Category: Uncategorized

MORE than 300 people turned out to witness the induction of four leg- endary east Clare musicians to the Tulla Comhaltas roll of honour.

To coincide with the 50 year anni- versary of Tulla Comhaltas, Paddy Canny, Kathleen Moloney, Martin Hayes, Seamus Connolly, Vincent Griffin and Mary MacNamara were all recognised for their significant contributions to Irish music and dance.

Each musician was presented with a token by Senator Labhras O’ Murch, Ardstiurthoir of Comhaltas Ceoilte- oiri Eireann.

Paddy Canny, who won the senior

all-Ireland fiddle in 1953 and recent- ly celebrated his 88th birthday, was honoured for a lifetime contribution to traditional Irish music.

Kathleen Moloney, who has won four all Ireland set dancing titles, was recognised for her teaching of set dancing in the east Clare area over a 20 year period, and giving every young child in the area the chance to learn the Caledonian set.

Indeed, many of her students have gone on to win county, provincial and national awards of their own.

Vincent Griffin was recognized for his marvellous contribution to the teaching of Irish music over the past 40 years. Vincent, who is still teach- ing music in the Ennis and south

Galway areas, is also the holder of a Senior All Ireland medal for the fid- dle and for the slow airs.

Mary MacNamara was recognised for her wonderful achievements with the teaching of Irish music. Today the Tulla ‘Music Room’ is full of as- piring young and not-so-young mu- sicians all learning her lovely east OES AY (or

Many of her students have had great successes at provinical and all Ire- land fleadh’s. Mary won all Ireland senior solo Concertina tile in 1979 and duet with Martin Hayes.

Both Martin Hayes and Seamus Connolly were honoured for their in- ternational contribution to Irish Mu- sic by putting it on the world stage.

Martin and Seamus are all Ireland senior fiddle champions.

The Tulla Céili band received their award in recognition of their contri- bution to Ceili music over the last 60 years. Mark Donnellan accepted the award on behalf of the great Tulla Céili band.

The Tulla Ceili and all musicians mentioned above will appear on RTE Radio’s Céili House with Kieran Hanrahan on Saturday, November 17. The show will be broadcast from St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla as part of the 50 year celebrations.

A book based on the musical her- itage of east Clare entitled The Hu- mours of Tulla was also launched on the night and is available locally.

THE STATE of walls in many of the county’s graveyards is becom- ing a danger to life and limb for the bereaved, a meeting of Clare County Council heard last night.

Councillor Michael Kelly (FF) had asked to have a report prepared on the cost of repairs to environmen-

tally sensitive walls and buildings in the county’s graveyards.

He said that concerning a short sec- tion of wall in a cemetery in his own area, he had been told it would cost anything up to €250,000 to repair.

‘This is the most outrageous quote – a quarter of a million for one lit- tle corner of a wall, which should cost €10,000, at the outside. There

should be an itemised explanation of these costs so the taxpayer knows where the money is going,’ he said. Councillor Gerry Flynn (Ind) said that in some cases “people cannot get near their loved one’s graves be- cause some of these old buildings are literally falling down. If it’s a matter of health and safety and they can’t be repaired, they should be removed.”

latency Ble

In a reply to Councillor Kelly, the council officials said that in line with the department’s requirements, the council is mindful of the social and archaeological history of the county graveyards and because of this renovation work is always going to cost more than the normal build- ing costs.

CONSTRUCTION work is expected to begin on some of the long awaited west Clare sewerage scheme within the next few months, while more await approval from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

According to Clare County Coun- cil officials it is expected that con- struction of the Cooraclare Sewerage Scheme will begin in Spring 2008.

Work will only begin however sub-

ject to land being purchased in the area for the local authority project.

Cooraclare was “debungled” from Labasheeda and Carrigaholt last year, as the later two villages had extra requirements including an off shore licence adding to their costs.

A revised cost proposal for the La- basheeda and Carrigaholt schemes are now under consideration by the Department of the Environment.

According to the council the con- struction of these schemes are ex- pected to begin in nine to 12 months

following approval by the Depart- ment of the Environment.

Once again this will be subject to planning and land purchase.

It was good news for Quilty and Mullagh as the sewerage network for the villages and surrounding area 1s expected to begin in the next two to four months.

The scheme must also get the ap- proval of the Department of the Envi- ronment for the tender recommended by Clare County Council.

The scheme will preserve water

quality at local beaches and rivers and will allow development to take place to facilitate growth and expan- sion in the residential, commercial and tourism sector, according to the Department of the Environment.

The plant will be built under a single design, “build and operate contract” incorporating Scariff and Feakle.

Meanwhile Kilrush and Kilkee are still awaiting approval for their schemes. The department requested extra information about these two schemes from the council last July.

THE Ennis Special Olympics Net- work are organising a fashion ex- travaganza on Wednesday night, October 10, in the Glor Irish Music Centre, with proceeds distributed among the three Special Olympics Clubs in Ennis.

Shops from Clare and Limerick will use the event to launch their au- tumn/winter fashion collections and entertainment will be provided by Mickey Joe Harte who will perform his new CD, a song composed to commemorate the Special Olympics World Summer Games which open

in China this week.

This year’s games will see 143 Irish athletes participate in eleven com- petitions including two participants from Clare — William Loughnane in gymnastics and Patrick O’Leary in the soccer event. They will be joined by 55 coaches, 200 Irish vol- unteers and approximately 400 fam- TU AAreDeLO ms BU (oAOKS

According to Siobhan Costelloe of the Ennis Special Olympics Network, Supporting the fashion fundraiser will give Clare people the oppor- tunity to help people with a learn- ing disability in their area to benefit physically, socially and emotionally

from being involved in the Special Olympics Programme and to recruit new athletes, currently not involved into the programme.

It promises to be an exciting night and the event will include a wine re- ception.

CLARE county council has ex- pressed reservations over plans by developers to build 77 homes in Doonbeg because of traffic safety, density, waste water, archaeology and design.

Brian McGoey and Niall Cun- ningham have lodged plans with the council for the homes and a separate application for a restaurant.

The council has told them that the density of 19 houses per hectare is too excessive in terms of the zon- ing for Doonbeg and they have been asked to reduce the density from 19 to 15 units.

The council has also raised con- cerns over the demolition of two ex- isting houses and the construction of two town houses at the entrance to the development.

The council considers that the cot- tages may be vernacular, 19th or 20th century dwellings and may form part of the historic fabric of the village and make a contribution to the streetscape. The developers have been asked to submit a photographic survey of the cottages both internally and externally in order to allow the council to assess their importance.

The most prominent community- based organisation in Doonbeg has also expressed its opposition to the

proposal.

The Doonbeg Community Devel- opment Co Ltd state that the pro- posed development by virtue of its scale and density and the proposed neighbourhood concept does not ‘respect the existing character of the surrounding area’ and that it ‘harms the amenity of adjoining properties and the surrounding area’.

Their submission goes on to state that “The additional traffic generated by the proposal will have an adverse effect on the amenity and character of the surrounding area. You simply cannot lift an urban design model and implant it on to a rural village especially at such a sensitive river-

bank location.”

“To create a new, competing neigh- bourhood within the context of Doonbeg village conflicts with the sustainable development of the vil- lage and we contend, with the set- tlement strategy of the Clare County Development plan 2005.

“These houses will dominate the skyline and approach from the south along this route. We also suggest that they may impact on, by overlooking, the streetscape of the village.

The community development group is also concerned about the scale and density of development proposed for this elevated site located in such close proximity to the riverbank.

THE Mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia Mc- Carthy and former Clare hurler, Brian Lohan have re-iterated their opposition to contentious plans to establish a ‘ca- sino-style’ operation in Shannon. Earlier this year, the council re- fused planning permission to John O’Donovan to establish a “sports and leisure emporium’ at Bru Na Sionna, Shannon. After opposition from Cllr McCarthy and Mr Lohan, the coun- cil refused planning permission hav-

ing regard to the nature of the pro- posed development and character of the surrounding area.

The proposal would reduce the attrac- tiveness of the area and would impact negatively on the residential amenities of the adjacent properties which are lo- cated and whose balconies are located within 20 metres of the facility.

Describing the proposal as essen- tially a ‘casino’, the council also ruled that the location of the proposed fa- cility outside Shannon would materi- ally contravene the South-East Clare

Development Plan.

The plan states that developments of amusement arcades or similar estab- lishments must be located within or immediately adjacent to town centres. The council concluded, ““The proposed development would therefore be con- trary to the proper planning and sus- tainable development of the area.”

Now Mr O’Donovan has lodged a revised plan and, in response, con- Sultants for Mr Lohan stated, “The only difference between the previous application and the present applica-

tion as far we understand is a differ- ence in the description of the pro- posed use which remains assembling and gambling activities.

‘The proposed new use is incom- patible with the designated office and retail use of this building. It will not create desirable synergies and also it will introduce undesirable congrega- tion of people in the vicinity of our chent’s property and will therefore be damaging to his business and oth- er businesses around.”

In her submission, Cllr McCarthy

said, “The proposed change of use would not be in keeping with the character of the surrounding area. The proposed development would be a source of nuisance and annoyance in a predominantly residential area.”

She added, “The proposed develop- ment would lead to increased noise and disturbance in a predominantly residential area and the proposed de- velopment would lead to increased traffic movements in the area.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

A FAMILY friendly approach, cul- tivated through their own love of eating out as a family, has seen the Stonecutters Kitchen in Doolin carve out a special niche for itself in the north Clare restaurant market.

Proprietors Karen Courtney and Myles Duffy were in Dublin’s Shel- bourne Hotel last week to collect a Gold Medal Award in the Cafés and Coffee Shop section of the Irish Ho- tel and Catering Review awards.

The award, which was sponsored by Kenco Coffee, recognises and re- wards excellence within the Irish ho- tel and catering industry in 2007.

The Stonecutter was joined in the list of finalist by Lahinch’s Moy House who narrowly lost out to the Rathsallagh House Hotel and Golf Club in Wicklow in the country house category of the awards.

“We decided right from the start that we wanted a spot in the market that wasn’t being looked after at the time. We had a small child so we were aware how hard it was to find somewhere which was family friend- ly,” said Karen.

“We were amazed and blown away by winning it. It’s our very first award, it was a long time coming but well worth the wait.

“It’s really great to get the recog-

nition. You can get very subjective about your own work. You believe that you are doing a good job but I think you do sometimes need some- one from outside to come in and say it as well. It’s great for yourself but it’s even better for the staff, and there’s no way we could have done this without the staff.

More than 200 hotels, country hous- es and restaurants entered this year’s awards with some 120 businesses making the shortlist. The short-listed businesses were visited incognito by the nine members of the Gold Medal Jury throughout the summer and as- sessed for their quality.

The judges are all highly respected

experts in hospitality with proven track records and can proudly stand over the exemplary impartiality and fairness of these awards.

“We moved down from Dublin in 1992 with my husbands redundancy. We decided that we would get a hell of a lot more going down the country that we would up in Dublin. My sis- ter is the potter down here, she has been down here more than 30 years, so we knew the area.

“We came down here and bought a site, a mobile home and a hot-dog wagon. Myles worked the hot-dog wagon for about eight years. We bought the restaurant in 2000 and it open then in 2001.”

this week, lives were put at jeopardy due to contfus- ing road markings.

On Sunday, September 16, Laura Burke from Lisdoonvarna was in- volved in an accident at Shop Cross on the R477.

“I was driving my car that morning, having been to mass in Lisdoonvar- na. I had one of my children in the car and one of her friends — they had both been serving Mass that morning,” she said.

“Tl slowed, braked and indicated to

turn right. As I did so, a car pulled out in an overtaking manoeuvre and crashed into the back of my car.”

Despite the existence of warning signs at that section of the R477, the road contains broken white lines, in- dicating that it is safe to overtake.

“Both children were screaming, distressed and traumatised. My daughter’s friend is an asthmatic and it took considerable effort to gain her confidence and calm her down,” she said.

“This is not the only accident of this nature to take place at this junc- tion recently. I don’t think it would be too difficult to replace the broken line with a single solid white line.

“I don’t think there is any time where it is safe to overtake at a cross- road, and my own personal experi- ence bears this out. Needless to say,

it would be distressing for the coun- cil to wait for a fatal accident before they took action.”

Meanwhile, in a separate corre- spondence with

IT goes to show you – you just can’t keep a good thing down. No sooner has the Stella Maris Day Care Centre reopened for two days in September 2005, than a message went out; we eNO LM ON KsLee

Now, almost two years to the day since Mary Harney reopened the centre, they have achieved just that. Last Wednesday a group of older people from Bell Harbour, Carron, New Quay, Kilfenora and Kilnaboy visited Stella Maris, taking a well deserved day out to socialise and re- lax.

Their weekly day out has been made possible by funding from the Department of Health and a new

bus, bought with money donated by a group of local businesses.

“When we started off we had two days and our long term goal is to have four or five days. The latest group are coming from the most remote places, so to cover these places we needed a bigger bus,” said Nuala Dillon of the Stella Maris Centre.

“So out of the blue, a group of local businessman came forward with the funding. Eugene Garrihy organised it, his father Jack used to come in and spend some time with us.

“Jack loved coming here, he was very enthusiastic about the place. So Eugene gathered together a group of local business people, people who have become very successful at their different types of businesses, they

contributed and now we have a brand new bus.

“We would also really like to thank John Curtin, who was our bus driver here. He was very involved in the committee and very involved in us getting the new bus. He unfortunate- ly passed away a couple of months x On

Alongside this, student from Mary Immaculate School raised €5,500 for the Stella Maris.

“We’re going to use that money to start a brand new project, we are going to compile a personal history for all the people who use the facil- ity here. It is something that a lot of older people don’t know about and will be really interesting. It will be about their own lives, how they grew

up, old sayings that they might have,” Leys lepeLeCre MN LUE DEB

“Each person will get a bound per- sonal history of their own life.

The committee in Stella Maris have now set their sites at getting funding to open the centre for a fourth and then a fifth day. In the future, they also plan to devote one day each week to people from the area who suffer from Alzheimer’s.

THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has been unable to tell the Dail when the long-anticipated eco- nomic plan in response to Open Skies aviation deal will be published.

This follows a Dail question from Deputy Pat Breen asking whether funding will be made available to the Midwest region following the in- troduction of Open Skies; and if so, when it will be made available and who will have responsibility for the management of the fund

In response, Minister Dempsey said, “My department is currently finalising an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Finance, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tour- ism, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the De- partment of Communications, En- ergy and Natural Resources.

“The purpose of the plan is to en-

sure that the region is well placed to respond to the challenges and oppor- tunities emerging in the context of full liberalisation of the transatlantic aviation market and the phasing out of the Shannon stop as envisaged under the EU-US Open Skies Agree- ment. I hope to bring the plan to con- clusion shortly.”

The plan, which was launched in July 2006, seeks to achieve a tour-

ism promotional fund of €44 mil- hon from Government funds, a route support fund of €9 million and an independent and financially viable S)at-beveleyembeneleum

Already, the Mid-West Regional Authority has written to Government asking why funding has not been forthcoming.

The phased ending of the Shannon stop-over commenced earlier this year and Shannon has already lost a number of transatlantic services for the next winter.

The agreement stipulates that full Open Skies will commence in April pau eres

The five-year plan aims to secure a 30 per cent share of the direct trans- atlantic market between America and Ireland and to achieve an appro- priate sustainable level of year-round services to main US gateways.

Currently, Shannon has 37 per cent of the Irish transatlantic business.