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SPRING continues to awaken in north Clare with a number of artistic ventured taking place in north Clare and south Galway in the coming Neto) .e

On March 1, Rahaly Castle in Gort will be the venue for a Night of Mu- sic and Storytelling in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.

Organised by the Spirit of Voice, the evening will include featuring music from Café Kinvara including instrumental performances from Eu- rope, Russia, South America and Af- rica, songs from Ireland and French and American jazz and folk.

Other highlights include Australian storyteller Matthew Noone who will

use African drums, Indian lutes and the odd touch of rockin guitar which creates a sensory experience of the myths and folk tales.

MC for the evening is Gort Slam Poet Marty Mulligan of Electric Pic- nic and Glastonbury fame.

Limited seats so advance at €20 from the Gallery Cafe Hostel in Gort on 091 630630.

Meanwhile, The Gallery of the Bur- ren College of Art in Ballyvaughan is currently hosting an exhibition of Irish works entitled Peer-to-Peer.

The exhibition is the culmination of a portrait project involving the artists and mentors in the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent (KCAT). In an environment where the learn- ing between mentor and studio art-

ists goes both ways, this exhibition visually highlights those involved.

All the artists picked names from a hat in order to determine their sub- ject, then began the challenge of de- ciding how to portray and represent their peer.

There were no restrictions on meth- od or materials, and work produced includes print, paint, woodcut, stitch, sculpture and collage. An integral part of the process was the free-flow- ing interaction between each artist and subject, communicating styles and intentions for their work.

KCAT is a research partner in the Arts Council’s Touring Experiment. The show has traveled to Kilkenny Design Centre, Airfield Trust, Garter Lane Arts Centre Waterford, Aras

Eanna Inis Oirr before arriving at the Burren College of Art Clare.

KCAT is a Camphill project pio- neering inclusive arts and adult edu- cation programmes. It currently runs a FETAC Level 5 Art Course funded by Kilkenny VEC for people from different backgrounds and an Arts Council funded Studio where pro- fessional artists with special needs work in an inclusive environment.

It also run a FETAC Level 5 Thea- tre Performance Course based on the same inclusive ideas.

The work in this exhibition goes on tour and is in principle not for sale. However those interested can contact KCAT on 056-7755115 or check out www.burrencollege.ie for more de- NOES

AT THE weekend, Bishop of Killa- loe, Willie Walsh, officially blessed a building that everyone in the know said couldn’t happen.

In just eight weeks — 28 labouring days — 165 volunteers and their work- ers from the Port Elizabeth township erected a new health centre and hos- pice against all odds.

For weeks, the activity on site was frenzied, with volunteers gulping breakfast, boarding the bus at 6.30am and working until 6pm or later in the evening.

The first crew to arrive were con- fronted with the daunting sight of the huge foundations and a mountain of blocks waiting to be laid.

Alan Carmody from Lisseycasey, the foreman with the first group, said he “got a shock when I saw the size 0) Mad otom obun Conberca

But everyone, including the locals, got stuck in and worked hard. It was so exciting to be involved. We’ll nev- er forget it.”

The teams pushed on through days of hard slog in punishing heat and before the first crew left, they had laid 130,000 blocks.

The next team cooked as the sun beat down on the silver, reflective material of the roof while they sealed the building.

The tradesmen did what they’re best at and everybody else did what they were told, whether it was painting, plumbing or carrying never ending supplies of water to labourers work- ing in puddles of their own sweat.

Each of the 62 windows had to have up to 16 panes of glass put in and gla- Ziers used half a ton of putty.

Workers laid 168 cubic meters of mortar and the volunteers downed 2,330 litres of bottled water .

In the scorching African sun, the builders of hope used 11 kilos of sun- block. And still they burned.

By the time the final team arrived, the structure had taken shape but there was still an enormous amount of plumbing, painting, plastering, til- ing, hanging ceilings and carpentry to do. And that was all before the massive clean up began.

Finally, everything was in ship shape, with the exception of the the floor covering which had to be put on the long finger because the floors had been laid so fast they hadn’t time to dry.

But the Irish carried the criac with them in their suitcases. Tin whistles, come all-ye’s, slagging matches be- tween teams of workers, ludicrous match making attempts and requests to fill the hotel swimming pool with aletoj mrs l MN eCom Ne OlMmNe Com abnE

As supervisor on site for the entire project, Jimmy Kenny from Dublin said, ‘We had a laugh’.

AN EAST Clare-based company has secured planning permission for a project that will allow it to supply up to half of its energy costs from alter- native energy.

Clare County Council has granted planning permission to Olympus D1- agnostica for a 200 foot high wind turbine on the site of the facility near O’Callaghan’s Mills.

The company has overcome the council’s concerns in relation to a device that is designed to scare away

bats from the structure.

The company stated that in rela- tion to the nature and scale and use of the proposed development, the policies of the County Development Plan and the pattern of development in the area, the proposed develop- ment would not seriously injure the amenities of the area and would not be prejudicial to public health.

In the planning application lodged with Clare County Council, Olym- pus is “seeking a solution which would meet a portion 40-50 per cent of our electrical base load using al-

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The company stated that it would consume all the energy from the wind-turbine and there was no need for a grid connection. It stressed that the proposal turbine didn’t lie with- in any recognised flight path of the Whooper Swan and the Greenland White Fronted Goose.

In a submission lodged with the plan, the company stated: “The ra- tionale for this project has its roots in spiralling energy costs which are set by international markets and impact severely for two reasons:

the wide fluctuation in energy costs which make financial planning more difficult and the underlying trend is upwards.”

Stressing its adherence to “corpo- rate social responsibility”, Olympus pointed out that it had already re- duced its greenhouse emissions by putting in place a wood chip burner instead of oil which also created a lo- cally-based market for wood-chip.

The company stated that the noise emissions from the wind-turbine will be lower than similar sized turbines.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said yes-

terday, “It is a positive move. I am delighted with the decision of Clare County Council and I hope that other Koy enh oy-bauCecmayya 00s ce) 0 Ce) annetcs bane) ome

The company also stated that the Clare County Development Plan had deemed the location “a suitable area for wind energy” and didn’t have any scenic or environmentally sensitive OLAS hea sree ley ekse

The company also stated that it has held a number of local meetings and had relocated the wind-turbine from its original location in response to local concerns.

A PRIVATE company has secured a licence from the Department of Transport to provide a town-wide bus service in Ennis for the first time.

The unidentified company secured the service even though Bus Eireann submitted a proposal to the depart- ment to operate a Service.

In response to a Dail question from Timmy Dooley, the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, said, “I can confirm that my department re- ceived a proposal from Bus Eireann to provide bus passenger services in /Syeebacy

“On 20 November, 2007, the pro- posal was noted by my department and the company was advised ac- cordingly.

“The introduction of this new serv- ice 18 an operational matter for Bus Eireann.

“On 29 January, 2008, in accord- ance with the Road Traffic Act 1932, my department issued a licence to a private operator for an Ennis town Sos ata Gon

“All licences issued have standard conditions associated with them and compliance with those conditions 1s the responsibility of the service op- erator in each instance.

‘A condition of all licences includes the requirement whereby the service must be in operation in its entirety within four months from the date of

issue of the licence.” Deputy Dooley told

BALLY VAUGHAN poet on artist, Frank Golden launched his latest book of poetry at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan on Saturday evening.

The book, entitled In Daily Accord, is a Selection of short poems written on a daily basis over a twenty month period.

Golden came to the idea after un- dertaking a series of daily drawings, where he undertook a series a daily sketches over a prolonged period of time.

He began to write the series of short poems on his birthday, May 16 2003,

and continued to add a poem each day for more than two years.

“Sometime the poems are quite de- scriptive, and other times they can be much more personal. But as with anything done over such a length of time, certain voices, personalities, locales and dramas crop up and play WaLesbeKToy Atos @)ULIMOMN SLomST-NT OD

‘Because you are writing every day, things that happen during your day can often appear. So, if I had gone for a walk on Black Head one day, likely as not that will crop figure in a poem in one way of another. Over the course of the years I wrote some 1000 poems, so the book is just a se- lection of this work.”

The poems are loosely based on Haiku and Senryu forms with the book following a roughly seasonal order, with poems from each month being grouped together.

Frank was joined at the launch by fellow readers Valerie Whelan and John Doorty while a musical back- drop was provided by composer An- drew Collins.

‘There are introspective and they are questioning, they are more like distillations than a real narrative. I guess, there 1s a since of a life, lived on a daily basis,’ he continued.

“The thing about these poems is that they are very small in nature, so it was difficult to know how we could

present them in a public setting. I de- cided to have Valerie and Frank who would read a slightly altered version of the poem and create an inverted echo for each poem.

Frank has been living in the Bur- ren for some twenty years, and has been resident in Ballyvaughan for the bulk of that time. It has been a productive period for him, seeing the publication of four books of poems, a novel and a number of exhibitions of his paintings.

A MAJOR new project, designed to overhaul the Irish fishing industry, was launched last week by Minister Mary Coughlan.

The aim of the scheme is to perma- nently remove older fishing vessels from the fishing fleet, replacing them with more modern vessels capable of trawling for different types of fish.

This voluntary scheme will remove older and larger fishing vessels with mixed catches of fish such as cod, haddock, monkfish, mackerel and herring thus increasing the quotas available to the more modern com- petitive fishing vessels.

This investment in the future of the

catching sector will permanently re- move some 75 boats from the Irish ji stol

“The aim of this scheme is to bring about a viable future for the fishing sector and support the economies of those coastal communities depend- ent on fishing,’ said Coughlan.

‘The Government has invested a €21 million budget for the scheme in 2008 with a further €2] million committed in 2009. I will pursue further funding, in line with the rec- ommendations of the Cawley report, as required, taking account of the take up under the scheme.

“This programme represents a very substantial commitment to bringing the Irish fishing fleet into balance

with available resources and ensuring that those remaining in the industry can be assured of a profitable future. The recently published Finance Bill contains a number of measures spe- cifically designed to reduce the tax burden on fishermen taking up this scheme.”

The scheme is open to vessel own- ers in respect of fishing vessels 10 years or more 1n age and 18 metres or more in overall length. Vessels must be operational at the time of decom- missioning and have a recent track record of fishing.

The level of payments under the scheme are determined based on criteria including the age of the ves- sel and its catch history but will not

exceed in any case €7,500 per gross oy ey ator

“The Seafood Strategy sets down the road map for the development of the sector. We must focus on sustain- ability of fish stocks and maximising the return from the fish catch.,” con- tinued the minister.

‘Already good progress has been made, in line with the Cawley strat- egy, on delivering a more innovative and co-ordinated approach to the marketing and processing of seafood in order to maximise the value at every stage from the sea to the ta- ble.”

The closing date for receipt of all applications under this scheme is Spm on Wednesday April 30.

A GIFTED mathematician who was last week sentenced to more than nine years in an American prison for armed robbery, is believed to be suffering from a mental illness that affects one per cent of the Irish popu- lation.

Niall Clarke from Kilrush was a top student in his final year at Trinity Se NSM Deer WatoremebicmecDeevE WANED ANI became concerned about his men- tal health. He started to get serious panic attacks.

His father Michael told a Maine Federal Court that his mother, Niall’s grandmother, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

The distraught father said he felt let down by the health services here for failing to help his son.

Before Niall was arrested for the robbery of Bank of America in Maine in October 2006, his father said that he had taken his son to a GP who, after a 10-minute evaluation, said that he would be all right.

On Tuesday last, Mr Clarke’s de- fence team argued that he had com- mitted the offences “while suffering from a reduced mental capacity”’.

Cork-born psychiatrist Dr Niamh Holohan, who is based in Bangor, Maine, gave evidence that the Kil- rush man had symptoms of schizo- eavne tb eee

She had been working with Ni- all for a year and told the court he had an IQ in the top two per cent in

the world and was “very honest and straightforward in explaining what happened”’.

The psychiatrist explained that Niall said he was driving through Maine when the idea to rob a bank came to him and “crystallised” in such a way as he just had to do it.

“Niall did not understand he had schizophrenia and did not understand the consequences of his actions. He needs therapy,” she said.

According to sources within the Clare mental health service, an aver- age of 45 people in Clare are diag- nosed with schizophrenia every year. The good news is that as many as one third of the population diagnosed with the illness can be completely cured, once treated.

Another third of the population can have “partial remission” but require

medicine for the rest of their lives to prevent the onset of the disease.

Others may require an “environ- ment of care’, whether in the home or institutionalised.

Following Mr Clarke’s sentencing, which is to include medical treat- ment, his father told reporters, “Niall appears to be in remission because he is in an institutionalised environ- ment.” The Kilrush father was in no doubt that had his son received the proper treatment in Ireland, he would not be in a high-security American prison today.

According to Schizophrenia Ire- land, this serious mental illness is characterised by disturbances in a person’s thoughts, perceptions, emo- tions and behaviour. The first onset commonly occurs in adolescence or early adulthood although it can also OLererty am -NkodanbO DB Kon

There are a number of signs and symptoms that are characteristic of schizophrenia. However, the expres- sion of these symptoms varies greatly from one individual to another.

Symptoms are divided into two groups: “active” symptoms that re- flect new or unusual forms of thought and behaviour; and “passive” symp- toms, that reflect a loss of previous feelings and abilities.

MALIGNANT cancers remain by far the most common cause of specified illness and death claims in Clare, ac- cording to the latest analysis of pay- ments made to customers of the Irish Life insurance company last year.

The analysis found that malignant forms of cancer accounted for 48 per cent of Clare death claims while heart-related illness accounted for 21 per cent of death claims in the coun- ty. This was roughly in line with the national rates of 47 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

Accidental death accounted for 17 per cent of Clare death claims which was over twice the national rate of 8 per cent.

The average age for death claims in Clare was 59 while the average age for specified illness claims was 53 compared with the national averages of 58 and 47.

The average age for death claims in Clare males was 61 while the average for females was 56. The average age for specified illness claims in Clare males was 52 while the average age for female claims was 55.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Martin Duffy, Head of Un- derwriting at Irish Life, said that the company paid out more than €78 million in death and specified illness

claims last year.

“Cancer still remains the greatest single killer in Clare and unfortu- nately the number of cancer-related specified illness claims continues to rise nationally,” he said.

Mr Duffy added that the fact that 16 per cent of accident-related death claims were related to alcohol “re- flects a worrying trend” if this were to continue.

2006 was the first year when malig- nant cancers exceeded heart-related specified illness claims and this pat- tern was maintained in 2007.

The national survey of 392 speci- fied illness claims shows that Irish Life paid out a total of €24.7 million in 2007 — or an average of more than €63,000 per claim

The company paid €54 million in respect of 1,055 death claims nation- ally last year — or an average of just over €51,000 per claim.

The largest single death payment was just over €1 million in respect of a 50-year-old male professional who died of pancreatic cancer while the largest single payment in respect of a female was for €467,000 in respect of a professional who died of breast cancer.

An analysis of National 2007 Death Claims also revealed that alcohol was a contributory factor in 16 per cent of all accident claims.

ENNISTYMON students in have gone horse mad after making history for the town in the Hoofprints show- jumping inter-school challenge.

The craze started at an Irish nation- al schools event in Ballinasloe after a local team was the first ever from Ennistymon to enter. On January 23, students from the CBS Ennistymon and Scoil Mhuire joined together and formed a team to enter the na- tional show-jumping event.

“IT was out doing a hunt and was talking to kids that had been involved in the Hoofprints events before through their schools so I thought

that it would be good to put the idea forward to the students at school,” said CBS teacher Aisling Haugh.

In this competition there is usu- ally divisions or groups that separate beginners, such as the Ennistymon team, from teams that have entered in the event previously.

Due to this year being the first year it was held in the Creagh Equestrian Center in Ballinasloe it was made into one group which made it diffi- cult for all the novice groups to do well. “Next year I believe that the team will do better as every year will be more experience for the stu- dents therefore they will be getting better every time they go,” said CBS

teacher Aisling Haugh.

“Currently there are second to fifth years involved and it is open to all years aS we hope to have as many available as possible next year.”

The people involved in the event from the CBS Ennistymon were Brendan Collins fifth year and Ca- thal McMahon second year while the people involved from the Scoil Mhuire were Aoife Haugh and Jean Kelleher both from fourth year.

“The pupils performed well con- sidering it was their first time in the event and also had fun, so it was a good day over all,’ commented the teacher on the day as a whole.

The pupils enjoyed the day they de-

cided to stay longer and do the indi- vidual class ride in the end.

Participation from both schools was a good point in itself as it shows the ability of the two schools to work together. The group intends to hold a sponsored ride in the coming school terms for team fundraising.

“This year there is a lot of interest so I though of fundraising for cloth- ing for the team next year,” said Ais- ling Haugh.

“IT see good potential for the schools teams in the future if this interest continues in the events.”

The schools team is participating in upcoming events in Kilkenny, Wick- low and Claregalway.

FARMING representative and poli- ticians have welcome the changes to the Forest Environment Protec- tion Scheme (FEPS) announced last week, hailing them as a major oppor- tunity for Clare farmers.

Speaking following the announce- ment, newly-elected IFA Farm For- estry Committee Chairman, Pat Hennessy, welcomed the changes.

“The new package includes land- owners now being able to receive a FEPS premium of €200 for each hectare of woodland planted, regard- less of farm size, and will encourage larger farmers to plant,” he said.

“The scheme has also been made

more attractive for farmers with small holdings as the minimum planted area allowed has now been reduced from eight to five hectares for farmers with less than 30 hec- eho

Meanwhile, Clare TD Tony Killeen has also welcomed the announce- ment, saying it will be of benefit for both small and large Clare farmers.

“This is a major development in the forestry schemes and it should be particularly suitable for farmers in Clare. It is good news for both small and larger REPS farmers with en- hanced incentives in all categories.”

“Clare farmers that plant eight hectares or more will now receive a FEPS premium of €200 for each hec-

tare of woodland planted, regardless of farm size. For owners of farms of 30 hectares and less, the minimum plantation size has been reduced to five hectares.

“In this case the FEPS payment will be €150 per hectare. The FEPS premium 1s payable in addition to the existing Afforestation Scheme grants and premium available meaning that a farmer planting eight hectares could, for the duration of FEPS, earn an annual tax-free forestry premium of up to €6,000 without affecting his/her Single Payment.”

The FEPS Scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in early 2007 to pro- vide a new option for farmers look- ing at forestry. FEPS offered an ad-

ditional premium, to the existing LOO per cent planting grant and yearly premium payments available under the Afforestation Scheme, of up to €200 per hectare for five years de- pending on farm size.

The scheme was targeted at partici- pants in REPS and was designed to encourage farmers to establish and maintain high nature-value forestry through a number of different meas- ures, particularly in the area of en- hanced bio-diversity and water qual- ity protection.

All forestry payments are tax-free, providing less than 50 per cent of a farm is planted, will not affect a farmer’s single payment entitle- ments.