’s was the second choice for males in the 50+ age group, who put Shaws and Mothercare ahead on their wish list.

MULLAGH village received a spring clean last week courtesy of the local girl guides and brownies.

Conscious of the environment they live in, the girls from six and a half years old to 15-years were determined to maintain it, so that any visitors to the west Clare village this summer would see it in its best light.

What began as Mullagh Brownies approximately seven years ago has now become Ibrickane Brownies and Girl Guides as the local group grows in popularity.

While initially the girls came from Mullagh and Quilty, the brownies

attracted other girls from Muiltown Malbay. Older girls also became involved and the girl guides were formed under the watchful eye of Alison Browne and Emma Ironside- Boyde.

There are 32 girls from the Ibrick- ane area involved in the guides with a waiting list forming for more inter- ested young people.

The Brown Owl, Mags Cunning- ham, who took over as leader of the brownies with the help of Marie Sex- ton just two years ago, said that the eroup were considering forming a ladybirds group for four to six and a half year olds.

Ms Cunningham, whose’ two

daughters are involved in the brown- ies and guides, said that the organi- sation help children learn about their environment, responsibility and how to lend a hand at home and in the community.

In February the girls raised €485 for sick children in Our Lady’s Hos- pital for Sick Children in Crumlin, by hosting a pancake night. They were also involved in People in Need and the St Patrick’s Day parade in Miltown Malbay.

‘They learn to respect people, help out at home and get involved in the community,” said Ms Cunningham.

At the enrolment ceremony they promise to keep to the Motto “Our

duty to God and our country”.

Ms Cunningham said that as the brownies and guides were made up of nine different schools, children had the opportunity to make new friends in the locality.

As well as remembering the secret handshake and building up a collec- tion of interest badges, the brownies and guides must also meet for an hour every Monday night.

AS Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, was in Washington last week celebrating the recent progress made in North- ern Ireland, the fruits of the progress were being born out in the farming community with a number of high profile cross-border meetings taking place.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fish- eries and Food, Mary Coughlan, ac- companied by her cabinet colleague Eamon O Cuiv attended the North/ South Ministerial Council Agricul- ture Sectoral meeting held in Fer- managh on Wednesday.

The Northern Ireland Executive was represented by Michelle Gild- ernew, MP, MLA, Minister of Agri- culture and Rural Development and Arlene Foster, MLA, Minister of the

Environment.

The meeting covered a range of 1s- sues including co-operation on ani- mal health, plant health, the Com- mon Agricultural Policy Issues and cross-border rural development.

The council noted progress on the activities in the draft All-Island Animal Health and Welfare Strategy including an agreement on a com- mon chapter in the respective epi- Zootic contingency plans for Foot and Mouth Disease with common chapters for Avian Influenza and Bluetongue in the pipeline, on-going development of a report on the po- tential for joint data sharing and con- tinuing examination of the feasibility of a joint approach to the electronic identification of sheep.

The ministers approved further specific measures to progress the all-

island approach relating to Aujesz- ky’s Disease in pigs, and, in conjunc- tion with respective food safety and standard agencies, consideration of the hygiene package with respect to the transmission of food chain infor- mation with animals going to slaugh- ter and of the feasibility and priority of an all island approach relating to Trichinella in pigs.

The council discussed an innova- tive and strategic approach to col- laboration and co-operation on rural development programmes aimed at fostering improved community rela- tions in remote rural areas and com- plementing the economic regenera- tion of disadvantaged cross-border regions.

In relation to the EU Programmes, the ministers noted the development of proposals for a Rural Enabler

Project for submission to the PEACE II] Programme. This project aims to bring together rural people from both traditions and migrants to in- crease understanding and to work to address issues of sectarianism and racism in a rural context. Meanwhile, northern and southern hill farmers meet last week to dis- cuss to discuss a united approach to property rights and protection.

A SOUTH-EAST Clare developer has for the fourth time been refused planning permission for a helicopter pad on his land at Clonlara.

Clare County Council rejected the latest application from Peter Stritch with an internal council memo stat- ing that legal action over unauthor- ised helicopter activity at the site was ongoing. Mr Stritch had previously been refused planning permission

for a helipad on two occasions while he was also refused permission to construct a hangar for a helicopter.

In response to the latest applica- tion, the council concluded that the helipad would seriously injure the amenities and depreciate the value of adjacent residential properties and be contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.

The council refused planning per- mission after objections were lodged by a number of local residents.

In his objection, David Beckett stated that the grounds on which the previous applications were refused were still valid and unchanged and the fact that the location of the site on the farm was moved made no dif- eon Gen

“His appeal to An Bord Pleanala was refused and it is possible that this application is being used as a re- placement for the rejected helicopter landing area.

“My family and I were greatly dis-

turbed by the noise. Helicopters are very noisy and the beat of the ro- tor blades is particularly irritating. Even an approaching helicopter can be heard when it is only a dot in the sky. The applicant will argue that the landing site is well away from hous- es, but this ignores the fact that when the helicopter is flying overhead, it 1s less than 100 metres away and can be heard throughout the house.”

Mr Beckett said there were im- portant safety concerns to consider,

including the fact that the proposed site was next to a gallop which was used daily and there was a high risk of an equestrian accident.

‘According to a UK accident data- base, 57 helicopters have crashed so far this year. On March 20, a heli- copter crashed in Meath, while in July 2007, a helicopter crashed near Ballynacally. We live in a quiet, rural and increasingly residential area and it is not suitable for aircraft activity,” Mr Beckett concluded.