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THE students of Kilnaboy National School and the local community of Kilnaboy and Corofin have raised valuable money to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

The school have donated more than €2,000 raised from their annual coin collection to the locally formed char- ity, Cystic Fibrosis Children’s Light of Hope. The charity, which is dedi- cated to raising money to help fund research into a cure for Cystic Fibro- sis, was formed by a group of locals including Marcella Clancy, whose son Cillian attends the school.

‘There are about four or five of us

in the group who all have children who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis,’ she said. “We fundraise solely for re- search purposes.

“We do all the work ourselves so we have no overheads – all the money will go for research purposes. We have been going for about three years now.

Marcella continued, “Cystic Fibro- sis 18 a genetic condition. Mainly it effects your lungs and your digestive system. Children are very prone to chest infections and as they go into their teenage years can develop dia- betes and bone problems.

“Cillian is 10 years old now and he loves it here in the school. He 1s re-

ally into sports: rugby, football and hurling. And he is well able to keep up with the rest of them, when he’s well, anyway.”

This is the third coin collection or- ganised by the school.

“We organise a coin collection each year. It’s more or less an annual thing now,’ said school principal Gerry Connors.

‘The first year we gave it to Paki- stan, the time of the earthquake, then last year we gave to a local child in the school who was recovering from leukaemia. So this year we decided we would give it to Cillian’s cause and we are delighted, thrilled with how it turned out. We raised €2,000

which was great.

“The kids do all the hard work, putting collection boxes into the shops and collecting at home. In the end, the sixth-class students have the task of counting up all the money.

“I’d say that over the three years we have gathered as much as €6,000, which is great for a three teacher school. It just shows you the great community spirit that is in the place.”

THE number of house starts in Clare to date this year is down 80 per cent on the corresponding period last year.

Providing further evidence of the decline in the local construction in- dustry, Homebond confirmed that the number of house starts registered in Clare for the month of January was only four. Representing 75 per cent of the market, Homebond confirmed that the figure for January of last year NF ISO

The number of new house starts in February did pick up and 17 start-ups

were recorded. However, the total for the first two months of this year was a meagre 21, compared to 98 for last year – a drop of 80 per cent.

Separate statistics provided by Clare County Council highlight a more long-term decline in housing construction.

In response to a motion tabled by Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) for the council’s March meeting, the coun- cil’s director for planning, Berna- dette Kinsella, said that the number of applications for one-off homes in Clare had almost halved in the past four years.

Ms Kinsella revealed that 1,584

applications were lodged for one- off homes in 2004 but last year the number dropped to 844.

In 2006, some 828 applications were lodged and 960 in 2005. The number of applications for this year is on a par with last year. It stands at 139 for the first two months.

Separate figures supplied by the Department of the Environment for the first two months of this year show that there has been a 30 per cent drop in house completions compared to the first two months of last year.

The figures show that for the first two months of this year, 252 houses were completed in Clare, with 100

completed in January and 152 com- pleted in February.

This compares to 359 homes com- pleted for the first two months of last year, with 122 homes completed in January and 237 homes in February, giving a total of 359.

In total last year, according to Homebound, there were 784 houses starts in Clare, a drop of 37.5 per cent on the 1,258 house starts in Clare in 2006.

Nationally, there were 75,000 hous- es built last year. Ennis auctioneer Philip O’Reilly said recently that he believed that this would drop to 40,000 this year.

THE public is being invited to enjoy the historical and natural beauty of Gort’s Coole Park, tea rooms and visitors’ centre which reopened last weekend. Following a very success- ful winter and spring programme of events, the Coole Park Visitor Centre reopens to the public on Easter Sat- urday and will remain open through- out the summer.

The centre will be open daily from 10am to 5pm until the end of May, and then from 10am to 6pm. As a special treat for literary and his- tory buffs, there will be no entry fee

this year to the centre’s audiovisual presentation of the life of Lady Gre- gory and the exhibition “Coole Park through the eyes of Me and Nu’.

Me and Nu were pet-names of Lady Gregory’s granddaughters who spent much of their childhood in Coole Park and witnessed the passing of some of the leading artistic and po- litical figures of Ireland history in the early 20th century.

Coole Park is managed by the Na- tional Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Be- sides being a literary and historical pilgrimage, it is also a nature reserve,

includes six kilometres of trails tak- ing in woods, river, turlough, lime- stone and Coole Lake.

The Seven Woods and wild swans, which were celebrated in verse by WB Yeats, are part of its unique en- vironment. Depending on the season you may see red squirrels, stoats, bluebells and violets, butterflies and dragonflies, woodland or wetland birds.

Coole Park was once the home of Lady Gregory, dramatist, folklorist and co-founder of the Abbey Thea- tre with William Butler Yeats. In the early 20th century, it was at the heart of the Irish Literary Revival.

Yeats, Shaw, Synge and O’Casey all came to experience Coole’s magic. They and many others carved their initials on the Autograph Tree, an old copper beech still standing today.

Although the house no longer re- mains, you can still appreciate the beautiful surroundings that drew so many to Gort. It is possible to expe- rience the magic and serenity of the landscape that inspired the poets and artists of Ireland’s last literary gold- ae rnes

For more information, contact Hilda Mac Lochlainn, supervisor guide at Coole Park on 091-631804 or info@coolepark

THE thought of taking on a group of five- to 12-year-olds every day, if only for a few hours, would put the fear of God into many a brave soul, while representing the masses as the leader of a workers’ union would bring most of us out in a cold sweat.

Declan Kelleher has taken on both roles in his life, and after more than 35 years involved still speaks about both with an enthusiasm that is contagious. And the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) will be hoping that his enthusiasm turns into an epidemic as it tries to encour- age new members into the union this year.

The Kilnaboy native will have this task, with many more, thrust upon him tomorrow when he takes over as the union’s president for the next year. The Corofin NS principal is well known for his work with the un- ion in the county, which he maintains could not be achieved without the support of his wife, family, teaching staff and management.

This commitment will now see him at the head of a 36,000 member un- ion that represents both the north of Ireland and the Republic, at a time when the INTO in the north is start- ing to work closely with the Ulster Teachers Union.

While taking on the role as presi- dent of the INTO, Mr Kelleher ex- plains that he misses teaching: “I ab- solutely love teaching. I think it has probably been the greatest privilege in my life to have been trusted by parents to teach their children.

“You are never doing the same thing from year to year. It is abso- lutely brilliant because you never meet the same children. You are meeting a new group every year and they are absolutely brimful of talent, and your job is to draw out the talent and potential.

‘And don’t tell me there is any bet- ter job in Ireland or the world than to face a challenge like that.”

With the roots of the INTO of- ten considered to be in Kildysart, Where a strong teacher’s represen- tation body was formed as early as 1868, Declan’s own history saw him

involved in student and teachers un- ions at an early age. He was part of the first students representative body set up in St Flannan’s College, Ennis during his final year.

As a member of the students union in St Patrick’s College, Dublin he was one of the demonstrators who sat sat in front of the Mercedes of Min- ister for Education Padraig Faulkner, demanding a degree course for the college.

Declan joined the INTO in 1972 and has missed just one conference since. He came back to his native county in 1978 and taught in Ennis National before becoming principal in Corofin in 1979. He immediately became aware of the issues facing schools in the county.

“When I came back to Clare what struck me immediately was_ that town schools has a certain amount of learning support for weaker students,

where as rural schools had absolutely none,’ he says. “You couldn’t defend it by any standards – that you have something available to larger schools that wasn’t available to children in smaller schools.”

Issues such as class sizes and spe- cial education needs will be high on his agenda during Mr Kelleher’s presidency.

‘There has been a lot of improve- ment in special education access in ordinary national schools for chil- dren with special needs and disabili- ties,” he says.

“It was something that was very important because children should be able to grow up and go to school in their own local community if that is what their parents so choose. And certainly that is something which has improved hugely in recent times.

“What is improving very slowly is the actual infrastructure of the

schools whereby rooms are large enough to accommodate all the di- versity you need, not to talk of class size, which is a major problem in Clare. One in every two children in Clare is in an over-crowded class- room, which is a startling statistic,” he continues.

“Village schools anywhere in the Ennis area, right down to Shannon and over triangularly towards Tulla and Sixmilebridge, all of that area is expanding rapidly at the moment and we have a huge increase in popula- tion. Then we see the government reneging on its commitment of class sizes again this year.”

He said the union was very annoyed with government partners, particu- larly the Green Party, who gave firm commitments on class sizes, but the largest criticism went to Fianna Fail and politicians who stood on plat- forms making commitments to class

sizes that were soon forgotten.

A number of schools in Clare have also felt the brunt of the reduction in the school building project including Ennis NS and Barefield, according to the president-elect.

“The reason for the slowdown is simply there is a huge expansion go- ing on in the east coast in terms of population,” Declan says.

“There are 30 emergency schools being created in the east coast and I wouldn’t argue against that – they are necessary – but they should have been created through a supplemen- NAVA OL ULO tole

‘What has actually happened is that the money that was out there for oth- er schools has now been diverted to those schools, and schools that have been waiting patiently in the queue for eight to ten years have been told wait longer. I think that is totally un- justifiable.”

The whole area of resoursing schools is a major issue facing Mr Kelleher, as is primary school prin- cipals and the amount of auxiliary services available to them.

Schools with less than 177 students do not get an administrative princi- pal; instead the principal must do all of the administrative work over 22 assigned days per year. In the north of Ireland, principals are assigned two days per week.

Despite his success in being elected to the highest office in the INTO Mr Kelleher has no plans to follow Sena- tor Joe O’ Toole into politics. While he admires those who go into the world of politics, he is happy to re- main a spectator.

He is proud of the many achieve- ments of his profession, especially in welcoming the “new Irish”, say- ing, “I think one of the uncelebrated successes of the Irish primary school system is the way it has absorbed new children over the past number of years.”

His many functions for the year ahead will include the chairing of the first INTO youth conference in April, and a trip to Gambia to see a school built by the INTO credit union.

through

the Freedom of Information Act. The material revealed that a senior department official described as “off

the wall” a demand by the Mid West Regional Authority for a fund of €44 million to prepare the region for the ending of the stop-over.

The documentation also revealed that a €20 million tourism market- ing fund over five years was deleted from the published Economic and Tourism Plan for Shannon, despite appearing in two earlier drafts.

“We are seeking a response from the minister as to why this commit- ment was deleted. We need clarifica- tion on the issue,’ said Mr Vaughan.

“IT am very fearful that the depart- ment will renege on their commit- ment to provide the funding and it will be a similar situation to what you

had in the early 1990s where money was allocating to the Shannon Air- port Marketing Committee, but there was no follow up funding.”

A separate internal memo pointed out that the regional authority de- mand for €44 million “was always totally unrealistic and has done much to undermine the credibility of its broader case.

“If there are real marketing needs, there are likely to be far more mod- est.”

Mr Vaughan said, “I’m shocked by the attitude of the officials and it just shows their lack of understand- ing of the needs of the region. What has been uncovered shows that there

is almost a conspiracy against the re- gion.

“It must be remembered that the €44 million was a spend over a five- year period. The statements made by department officials just raise fur- ther suspicions that the dead hand of Government is conspiring against us down here in the mid-west.

‘“W hat has been revealed comes as a devastating blow and shows just how unenlightened the department is.”

The regional authority has also written to Minister Brennan seek- ing clarification about the economic plan. However, this was on foot of the minister addressing a recent re- gional authority meeting.

COMEDY is thick 1n the north Clare air this weekend with a series of one- act plays presented by the Burren Players.

The captivating evening of one-act plays, which features seven short comedies from the players, will take place in the Royal Spa Hotel in Lis- doonvarna from Thursday to Sun- day.

“Things have changed a bit this year,’ said Susan Edwards of the Burren Players. “A lot of the key ac- tors who have been with us in the past are not with us this year because of other obligations, which means that

we have a whole cast of new players – 14 – this year.

“The show will consist of seven one-act comedies. They will cover the whole spectrum of comedy – there is some farce and some relationship comedy, which can be a bit dark.

“In the past the cast has ranged from two to seven players each year. So by putting on a large number of plays it means that we can bring ina lot of new people who have shown an interest before but for whatever rea- son haven’t always been able to be a part of the production.

“In this format we have some ac- tors who play a number of roles in different plays. Some of the charac-

ters are very extreme and it is very interesting to see the players go from one character to another on the same night,” Susan added.

The players have been careful to incorporate many different and com- plementary styles of comedy into the programme.

“Comedy is something that our au- dience always enjoys. But as well as that the cast is having a really good time with these plays. We had to pick the plays and order them very care- fully,’ continued Susan.

“We took a good bit of time to fig- ure out what was best and we wound up with a fairly wide range of com- edies. We have some Irish plays and

Some non-Irish, but seven different types of comedy. It’s a really inter- esting mix of plays.

“People might love one play and then find the next one a bit bizarre. But then the person beside them might feel the total opposite. But there will definitely be laughs in the evening for everyone.’

Tickets at a cost of €15 are avail- able on the night or from the Royal Spa Hotel on 065-7074288. The show Starts at 8.30pm.

IT’S been a busy few weeks for Clare handball and there will be more of the same this coming week with Munster finals being played across the various grades.

Having already reached the Mun- ster Under 21 Doubles final with Conor Cooney, Tulla’s Cathal Han- non has claimed the Under 21 Sin- gles title, marking Clare’s first Mun- ster Singles title of the year. It came about when he beat Shane Hayes of Clooney in an all-Clare decider at Newmarket on Friday night.

Ashling Fitzgerald and _ Edel O’Grady, both Tuamgraney, were crowned Munster Minor Ladies Doubles champions after receiving a walkover in the final.

Meanwhile, Declan Frawley of Clarecastle was defeated in the Mun- ster Intermediate Singles final after going down against an in-form Colm Jordan of Cork.

In the Silver Masters °B’ Doubles, Tuamgraney’s Teddy O’Hanlon and Tulla’s Donal Vaughan exited the Munster race when they went down against Limerick’s Jimmy Fanning and Jack Dillon.

There is Munster final action in Galbally tonight (Tuesday) as Tua- mgraney’s PJ Counihan and Jimmy

Walsh take on Michael Jordan and Jim Kennedy of Cork in the Dia- mond Masters °A’ decider.

On the local scene, the second of this year’s Clare League finals was played during the week with Tulla scoring a comprehensive win over Tuamgraney to take the Division 3 title. The winning team was Cathal Hannon, Trevor Vaughan, Sam Ed-

brooke and Aidan Lynch, plus subs used during the year.

Clooney had already claimed the Division 4B title with victory over Tuamgraney while tonight also sees both 4A semi-finals with Shan- non playing O’Callaghans Mills in Clarecastle and Tuamgraney A fac- ing Clarecastle in Tulla.

On Wednesday night the focus

switches to Clarecastle for both Di- vision 2 semis as Tuamgraney and O’Callaghans Mills clash in Court | and Clooney go up against Kilkishen in Court 4. All games are at 8pm.

In juvenile handball, the Banner’s up-and-coming stars kicked off their own Munster Championship cam- paigns over the weekend. Clare were represented from under 12 to under

17, boys and girls, at Munster semi- final stage against Cork opponents generally and Waterford at under 13 girls and under I5 boys.

It proved to be a successful week- end on the whole, with Banner victo- ries in a number of the age-grades.

CLARE County Council is now demanding that developers provide social housing within new housing developments in a new departure in jee) BCAA

Up until now, the local authority has been entering deals where developers would provide a financial contribution to the council to meet their require- ments through Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

The contentious “Part V’ provision requires developers to make a contri-

bution to 20 per cent of the site value of the development in order to pro- vide social and affordable housing.

The council’s draft Housing Strat- egy 2007-11 revealed that the council did not provide a single social house through the Government’s conten- tious Part V legislation during the lifetime of its first Housing Strategy introduced four years ago.

The draft — which includes a review of the performance of the existing strategy — shows that the council pro- vided 74 affordable homes through the Part V arrangement.

However, in a new initiative to meet its social housing targets, the council has requested the developers of a 64- unit housing development in Liscan- nor to deliver proposals to provide social and affordable housing.

In its request for further infor- mation, the council tells the Lios Ceannuir Partnership, “The council require both social and affordable housing at a breakdown of 25 per cent social and 75 per cent affordable at this location with units required measuring 1100 sq ft. You are there- fore required to submit proposals to

comply with these requirements.”

This will mean a small number of houses of the development will be social and affordable.

The proposal is already facing op- position from a large number of resi- dents in Liscannor and, in its request for further information, the council states that it has a number of con- cerns in relation to the development.

These include inadequate capacity of the Liscannor wastewater treat- ment system; the design and layout of the scheme; the visual impact as viewed from the road; the location

of a distribution road; and the lack of footpaths to the village.

The council has told the developers, “While it is noted that permission has been permitted for wastewater treatment works, it is as yet not built or operational. The council therefore is not in a position to grant the pro- posed development until such a time as these wastewater treatment works being put in place and made opera- tional.”

The application will become ‘live’ again once the information has been lodged with the council.

THE waiting is almost over for the children of the Lisdoonvarna area as works on the Community Parkland Playground and Childcare Centre is nearing completion.

The playground, which is part of a large community and amenity centre planned for the park, has been built to cater for the needs of children in the surrunding areas, as well as those in Lisdoonvarna.

To coincide with the completion of the playground, a children’s sum- mer camp will begin on July 7 in the adjoining childcare centre. Children between three and five are invited

to take part in the camps which will be continued weekly until the full launch of the centre in September.

“It is going to be a kids’ summer camp with loads of activities for all the children. We will have a lot of arts and crafts, sports and all kinds of activities,’ said organiser Maggie O’Sullivan.

“At the moment we are looking for three- to five-year-olds but if a par- ent comes with a two-year-old who is potty trained and ready to go then we will be as flexible as we can.

“We will have six different children in the camp each week so we should have a good range.

“We will definitely be looking to

grow it but for this year the numbers we have are about right.

“In September we will be starting the new creche facility. We haven’t got a name yet but I’m sure over the summer one of the kids will be able to come up with a good name for it.”

The summer camp will be the first part of a major childcare centre open- ing on the premises in September.

“Come September, we will have six or seven rooms going and we will be catering for 0-12 months, toddlers, playgroup Montessori and _after- school,’ continued Maggie.

“It will be a fairly large operation but numbers will be limited both in the summer camp and the creche so

people should get in contact as soon as possible.

“We have space now but we could be full before we know it.

“As of right now the building is up and more or less ready. They are just finishing off the insides and the parking and landscaping outside so everything should be perfect for July wi 99

For more information on _ this project, contact Maggie O’Sullivan Oy MOL MANOR LONE

This playground, summer camp and creche are all elements of the Lisdoonvarna Amenity Park being developed by Lisdoonvarna Failte Ltd.

IN assuming the reins of power last autumn, Mike McNamara was at pains to point out that Clare’s hurling future lay in a re-building process. It was all about “restoring our pride in Munster” — a soundbite McNamara has used many times in the interven- ing months.

How long that journey takes will only be known with time — in the heat of summer battle, this summer or maybe in summers beyond as Clare bid to mix it at provincial level for the first time 1n many years.

The county has only recorded one victory in the Munster Championship since 1999 — that was on a rainy day by the Lee in 2003 when Tipperary were pummeled into submission.

Breaking that cycle of defeat is McNamara’s main focus, something he’s been eyeing up during Clare’s five-match league campaign that fi- nally ground to a halt in O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Sunday with a spluttering win over Offaly.

However, despite it being a poor league in terms of results, it can be deemed satisfactory in the context of the re-building process. Twenty six players saw duty for Clare in the five games.

Some were tried and trusted, with a spine of players from the Clare 2002 All-Ireland final team still in- tact as McNamara set about blending some new players into the fold. The old hands were players like Frank Lohan, Conor Plunkett, Niall Guil-

ligan, Colin Lynch and Tony Car- mody. The big disappointment was that Gerry Quinn, who emerged as one of Clare’s real on-field leaders in 2007 made only one appearance, while he dropped off the panel after a challenge game against Kilkenny in early March.

Meanwhile, a raft of new players were given their chance to shine. Mark Flaherty was on the panel for a few weeks last year, but this term he started all five games and notched up 5-42. David Barrett recovered from his nightmarish debut of being sent off after a couple of minutes against Galway to play three more games; Tommy Holland played in the last three games, while Ger Arthur, Ca- thal Lafferty and Martin ‘Ogie’ Mur- phy were other league debutants.

Others like Pat Donnellan and Dar- ragh Clancy, who featured on panels past were also given their chance to claim championship jerseys. Now it’s a matter and waiting and see who’ll make the team for the | June clash with Waterford in the Gaelic Grounds.