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TWO north Clare natives are this week beginning a month-long pro- gramme to teach computer skills to poor children in Africa. Anne Marie Gray from Lisdoonvarna and Mick Quinn from Doolin departed for Dublin last week to give a four week intensive course in Ethiopia.

The pair are part of an 83 strong party of Irish volunteers who will be teaching in seven African countries throughout the month of July. They will be joined on the trip by fel- low Clare native Mary Woods from Newmarket-on-Fergus who is travel-

ling to Tanzania.

The trip is being organised by the Camera Group, which is an Irish charity promoting sustainable devel- opment in Africa. Camera refurbish thousands of old computers each year and ship them for re-use in a number of African countries.

The volunteers, who come from a range of backgrounds, including IT, teachers and students, will be teach- ing basic to advanced computer skills to teachers in schools in Kenya, Ethi- opa, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Le- sotho and Zambia.

“This 1s so important to provide training in computer skills for the

teachers of the schools who have Ca- mara’s refurbished computers,” said Cormac Lynch, CEO of Camara. “Our teachers will spend a month giving courses from basic computer skills to advanced networking. Each computer can be of major benefit to 200 students, but only if there is good transfer of teaching knowledge to the teachers in the first place.” Camara is an Irish-based registered charity, based in the Digital Hub, which equips schools in Africa with refurbished computers, educational software and IT training. Camara recently celebrated sending out its 10,000 computer to a school in Tan-

zania.

Camara takes in computers from businesses that would be sent for recycling otherwise, securely wipes the hard drive and tracks, cleans and upgrades the computers so that they will run an operating system reliably and have a long second lease of life in Africa. Camara’s computers come from large and medium-sized com- panies including PWC, KBC Bank, ESB and the Department of Finance.

For detail about the the project and how to become a volunteers or do- nate unused computers contact con- tact Leonora Lowe on 085 7057764 and leonora@camara.ie.

Quin anger over Abbey car park

THE continued closure of the car- park at Quin Abbey is causing an- noyance to locals, who say that the business community in the area is suffering as a result.

The lock remains on the gate of the carpark and residents who live in the village cannot understand why their calls to re-open it have fallen on deaf ears. They are further incensed by

the fact that their calls for signage — outlining opening hours, the abbey’s history and other relevant informa- tion — have not achieved a positive response.

Junior Finance Minister Martin Manseragh visited the abbey in May and locals said they felt that their concerns were listened to on that oc- or ISTO) F

However, Helen Lowe, who is a member of the local development

committee, said there 1s much frus- tration in the village because of the lack of progress. While a caretaker is employed there, opening hours and information are not available for tourists who may wish to visit the ab- erentA

The group is pleased to learn that the Abbey will open during Novem- ber — the month of the Holy Souls – but say more good news should fol- low.

“It is the last remaining intact, me- dieval village in Clare and the OPW will not put the proper signage at the public access to utilise the abbey to its true potential,’ said Ms Lowe.

“Having a list of opening hours is critical because a lot of tourist buses come to Quin. Also there is confu- sion in the village. People don’t know where the public entrance 1s,” she added.

‘Thousands of euro has been spent on the public entrance and a new bridge has been installed. However the gate remains locked and the car- park is not occupied. It has space for 40 cars and coaches and minibuses,” she said.

The local development committee contacted the OPW and was told that signage would be put in place and ne- gotiations would take place in rela- tion to opening the carpark. However they are not happy with this as they want action immediately.

“We are coming into August, the last remaining month of the tourist season. The businesses are losing money, she added.

“We are not asking the OPW to spend money. This is a carpark that is available. It doesn’t need any at- tention. We need organisation and feedback. It’s frustrating,’ she said.

“We would like the OPW to ad- dress the signage issue first of all,” added Ms Lowe.

EACH farmer in the environmental- ly sensitive Burren area is to receive an average of €6,000 over the next three years to insure the survival of the threatened Burren landscape.

A new €3 million fund was an- nounced by the Department of Agri- culture last week which will directly fund Burren farming to introduce farm techniques which will reverse the encroachment of scrub on the karst Burren landscape.

The funding will be used to intro- duce a Burren wide roll out of many of the ideas developed by the Burren- LIFE Project over the last five years. It does not, however, guarantee the continuation of the project past this August.

“This is the best day of my farming lite. This decision is way bigger that the initial EC funding of the pilot phase of BurrenLIFE,” said head of the Burren IFA, Michael Davoren.

“It represents a very serious buy by the Department of Agriculture for the work being undertaken by Bur- ren farmers. It is now critical that the Department of the Environment fund the operational side of project and ensure that the project offices and team are retained.”

Should the BurrenLIFE Project not receive a late funding reprieve from the Department of the Environment or other sources, it is not clear who will oversee the €3 million invest- ment.

“This is a stunning statement of support for the Burren, its farmers and the innovative BurrenLIFE ap- proach to farming for conservation,’ said Brendan Dunford, Project Man- ager of the BurrenLIFE Project.

‘“BurrenLIFE is a very focused and targeted scheme, all of its actions are carefully researched and closely monitored. The strict emphasis on delivering tangible, measurable re- sults and good value for money are so critical now that resources are so tight.”

Dunford also paid tribute to the

project team of Sharon Parr, Ruairi OQ Conchtir and James Moran as well as Sean Regan from Teagasc for the work done on the project and se- curing the funding.

Meanwhile, Clare TD, Tony Kil- leen has confirmed that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, will visit the Burren region over the coming weeks to be briefed on the BurrenLIFE Project.

AN estimated 2,000 Clare farmers are facing a bleak financial future following the Department of Agri- culture’s shock closure of the REPS 4 scheme last Thursday.

Some 35,000 Irish farmers will fin- ish their environmental plans over the next three years and will now not be allowed to join the REPS 4 scheme.

The effects of this will be felt by some 2,000 Clare farmers who will also now have to plan with a further reduced Disadvantaged Area Scheme payments from 2010. The IFA called an emergency Executive Council in Portlaoise last Friday to discuss the

situation.

Mr Walshe called on the Minis- ter for Agriculture, Brendan Smith to immediately come forward with a new meaningful scheme for the farmers effected by the latest round of cuts. “The previous budget cuts plus this proposed cut will hit the hard pressed livestock sector espe- cially hard,” he said.

‘Farmers are outraged at these de- cisions at a time when farm incomes are at their lowest level in almost a decade and tens of thousands of farm families are struggling to survive.”

The ICSA Rural Development Chairman, Gabriel Gilmartin has said the news of the closure of REPS 4 is another nail in the coffin of farm-

ers and will cause many to question their future in farming.

“This decision is wholly unaccept- able and is further evidence of a total lack of understanding on the Govern- ment’s part of what measures are in fact needed to encourage economic activity in rural Ireland,” he said.

“Under the new agri environment scheme farmers will have to apply without knowing whether they will be accepted or not and they will have no idea what the rate of payment will be. Modulated money was intended to create additional rural develop- ment funding, not to facilitate the elimination of existing schemes.”

Meanwhile, while announcing the cuts, the Minister for Agriculture

also announced proposals for spend- ing €207 million in EU funding for Irish farmers over the next four years.

These proposals relate to the use of unspent Single Payment Scheme and Modulation funds and the European Economic Recovery Programme from 2010. The minister said that his proposals reflected the outcome of consultations with the various stake- holders over recent months.

In addition to this Minister Smith confirmed details of a new €113 million targeted scheme for on-farm investment to support a number of specific categories of farmers and focused on supporting productive in- vestment.

SQUALLS of rain did nothing to spoil the festival fun in Killaloe at the weekend as visitors turned out in droves to enjoy the annual Brian Boru celebrations.

A packed programme of events in- cluding a fireworks display, a gig-rig, a treasure hunt and a pig on a spit went ahead undaunted, John Grimes of the festival organising commit- tee said. “We were delighted with the turnout. The town was packed all weekend and we got very posi- tive feedback from the people who or bn alse

“Particularly with the weather be- ing the way it was, we were worried that people might not come out but they did and it all worked out really well – we didn’t have to cancel any- debeetcam

There was all the fun and colour of the parade as well as power-boat and dragon-boat racing.

The Lakeside Hotel are very in- volved in this year’s festival and organised a treasure hunt, the Brian Boru Quest, based on the sort of clues given in the Da Vinci Code.

And the food and cooking fair which proved so popular last year went ahead again as festival goers sampled local culinary delights.

And the beautiful young things turned out for Killaloe’s answer to Oxygen on Saturday night when the Plectrum music festival, organised by the local youth club, was in full swing.

The Féis Ceoil also proved to be a huge success and the quality and variety of music on offer all over the town meant there was something for everyone to listen to.

ONE of the largest collections of ar- chived traditional Irish music in the mid-west was officially opened in Ennis last Friday.

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv joined with members of the Board of Meitheal na hAbhna and man- agement at the opening of Cois na hAbhna Regional Resource Centre.

Cois na hAbhna is the regional base of Comhaltas Ceoiltoiri Eire- ann (CCE) for the Meitheal region.

It houses the Comhaltas Regional Archive in its Sean Reid Library. The venue also has an auditor1um for céili dances and concerts, a tradi- tional-style Irish kitchen, a bar/teach

cheoil where lively weekly sessions are held and classrooms for music lessons.

Speaking last week, Cois na hAbh- na manager, Doreen Norris said the venue has been busy since re-open- ing in 2007.

‘“We’ve been pretty busy. We have céilis, workshops and classes. It’s been fairly busy for the past two years. September to May is usually busier for us. There is a lot more go- ing on but we still have a few things happening in the summer. We have céilis on Wednesdays and Fridays,” she said.

The original Cois na hAbhna build- ing was constructed during the early 1980s by local Comhaltas members, who worked on a voluntary basis, and

was officially opened on St Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1983.

Redevelopment work on the Gort Road venue began in October 2006 and concluded in May 2007. The building was extended to include a teach cheoil and new conference room facilities.

The jewel in the crown is the Cois na hAbhna regional archive, one of several established by CCE through- out the country, to record collect and preserve the cultural heritage of parts of Munster.

Since work began in 1990 over 1,500 hours of recordings of mu- sic, songs, dance and folklore from Clare, Galway and Limerick have been collected in the form of 78s, LPs, reel to reel tapes, cds, videos,

books and photos.

Four main collections form the ma- jority of the archive’s holdings.

The Culturlann archive collections consists of recordings made and collected by Seamus MacMathuna, timire cheoil, CCE, covering a peri- od from the late 1950s to the 1970s.

The Vaughan collection is of a se- ries of private recordings made by Joe Vaughan from Miltown Malbay during the 1960s. The McNamara collection consists of recordings made by Martin McNamara from Scariff in the 1960s and 1970s. The fourth collection, the Field record- ings, 1s composed of material gath- ered by volounteers and participants in the ‘Meet the Musician Project’ since 1991.

A SHANNON businesswoman has won a prestigious accolade in fash- ion design. Michelle Carrig won the award for Outstanding Creativity as part of her City & Guilds Diploma in Fashion Design and Tailoring at the Mallow College in Cork.

She has operated her own dress- making business in Shannon for the past six years, having taken a ‘Start your own business’ course with the Clare County Enterprise Board. Three years ago, she decided to take a City & Guilds course, culminating in her being honoured with the ac- colade. She also won the Designer of the Year award in evening wear last year. She was honoured with the lat-

est award because of her work with lace. “I incorporated it into all of my designs,’ she said.

She is no stranger to dressmaking. Her mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all interested in this area. “Everything was knitted for us and everything was made for us. My Holy Communion dress was made. I learned everything from my mother and my grandmother,” she said.

‘T had the art background and I de- cided when my son (Jack, now aged 13) was going to school, I wanted to be at home for him. I had the ability and I saw a niche in the market. I set up in my mother’s back kitchen over six years ago and then moved into the workshop,” she said.

She enjoyed the work and then de- cided to ascertain what kind of ability she had by taking the course, which she was very enthusiastic about. “I put a lot of effort, time and commit- ment into my collection and the day I handed it over to the examiners I felt that a part of me went with it. I really poured myself, my dreams, my sweat and sometimes tears into it so it was fantastic that the examiners recog- nised this by presenting me with the Outstanding Creativity award over 140 designs shown at a recent fashion show to over 600 people,’ she said.

Acknowledging that successfully completing the course was her target, Michelle said that this section of her course work allowed her to express herself and her ideas. It also enabled

her to put into practice many of the techniques that she learned. Michelle also made time to complete a milli- nery course and can design a head- piece to match any outfit.

A native of Limerick, Michelle moved to Shannon at a young age. Her business, Material Girl, is lo- cated at Caragh Park in Shannon. While she thoroughly enjoys her job, she is anticipating the future. “I can see myself teaching sewing and de- sign. That would be my ambition,” she said. Michelle can be contacted on michelle_carrig@yahoo.co.uk.

Get the low down with new guide

WHEN, back in the mists of time, they minted gathering festivals, they had something like the Loop Head variety in mind. It takes place from July 10 to July 20 and it has a par- ticular significance for the people of the area.

Set against the most western shore of Clare, in the parish of Kulbal- lyowen, the Loop Head Gathering Festival encompasses the villages of Cross and Kilbaha.

The programme itself is extremely varied and includes music (with the likes of Martin Hayes and Leo Ri- chard performing), currach racing, a

donkey derby, a vintage tractor run, tug of war and sheaf throwing.

“It’s a very special occasion for everybody in the area,” explains Ter- esa O’Gorman, PRO for the festival. “But it’s not only the people living here that get involved. Those who have left the area and moved away take holidays around the gathering festival. So we have plenty of enter- tainment for all of those returning home.”

This is the tenth year a festival has taken place in the locality and it’s the fourth year that the festival has gone ahead under its current structure. And, the 2009 version has two spe- cial events in store.

“First of all, it’s the 50th anniver- sary of the new church in Cross, so that’s something to celebrate. To mark this occasion, we have organ- ised a mass to be concelebrated with the bishop on July 15. This will be followed by an evening with music from Larry McEvoy, a barbecue and dancing.

‘The second big event is the 4km road race that takes place on Friday, July 17. This has been organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the St John’s Athletic Club victory in the County Junior Cross Country cham- pionships. And as part of this, the members of the team or their repre- sentatives will be awarded a special

presentation.”

Teresa also pointed out that since it’s inception, the gathering festival has always enjoyed extremely good weather. “It’s a great boost for the people around here. Businesses and tourism outlets are busy. We’re con- stantly aiming to bring in people to the area and this festival showcases what we have to offer on the Loop- head.”