The Clare People Archive

MANAGERS at all levels of experi- ence have been invited to hone their skills in Ballyvaughan next month by taking part in a leaders for busi- ness programme.

The programme, which has been developed by the Burren Leadership Forum, will take place in the Burren Coast Hotel in Ballyvaughan from November 25 to 28.

“We are bringing together a group of 15 managers from various dif- ferent levels to take part in the pro- eramme. The premise of the ap- proach is that, in order to be able to lead others, we have to be first able to lead ourselves,” said Barry Walsh,

leadership coach and organiser of the Leadership for Managers Pro- eramme.

“We will look at ourselves as indi- viduals and establish what kind of leaders we want to be. So each in- dividual will then develop a specific plan for becoming the leader that he or she wants to be.”

The organisers have developed a programme of modules over the last number of months which they believe is unique to the industry of developing managers.

“One good example of this is a module on leadership through crea- tive thinking, which we hope will be a great success. Another is ‘Leader- ship Through Finding Your Own

Voice’ where we will be working with a vocal coach and a psycho- therapist on body posture and find- ing your authentic voice. The core programme is to develop a strategic personal plan and finding one’s own leadership goal.”

The programme uses methods such as reflective enquiry, detached ob- server and Enneagram personality profiling, which organisers claim are unique to developing an authentic leadership style.

The programme is different from others as it helps participants to work from the inside out as opposed to tra- ditional approaches that encourage information download from the out- side in. This is very much the core

of the Burren Leadership Forum phi- losophy.

Those leading the modules include Barry Walsh, leadership coach, Mar- tin Hawkes, entrepreneur and per- sonal development specialist, Mary Hawkes Green, founder of the Bur- ren College of Art, Professor Timo- thy Emlyn Jones, artist and dean of the Burren College of Art, Mar- tin Myler, psychotherapist, Archie Simpson, vocal coach and Padraig Cleary, management consultant.

THE countdown is on for the sixth annual Burren Sponsored Walk, which takes place in Fanore on Sun- day, January 6, 2008. Proceeds from the annual walk, which begins and ends in O’Donoghue’s Pub, go the Clare Branch of the Alzheimer’s As- sociation, who provide home care and home support for the families of Alzheimer’s sufferers in the Clare ussca (eye

‘We send in carers to help the fam- ily to deal with their loved one. It al- lows the family to get out to work, it allows them to get on with their own life without having to worry about

the person at home. A lot of people cannot afford to stay at home in this day and age,’ said Marissa Butler McCarthy of the Clare Alzheimer’s Association. We also have a daycare centre in Ennis. It’s small at the mo- ment but we would be hoping to ex- pand that in the future as well.

‘Alzheimer’s can be a great deal of work for the family of the sufferer. We provide support groups for fami- lies in Ennis, Kilrush and Ennisty- mon, where people come together and talk about what it is like to care for someone with dementia.

“It’s great for the families of peo- ple who have been newly diagnosed to come and talk to people who have

already been through it. They can get advice about entitlements and money as well, which is very useful.”

More than 980 people suffer from Alzheimer’s in Clare at present. The Alzheimer’s Society helps the fami- lies of sufferers by providing home care through a mixture of FAS- employed home helpers and others employed directly by the society.

“The walk is our main fundraiser. It brings a lot of money for us and it is a very enjoyable day as well. All the money raised from the walk goes towards subsidising the in-house car- ers,’ added Ms Butler McCarthy.

“It’s a great day, there is a great atmosphere and great craic. We have

music and food and a raffle with great prizes. The Radisson usually gives us a weekend away for our top prize. We get a group of people who come back each year.”

To get involved in the Annual Burren Walk or to learn more about Alzheimer’s, simple contact the Clare Branch of the Alzheimer’s society of Ireland on 065-6868621 or call into the office on the Clon Road Business Park in Ennis.

A COORACLARE student made history last week with a group of colleagues from the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.

Thomas (Tommy) Breen was part of the determined GMIT Archery Club that broke the Guinness World Record 28-hour indoor shoot.

Through the gruelling feat the stu- dents also raised more than €4,000 for the People in Need Trust.

Ten per cent of the money was raised in Tommy’s home parish of Cooraclare.

The charity shoot took place in the GMIT Sports Hall from 2.30pm on

Friday, October 19 to 9pm Saturday, October 20.

Bandaged elbow and plastered fin- gers Tommy was one of the six to continue shooting to the bitter end.

The 21-year-old is the son of Tho- mas and Imy Breen and has a brother and sister.

He 1s a past pupil of Cooraclare Na- tional School and St Michael’s Sec- ondary School Kilmihil,

It was when he went to GMIT three years ago that Tommy found his sporting niche in archery.

Since then the architectural tech- nology student has won numerous awards in the sport.

Based in the Mayo campus, Tom-

my was one of 20 students including stewards that took part in the GMIT charity shoot, with many travelling from UL, DIT and DCU to support and take part in the event.

Eleven shooters took on the 28- hour challenge and six, including the Cooraclare man completed the task.

The €4,000 raised by the students was handed over to a representative of the People in Need Trust later that week. The proceeds will be distrib- uted to a number of charitable organ- isations throughout the county.

Thomas Barrett, Captain, GMIT Archery Club, who initiated the charity shoot, said it was a thorough- ly enjoyable experience.

“Thank you to everyone who sup- ported us, to the many sponsors, GMIT staff and students, and mem- bers of the media who helped publi- cise the event.”

GMIT Archery Club was estab- lished in the early 1980s by Hotel and Catering lecturer Robert Dagger and was the first college to start the Intervarsity competition in this sport. The club currently has over 30 arch- ers and up to one hundred members, with branches in the Dublin Road and Castlebar campuses.

KILRUSH Town Council and Clare County Council have launched a Fire Safety Initiative aimed at mak- ing householders more aware of fire safety routines and potential fire hazards.

The ‘Fire Safety In The Home’ initiative is being rolled out on a pilot basis and will initially involve 45 households in a number of areas throughout the town from November a.

Mayor of Kilrush, Councillor Tom- my Clyne said, “The initiative is part of ongoing efforts by Clare Local Authorities to improve the overall fire safety in the home. Sadly, the number of incidences of fire in Clare

remains unacceptably high, which 1s why I would encourage householders to use their own initiative to learn and do more about fire prevention in the home.”

The launch of the new scheme co- incides with the release of new fig- ures indicating a slight drop in the number of incidences attended by the County Fire and Rescue Service in Kilrush in 2006.

Approximately 126 emergency calls were made from Kilrush to the Fire and Rescue Service last year, representing a 5.5 per cent decrease on figures for 2005.

A total of 126 emergency calls were made to Kilrush Fire Station in paul eTes

There were 80 calls to Kilkee in

2006 up 43 per cent on the previous year.

According to Adrian Kelly, Chief Fire Officer, County Fire and Rescue Service, “Fire statistics from recent years reveal a continued high rate of chimney and domestic fires. The key to reducing such incidences 1s to 1n- creased fire safety awareness among householders.

“IT welcome the launch of this new initiative, as it will assist the public in preventing incidences of fire in deCoy bum ele) 08 (ona

The new programme follows on from a similar initiative in Ennis, which focused on approximately 70 houses in the McHugh Villas and Turnpike areas of the town. Where necessary, smoke detectors were

also provided by the County Fire and Rescue Service.

“The objective of this initiative is to reduce the incidence of chimney fires in Kilrush during the winter pe- riod, which is a peak time of year for chimney fires,” said Fiona Mooney, Kilrush Town Clerk.

“This initiative will result in greater awareness of fire hazards in the home with a reduction in the risk of injury/loss of life and should minimise property damage from fire related incidents. This initiative will have a positive impact on use of re- sources of the Fire and Rescue Serv- ice in Kilrush Town and should lead to further enhancement of quality of life for local residents,’ Ms Mooney AYOe(exen

A DEVELOPER in east Clare has been given to go ahead for conten- tious plans to build 27 homes in Tua- mgraney — only after An Bord Plean- ala disregarded the recommendation of its inspector to refuse permission for the development.

Earlier this year, Conor Daly se-

cured planning permission for the housing development in the east of the village. Mr Daly secured permission for the development in spite of strong local opposition. with local residents stat- ing that “it is not too late to learn from the mistakes made in other villages and towns that now have de- velopment but inadequate water and sewerage facilities, increased traffic hazards and a ‘commuter’ popula- nto) ae

However, local residents appealed

the decision and outlined their con- cerns in relation to a lack of public facilities and highlighted the serious lack of water pressure and supply, the traffic generation from the pro- posed development an implications for safety and the contemporary and suburban nature of proposed houses.

They stated that, “The present situation with regard to waste water treatment and public water facili- ties in the Tuamgraney-Scariff area is unsatisfactory and no further de- velopment should be permitted until iW slontomrsDUoMUN Osea eALOloLem

“Public water supplies are grossly inadequate serving existing develop- seTS ale

“We are aware that there are plans to upgrade the sewage system in late 2007, but are unaware of any plans to upgrade the existing water sup- ply that is already seriously deficient — we may be another seven or eight

years waiting for this.

An Taisce also pointed out that the development would be premature pending water and wastewater sys- tems installation.

The site is zoned for housing, how- ever, the inspector in the case recom- mended that planning be refused.

The inspector stated, ““Whilst ac- knowledging the land use zoning of the proposed site, I do not consider that its development should take place in the absence of a detailed master plan which should include the land to the east and address the crucial issue of traffic safety in the overall context.

“IT am not satisfied based on the information submitted that the traf- fic and safety implications of the proposed development are properly addressed. Arising from my assess- ment above therefore I recommend that planning permission be refused

for the proposed development for one reason.

However, the appeals board ruled that planning permission for the de- velopment should be granted, stating that further submissions made on ap- peal dealt with the concerns of the inspector.

The board ruled that having regard to the residential zoning of the site and the submissions made in regard to the appeal, it 1s considered that, subject to compliance with the con- ditions set out below, the proposed development would not seriously in- jure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not be prejudicial to public health and would be acceptable in terms of traf- fic safety and convenience.

The proposed development would, therefore, be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable de- velopment of the area.

YOUNG music fans from east Clare last week had a day they will never forget, courtesy of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Glor and Scar- iff Community School.

On Wednesday, 500 youngsters from surrounding national schools were treated to three, hour-long ses- sions on classical music by the or- chestra.

Now that Scariff is offering mu- sic aS a subject right up to Leaving Certificate stage, their own music students were able to benefit enor- mously from the visit.

“It was definitely one of the best thing ever to happen at the school,” said Principal, Sean Daly.

‘The conductor, James Kavanagh, had a great rapport with the young- sters and he really got the best out of them. They loved it and the staff were just blown away by it.”

Roughly half the orchestra turned up for the three sessions in the school hall.

The sessions were part of a larger visit organised by Clare County Council Arts Office and Glor.

The National Symphony Orchestra took up residence in County Clare last week and their programme en-

compassed workshops for primary school students, concerts for second- ary school students and public con- certs in Kilkee and Ennis with mas- ter piper Liam O’F lynn.

An estimated six thousand people heard the musicians of the orchestra perform in the course of the week.

To prepare the ground conductor James Cavanagh ran a training ses- sion for teachers in Glor in Septem- oe

Members of the orchestra also con- tributed their own informal voluntary element to the residency week with outreach activities including per- formances in local nursing homes.

Principal Daly said that staff and students at the Scariff school were “delighted that they choose to come here. It was great for the area and great for the school as well”.

PM CUESS deem pede mete) eco s colonel oy the RTE NSO, with enthusiastic re- sponses in past years from schools and public audiences alike in Kerry, Donegal, Cork, Mayo, Galway and Laois.

ANNE Marie Bourke (nee Collins), Limerick and formerly of Kevin Pa- rade, Killaloe held a most interest- ing and colourful exhibition at the Abbey Court Hotel during the bank holiday weekend.

Anne Marie, who comes from a most artistic and musical Killaloe family, is daughter of Danny and Maureen (nee Ryan) and a niece of the late Killaloe tenor, Sean Ryan.

As a young child, Anne Marie was always seen with her drawing pad

and pencils and frequently sat on the Canal Bank wall sketching the many interesting sights, buildings, hills etc around her. It is not surprising that the inspiration for many of her paint- ings comes from her native Killa- loe. She vividly recalls her very first painting, – a little boy seated under a tree cuddling his dog, which was completed at the tender age of twelve years.

Anne Marie is a Self-taught artist who works in watercolour, oil and pastel and indeed she sometimes combines other media to create

mixed media works.

“T always let the subject I am paint- ing dictate the medium I use and the result never fails to be visually stim- ulating,’ she explains.

Flowers are among her favourite subjects but she also paints splendid landscapes, lakeside scenes, sea- scapes, nostalgic buildings/scenes and still life.

In the summer, Anne Marie trav- elled to Venice and Provence where she tutored students from all over Eu- rope. She also painted for the Les-tr- ois-puits Gallery in Provence where

her work is currently on display.

In spite of her extremely busy schedule, she finds time to pass her knowledge and expertise on to other aspiring artists through the work- shops she conducts around Munster. Through these events she passes on liberating techniques to help stu- dents become free in their work and develop their own individual style.

Anne Marie is a director of Gallery 75, a professional associate of SAA London and a member of Limerick Art Society where she was chairper- son from 1999 to 2001.

GARDENING the way our grand- parents might have done it is making a comeback.

A community garden in east Clare is providing inspiration for many local people who had never turned their hand to growing their own fruit and vegetables before.

Brendan Sanders is part of the esroup which set up the community garden two years ago and now that it has been so successful, he hopes to see a project on a larger scale get off the ground with a community allot- ment of a few acres.

The garden became possible thanks to the generosity of a local woman, Mary Henchy, who owned one eight of an acre of land behind Brian and Joe’s Café in Scarif.

She wanted to see some use made

of it rather than simply keeping the grass and weeds under control and she offered it to the intrepid garden- ing group.

‘Four people got together initially to set up the garden project,’ said Brendan. “It’s a place where people can come and work in the garden or learn about growing plants and veg- etables or just come and sit.”

Local people drop in from time to time to get advice on growing or to see what is being done in the garden and some come to help.

It is also used by clients of the Brother’s of Charity.

The gardeners also cultivate me- dicinal and culinary herbs and trees, making it a woodland garden.

One day a week, it’s the setting for a sculpture workshop.

“We had two local girls in their twenties drop in last week. They

were very interested in learning how to grow their own food and they’ve agreed to come and work with us. We also get older people coming in and they tell us how there was always a bit of land on their parent’s farms where vegetables and fruit were grown for the house,” said Brendan.

Parents often call at weekends with their children to show them around and school groups come in from time to time.

The Alpha Project, an alternative second-level education project, has a module on gardening on it’s curricu- lum and the youngsters involved do the module in the garden.

“It’s a way of bringing different sections of the community together, doing something which 1s sustain- able and productive,” said Brendan.

Recently, a community composting facility has been started in the gar-

den with funding from Agenda 21 for a compost bin and two wormer- ies. Nearby households were given plastic composting buckets and they bring their compostable waste which will be put to use as garden fertiliser once it has been broken down.

“We’re hoping in the future that this idea will expand and that we will be able to get a larger piece of land for people to work as a community allot- ment, where crops could be grown on a small scale and more people would get involved,’ said Brendan.

NEIGHBOURS of Brian Fitzgerald have told the trial how they woke up of the night of his death to hear gun- shots.

One woman, Monica McElvanney, said she was awakened at 3.37 am to hear someone shouting out “Oh God ona

Almost immediately she heard two or three shots. There was a gap of around 30 seconds before another two or three shots sounded. She said

she stayed in bed terrified.

Another witness, Mary Mannix, said she woke up just after 3.30am hearing four or six shots. She heard a man crying or shouting out “help me, I’m being shot at.”

Patrick Healy said he had been leav- ing a friend’s house on the street. At around lam, he saw a “filthy dirty” red Ford Mondeo driving slowly down the road.

He could see the driver who he described as a “stocky, bald man”. He became suspicious when the car

made an awkward three-point turn, but when he went towards the car to get a better look it sped away.

Another neighbour, Paul O’ Byrne, said he was awakened by the sound of shots, at around 3.45am. He got up to phone the gardai and saw a man walking past the window wearing a white motorcycle helmet with the visor down over his face. He heard someone shouting “hurry up” but wasn’t sure if it was the man he had ore tb

Elaine Murphy was also awak-

ened by the sound of gun shots. She looked out of the window and saw a man wearing a light coloured helmet and dark clothes walking away from the Fitzgerald’s house.

A few minutes later she saw some- one sprinting out of the estate “out of the corner of my eye” and a second man walking out of the estate. She noted again he was wearing a light coloured helmet and dark clothes. She said she thought at first this man was injured but now wasn’t sure. He was holding a gun.

The trial heard that gardai recov- ered a 9mm semi-automatic pistol from the bed of the Mulcair River in Anacotty.

Detective Garda John Higgins said the weapon was a Czech made weapon which had been reactivated for normal use.

He told the court he had examined the victim’s jeep, finding a canister of CS gas, a steel baton and a throw- ing knife in a leather sheath. He said he had found no sign of a handgun in the jeep.

THE first ever Ennis Style and Glam- our Awards took place on Thursday last at the Old Ground Hotel. It was the highlight event of Ennis Fashion Week, an event organised to height- en the awareness of Ennis as the bou- tique capital of Ireland. Lisa Fitzpatrick, celebrity stylist, brought a touch of glamour to the night, together with her fellow judg- es, PJ Gibbons and Edward Alex Fit- zgerald.

Lisa was impressed, “For a first time event I was absolutely bowled over by the effortless glamour at En-

nis Fashion Week and by the sheer professionalism of all involved.”

The pinnacle of the evening was the awards ceremony where judges had a very difficult task choosing a BUONO e

Bernie Garry, from Cooraclare was named the Most Stylish Person at Ennis Fashion Week. A mother of one and a nurse by profession, Bernie wore a black and white halterneck dress and a fur stole.

Ennis Fashion Week Most Glamor- ous Person 2007 is Marie Slattery from Ballymaley, who is head of sales and marketing with Shannon Heritage. She has always worked in

tourism and previously worked with Delta Airlines.

The Ennis Fashion Week Design Student Style Award 2007 went to Siobhan O’Callaghan for her crea- tion, Urban Warrior.

Her design was inspired by the ar- chitecture of Ennis and also Quin Abbey, creating a look that com- municated the unique and complex landmark that spans and typifies Tem Nioay

The dramatic fabric mix worked into the dress represents medieval architecture and all its intricacies.

Siobhan is currently studying in The Limerick College of Art and

Design.

The Ennis Fashion Week Up-Style Hair Award went to Creative Edge for the best interpretation in relation to the student design titled Blathan- na. The hairstyle had autumnal flow- ers interwoven into the hair. A col- laboration by Caroline, Marie and Fiona at Creative Edge.

The Ennis Fashion Week Make- Up Award went to Aveda CSpa and Medi CSpa for their interpretation of Student Design titled Urban Warrior It was truly an artistic creation and had the absolute wow factor created by Claire Connellan at Aveda CSpa and Medi CSpa.