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GORT is preparing itself for its sec- ond new music and cultural festival in a fortnight, with the arrival of Life Festival 2007 to Lough Cutra Castle this weekend.

Following hot on the heels of last week’s hugely successful Changing Colours Multicultural Festival, Life Q7 is a different take on the institu- tion of the Irish summer festival.

After a successful beginning last summer at Charleville Castle in Tullamore, Life Festival 2007 has modeled itself to out-boutique self- proclaimed boutique festivals such as the Electric Picnic and the Garden Party.

This means small crowds, lots of space and more niche acts and artists.

Indeed, event organisers Neutronyx Events Management have put huge energy and resources into bringing together an innovative and quality line-up for Life Festival 2007.

The acts on show will be split more or less in half between European dance and electronic acts and root, folk and trad acts from Ireland and the UK.

Among those headlining the festi- val are London’s Dreadzone who top an international line-up. Also featur- ing are Grooverider, Electric Uni- verse, Alex Peterson from the Orb and Highlight Tribe.

The list goes up to over 100 acts that span a range of styles from DJ shows in reggae, dub, electronica, ambient, down-tempo, folk, psych- edelic, gipsy, african, drum and bass,

latin fusion, breaks, progressive and minimal tech.

The festival models itself loosely on the Glade Festival in the UK, which combines various alternative styles and workshops, environmental awareness presentations, alternative therapies, magic, juggling, perform- ing and music.

Other musical hightlights of the festival include Ronan O Snodaigh from Kila, the DMX Crew, Electric Penguins, Dilinja and Lemon D, Chris Clarke, Talamasca, Wiggle, Intinn, Rootical Reggae Soundsys- tem, Zubzub (ex-Ozric ‘Tentacles) and Ciaran Byrne.

Last year’s festival attracted some 1,500 revellers from over 20 differ- ent countries and organisers are ex- pecting to double these figures next

week.

It is being organised by Neutronyx Events in collaboration with Mantua Project from Roscommon and Brea- kology Dublin and will be the first of its kind to take place anywhere in the west of Ireland. Life Festival takes place in Gort’s Lough Caltra Castle on June 15, 16 and 17.

For more about Life Festival 2007, check out www.life-festival.com, Wwww.myspace.com/thelifefestival, www.loughcutra.com, WwWww.mantu- aproject.com or www.breakology.ie.

Check out page 41 of this week’s

HIS success in the general election was phenomenal, but Clare’s new Fianna Fail TD has no intention of seeking a place in cabinet for at least five years – but would eventually rel- ish the Transport Minister’s portfo- 1bTey

As Timmy Dooley prepares for his first day in the Dail this week, he said he 1s prepared to sit among the backbenchers for his first few years and would be open, then, to a promo- tion to the front benches.

Deputy Dooley’s priorities as a TD will be to improve tourism infra- structure in east Clare, secure an up- gerade of Ennis General Hospital and ensure Shannon airport does not suf- fer, with the advent of Open Skies.

“In politics, you serve your appren- ticeship. I’ve served five years in the Seanad, There are 30 ministerial positions. A junior ministerial post – certainly not. It’s virtually unheard of to have a first time TD appointed to any government post. In the future I would be interested,’ he said.

‘For somebody to be appointed to high office, the first time being elect- ed would be a disadvantage, given the amount of time a minster spends out of the constituency. Willie O’Dea was a poll-topper long before he be- came a minister. Brian Cowen was the same,” he said.

“From a county like Clare, tourism

and transport are two areas I would be interested in. I’ve been transport spokesman in the Seanad for five years. You would be delighted to serve in any role,” he added.

Mr Dooley doesn’t want to stand out from the other 165 TDs entering the 30th Dail on Thursday.

“I won’t be trying to stand out. Over the next five years I’ll try to do the job to the best of my ability,” he said.

The Mountshannon man has been perceived to be well acquainted with his party leader, but is slow to ad- mit this. “Bertie Ahern is an iconic

figure. He is a person young people really get behind. How close is any- body to Bertie Ahern? He’s a very private man,” he said.

He believes that the west Clare electorate cost Fianna Fail a third Seat, as votes went in the direction of Fine Gael’s Pat Breen.

“TI think the problem was Brendan Daly’s vote in west Clare – Kilrush and Kilkee – fell by over 500 votes. Unfortunately people in that area didn’t vote for Brendan as they had in the past. If they did, Brendan would be a TD today, regardless of anything else. Pat Breen took Fianna Fail votes in west Clare. He hoovered up,’ he said.

Deputy Dooley’s profile has grown over the past five years. He points to two crucial factors in his campaign, which led him to win the seat.

“I noticed the profile growing all the time. I noticed an increase in the number of calls I got when Sile de Valera announced her retirement. It grew again after the Fianna Fail Convention in April 2006, when I got through,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Dooley said he will leave “no stone unturned” in an effort to ensure Ennis General Hos- pital is upgraded.

He said the delays have been “mind numbing,’ but cannot provide a time- frame for the progression.

“I can’t because I don’t control the process,’ he said.

SPANISH Point got a new meet- ing point last week as local people celebrated the official opening of a much-awaited community hall for the area.

The one-storey structure, based at Christ Church (Church of Ireland) in the town, was blessed by both Catholic Bishop Dr Willie Walsh and Church of Ireland Bishop Michael Mayes in a ceremony last Wednes- day.

Rector Bob Hanna led the service to open the hall, which cost €30,000 to build and has been open since January.

Committee member of The Christ Church Community Project, Vicky Lynch, said that the hall was the re- sult of three years of fundraising.

“Eight of us got together to form a committee and we organised annual barbeques in the Armada Hotel for the last two years, raising around €12,000. Johnny Burke was bDril- liant in helping us with organisation and finances. His daughter, June, is now on the committee since he sadly passed away. Bernadette Queally was great too. Everyone made a big effort.”

The centre will be called “The Johnny Burke Community Hall’ in honour of the local businessman and

his wife Claire cut the ribbon to open the hall on the day as well as giving a “beautiful speech”.

Committee chairwoman Judith Ironside said that everyone was very pleased that the project had brought the community closer together.

‘Various community groups are us- ing the hall including the COI Sun- day School, a Grief and Loss Sup- port Group, Caring for Carers and a Mother and Toddler Group, which was our aim. We are lucky that there is a marvellous relationship between the Church of Ireland and the Catho- lic congregations in Miltown. They have done so much to help us.”

Ms Lynch added: “The barbeques

attract a huge crowd and have re- ally captured the imagination. Years ago there would have been more big community events so they’re like a blast from the past. We are at the half way mark with funds so we will keep working on the project. The next bar- beque is on August 12.”

THERE’s been no time to pause and reflect. Since his re-election to the Dail almost a month ago, it’s been non-stop for Deputy Pat Breen. Plan- ning meetings, parliamentary meet- ings, Council of Europe business in Paris. The work may officially be- gin for the men and women of the 30th Dail this week, but in reality it all started as soon as the counting stopped and the seats were secured.

The political landscape locally and nationally may have changed but the problems and the issues remain the same.

The campaign trail brought prom- ises and plans for the future. Now it’s back to the grind. The future of En- nis General Hospital, a key election battleground, sits high on Deputy Breen’s list of priorities.

To him, the situation in the ancient building is bad and getting worse.

‘“T was over at the hospital the other night and to me that situation is an awful lot worse. There is terrible overcrowding in the surgical and male wards and terrible problems in the elderly care unit as well. It’s just not right. People have to go over and see it for themselves. In this day and age, to have that kind of overcrowd- ing in general wards is unaccept- able.”

With planning documents for the long-mooted re-development of the site now lodged with Clare County Council. Deputy Breen is skeptical about the merits of building a new

facility on a greenfield site.

The idea was a cornerstone of Breen’s party colleague and Dail newcomer Joe Carey’s pre-election manifesto.

But for now Deputy Breen believes the issue surrounding Ennis Gen- eral Hospital can only be addressed through the current strategy.

“Joe Carey, my colleague, has run

that idea for some time. I have said that in principal I have no problems in supporting it or supporting him on it. But the reality is I don’t see that hap- pening with any Government. The

Fianna Fail-led government is there for the past 10 years and that never happened. As I said before, Our La- dy’s Hospital was the ideal place for a greenfield site but that didn’t hap- pen. And now that the planning ap- plication has been lodged with Clare County Council for the first phase of the development plan, I would hope that we could get that speed- ily resolved. Of course, for planning for the long term, a new hospital is something that has to be planned for. But the fact that we are geographi- cally located between Limerick and Galway doesn’t help our cause.”

However, Breen also believes both he and Deputy Carey will be reading from the same page when it comes to big issues and problems in Clare.

“Over the past five years, it’s been a huge challenge to cover every cor- ner of County Clare. Clare is a huge geographic area to cover from Loop Head to Whitegate and from Ard- nacrusha right up to Bellharbour. I have a new colleague and I know that we’ll work very closely together on issues in relation to County Clare. Since the election the workload hasn’t eased off. I would hope that some of the workload could be eased and Joe and myself could share some common platforms in relation to 1s- sues in Clare, particularly the health issue and the challenges that Open Skies brings to Shannon”.

THE citizens of Kilkee will don their berets, prepare a few baguettes and gather in the Diamond Rocks Cafe this Thursday to celebrate 25 years of twinning with the French town of Plouhinec.

By celebrating the silver anniver- sary organisers hope to form a new twinning committee and reinvigor- ate the relationship between the west Clare seaside town and the small French town.

Kilkee Town Twinning Steering Group is looking for new blood to join the Kilkee-Plouhinec Twinning Association as ordinary, affiliate, or junior members.

It is proposed to form a new man- agement committee to revitalise the twinning arrangements between Kilkee and Plouhinec and realise the benefits of town twinning for the community.

The group are particularly encour- aging young people to get involved as it promises opportunities to travel and broaden language experiences and provide alternative work place- ments.

The steering group is also encour- aging clubs, groups, and organisa- tions in Kilkee and surrounding ar- eas to contact the association with a view to exploring the potential of twinning.

Those interested in joining are

asked to part take in the 25th anni- versary celebrations in the Diamond Rocks Café at 7.30pm.

Kilkee was formally twinned with Plouhinec, the small town in south- ern Brittany, in 1983 after initial con- tacts were made in 1982.

The aim of the Kilkee Twinning Association is to promote and foster friendship and understanding be- tween the people of Kilkee, Plouhi- nec and their hinterlands and associ- aK

It also aims to encourage visits by individuals and groups and the de- velopment of personal and organisa- tional contacts, thereby broadening mutual understanding of social, cul- tural, educational, sporting, recrea-

tional, civic and commercial activi- Woe

The idea of twinning was born after World War II when it was felt that establishing links between lo- cal communities from former enemy countries would contribute to secure peace in Europe. Since then, thou- sand of villages and towns in Europe have established twinning links.

Twinning aims at developing mutu- al understanding and cross-cultural awareness between people from dif- ferent cultures. It helps develop val- ues such as citizenship and tolerance. Above all, twinning is a fun way to discover how other European people live and make friends from different felt bau lone

THE tragic drowning of a man while swimming in Spanish Point last week has left the people of Cratloe in shock.

John Harrington (58), a father- of-three, drowned at teatime on Mere See E RA

Mr Harrington, who was originally from Newport, County Tipperary, had been swimming alone when he got into difficulty.

Two local surfers took his body ashore but efforts to resuscitate him failed and he died later.

Mr Harrington, a carpenter, had been staying at his family’s mobile home in Spanish Point during an early summer break. His wife, Kath- leen, had been due to join him on the holiday the following morning. The couple had spoken on the telephone Were rhe

Mr Harrington, a keen GAA fan, had planned to go to the Munster Senior Hurling Championship game between his native Tipperary and Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Sunday.

He was born in Tipperary and moved to Cratloe several years ago. His wife Kathleen hails from the lo-

cal area.

He was known locally as a talented musician and played the accordion in the local church and during senior citizens parties with members of his family. He was also involved in the GAA and community games locally and was a regular Mass-goer.

Cratloe parish priest, Fr Liam En- right, said the local community was in shock at Mr Harrington’s death.

“John’s death has come as an aw- ful shock to us all. He adored his family. He was very quiet and loyal and was a good musician. He was a great worker. He did everything for his family and made sure his three children furthered their careers.

‘He painted his house on Tuesday morning and headed to Spanish Point for a few days that evening,” said Fr JSyavwesd elm

‘He was well used to the area (Spanish Point) and was generally very careful. He used to go there eve- ry year to the Willie Clancy Summer School,” he added.

Mr Harrington is survived by his mother Peg, wife Kathleen (nee Chaplin), daughters Eimear and Orla, son Colm, brothers Michael and sis- ters Kathleen, Mary Bernadette and Geraldine.

BEACHES at Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon on Lough Derg have regained the prestigious Blue Flag status which was lost last year due to algal bloom on the lake.

The beaches were among two of seven in Clare to be awarded the international stamp for good water quality, safety and services as well as environmental management, in- formation and education.

The Blue Flag jury said that wa- ter quality at the beaches had vastly improved and was now in line with

Bathing Water Directives.

“The jury acknowledges the excel- lent management efforts Clare Coun- ty Council undertook to monitor the bathing areas at Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon, sending out press releases to the media about the algal blooms and warning the public.

‘The council must have a fast re- sponse time to get the flag down and ensure the public is adequately in- formed.”

The awards, handed out on June 5 by environmental minister Dick Ro- che, is a significant boost to tourism in east Clare and has been welcomed

locally.

Sean Ward, Senior Engineer for the Environment and Emergency Services Directorate said that an early warning system had been put in place, minimising the effects of algal bloom.

“It is safe to swim in Lough Derg. There has been no algal bloom so far this year,’ he said.

He expressed his disappointment that Doonbeg beach was one of only three Irish beaches that had lost a flag before adding that the decision would be appealed.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy,

Chair of Clare County Council’s En- vironment, Emergency Services and Consumer Protection Strategic Pol- icy Committee said that the awards were achieved through hard work and collaboration between commu- nities and local authorities.

Meanwhile, the 2007 Clare Beach By-laws were announced. From June 1 to August 31, no dogs or horses are allowed onto beaches between llam and 6pm. If on a beach outside of these hours, dogs must be on a eo

Detailed restrictions are available to view on www.clare.ie.

THE long awaited sewerage scheme for the coastal village of Carrigaholt came a Step closer this week, as the council prepared to send a revised proposal for the scheme to the De- partment of the Environment and Local Government.

The fortunes of the scheme has made a complete turn around in the last three months when it appeared that it was facing even further de- JE WAS

At the end of March a preliminary review of the cost of the scheme

had shown that the unit cost for this scheme was still at a high, unaccept- able level.

A further review of the scheme has shown a marked reduction in the cap- ital cost and seems to satisfy specific Department of the Environment and Local Government requirements.

Senior executive engineer for Clare County Council Hugh McGrath, told the west Clare councillors, “we are confident that the revised proposal now meets this criteria, and follow- ing an internal review of the revised document we expect to be able to forward the proposal to the Depart-

ment of the Environment and Local Government in the next week. We also need to submit a new Part III Planning Application.”

Initially a report was prepared for the Carrigaholt/Labasheeda/Co- oraclare Sewerage Scheme bundle and submitted to the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government, but this proved unsuc- COSINE

Cooraclare was then separated from the grouped sewerage scheme and the submission of a revised and reduced proposal for the village was drawn up. As a result approval was

received from the department for the Cooraclare sewerage scheme.

The design review is also complet- ed for Labasheeda. It proposes a re- duced outfall length and the installa- tion of a tidal valve and storage tank arrangement, allowing discharge of treated effluent on the falling tide.

The foreshore licence could hold up the Labasheeda project however by up to two year. Under the new proposal for Carrigaholt it will not require such a licence. The people of Carrigaholt have claimed that they were first promised a sewerage scheme more than 30 years ago.

EUROPE’S first ever large-scale au- dit of farm machinery is about to get underway in Clare.

The Clare Farm Machinery Audit aims to document unprotected early agricultural machinery and to estab- lish a strategy for the conservation of such items as seed drills, harrows, ploughs and rollers, horse carts and harvesting and haymaking machin- ery.

The Clare Heritage Office recently secured funding from the Heritage Council and Clare County Council to conduct the project.

East Clare-based — consultants Minogue Associates have been ap- pointed to conduct the audit. Re- orTKONSHUCMA YON MLO CCNLBE Rare TELOMmereyeel ODE Le an inventory of agricultural machin- ery in Clare and will allow for the future analysis of issues surrounding the future protection and role of farm machinery for education, historical awareness and museum and heritage centre accessibility.

“This tradition has bequeathed a significant amount of farm machin- ery dating from the late 19th- and early to mid-twentieth centuries,” explained Acting Clare Heritage Of- ficer, Tomas Mac Conmara.

YOGA has stretched its way to a prominent position in east Clare as well as many exercise regimes with people coming from all over the world to the family-run, East Clare Yoga Centre.

The Tuamgraney-based centre, opened in 2004, is one of only four facilities in Ireland to run residential courses in Iyengar yoga as well as other workshops and classes.

Owner and teacher Susanne Sturton explained that Iyengar Yoga 1s a par- ticularly traditional and intense form of the exercise technique, which is a combination of meditation and phys- ical posturing.

“People’s pace of life is faster so they want something to integrate different facets of being – mind and body. The style is very distinctive and there is a lot of emphasis on al- lignment and precision but it is tai- lored to suit the individual. You real- ly have to apply yourself but people see a real difference from a keep fit class or running on a treadmill.”

The business is truly a family affair and is based in the home. Ms Stur- ton’s husband Paul and his parents, Rod and Pheme, create and cook the vegetarian menus at the centre. The one and a half acre property is also op N ROOST DUST EABD SLO

The Sturtons were living in Lon- don when they discovered something

that would draw them to east Clare shew OLR

“We have two daughters, Holly and Hazel, and moved here because I found out that there was a flagship Steiner Wakldorf School, Raheen Wood, in Clare. It was definitely what we wanted and we are just a 10 minute walk away from it now and we really enjoy living here.”

Setting up a yoga centre was part of this plan and it has gone from strength to strength since opening, running at least four full weekly classes, a monthly workshop and 10 courses a year. “It has been hard work and we have long waiting lists so we could be doing more. People have come from England and as far

away aS New York as well as from all over Ireland. It’s nice that they are bringing these techniques back to where they’re from.”

She added that Clare was the per- fect site to practice yoga.

“There is a huge demand and it is very popular. It is about lifelong learning and many people keep it up for years. Some of the guest teachers we bring over from the UK mostly have two or three decades of experi- ence. We are aiming to create a cen- tre for excellence.”

www.eastclareyoga.ie