The Clare People Archive

CLARE’S Dail hopefuls are to be evaluated in report cards to be pub- lished two days before the general election.

Residents of Riverview will release findings of their own opinion poll on May 22. The report cards will judge candidates commitment to the two year campaign waged by residents against the siting of a mast at an ESB substation in Cahercalla More.

Residents are currently engaged in a costly high profile legal battle with the ESB. They are seeking a judicial review of An Bord Pleandala’s deci- sion to grant planning permission to the ESB.

The case was due before the courts in March but is not expected to be heard for at least three months.

Residents are unhappy that the pro- posed site is located near the the Eire Og playing grounds and a number of residential areas as well as St Flan- nan’s College.

A spokesperson for the residents said, “over the past two years we have found ourselves in a battle for our democratic rights. One always assumes that the democratic process will protect you if you abide by it. To be told by a government agency that you and your families are to be sac- rificial lambs for your Governments plan in the national interest is simply intolerable.”

The residents admit scoring for each candidate is subjective, but in- sist it needs to be published. They hope the report card will influence the deicisions of voters on polling day.

The spokesperson continued, “The last two years have been very inform- ative for us, when this issue came to light the reaction of our elected rep- resentatives varied greatly. Some of them we never heard from and two years later still have not.

“Others have campaigned tirelessly at the highest level for two years and have publicly acknowledged that in- justice was happening, and others paid us lip service, had the obligato- ry letter sent from their constituency

office and at the same time more or less told us, tough, someone has to suffer, this is good for the economy. “It was very apparent to us that there are three types of politician. The first one just wants to get elected and won’t come near us again for five years, the second type is the public representative who will genuinely try to represent their constituents to ensure that justice applies to all, and the third is the one who feels that they are our political master, and are there to govern us, not represent us. “Many people voting in this elec- tion will, over the term of the next government, find themselves in need of political assistance. We hope that this will act as a guide for them.”

THE Baha’ faith in Shannon is con- tinuing to grow and this was recog- nised in a major conference which NFR K See NO AYA Oo (O DOM BOoM COWIE

More than 50 participants visited Shannon for the conference, which was a reflection of the increasing popularity of this faith in the area.

A local assembly was initially set up in the town 15 years ago and the inter- est continues to grow. Its membership represents people of varying ages.

Membership of the group comes about through word of mouth, as ad- vertising is not allowed. One of the

main rules is that alcohol is not al- lowed to Baha’1 members. Members must also abide by a fast between the hours of sunrise and sunset, during 19 days in March.

Member of the group in Shannon, Patricia Fallon-Barry said the meet- ing point for Baha’1 members is in peoples’ homes, rather than a church. A group consists of at least nine mem- bers, over the age of 21.

‘We meet 1n each other’s homes and there is a feast every 19 days. We dis- cuss community and social aspects at the local assembly meetings. We have no clergy. Everybody is expected to do everything,” she said.

‘“Baha’l is a new religion, just 150 years old. It is centred around the be- lief that all of the religions are one, with one God,” she said.

Ms Fallon-Barry has been a mem- ber of the Baha’1 group for several years.

SoM orl BLA 0Oe powering and great for “‘self-develop- jneto ela

‘“Baha’l was founded by Bahaullah in Iran in 1844. He would claim to have fulfilment of all previous mes- sengers, she said.

Along with being involved with the Shannon group, she also helps to or- ganise childrens’ classes and study

circles in Ennis.

“We cannot advertise. It is through word of mouth. One of the basic prin- cipals is independent investigation of truth,” she said.

“IT became Baha’i when I was 18 and living in Athlone. It was a public meeting. I read a book and | haven’t looked back since. I can’t imagine be- ing without it,” she added.

‘Worldwide, more and more people are interested in this. It is one thing to become committed to your own religion. It is another to join another religion,’ she said.

“The study circles are a very good educational thing,’ she said.

RESIDENTS in Shannon are be- ing asked to get involved in a major clean-up of the town.

The local Tidy Towns committee has just put together a plan for the year and is optimistic that everybody will play a role in keeping the town Ore

Its members are particularly ap- pealing for people to take control of the litter problem, which has cost the town vital points in the national Tidy Towns competition in recent years.

Adjudication for the Tidy Towns competition will take place twice during the summer and hopes are high that Shannon will improve on last year’s success.

Chairperson of the Tidy Towns committee Tess Barry said every person in the town has an important role to play.

“We are asking the residents to clean their own areas. The residents associations are wonderful and they get behind the Tidy Towns. Every- body has a role to play,” she said.

‘However, we have a big litter problem. We are trying to address it at the moment. We are very wor- ried about the cans and bottles being thrown around the park areas. Peo- ple are littering indiscriminately. It is quite bad. If people would just put them into bags and pick them up, we would be delighted with that,” she Cr HTOR

She said that the committee is de-

lighted to hear that additional money has been made available for the up- keep of footpaths, along with the provision of lighting in the town, this year.

The imminent opening of the re- cycling plant – in Smithstown – this summer is also being welcomed.

“The residents are eagerly await- ing this. Hopefully we will have the sculpture at the town centre rounda- bout shortly. It will compliment the area,’ said Ms Barry.

Shannon Town Council has in- creased the resources for cleaning the town. Under a FAS scheme, a cleaner was available for 15 hours last year and this has been doubled to 30 hours this year.

“She is doing a wonderful job,”

said Ms Barry.

Staff at McDonald’s restaurant also helped out with a clean-up last Neto) ©

Owner of McDonald’s, Kieran Mc- Dermott said he takes every opportu- nity to support the local community.

‘When we were approached by the Tidy Towns committee for support, we were delighted to assist and came up with a novel approach of provid- ing staff and expertise, rather than money. We paid our staff members to assist in the weeding and prepara- tion of flower beds around Shannon. The feedback from the Tidy Towns committee has been so positive that we have decided to expand the initia- tive for 2008 and also to make this an annual event,” said Mr McDermott.

THE artistic imagination of 11 young children in Shannon has been recognised by the local Duchas na Sionna branch.

The group organised an art com- petition for primary schools, in con- junction with Seachtain na Gaeilge. 11 of the entrants were lucky to be chosen as the winners and were pre- sented with €20 book tokens, at a function at the Sean Lemass library in Shannon last week.

The theme of the competition was ‘logainmneacha’, (placenames) and the children were given the oppor-

tunity to describe their view of this topic, in art-form.

Greg Duff, who is involved with Duchas na Sionna, said the subject was particularly suitable in Shan- LO) eF

“Shannon would be unique, with the placenames. All of the new pla- cenames are up around Shannon, as Gaeilge. There would be a link to some history going back and we are trying to get the children to go back in history,” said Mr Duff.

Another member of Duchas na Sionna, Labhras O Donnghaile said the Irish language was the main idea behind the decision to run the

competition.

“It was all to do with the language and seanfhocail. The standard was excellent,” said Mr O Donnghaile.

Four schools were represented among the winners. St Tola’s win- ners were Rystis Chihunovas and Eric Mac Mathuna. The Gaelscoil’s winners were Hannah Nic Taidhg and Michelle Nic Amhlai. Ben- jamin O Maolchaithaigh and Lisa Ni Ailpin represented St Senan’s. St Conaire’s had five winners. They were Iskra Marvoka, Prionsias O Maol Dhomhnaigh, Frederika Ve- salenakova, Janella Leedasico and Aichah Ahmed.

Duchas na Sionna was set up a year and a half ago. It is a commu- nity-based local heritage commit- tee, made up of representatives of eroups such as The Shannon Ar- chaeological and Historical Soci- ety, Birdwatch Ireland, The County Clare Biodiversity Group and Club na Sionna, among others.

Since its establishment, members of Duchas na Sionna have carried out a major survey of archaeolog!- cal and historical sites in the area of Shannon town and its environs. This project is continuing and will take some time to bring to full frui- tion.

A FOCAL point for the village of Newmarket-on-Fergus has been erected, in the shape of a piece of sculpture.

Sculptor Michael McTigue was commissioned to assemble a piece of black granite, featuring a statue of a woman – Caitlin of the Weir, who lived in the area in the past – sitting on a wall.

The seven-sided piece, which cost €18,000, represents the seven par- ishes in Newmarket-on-Fergus, with a fountain in the middle. The entire cost of the project is €34,000. It has been made with the name Cora Caitlin, the Irish for Newmarket-on- Fergus, in mind.

Part of the piece of art has been put

in place and the remainder will be in situ by the end of the month. Stand- ing over seven feet tall, it 1s located in the carpark in front of the church.

‘This has been in the pipeline for the best part of a year. When com- pleted, it will feature a fountain and lighting,” said Mr McTigue.

The seven parishes represented in the piece are Kilnasoolagh, Clon- loghan, Bunratty, Fenloe, Kilconry, Drumline and Kilmaleery.

The project was funded by Obair in Newmarket-on-Fergus. Buddy Mc- Mahon, who was involved in the or- ganisation of the project, is delighted with its success.

“The aim was to get a focal point for Newmarket-on-Fergus and to give a little bit of history to the local people. It should be looking good for

the tidy towns,” he said.

Local resident John O’Brien has researched each of the seven areas represented in the sculpture. He has written a short piece of history on each one and his inscriptions will be cut into stone.

‘The most important of the ancient parishes would be Bunratty. There was a medieval town there in 1200 or 1300, run by the Normans. The Nor- mans introduced a lot of reform and organised the church into a parish system. Bunratty would have been one of the first parishes formed,’ said Mr O’Brien.

He said that Fenloe (Tuaim Fionnloch) would be another of the more important parishes, histori- cally.

‘“Fenloe originated in a monastic

site. Reputedly, it was a big school or college in the 700s/800s. Most of the ruins of Fenloe church collapsed about three months ago,” he said.

He said the exact history of Caitlin is unknown, but various theories have been mentioned locally.

“It is believed she lived in the vi- cinity of a crossing place where two streams flowed through the village, but we don’t know. That is folk his- tory, which has been passed down orally. Common folklore would have placed her in the early Christian times,” added Mr O’Brien.

INCREASING fears for the safety of mothers and unborn children in Clare have prompted the establishment of a new group to campaign for the crea- tion of a standalone maternity facility in Clare.

Birth Choice Clare have already collected some 4,000 signatures sup- porting their plans to create a mid- wife-led, community-based, women- orientated new facility in Ennis.

The proposed facility is a reac- tion to the growing number of births

which take place at the side of the road because Clare mothers cannot reach hospitals in Limerick and Gal- NAB UID OS lon

“We cannot get proper statistics for side-of-the-road births, they are all documented as giving birth at their destination hospital, but we do know that they are happening in Clare,” said Lesley-Anne Hill of Birth Choice Clare. ““We have heard an- ecdotal stories of babies being born by the road in Bunratty. It is a major problem, especially for people in the west and north of the county.”

The proposed facility would not employ any doctors, with midwives overseeing all deliveries and compli- cated pregnancies being referred to an obstetrician. It would also contain staff to assist with home births and domino scheme pregnancies.

“Between 80 and 90 per cent of women have perfectly normal healthy pregnancies. The World Health Or- ganisation has said that midwives are the best and most qualified people to deal with normal pregnancies,” con- tinued Ms Hill.

“This is about the effective use of

resources. If a woman is likely to have a problem pregnancy, they can be referred to an obstetrician.

“Our next step is to produce a more detailed submission where we will outline issues such as cost, location and size. It may or may not be on the site of Ennis General Hospital.”

A survey conducted last year found that babies born in Munster had an increased chance of being born on the way to hospital with Clare and Cork singled out as the worst counties.

“You get a lot of babies born at the side of the road in Clare,” said Krysia

Lynch of the Homebirth Association of Ireland. “It can be a very dangerous situation for both mother and baby. They don’t have any scissors to cut cord and no rope to tie it up with.

“It can cause a situation when fa- thers end up speeding to get to the hospital. They’re breaking the speed limits and their wife is beside them, usually not able to wear a seat belt.

“I have heard of situations where women are literally crossing their legs, sitting on the baby trying to keep them from coming before they get to the hospital.”

VANDALS have made repeated at- tacks on an east Clare facility, leav- ing householders without a sewerage treatment plant for their homes.

Council staff have been working overtime to try to put right damage which has been caused on a number of occasions recently to the treatment plant at Shannon Banks.

The vandals broke into the enclo- sure around the sewerage treatment plant to damage the plant.

As the enclosure is also used as a storage space for the county council’s maintenance equipment, the local authority is now having to consider

removing the equipment and storing it further away.

Local councillor, Cathal Crowe says he has gone to the Gardai to dis- cuss what can be done about the van- dalism and problems with anti-social behaviour in general.

“The Shannon Banks housing estate is being vandalised on an ongoing basis. I regularly receive complaints from people in the area regarding the congregation of gangs and anti-social behaviour in the vi- cinity of the scout hall and river side walk,” he said.

The councillor added that it has “now emerged that vandals have en- tered the sewage treatment facility

on several occasions and caused un- told damage. In recent weeks coun- cil workers have had to spend several evenings repairing this damage.” The councillor explained that Clare County Council regularly use the fenced-in compound yard that sur- rounds the treatment plant for stor- ing equipment and machinery. “If the vandalism continues the council may be forced to have to relocate this equipment. This would be a very un- fortunate outcome as it is vital for a store of machinery and equipment to be at hand for general maintenance work in the local community.” Gardai say they are investigating the incidents of vandalism and are

monitoring and investigating any re- ports of anti-social behaviour on an on-going basis.

“IT have met and spoken with the local community guard regarding my concerns. Shannon Banks has always been a quiet, residential es- tate. It is however, vital that urgent attention is given to the tackling of anti-social behaviour in the area,’ OO voy (ons bter

He added that he will be staying in touch with the Gardai, local residents and council officials to see what can be done to try to resolve the issues before any further damage is done to the vital facilities.

MAKING beautiful music in Scariff means that pigs will fly – and all ina very good cause.

The youngsters involved in the Scar- iff Music World showed what they could do at a benefit gig in the Cob- blers Rest on Saturday evening.

More than 17 young musicians aged between seven and 12 years played their hearts out in a sponsored seisun which raised money to send a breed- ing sow to a family in need through the Bothar scheme.

The talented young musicians played ten tunes apiece and got each sponsor to pay them €1 per tune learned and

played on the night.

They came together to play and raise funds after learning how to play their instruments at the Music World school, which is an after-schools project run out of the Scariff Community Col- lege.

The music classes were started by the Community College’s head of music, John O’Brien, several years ago.

The classes are for adults and chil- dren alike and lessons are for every level of capability.

Part of the fees for the classes go back to the school to buy musical in- struments for the pupils.

Over the years, students have come to learn everything from guitar to pi-

ano, flute and fiddle.

Numbers vary but the weekly classes are Open to anyone who wants to join although the pupils come mostly from the east Clare area for practical rea- sons.

Which instruments are taught in any year depends on what teachers are available.

Nicki Griffin, who teaches flute and whistle at the school and who helped organise the night said the fundraiser was a way of getting young musicians together to play outside of lessons and jo eee Neer

“This lets them see that there is an end involved, a reason to play beyond the practice and the lessons. It’s play-

ing together in way they have never ex- perienced before and for a cause which will have great benefit,” said Nicki.

Once the young musicians finished their session on Saturday, Nicki and a band of older session players took the floor and did their turn.

“We were sponsored to play 50 tunes at 20 cent a tune. That was only fair because we started knowing more tunes,’ she said.

The cost of sending a breeding sow is €250 and Nicki said that the group had hoped to raise that much rather than aiming too high.

“Now I think we night have raised even more than that and that would be fantastic.”

IT’S A long way from Bodyke to Bu- rundi but a development charity which has been set up to link the two 1s bridg- ing that distance.

The idea for the charity came from Leocadie Murray who is a native of the village of Karambi in Burundi and who is married in Bodyke, County OE

During four visits to Karambi be- tween July 2005 and Oct 2006 Leo- cadie tried to get a better understand- ing of the main problems affecting the village through a series of meetings and competitions.

As a result of this, meetings were held in Bodyke earlier this year with

the aim of forming a charity to help with the development of the village and A2B (Aid to Burundi) was formed.

The charity now has a committee and constitution and has applied for DU KeoMIE-IRUISD

A2B is planning fundraising activi- ties starting this month.

As well as fundraisers, A 2B is plan- ning to go into the schools to give talks and organise events which will “lead to a greater level of awareness among the community in relation to the char- ity and to third world development in general”, a spokesman for the charity eIOb

“In Burundi A2B are funding a de- velopment worker, Raziki Gaspard, to act as an extension worker with the

villagers and as a liason between A2B and the various village committees. The needs and ideas of the population which he will develop will form the basis of the micro-projects which will be set up in the village,” the spokes- pPOLDOMNT-0(6 B

Special attention will be given to projects’ sustainability and to the vil- lagers contribution to them. They will either be financed by A2B or co-fi- nanced with other aid organisations in Ireland.

The supervision of these projects will be carried out by Raziki Gaspard with regular interventions by Leocadie Zlob wee hyA

During the course of his work a more detailed study of the major problems

in the village was carried out by the project worker. The findings have identified eight priority areas where the needs of the village are greatest, the first being the need for clean drink- TPAToMA Weed

It is hoped that further research can be done on this project by June for an application for funding from the Development Council of Ireland. It’s hoped work on the project should be- gin later on in the year.

As part of the fundraising drive, a coffee evening will be held in Has- sett’s bar, Tuamgraney after 6.30pm mass on Saturday, May 19 and a coffee morning will be held in the lounge of the Cobblers Rest, Bodyke after Mass on Sunday, May 20.

PUPILS and staff at Scariff Com- munity College are preparing to take on a brave new world, with the start- up of a subject that will see students abandon copy books for lap-tops.

The school is preparing to intro- duce the latest subject to be added to the Leaving Certificate programme, Design and Communication Graph- ee

The new subject will come on- stream next September and _ the school is currently in the process of acquiring the necessary lap-tops and

preparing course materials.

“Tt’s an exciting challenge and we’re looking forward to it,’ said Deputy Principal, John O’Donovan.

The new subject is not the only new start at the east Clare community college.

Last week, students, teachers and parents representatives gathered for a rededication ceremony after the school building got a €2.5 million re-vamp.

When it was discovered last year that there was asbestos in the roof, it was decided to replace it.

The Office of Public Works stepped

in to do the work and this gave the school an opportunity for a complete overhaul, including new flooring and decor.

And now they have also been given a Department of Education grant to re-equip rooms for practical subjects such as engineering and woodwork.

“We’re very pleased that the OPW paid for the work on the roof. The school could never have afforded it and now everything has been done to the highest standards of safety and design,’ Mr O’Donovan said.

At the rededication ceremony, school chaplain, Fr Brendan Quinl-

livan lead the prayers. School prin- cipal, Sean Daly acted as mc and traditional music was performed by Students from the school, with solo singing from student Edel O’Grady.

Local politicians attended the cer- emony as guests along with students, teachers and members of the Board of Management and the Parents Council.