Category: Uncategorized

THE countdown is officially on for the Clare first ever walking mara- thon, which takes place in the Bur- ROOM BODY ENYA

The Clare Burren Marathon Chal- lenge, which is being organised by the Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walking Club, will take place on Saturday May 24 and organisers are expecting a treat for enthusiast who can exper!i- ence first hand some of Ireland most SOUR UI DMCC OMA

The marathon was launched in the Burren Coast Hotel in Ballyvaughan last Friday evening and organis- ers are hoping to help attract new visitors to discover the beauty of the Burren.

“We have everything you could

want from a walking marathon – up- hill, cross county – everything you ol tIKe Me bele

“The majority of marathons are on the flat on roads, and that is a bit bor- ing after awhile,” said Kevin McCor- mack of the Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walking Club.

“It’s ust as tough as running a mar- athon. The runners are trained fro running and the walkers are trained for walking, it’s still more than 26 miles. It’s a big challenge all the wneales

“We have great scenary for this walk. We have Galway Bay, we have the Aran Islands – on a clear day you can actually see as far as the lakes in Connemara so it’s a great route for anyone who is interested in nature and sight seeing.”

The marathon will coincide with the Burren in Bloom Festival in Bal- lyvaughan and will start and finish in the Burren Coast Hotel in Bally- vaughan.

It will start at 8am and will go cross country through a variety of different landscapes before arriving in Fanore.

The walker will then return via Black Head and the Green Road and back into Ballyvaughan.

The Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walking Club was set up in 2006 and has al- ready some 80 members drawn from all over the country.

“IT was always a walker I suppose and I have been away for year, But when I came back to Fanore here I ended up walking by myself. I got fed up of that and decided that I

would try and start off a club,” con- tinued Kevin.

“This is the very first walking marathon in Clare as far as I know anyway. But they have these walk- ing marathons all over the world. We have the ideal place for walking here. We have the Burren, there 1s no location like it for walking anywhere in the world.”

For more information check out www.bally vaughanfanorewalking- club.com

TWO Clare schools have received funding under the CLAR Primary School Enhancement Scheme which will enable them develop outdoor recreational facilities.

Connolly N.S. in the parish of Kilmaley and Drumdigus N.S. in Gr rtiva ae Elerme-lermrseohiee! €7,500, enabling a total value of works amounting to €20,000 to be carried out.

Meanwhile, Gaelscoil Na Bhfili in Gort has received funding of €5,031 allowing for works totalling €6,/07 to be carried out. This brings the to- tal funding approved nationally un- der the Scheme to over €5.4million with 808 schools being assisted since pavers

Commenting on the CLAR Scheme, Clare Junior Minister Kil- leen said that hundreds of primary school children in Clare were now benefiting from new equipment and improved facilities.

“We all know that good play fa- cilities in schools are absolutely necessary, so I am delighted that the schoolchildren of Connolly and Kil- murry McMahon are going to benefit from this scheme.”

The Junior Environment and En- ergy Minister explained that the scheme had already brought sig- nificant improvements to outdoor play facilities at schools in Ballyea, Cloonanaha, Clondegad, Knockerra, Doonbeg, Baltard and Dangan N.S.

“The type of projects being funded at rural primary schools in CLAR

areas include cover grassing/tarmac- adam of play areas, the supply of goal posts, nets and basketball hoops, as well as other recreational facilities for outdoor play areas,’ he said.

Under the Primary School Outdoor Play Facilities Enhancement Scheme, CLAR and the Department of Edu- cation and Science fund 75 per cent of the cost, supplemented by a 25 per cent contribution from local sources up to a maximum of €10,000.

Expenditure in excess of €10,000 must be funded entirely from lo- cal sources. Under the CLAR pro- gramme, a further €lmillion is be- ing provided for the scheme by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which match- es €lmillion from the Department of Education and Science.

COSMETIC companies from. all over the world would pay millions to discover the secret of clear skin and a healthy glow in more mature people, so that they could bottle the secret of Keer mAelelsee

However those from the Miltown Malbay area, now in their tenth dec- ade know that such a secret cannot

be found in any magic bottle or jar of over priced potions and lotions.

For Mary Murrihy, Mary Hurley and Bridie Carey the look of natural beautiful skin well into your 90s is easy – in fact it is nothing at all.

Mrs Murrihy laughed at the thought of putting creams and lotions on her face and skin. “I never put anything on it,’ she explained.

The secret of long life is also

agreed on among the majority of the nonagenarians.

“Hard work when I was young made me hardy,’ said Mrs Murrihy.

When asked the secret to long healthy live Mrs Hurley wasn’t as sure as others.

“T don’t know in the name of God, living day to day and working hard I suppose. ”

“We had a great time when we

were young, not like now,” said PJ Downes sympathising with the youth of today.

“Live long and eat enough,” is the secret according to Francie Con- ites Ae

While all of those present looked little over 60 years old Jim Joe Grif- fin maintains that the only way to tell a persons age is by the way they WENN e

GORT will celebrate it’s first ever literary festival this May when a two-day long events hosted by the Western Writers’ Centre rolls into town. The festival, which 1s entitled The Forge at Gort – A Writers Gath- ering, will take place on March 28 and 29 at various locations around the town.

“We have called it the forge, which related to one of Yeat’s poems where he mentions the forge in Gort.

“That forge is still there in the main street in Gort,’ said Fred John- son, founder of the Cuirt Festival and member of the Western Writers’

Centre.

“The Western Writer Centre has or- ganised a lot of events in the western region. I was in Gort as we had or- ganised a reading for Evelyn Conlon the novelist, and I looked around and thought that Gort would be a lovely town to have a little festival in. The best way to do these thing is to start modestly, and have a small festival which reflects the literary history of Gort.”

One of the main aims of the festival is to take an all inclusive approach to literature.

“We will have poetry workshops, Christy O’Connor will be down to talk about his book on hurling “Last

Man Standing’, we are trying to keep it as open as possible,” continued Fred.

“The last thing that we would want is to have anything that is too elitist. We really want to be as all inclusive as possible. If anyone locally has ide- as and would like to get their group involved then we would love to hear from them.

“We have been in touch, for exam- ple, with the Brazilian community in Gort and we hope that we will be able to organise something with them. But if anyone has an idea, all they need to do is give us a shout.

“We are supported by the Arts Council, Galway City and County

Councils and Poetry Ireland but we are hoping for other sponsorship if it is forthcoming.”

The festival line-up so far includes novelist Geraldine Mills, poet Knute Skinner, a poetry workshop with poet Nessa O’Mahony, poetry read- ing with Frank Golden, a talk with Christy O’Connor, a reading for children and adults with Eddie Leni- han a workshop on poetry publish- ing, with the head of Salmon Poetry, Jessie Lendennie and The Rahaline Experiment, a drama by John Arden and Margaretta D’Arcy.

For more info check out www. twwe.ie or contact 091 533594 or westernwriters @eircom.net.

LOCAL Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley says he is encouraged by the response of Ennis Town Council to his request for urgent improvements to be carried out at the Tulla Road.

“The condition of Tulla Road is fast becoming a safety issue because of the amount of motorists using it on a regular basis, including local chil- dren going to school,” he said.

‘“T have been contacted by a number of people who live in the area and- who have expressed their frustration about the condition of the road and the delay in its upgrading.”

“*T have been in touch with the town engineer and I am encouraged by the level of progress being made.”

“Construction on a new roundabout and pedestrian crossing 1s expected to begin shortly at The Grove. The roundabout and pedestrian cross- ing are to be provided by a private developer in association with a new distributor road which the developer is providing and which goes North from the same junction along side The Grove development site.”

“Progress is also being made with regard to the widening and raising of

the bridge. The Town Engineer told me that the Council is now in a posi- tion to initiate planning procedures to raise the bridge deck and reduce the risk of large vehicles colliding with the bridge. It is also proposed to widen the bridge to facilitate pe- destrian and cycle facilities on the South side of the Tulla Road.

“It is hoped that the improvements will be carried out before the rail line becomes operational in 2009,” Deputy Dooley added.

“The Tulla Road between the en- trance to Gort na Blath and the by- pass itself 1s within the by-pass con- tractors site and so the entire area is to be restored in association with the by-pass over the next few months.”

“There are land acquisition issues with the proposed roundabout at Oakleigh Wood and a Compulsory Purchase Order is currently being processed.”

“IT understand the frustrations of residents living in the area and I re- layed their concerns to the Council. I am hopeful that the improvement works already underway and those due to commence shortly will relieve the inconvenience currently being imposed on them,” he concluded.

THE demise of Clare’s rural pubs 1s a major contributing factor to suicides levels in the county, according to an Ennis mental health expert.

Home consumption of alcohol has been singled out by retired commu- nity nurse and Secretary of the En-

nis Mental Health Association, Tom McGrath, as one of the biggest con- tributing factors in many suicides. He believes that excess alcohol con- sumption can be the trigger for many people suffering from depression to attempt to take their own life. “Alcohol is a big problem and it’s going to get bigger. People are drink-

ing at home now and there is no con- trol over how much they have”’.

“It’s a big factor in many cases. It would be better for people to be in the pubs where at the very least there are some regulations on how much WOTeaVAr-DM CMON UDOT Ope ycaua

According to Aware’s Depression Awareness week, as many as 14,000

Clare people will suffer from depres- sion at some stage during their life.

“People can be suffering but are generally okay. They then take too much alcohol and that can push them over the edge. It can be very sudden,” explained Mr McGrath.

KILKEE woman Fionnuala Whelan is preparing for the challenge of a lifetime in Cuba.

In March, the Rathfarnham based garda will cycle 335 kilometres over five days in the Caribbean island with the group expected to cycle 67 kilometres per day. Fionnuala is undertaking the challenge to raise money for the Dublin based ARC Cancer Support Centre.

The first of its kind, the aim of ARC House is to provide a professional support service to adults affected by all types of cancer, no matter where

they are being treated in Ireland.

An holistic approach to support 1s used as a complementary adjunct to primary medical treatment.

Fionnuala explained the work done by ARC. “ARC Cancer Support Cen- tre charity is a very worthy cause and we would very much appreciate your support in helping us to raise funds for this charity.

It offers a variety of courses and programmes such as stress man- agement, learning to live with can- cer, stress management for carers, a drop-in centre and Ta’i Chi classes to name but a few.”

The route is classified, as moder-

ate to challenging and the terrain is quite steep in parts. Expected tem- peratures are around 28 degrees for the month of March, all of which make the cycle more demanding physically. There will be thirty cy- clists in total from various parts of the country.

Fionnuala hopes to raise €10,000 with all proceeds going to directly to ARC.

To do this she is organising a number of events with the first, a quiz, planned for the Strand Bar, OT rer

Fionnuala said she is looking for- ward to the challenge. “There are 30

of us going so it should be an amaz- ing experience. Cuba is meant to be a very beautiful country. I really wanted to highlight the work done by ARC. Hopefully we will get good support.”

She added, “You can donate by log- ging on to Www.mycharity.ie/event/ cubancyclefidanni/. We are current- ly organising a variety of events in Dublin and also hope to hold a fund- raising night in The Strand in Kilkee and possibly a table quiz.”

Further details on ARC Cancer Support Centre can be obtained from their website www.arccancer- support.ie.

THE life and times of Jack Garrihy will be celebrated as part of this year Russell Memorial Weekend which begins in Doolin on Friday, Febru- 1 ae

Jack, who passed away at last years festival, was one of the founders of the memorial weekend, a friend to the Russells and one of the key fig- ures in Doolin’s development over the last hundred years.

As part of the festival launch, a spe- cial picture of Jack will be unveiled in the Russell Centre. The photo will be unveiled by Jack’s friend, Cllr Richard Nagle, while Jack’s grand-

daughters Aoibhean, Ailbe and Dao- ireann will perform songs from their erandfather’s repertoire in memory of his fine gift as a sean nos singer.

‘Jack was a neighbour of the Rus- sells and was one of the founders of the memorial weekend back in 1995. He died after the wreath laying cer- emony last year, he had just fulfilled his job and then he died,” said John Doorty.

“He had been training his neigh- bour, Patrick Sweeney, who was an- other neighbour of the Russells, to take over the job of the wreath lay- ing. He made sure that we had typed out the speech that he had to give and everything. He had been future

proofing the whole future of the fes- tival.”

Besides his involvement with Rus- sell Weekend, Jack is remembered as one of Doolin’s most prominent business people and community leaders.

“What Jack did was that he forged these links with the Aran Islands. It’s extraordinary, there are still people who come to Doolin from the Aran Islands. He was areal self made man, he started the trade back and forth with the islands,’ continued John.

“I remember when I went out to Inis Meain, everyone asked me did I know Jack Garrihy. Everyone out there knew him. If they wanted some-

thing he would get it for them. He looked after them, often time some of the fishermen would stay with him in Doolin for a day or two.”

Other highlights of the weekend include a concertina recital with Ro- nan O’Flaherty and Edel Fox, the Russell Concert featuring all local musicians, a traditional singing re- cital, a tin whistle and flute recital with Christy Barry and Colin Nee, set dancing with the Four Courts Céili Band and sessions throughout the weekend in Doolin’s pubs and hotels

For more on the weekend check out www.michorussellweekender.ie.

AGREEMENT on a site for the pro- posed new Doolin Search and Rescue Headquarters could soon be reached, according to Minister of State Tony Ono

Minister Killeen confirmed that a meeting between the Office of Pub- lic Works, Clare County Council and the Irish Coast Guard is scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 28.

“The provision of new accommo- dation for the Coast Guard Services in Doolin continues to be a top pri- ority for the Office of Public Works. The Department of Transport, mean- while, has also expressed its desire to see the project progressed,’ ex- plained Minister Killeen.

“The view of the OPW is that the

location of the new Coastguard facil- ities should tie in with Clare County Council’s preferred option for the development of a new pier and ticket office in Doolin. Following my in- tervention with Munister Eamon O’Cuiv last November, the €10mil- lion pier development is being pro- eressed.”

Minister Killeen said he was con- fident the construction of the new headquarters would follow quickly once a suitable site had been ac- quired.

“The OPW has repeatedly stressed that the construction process, includ- ing building design, planning per- mission application and tendering, will be proceeded with as quickly as possible. I am hopeful that the up- coming meeting will move the proc- ess forward,’ he said.

THE Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCa- rthy, has criticised air traffic control- lers at Shannon Airport for taking further unofficial industrial action at the weekend. Operations there were brought to a standstill for three hours on Saturday night, hours before it was confirmed that 99 per cent of the country’s 300 controllers had voted to take official action.

Controllers at Shannon, employ- ees of the Irish Aviation Authority, refused to volunteer for overtime against the advice of their union. All flights in and out of the airport were either cancelled or delayed for three hours on Saturday resulting in 12 flights being affected.

Wednesday night’s action when staff refused to work overtime to fill a two hour gap in the roster affected 11 flights.

Councillor McCarthy asked why Shannon was targeted twice in less than a week when Dublin was only affected on one occasion, on January 25, for about 45 minutes.

“I have to ask what is really going on here. This is the second time in a few days that Shannon Airport was closed because of this dispute while Dublin Airport only suffered for a mere 45 minutes. Shannon has been out of service twice for a total of

five hours with disruption caused to flights and passengers. This is a dis- grace and flies in the face of union advice,’ the mayor said.

Air traffic control staff are in dis- pute with the authority on the issues of overtime and recruitment. They have previously indicated to the [AA that demands on staff to work over- time are unsustainable.

‘“T am very surprised that this can be allowed to happen at a time when Shannon is recovering from bad news and every effort is being made by everyone at the airport and in the business and tourism industry to pro- mote an develop the airport,’ an an- ery Councillor McCarthy said.

IMPACT has confirmed that the ac- tion took place despite advice from the union to “work whatever overtime is required” while talks between the union and the Irish Aviation Author- ity were ongoing.

‘Our advice to members has been to work whatever overtime is required to facilitate the ongoing talks,’ the spokesman said.

Ryanair has accused ‘Taoiseach Bertie Ahern of failing to put in place contingency plans to prevent passengers “being hijacked by wild- cat” strikes.

Both sides are due to return to LRC for further talks on February 19. The nature of the action is to be decided.