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THE Kilrush Family Resource Cen- tre will hold a day-long conference on all aspects of family health from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, May 26.

All interested parties can attend the free event, which will involve half- hour talks about everything from nutrition to sexually transmitted in- fections.

Development worker Viv Rooney outlined the speakers and topics lined up for the day.

“A representative from the HSE who is going to talk about healthy eating and cessation of smoking will attend. There will be a breast checker and someone from the Marie Keat- ing Foundation talking about cancer awareness. Staff from the Red Rib- bon Project will be there to address sexual health. We have two women from the Shannon Youth Service looking at relationships and STIs Koren

There will also be a public health nurse giving an update on their ac-

tivities in Clare, a spokesperson from Clare Haven will talk about the ef- fects of domestic violence as well as speakers on family planning, repro- ductive health and complimentary health.

Ms Rooney said that this is the big- gest event of its type staged by the family resource centre and it has been in the planning stages since January.

“This event is part of our three year plan because we wanted to do something around the area of health awareness and promotion. We all

talked about it and decided a confer- ence would be a good way to do it. It will be a great day – very interest- ing. There are lots of different talks and we will change topics quickly so that we can cover a snippet of every- den eetoaa

Numbers are not strictly limited but booking is needed, ideally before Spm on Tuesday, May 22 (today), so that lunch can be provided for every- one on the day. For information con- tact Kilrush Family Resource Centre on 065 9052173.

DUBLIN’S RDS belonged to the transition-year students of Gort Community School last week. Some 20 students and two teachers from the school made the long trek to the capital to take part in the National Young Social Innovators Showcase.

The journey was well worth it, how- ever, as the school saw off competi- tion from almost 400 other schools to win their category and come sec- ond in the overall competition.

The students presented a project based on the work they have been doing in highlighting issues around HIV and AIDS over the past year.

“Each school had a stand, the kids would man the stand and students

from other schools and judges would come and visit the stand. It is like a Young Scientist competition for so- cial issues,’ said teacher, Carmel Neylon.

“We thought that we were getting on well because the judges kept com- ing back for a second and third look. They especially liked the links that we made with outside partnership eroups, people like Aids West, Aids Partnership Africa and all the vari- ous projects that the students have undertaken on an ongoing basis, things like World Aids Day.

“We are also now selling pins with all the profits going to AIDS chari- ties. They organised workshops for other students in the school to make them aware of HIV/AIDS, to make

them and the wider community aware and got politicians involved as well.”

The project grabbed national head- lines last year when a photo-shoot was organised featuring almost 100 students spelling out the word HIV.

“It has really opened their eyes. They would have known of HIV/ AIDS, they probably would have known how people become infected but they would not have known the huge numbers of people who die in different countries every day. This is partly because there is a stigma at- tached to it and that is why it is not being tackled properly,’ continued Cr Turtoe

“The wider community was a big focus. It wouldn’t have been as effec-

tive if we had started it just here in the school. One the biggest achieve- ments of the project is the creation of a mural, which will be put up in the community as a long-term reminder of the project.”

Meanwhile, the school’s debating team reached the final of the Concern National Debating Championships for the second year in succession last week. The team — which included Kate O’Connor, Emma _ Fogarty, Danielle Cuffe and James Mahon — was coached by Sr de Lourdes Fahy and Caroline Meagher and lost out narrowly in the grand final.

IT HAS been almost a century since the Kelly family began selling peri- winkles and seagrass to holiday makers on the Kilkee seafront and the tradition remains strong today as the stall prepares for another hectic SLebeavenoe

Frank Kelly, one of the third gener- ation to keep up the family tradition, said that his grandmother was one of the first to sell the local delicacy.

“My grandmother, Katie Kelly and a friend of hers called Ellie Halloran, started the stall nearly a hundred years ago now. At the time they were using pony cars and they would push

them up to the beach with a white sheet thrown over the contents. They sold the periwinkles to customers from the back. There would have been very few people in the business at that time,” he said.

He said that he believes the starting year to be the year that the Titanic sank, 1912.

“My father, Michael Kelly who was a local councillor for 20 years, took it up after his mother. I have been running the stall now for 20 years as well and I hope that my niece, Nora Kelly who helps me out on it now, will take it over after me.”

Observing decades of change from a prominent spot on the strand line,

Frank described the transformation of Kilkee.

“The town has really changed be- cause of all the new buildings. I think that it’s not as good now because it’s more expensive. In the summer years ago, the town used to packed every day and not just weekends.”

The Kelly stall, the longest in busi- ness in Kilkee, has had many famous customers according to Frank’s col- lection of photographs.

“Richard Harris was a great friend of mine. He used to come and see my grandmother and he knew all my un- cles. Anytime he came to Kilkee he would drop by. The storyteller Ea- monn Kelly and Phil Coulter and his

wife have been down,” said Frank.

‘Winkle picking can be a hard slog in peak times but Frank hopes to keep the tradition going for another 100 years.

“We pick them up near Loop Head and other places and cook them in the family home. We pick the seagrass locally and dry it under the sun. We go out either very early in the evening with the tides and it is tough work. It has always been a family thing and I hope my niece will carry it on. That was my grandmother’s wish before she died.”

MORE than 200 farmers could be forced off the Rural Social Scheme in Ireland before the end of the year, according to a survey released last week by the ICMSA Rural Develop- ment Committee.

Chairperson of the ICMSA Ru- ral Development Committee, John O’Donnell, stated that he believes the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is a crucial measure for rural Ireland.

The scheme, which was introduced in 2004, helps to maintain farming in certain parts of the country. This is done by providing income sup- port to farmers who are currently in receipt of long-term social welfare

payments. It has also enhanced rural communities, through maintaining and improving local amenities, as well as delivering a range of other OMIA one

“Although there are over 200 on the waiting list nationally, in cer- tain parts of the country there are as many as 20 on the list, which would mean that 20 farmers could be forced to step down from the RSS in a sin- gle county,’ he said.

“The Leader companies _inter- viewed confirmed to ICMSA that they have stopped recruiting partici- pants for the RSS to avoid increasing the waiting list.”

O’Donnell also explained why over 200 participants in the scheme could

face the chop. The RSS is based on the FAS Community Employment Scheme and has many of the same terms and conditions.

‘Participation in the scheme is on an annual basis and the individual must therefore continue to be eligible for the scheme annually.

“However, 1n an area where there is a waiting list, after spending three years on the scheme, an individual could be forced to leave the scheme to accommodate the waiting list. Since the scheme has been in opera- tion since 2004, this is the first year that we will see this clause being UEtere

“The RSS has become a crucial scheme for the 2,600 families partic-

ipating in it and the rural communi- ties that they live in,” he continued.

“The earnings from the RSS now constitute a large proportion of these 2,600 familie’s household income. A certain level of dependence will have been built on this income and the threat of taking it away from some of the participants is not acceptable. Some RSS workers have also built up a certain level of social dependence over the last three years working on the scheme.

“When these factors are coupled with the huge benefit that the scheme has delivered to rural communities, there 1s a very strong argument to actually increase the places on the scheme.”

THE tourism season has been ex- tended by two weeks, members of Kilrush Town Council have been told.

They were listening to a presenta- tion from marketing and develop- ment officer, Siobhan Garvey or what has been done to promote the town and boost tourism.

She told the meeting that it has been officially recognised that the season has started early, “about two weeks early. The tourist information office is going to open early this year

to facilitate the visitors”.

The town council also plans to re- print 50,000 copies of an updated brochure featuring local activities, sights, accomodation, restaurants, pubs and service for visitors as well as giving them a handy map of the locality.

The brochure is being provided as a partnership project with local tour- ism providers and the Town Coun- cil.

The brochures will be ready by the end of the month, she told council members.

Among the other activities which

Siobhan has been involved in were re-developemnt of the town website, www.kilrush.ie which is expected to go live by the end of the month, she told the council.

Kilrush was also represented at the London St Patrick’s Day parade and literature for the town was available on the Shannon Development stalls at the Holiday World Shows in Bel- fast, Dublin and Limerick.

A postcard is also being produced with CANTATA funding promoting nine heritage centres in Clare and offering discount for visitors to the na Kehe

Kilrush adverstisments have also been included in national tourism publications including

THE spring has hardly had a chance to get its feet under itself but the summer show season is rearing its head over the horizon. The tradition- al first show of the year takes place in Ennistymon over the bank holiday weekend and preparations are al- ready well under way.

The North West Clare Agricultural Show, which will take place at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon on June 2 and 3, has been going from strength to strength in recent years.

‘“Ennistymon has always been re- garded very highly in the horsing circles. It comes so early in the year

that it can be a very important show to win,’ said Maurice Harvey.

“If they win at Ennistymon, it sets them up for the year. They get a good name and it can lead to them winning more and more throughout the year.

“The quality of cattle has been in- creasingly steady in recent years but the quantity hasn’t. The show has been able to attract cattle from as far away aS Mayo and the quality is ex- cellent. The flip side of this is that it tends to discourage some of the lo- cals from taking part.”

Closing date for entries in all cat- egories 1s this Thursday, May 24, and no late entries will be accepted.

“The showjumping will take place

all day on Saturday. The biggest at- traction of this will be the Amateur Derby which is sponsored by West Clare Saddlery,” continued Maurice.

“This offers prizes all the way down to sixth place and will be the real highlight of Saturday. It is a very exciting competition.”

The show is celebrating its 31st an- niversary this year and a number of interesting new additions look set to draw a large crowd, both of exhibi- tors and the general public.

“Along with the agricultural sec- tions, there are also a lot of other sections for people. The children’s art competition has been a great suc- cess 1n recent years so, for the first

time, this year we are going to open up that competition to all ages. We are very hopeful that this will prove very popular,” continued Maurice.

The show, in its current guise, has been taking place each year since 1976 but an annual agricultural show has been in existence in Ennistymon since 1960.

For more information, contact show secretary Josephine Blackwell at 7071121.

THE tourism stock of east Clare of- ficially soared this week, as one of the finest waterside walking routes in the country was formally opened in picturesque O’Briensbridge.

Some 16 km of walkway, and a number of shorter routes, were for- mally unveiled to the public at a joint celebration by the O’Briensbridge Community Group and Shannon De- velopment.

The route has been painstakingly and lovingly carved out by the lo- cal voluntary group over four years with the assistance of State, semi- State, local authority and voluntary financial support at a total cost of €222,000.

Many walkers and athletes alike have already grown to love the set- ting that begins and ends in the vil-

lage and in between meanders along the banks of the Shannon before joining the Errinagh Canal.

Speaking at a celebration dinner at the Old Mill Bar, O’Briensbridge fol- lowing the launch, chairman of the O’Briensbridge Community Group Michael Murtagh said that the fin- ished walk now formally unveiled has been a labour of love and well worth the many long hours dedicated by the band of local volunteers.

And he predicted that the walk will be one of the real gems of east Clare tourism over the coming years, par- ticularly with walking holidays now emerging as one of the growth areas of the tourism sector.

“There were times when we were banging on doors looking for fund- ing for this that we thought we would never see this day but now that we have, it has been more than worth

every bead of sweat,” said Michael.

“When you see what has been achieved here you really get a sense of a job well done and it is a tribute to all in our community, not just those in this official voluntary group. This 1s a diamond of a walk and you couldn’t have a better place to start and finish it than in what we believe is one of the prettiest villages in the country, O’ Briensbridge.

He added that without the help of the many volunteers and the sup- port from State and semi-State spon- sors, “this would not have happened and to one and all we say a big thank Wo) ae

The walks — all are colour coded with arrow sign-posts – vary from the longest Green Loop, which travels all the way from O’Briensbridge to Par- Korey mr-H OO mDy-1ee

There are shorter treks within the

system, including the Blue Loop, which links early with the Erri- nagh Canal and brings walkers back around to O’Briensbridge at a total distance of just 5 km The red loop, meanwhile, carries on to the village of Clonlara, returning to O’Briensbridge along the Errinagh Canal in an overall trek of 10 km.

Work on the ambitious project be- gan back in 2003 and has been fund- ed by Waterways Ireland, €27,000; Shannon Development, €11,000; Clare County Council €87,000, Leader Group, €26,000; Conserva- tion Volunteers, €2,000; Heritage Council, €26,000; ESB, <€18,000; O’Briensbridge Community Group, orm OOF

THE HSE Mid West said that it could not comment “at this stage on the out- come of the review” of acute hospital Services in the mid west, “as the re- view is not yet completed”.

In a letter to the chairman of the En- nis General Hospital, the HSE said that as the scope of the review has

been extended to incorporate changes currently underway in primary, com- munity and continuing care services, the completion date has been extended and is not expected to be ready for some weeks yet.”

It was expected that the review would be published in April but the day is now more likely to be late May.

“This review will identify an overall

model of acute hospital care and also take account of developing needs in the area of pre-hospital emergency care and the transformation programme underway in primary, community and continuing care Services.”

An invitation to tender for the review was issued last December and the consultants appointed were Horwarth Consulting Ireland, in association with

SR ed aU Eder ontonlmelo mel Gore Meanwhile, the plans for the develop- ment of Ennis General Hospital were lodged with Ennis Town Council on Monday. The development consists of the demolition of existing single-sto- rey extensions and the original chapel to the rear of the main hospital and the provision of a new two-storey exten- sion incorporating the new A&E unit.

A JUDGE has refused to grant bail to an “out of control” young drug addict who has admitted several bur- glary charges, as he feared he would immediately re-offend.

Gerard O’Connor (18), of Chapel Street, Killaloe, pleaded guilty to more than 20 charges, including bur- glary and criminal damage of vari- ous business premises in Killaloe, between September 2006 and Febru- ary 2007.

Garda John Mulvihill told Shannon District Court that the burglaries were for the accused’s personal gain, “to feed his alcohol or drug habits”.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said, “I cannot understand how someone with this amount of charges is still at large.”

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett pointed out that the accused was in custody, having been arrested last

week.

Mr Hassett said his chent “went on a rampage with others and caused serious disharmony. He was stealing, breaking into premises and caus- ing damage at will, until the gardai caught up with him.”

“He has got seriously and heav- ily involved rhe) erat nea since his mid- teens,’ said deTomro) een KO)

He said the accused was “out of con- trol”, smoking cannabis and taking speed, while he was Ko repsew ame B ie! the offences.

“He was, to

some extent, relieved to be caught,” he said.

Garda Mulvihill agreed that the ac- cused did not have a lot of guidance from home and that he had devel- oped a serious drug problem.

Mr Hassett said his client required

treatment aI Bushypark or an equivalent unit, without delay. He said he had been assaulted twice during the past week in St Patrick’s Institution, ““be- cause he is from WeomeOltbe LOM Ae Judge McCa- rthy said he was not willing to release the ac- cused on to the streets “to com-

mit more crime, until I am satisfied there is a place for him in Bushypark and that he is prepared to take that re) e-Nerome

He said he had no doubt but that the accused would re-offend, if granted ey nee

“I have a duty to this man and [| have a duty to society so that it is not affected by this man’s criminal be- haviour,’ said the judge.

“This is the real world. I’ve no doubt if I release this man, he is going to do the same thing again tonight because he needs money for drugs,” he said.

The judge remanded the young man in custody to Limerick prison for a month. He ordered that a Pro- bation report be carried out, with emphasis on residential placement for substance abuse.

THE Burren is proving to be a happy home for the most unusual of resi- dents. Not native to Ireland, and ex- tremely rare in most of the country, the Slow Worm, or Anguis Fraglis, has taken up residence in the lime- stone and rock of the Eastern Burren.

Despite its name and appearance, the Slow Worm is neither snake nor worm. It is, in fact, a legless lizard and was introduced to Ireland some- DUOC DOM UNM ER MOONRETA YA

One such lizard was discovered by a group of locals last week and brought to fascinate the children of Carron National School before being

released into the wild.

“IT was walking down the road with a cow when | came upon the Slow Worm. They like to lie out on the rocks and on the stones and soak up the sun. This is possibly why he was lying out on the road, he was soak- ing up the sun,” said local man Wil- lie O’Reilly who found the unusual reptile.

“We came across another one a couple of years ago in and around the same area. They are not natural to Ireland but were introduced from abroad at some stage in the past. For some reason, they seem to like the area around the east of the Burren.

The Slow Worm is native to main-

land Europe and is usually found in grassy areas and woodlands. It is unknown how the lizards came to Ireland and why they have a strange fascination with the Burren.

“If they get caught by a bird, they can let off their tail and escape. The bird can still feel the tail in their mouth so they don’t come after the Slow Worm. Their tail can then grow back. This one had more of a stump rather than a tail so it looks like he had to shed his tail recently enough,’ continued Willie.

The Slow Worm, discovered in the Burren, was just eight inches long but they can grow to as long as 18 inches. After being given a tour of

Carron National School, the lizard was released back into the wild in a townland know as Glencolumbkille, beside where he was discovered.

Although they are often mistaken for snakes, these Slow Worms have small eyes with eyelids that blink and a notched tongue rather than a forked tongue.

A fully-grown adult can live to about 30 years in the wild and up to 54 years in captivity.