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THE Raheen Wood Steiner School held it’s twentieth advent fair at the weekend and local people turned out in force to support it and to pick up some unusual Christmas gifts.

Stalls laden down with handcrafts and hand-made decorations as well as lots of food stalls offering good- ies of every kind did a brisk trade for the day.

It was a real family day out and the youngsters enjoyed puppet shows and story telling.

“It’s a real celebration,” said Prin- cipal, Pierce O’Sheil, who tried his hand at storytelling.

‘“We’ve been getting great support locally for the fair down the years and it’s an important fundraiser for us. It usually brings in between €4.000 and €5,000.”

While no school can ever have enough cash in the bag for all the projects it might want to invest in, fund raising is the lifeblood of the Raheen Wood School, as it still does not have recognition and consequent funding from the department.

“We had a meeting with them two weeks ago and we’re optomistic,”’ said Pierce.

Raheen Wood the founding Stein- er Waldorf School in the Republic of Ireland and has been offering a multi-denominational, child-centred co-education since 1986. The school is situated in mature woodlands near the village of Tuamgraney.

The school caters for for children from kindergarten age (4-6) through the primary classes (7-12), with the option of the ALFA project in nearby Scariff for ongoing secondary level

Steiner education.

The school offers “an academic and practical education for the whole child’, and is part of a rapidly grow- ing international school movement of over 800 schools worldwide. Based on the work of scientist and philoso- pher Rudolf Steiner, the education began in 1919 with the founding of the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Germany.

THE Cheltenham Gold Cup may still be over three months away but March 14 is already the most eagerly antici- pated day of the new National Hunt season following Denman’s stunning victory in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday.

Just a week after his stablemate Kauto Star re-affirmed his position as the best chaser in these islands, Paul Nicholls’ giant seven year-old threw down a gauntlet to the cham- pion that will not be accepted until the two stars clash on the second Fri- day in March.

Carrying top weight of Ilst 12Ibs on soft ground on his first start of the season, the 5/1 chance was expected to need the outing and seemed to face a big task at the weights to emulate the likes of Burrough Hill Lad and Arkle who had previously carried top weight to victory in the prestig- ious early season handicap.

However, last season’s impressive Sun Alliance winner looked a more mature horse in the parade ring and, despite his fitness doubts, he was prominent from the early stages of the 3 IA mile contest under Sam SW steyeer-hy

Once the fast-improving son of Pre- senting assumed control on the far side of the track, he always looked the likely winner as most of his rivals began to struggle, and he came home the hugely impressive eleven lengths winner from Dream Alliance with Character Building and Madison Du Berlais making up the places.

The Willie Mullins trained Snowy Morning was sent off the well-backed 9/2 favourite but he got no further than the seventh fence where he was a faller under Tony McCoy.

Although it was difficult not to get carried away by such an authoritative display, it must be remembered that if Denman is to be considered a gen-

uine Gold Cup contender, he was en- titled to win the Hennessy off a mark of 161 as Kauto Star sill remains the standard bearer on a mark of 179.

Most bookmakers cannot separate the two Paul Nicholls trained horses as 2/1 favourites for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and they will not meet before the Festival as Kauto Star heads to Kempton Park for the King George while Denman will travel to Leopardstown for the Lexus Chase during the Christmas period.

It was business as usual for trainer Howard Johnson and owner Graham Wylie at Newbury after Inglis Drev- er won the Long Distance Hurdle for the third time despite having to con- tend with another new stable jockey.

After Galway jockeys, Graham Lee and Paddy Brennan, had parted company with the Johnson stable, it was the turn of Cork jockey Denis O’Regan to develop a_ successful association with the World Hurdle champion and the 15/8 favourite only had to be pushed out by O’Regan to register a comfortable four lengths winning margin over Special Envoy.

It was the turn of some Champion Hurdle contenders to make their mark at Newcastle on Saturday where Harchibald was attempting to win his second Fighting Fifth Hurdle since 2004.

Having made an encouraging re- turn to action on the all-weather at Dundalk last month, Noel Meade was quite confident of a return to the Harchibald of old and the eight year- old did not disappoint the Meath trainer under a supremely confident ride from the irrepressible Paul Car- UMS

Having seized the initiative with a fine jump at the last, the controver- sial son of Perugino only had to be kidded home by the stylish Carberry who produced the 4/1 chance with his usual brilliant timing to beat Al Eile and Katchit.

A DOOLIN-BASED ferry company has failed to provide to Clare County Council with documentary evidence of legal interest that it owns the land it has placed a temporary ticket of- fice upon.

Earlier this year, the council asked Cliffs of Moher Cruises to submit documentary evidence of the compa- ny’s legal interest to apply for plan- ning permission for the ticket office at Doolin pier.

The council pointed out that the land on which the site was located was an area zoned in the North Clare Area Plan where it is the objective

of the council to reserve these lands for the future development of the pier and land based facilities and to facilitate the development of water based commercial activities for tour- ism and leisure uses for a sea rescue oon auee

As a result, the council states that they are concerned that the proposed development for retention will repre- sent piecemeal development which will hinder comprehensive develop- ment of these lands.

In its latest response to the council, Cliffs of Moher Cruises state that in relation to “the evidence of legal evi- dence in the lands, please be aware that the council as well as other par-

ties have been unsuccessful in their many attempts to establish legal in- terest in the site”.

The company state: “This is a live issue being dealt with by Clare County Council and we believe that it is current and ongoing.”

They added: “We have previously acquired temporary planning per- mission from the council to operate our temporary ticket office at this location.

“We have paid all rates due to the Clare County Council. We have paid all harbour fees with full agreement with Clare County Council.”

The company state that the tempo- rary retention permission is sought

for a period of three years and is sought until such time as a perma- nent facility is erected by either a public body, a private enterprise or a public-private partnership.

The company states: “We are pre- pared to co-operate with others in the development of such an approved structure which would be fully com- pliant with the planning require- neon nSed

The company points out that the business has been operational from Doolin pier since March 2003 and was granted temporary retention permission in February 2004.

A decision is due on the application later this month.

ELEVEN learners in the East Clare Adult and Community Education Centre, Scariff, have been awarded Further Education and _ Training Awards Council of Ireland (FETAC) certificates, some after two years of study, others after one.

They undertook the Vocational Training Opportunities Programme (VTOS) which has been on offer at the centre for almost nine years and brought the number of successful students to 100 in that period.

The certificates represented vari- ous combinations of subjects stud- ied. VTOS in Scariff is a two-year full-time programme that accom- modates twenty students. It provides courses in ceramics, stained glass, painting, art, craft and design, com- puters, women’s studies and Spanish. Other ‘general’ studies programmes

offered include the National Univer- sity of Ireland Maynooth certificate in social and human studies and FE- TAC modules in enterprise, work ex- perience and communications.

The centre’s target group is unem- ployed people over 21 in receipt of a payment from social welfare or sisning for credits for at least six peeve etsy

The Scariff programme has devel- oped an excellent reputation for its very fine art, craft and design seg- ment and has had an excellent rate of progression for students moving on to study full-time degrees in the College of Art & Design in Limerick and other third-level institutions.

Resources within the centre con- nected with the arts and crafts in- clude the ceramics module for which a kiln and potter’s wheels are avail- able.

Deputy Timmy Dooley formally

presented the certificates and con- eratulated the recipients.

He was full of admiration for the work of VTOS co-ordinator Mike Hook and staff in the centre which he recalled was “the original voca- tional school and had happily being retained for further education for the local community”’.

Mike Hook paid tribute to tutors Lynn van Lintzgy, in information technology, Sarah Moore, in stained glass, Nona Saunders in ceramics, and Andrew Nuland, drawing and paint- ing, as well as Mary O’Shaughnessy in administration back-up. “Their expertise and dedication made it all possible,” he said.

Adult education, he went on, 1s “about changing lives and creating opportunities. It provides the social and cultural capital to achieve that change”.

Bernie Treacy, who was asked to

speak about her experience of the VTOS programme, said that four years ago her husband, Caimin, died and she felt at the end of life. But in time, she signed up for the pro- gramme and has not left it since. She is now a voluntary tutor on the nu- meracy and literacy course. “Every- one gets individual treatment here,” She said, “and the tutors are brilliant in a lovely atmosphere.”

BOTH entrances to the town were lined with signs of encouragement for the Gaels. ‘Beware of the girls from the Gaels’ was one such notice and as a sea of blue and white sup- port huddled in the main stand, the atmosphere was building towards eaCeCOh Ver. Caiconsoele

Unfortunately for the crowd, aside from a battling first fifteen minutes, the Gaels were always playing catch up and when they went 10 behind with less than twenty minutes to go, they could sense that it was not going to be another famous Gaels win.

The inexorable nature of the elec- tronic clock system gave the likely- hood of defeat a more definite time- line and as the seconds ticked away so did any hope of a recovery.

The goal they craved never came and the Dublin side held out for their first All-Ireland title.

As the wind and rain blew through

the ground after the game, the play- ers gathered around the centre of the field and after consoling his players, co-manager James Troy attempted to voice his obvious sadness.

“It was disappointing. We thought that we had played a good first half against the wind but things didn’t go right for us in the second half. The goal came at a bad time because we needed to get it at that stage.”

The murmurs of the crowd after the game were all about referee Eamonn McElroy and his handling of the game. At several stages throughout the match, the supporters chanted and sang of their displeasure to his bizarre decisions and manager Troy was equally as irritated about the Down offical.

“The ref didn’t help things at all. He made things very hard for the whole game and made a lot of stupid decisions. But we can’t be blaming the ref at the end of the day but we were just unlucky and things didn’t

O Our Way.”

This result aside, it has been a great run for the Clare side who won both Clare and Munster titles in style and Troy was quick to praise the efforts of the girls durling the year as well as the quality of the Foxrock/Cabint- eely side.

“They are a good team and they were handpassing well out of defence in the second half. They played well against the wind but we are proud of the girls because they had a great year. They deserved to be in the final anyway but it was just disappointing on the day. But they deserve great credit for the work they have put in all year.”

SHANNON Airport is ideally placed to exploit the vast opportunities aris- ing from the EU US ‘Open Skies’ Agreement which will come fully into effect at the end of March next year.

That is the view of the transport minister, Noel Dempsey, who de- clined to answer directly questions from Clare’s two Fine Gael TDs, Pat Breen and Joe Carey, on the Aer Lingus commitment to retain serv- ices on its transatlantic routes out of

SJerveveceyee

Minister Dempsey’s predecessor, Martin Cullen, stated that he had received assurances that Aer Lingus would maintain transatlantic passen- ger levels to 400,000.

However, rumours abound that Aer Lingus may reduce or even withdraw completely its transatlantic services for the winter 2008-09 period.

In a written Dail reply Munister Dempsey said: “It is understood that Se eV U OUD M ae fort to ensure that year-round trans- atlantic services are maintained. I

would be confident that the airport authority, with the continued support of business and tourism interests in the region, can respond to the chal- lenges and opportunities presented by Open Skies.

“I understand that several studies have projected that the Open Skies agreement will lead to considerable economic benefits for Ireland, for the business sector, for the tourism industry and for the air transport in- dustry itself.

“On 7 November, Aer Lingus an- nounced that it would for summer

2008 maintain daily direct flights between Shannon to New York and Shannon to Boston and a daily flight to Chicago via Dublin. This re- flects a continuation of the schedule now being operated over the winter 2007/2008 period.

“In comparison with the 2007 sum- mer schedule the difference in the 2008 schedule is that the Chicago service 1S Operated not on a direct basis but indirectly via Dublin.”

In relation to the appointment of a further two appointees to the Aer Lingus board, Minister Dempsey

said “the State’s appointees will seek to ensure that all future decisions of the company, that have significant implications for wider government, aviation or regional development policies, including issues impacting on the mid-west regions, are consid- ered at board level”

On the business plan for Shannon airport, Minister Dempsey said that “I await the DAA’s overall consid- ered views on airport separation to enable the plans to be examined by the Minister for Finance and myself,’ the minister said.

A THERAPY that promotes the prin- ciples of relaxation is now available in Clare with Mountshannon man Wolfgang Wiesmann at the helm. Originally from Germany, Wolf- gang moved to Clare a number of years ago and Mountshannon be- came his new home. After working for various organisations and groups like the Council for the Blind, the Brothers of Charity, St Anne’s School

in Ennis and the Steiner school, he branched out into the relatively new field of therapy autogenic training.

The core of autogenic training is a training course during which clients learn a series of simple exercises in body awareness and relaxation de- signed to switch off the stress-related ‘fight and flight’ system of the body and switch on the ‘rest, relaxation and recreation’ system.

Autogenic training has been used by people of all walks of life to en-

hance healing, performance and creativity.

It has been taught to international sports men and women to enhance performance, to airline pilots and crew to combat jet lag and fatigue, and in the business environment to optimise performance and concen- tration and reduce stress. It has even been used to help astronauts make the necessary environmental adjust- ments in space travel.

Wolfgang teaches autogenic train-

ing and emotional freedom tech- niques at his office at Bank Place in /Syaebay

‘“Autogenic training comes from re- laxation without exercise,’ explained Wolfgang. “It is particularly helpful for people who might not be able to exercise, like people who might be disabled or in wheelchairs.”

He continued, “For physical health your mind needs to be relaxed fully. It is used a lot in England where it 1s a fully recognized therapy.”

ONE final scrum developed out on the field after the final whistle, then it morphed into a rolling maul that went up the steps to the presentation area in the Gaelic Grounds. It where David Kennedy joined his team mates in celebration.

Before that he had broken away from the scrum to be feted as TG4 man- of-the-match — it was an easy call for match analyst Donal O’Grady, such was Kennedy’s dominance of this game from centre back.

Kennedy more than anyone else was responsible for Loughmore- Castleiney’s Munster final victory — the impenetrable wall in their de-

fence who swatted Tulla attackers out of his way all day.

He caught more ball high ball than everyone else on the field put togeth- er, Something that moved some sages of Tipperary hurling in the stand to it was Kennedy’s greatest ever per- formance on a hurling field.

If so, he picked a great day to pro- duce his very best. Maybe it was the level of his own performance and the significance of Loughmore- Castleiney’s victory that left Kennedy slightly shell-shocked after the game. Certainly he was stuck for words.

“T don’t know what to say really,” he said seconds after Cathal McAI- lister’s final whistle. “It’s very hard to believe that we’re Munster cham-

pions. A year ago we were nowhere, we had nothing, that’s where we’ve come from.

‘This means everything for Lough- more-Castleiney. This is going to se- cure hurling in the parish for a long number of years.

‘We’re a very small club and win- ning this title is great going into the jaUiaet Ken

“It’s way beyond winning an All- Ireland. With Tipperary every year, no matter how bad things were go- ing you expect to be in Croke Park. With Loughmore you don’t expect anything.

‘This year we didn’t expect to win a county title and a Munster title — we didn’t expect to be hurling at

this time of year. This is a different universe,’ added Kennedy warming to his subject.

Then he turned to vanquished Tul- la. “They gave it everything and were really attacking us near the end, but our defence held firm.

‘We knew it was going to be a real battle out there and with the condi- tions there was never going to be pealecelemsneme ie

“We knew at half-time that the game was far from over, even though we were only a point up having played with the wind. It was almost as difficult to play with the wind as against it. We showed something in us today — I don’t know where it came from.

“It was important that we didn’t concede a goal, while the goal we got in the first half from Evan Sweeney was very important.

We missed a few other chances in the half but in the second half really played well at the back and got the crucial scores to win the game.”

With that Kennedy rejoined his team-mates — Munster Council chair- man Seamus O’Gorman presented the cup to Loughmore-Castleiney captain Johnny Gleeson. The singing started in the Mackey Stand.

It was cold, wet and miserable, but no one in the green and red of Loughmore-Castleiney minded. It was theirs and most of all David Kennedy’s day.

DEPUTY Joe Carey (FG) has called into question the commitment of the minister of transport to the people of the mid-west, following the min- ister’s response to Dail questions by Deputy Carey last week.

On ‘Tuesday last, Deputy Carey raised the issue of the designation of the Shannon-Heathrow route as a public service obligation route (PSO).

Deputy Carey said that the minis- ter’s response confirmed that “the Government is continuing to treat the Shannon-Heathrow issue with a slight hand, laden with political am- bivalence.

The designation of Shannon-Heath- row as a PSO first needs to be raised with the British authorities, and then a case made to the EU and for the ap- plication to be published in the EU

Journal,” said Deputy Carey. “The response | got from the minister was to the effect that contact with the EU has been requested at an early stage. There was no sense of urgency in the minister’s response, just further fob- bing and prevarication.”

Deputy Carey is now calling for contact with the British authorities to be made, and a genuine and pressing case made to the EU within weeks.

The Fine Gael deputy said that “Both industrialists and tourist bod- ies in the mid-west are facing an un- certain new year as the Government continues to drag its heels on this.

He added: “If this route were to be designated as a PSO, it could facili- tate continued connectivity for the west of Ireland to the world’s largest hub at Heathrow.”

KILRUSH’S Yacht club has returned to the past in the same week it looks to anew modern future.

At the 2007 AGM of the Western Yacht Club, the club voted to revert to the title the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland. During the same meeting Ireland’s first ever Com- modore of a Royal or Ancient Yacht Club was also appointed.

Maeve Howard made national his- tory when she took over the most senior position in one of Ireland’s oldest clubs.

At the November AGM the clubs most acclaimed sailor Ger O’Rourke (skipper of Chieftain) proposed that the name of the club be changed from the name adopted in 1984 to

the original name going back 180 years.

The vote to return to the older name was not unanimous however but was carried by a two-thirds majority in Ie AVOlul

A spokesperson for the yacht club said that it was felt that not many people would know about the West- ern Yacht Club when it was men- tioned on the international stage, but the royal yacht club was more pres- tigious and had more recognition.

The Royal Western Yacht Club was formed in February 1828 by a group of men, among them the Earl of Dun- raven and two of Daniel O’Connell’s sons Maurice and John.

Years later the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland was issued with an Admiralty Warrant giving it permis-

sion to fly a defaced White Ensign – normal procedure at the time, as the Admiralty controlled all use of TLRS Teae

At the time the Royal Western Yacht Club had considerable mate- rial resources, it kept offices at 113 Grafton Street, Dublin, a clubhouse afloat in Dun Laoghaire on a ship called the Owen Glendower and had agents in the Eastern Mediterranean and in Scandinavia.

In 1984 it was revitalised as the Western Yacht Club, which was very active in both international and na- tional sailing.

In the international arena the West- ern Yacht Club consistently punched considerably above its expected weight when Mr O’Rourke distin- guished himself worldwide by win-

ning many prestigious yacht races and becoming the first Irish person to win the Fastnet Race.

One unique feature of the Royal Western Yacht Club is that it has at least two families as members who are direct descendants of the origi- nal founding members. The club’s flag is the Irish commercial ensign, blue flag with the Irish tricolour in the hoist and a crown surrounded by a wreath of shamrock in the fly. The original 1832 Burgee, which is used by all members, is the cross of St George on a white background with a crown surrounded by a wreath of Shamrock in the centre.