Month: August 2007

THE people of Wisconsin will be dancing to the sounds and rhythms of Gort, this winter as the Changing Colours CD has been included in an elite group of Irish music productions which will be added to the Milwau- kee Library of Music.

The CD, which features musicians and vocalists from all of Gort’s eth- nic groups, was produced by Coole Records to mark Gort’s first multi- cultural music festival, which took place in May.

The Changing Colours Festival, which was organised by the Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment (GRACE), proved a great success and is now likely to

become an annual event.

“We want to showcase quality products and the Changing Colours CD is really stunning,’ said Marilyn Goughan, Galway County Council’s Art Officer.

“The production quality on the CD is fantastic and it really manages to encompass the cultural diversity that has become such a great part of Gort and Galway as whole.

“We have collected CDs and bro- chures from festivals all over the county and will be giving them to people who are attending the Mil- waukee Irish Fest. A number of cop- ies of the Changing Colours CD will also be left in the Music Archive in Milwaukee,” added Marilyn.

‘People from a number of Ameri-

can festivals will be in attendance and the hope is that we will be able to attract people to our festivals and also to forge links between festivals on both sides of the Atlantic,’ she SrHLGe

Coole Records was set up by GRACE founder Niamh Clune, as a community music label which aims at drawing together the best of lo- OF NEE: NCoelemr-bee mm oynO da leubercammelcssemaualaemee| platform for success.

The label is backed by a wealth of musical experience and talent in- cluding locals Tim Howarth, Hayato, Aleisha Shimizu and Niamh Clune herself.

Tim has been writing and record- ing music professionally for over 10 years and also does sound recording

for the BBC in the UK. Hayato has featured in bands at festivals around the UK and has a wealth of recording experience in bass, double bass, flute and guitar.

Aleisha is a contemporary vocal- ist, song-writer, producer and vo- cal teacher. She also holds a ‘Music with Visual and Performance Art’ honours degree from University of Brighton.

Niamh enjoyed a successful musical career in London in the *70s working with a range of successful producers including Mutt Lange (Shania Twain and AC/DC), Tony Clarke (Moody Blues) and Todd Rundgren (Tom Robinson).

The Changing Colours CD can be found on www.coolerecords.com

SWIMMERS braved the cold waters of Liscannor Bay to take part in the Lahinch/Liscannor swim to raise much needed money for the Burren Chernobyl Project on Sunday. Lahinchman, Pat Conway, leads the annual swim each year. “It’s a huge help to the Burren Chernobyl] Project and we are so grateful to Pat and to everyone who took part. The money will be used to help the children and adults in Belarus whose lives have been affected by the Chernobyl dis- aster,’ said Mary Cosgrove of the

Burren Chernobyl Project.

“We try to focus on on-going sus- tainable projects. Two of the orphan- ages we have been dealing with for years are the children’s facilities in Cherven and Goradiche. We also do a lot of work in Tarasaki and Kyl which are adult institutions for peo- ple of 18 years and up.”

The vast majority of work un- dertaken by the Burren Chernobyl Project involves helping to ease the suffering of people living in vast and under-resourced government institu- tions.

Many of these people are suffer-

ing both mentally and physically as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In recent times however, the Burren Chernobyl Project has been exploring ways in which day- care can be provided for the affected people, allowing them to live in their own home and travel to centres dur- ing the day.

“In Minsk we now have a drop-in day centre, which has received fund- ing from the Government as well as Roche Ireland, Clarecastle. As well as the funding, staff from Roche have gone out there and helped with building work in Minsk,” continued

Mary.

She added, “A lot of the workers who went over have stayed involved with the project.”

The Burren Chernobyl Project is based in Ennistymon and was estab- lished more than 20 years ago to help those affected by the Chernobyl Nu- OTTO N TN Kolm

If you wish to donate money or offer some support, contact the Burren Chernobyl Project at the Old Monastery Building in En- nistymon on 065 7071130, email office@burrenchernobyl.ie or check out www.burrenchernobyl.ie

AER LINGUS’S decision to end its Shannon-London Heathrow serv- ice will mean added trauma for be- reaved families living 1n the west of Ireland.

That is the view of parish priest of Shannon, Fr Tom Ryan, who yester- day said that the ending of the serv- ice will result in the ending of the repatriation of Irish bodies from Eu- rope and the UK through Shannon.

Three years ago, Aer Lingus an- nounced that it was to end the repa- triation of bodies on its short haul flights to the three Irish state air- ports but quickly rescinded its deci- sion following a public outcry.

Now, arising from the Aer Lingus decision to end its Shannon-Lon- don Heathrow service from Janu- ary next, bereaved families will no longer be able to receive repatriated bodies of loved ones in a service that Aer Lingus has provided at Shannon for decades.

With no other airline providing the service at Shannon airport, families will now be forced to travel to Dub- lin and Cork airports to receive the

bodies.

a LO Er Cee EDOM mee ieee! over the pastoral dimension to the Aer Lingus decision and it under- lines the ripple effect of the decision for everyone in the region.

“The dead don’t have a voice and this decision to end the Heathrow service will only add to the distress of families at a very vulnerable time where they will have to embark on long journeys to retrieve the bod- oad

Fr Ryan said that it 1s a “very fre- quent occurrence” for him to go to the mortuary in Shannon and be in- volved in the repatriation of bodies. He said, “It takes place a couple of times a week, sometimes more.”

Fr Ryan added, “Aer Lingus has been very good over the years of providing the service and I would hope that the decision to end the Heathrow service would be reversed and rather than Shannon losing all its Heathrow lots that the burden would be shared between Shannon, Dublin and Cork.”

Spokesman for the Irish Associa- tion of Funeral Directors ([AFD), Gus Nichols, confirmed last night

that the IAFD will be writing to Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion to express concern over the Aer Lingus move.

He said, “The move represents an- other reduction in services and will have an unavoidable impact on be- reaved families.”

Limerick-based funeral director, Gerry Griffin, said that the Aer Lin- gus will add to the costs of families seeking to have bodies repatriated. He added, “The service at Shannon is used greatly as Heathrow was the hub for all over the world for bodies being repatriated.”

He added, “The emotional impact will be huge for families worried about not being able to bring their loved ones home through Shannon and will only add to the trauma. That services are disappearing through so-called progress sounds strange.”

SOUTH-EAST Clare is to get a new state-of-the-art health centre.

It will be located at Westbury and is scheduled to open next summer.

The Health Service Executive has confirmed that the new centre will provide a wide range of services for infants to older people in the provi- sion of primary community and con- tinuing care services.

The new development at Riverdale, Westbury will provide public health nursing, community welfare serv- ices, child health clinics and dental oss Goh

Therapy rooms will be available for treatments such as speech and language therapy and occupational and physiotherapy services.

Locals have been campaigning for such a centre for several years as services had to be provided in the Presbytery attached to St Nicholas Parish church. There were delays in going ahead with the development with problems regarding its location and funding.

Local Labour cllr Pascal Fitzger- ald who lives in Westbury said its great to see this project now coming on stream and “we are now seeing interest being shown by the HSE”.

Killaloe cllr Tony O’Brien said it is a very welcome development for the people of south-east Clare and he looked forward to its completion.

‘There were hold-ups and difficul- ties along the way, but now that its going ahead its better late than nev- er,’ he said.

This part of Clare has seen spec- tacular population growth in recent years stretching from Ardnacrusha across to Clonlara.

Once a rural county, Clare’s new housing estates are now taking over the landscape and early develop- ments in Westbury resulted in severe flooding with flood waters entering

elehyene

Today Westbury is serviced by a new mixed business retail com- plex and Clare County Council has opened offices there to cater for the needs of the people in east Clare.

The new proposed health centre will further strengthen the infra- structural needs of the area which is now a parish of the diocese of Lim- erick complete with a church for the ever-growing population. Parishion- ers who send their children to Scoil Ide in Corbally and Parteen School now want a school in their own par- ish as the other two schools are expe- riencing overcrowding.

THE EAST Clare Walking group are taking to a pilgrim route in Spain to help answer the prayers of children in Mountshannon who need a play- ground.

Seven walkers are dividing the 1,000 miles of the El Camino Way of Santiago pilgrimage route between them to raise cash towards providing the playground.

While they’re walking in Spain, fund-raising will be on-going at home.

“We got an allocation of €41,500 from the county council and we raised €850 packing supermarket bags,” said Jane Murray, the Mount-

shannon woman behind the push to provide play facilities.

Jane began her campaign at the be- ginning of the year when she took on the provision of a playground as her practical project in her NUIG Diploma Course in Community De- (oJ Ce) oyaeto elm

She took on the project just two weeks before the deadline for appli- cations for county council funding and produced a very comprehensive proposal for a playground in the Ai- stear Park.

In compiling it, Jane researched playgrounds all over the county and sent a questionnaire to pupils in the national school to find out what their ideal play facility would be.

Children drew pictures on the back of their questionnaires and the best in each class won and easter egg for their help with the research.

But while the allocation from the lo- cal authority was a huge boost to the scheme, there is still up to €70,000 needed before the happy laughter of children playing on slides and swings can be heard in the Aistear.

So Jane is sending out a letter to every household in the area, asking people to support the fund.

“I’m asking people to donate what- ever they can, however big or small,” said Jane.

“We have a long way to go but peo- ple can help by making a donation through the Mountshannon Play-

eround Fund at the Bank of Ireland in Scariff or by putting money in one of our collection buckets,” said Jane.

The account number for anyone wishing to donate is 64555064, sort code, 90 44 13.

Collection boxes have been left at Callura Pottery, the Mountshannon Hotel, Cois na hAbhna, Keane’s Bar, O’Brien’s Post Office and the Bridge Bar.

Mountshannon was one of a number of areas around the county which were given cash to get their playground projects off the ground.

Parteen and Meelick also got a cash boost towards the provision of play facilities and are now in the planning SRR Sxen

SCHOOLS in Scariff are to be asked to examine what has been done in their area about government policy on sustainable development.

Their findings will be part of a plan to develop their area in a way which will benefit the environment, the economy and generations to come.

Following a recent open meeting in Scariff to draw up a sustainable development plan for the village and surrounds, Bob Wilson of the Centre For Environmental Living and Train-

ing said there was a “strong feeling from those attending that there is a lack of knowledge of what sustainable development is all about and how it can benefit all aspects of life – social, environmental and economic. It was agreed that local schools should be approached with a view to assessing how aspects of Local Agenda 21 have been implemented – or not – and to come up with ideas that could lead to ereater sustainability. This can then feed into a draft plan for sustainable development for the community. This will be a gradual process allowing for

input from everyone’, he said.

The aim is to draw up a plan which would then be considered by the com- munity council and one which plan- ners and local authority departments could take on board.

At the recent meeting in Scariff, representatives from a number of community and local organisations and businesses came to hear Andrew St Ledger explain the meaning of sus- tainable development as put forward from Agenda 21. Sustainable Devel- opment, he told the gathering, means meeting the needs of this generation

without compromising the social, en- vironmental and economic needs of future generations.

Andrew gave details of Agenda 21 which was signed up to by Ireland and 175 other countries, then talked about the success experienced by towns and cities in other countries where sus- tainable development has been put into practice. Further meetings on the subject are now being planned and it’s hoped to involve representatives of every aspect of life and community in Scariff in the discussion and drawing Thomo) KOMen Ice

FEAKLE’S 20th birthday celebra- tions were a huge success last week, despite the unsettled weather.

More than 6,000 people came to the village to enjoy the music, the

craic and the activities of the 20th festival in the east Clare town.

‘The numbers are up everywhere we look,’ said festival chairman, Gary Pepper.

On the first day of workshops, Gary said, “upwards of 300 people attend-

ed. We had a festival walk for the first time this year and we planned on having about 20 people, walking a bit then stopping off at a house for a session, a glass of wine and some finger food. 140 people turned up. We had to open a few more bottles of

wine and people were sitting out on the grass listening to the Cajun band playing – it was brilliant.”

Gary said that the festival commit- tee are “delighted” with the grow- ing increase in interest in the annual event, which finishes up today.

The festival featured the cream of trad music, song and dance as well as storytelling and singers sessions.

Posters from the festival have be- come collectors items and a feature of this year’s event was an exhibition of posters from all 20 years, along with an art exhibition on the theme of musicians, by local artists.

The festival committee also launched a special limited edition CD, titled “Reeling Through The Years” to mark the important mile- stone.

Among the artists who featured this year were Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill, Seamus Begley and family, Mary MacNamara, Vincent Griffin and the Tulla Ceili Band.

Top visiting acts this year included legendary box player, Joe Burke, all female band Liadain and singer Elanor Shanley.

“Firmly established as one of the best of its kind in the world, the fes- tival attracts genuine music lovers from all corners of the globe, besides providing a platform for local musi- cians to demonstrate their musical heritage, our festival is noted for bringing together musicians from other traditional backgrounds to share in a unique musical experi- ence,’ said Gary

He added that the “continued suc- cess of the festival is sustained through the hard work of its volun- tary committee, its support from local business and the ever-helpful volunteers. Over the years the festi- val has been instrumental not only in the promotion of the distinctive east Clare music style, which has be- come internationally recognised and acclaimed but also the development of tourism in the region. Many who visit the festival make lasting friend- ships and return annually.”

WITH festival season at its peak last weekend in west Clare as Cooraclare, Kilmihil and Kildysart were provid- ing family fun despite the weather, this week sees other festivals com- mittees stepping up a gear for final preparations while others are con- sidering the success of this year’s endeavour.

One of the first west Clare festivals of the summer season was the Pea- dar Clancy Festival. Organisers of this year’s festival, one of the most successful to date, were busy pub-

lishing the final results of the many competitions of the weekend.

The colourful parade showed great enthusiasm and effort by the commu- nity, but there was one that stood out and declared overall winner – “The Dunlock Bay Drug Seizure’.

Coolmeen National School were kings of the sea as they won the chil- dren’s section for “Pirates of the Car- ibbean”. The “Spice Girls” made up of the Normoyle family and friends were awarded for “best effort” while PJ Kelly’s “the Allis Chalmers” won most cultural.

Mike Murphy and friends were

awarded for their “Prison Break” as it was acclaimed the most humorous, with the “Dunlock Bay Drug Sei- Zure’ also winning most topical.

Brendan Price – Moyrala – made it into the “Hall of Fame”.

One parade however did not a fes- tival make.

“Thomas Coffey’s Team won the under-14 fun blitz, with team Clond- rina winning the senior competition. The sports day saw everyone from waddling toddlers to human wheel- barrows winning prizes.

There were crawling races, egg and spoons races for under-13s and un-

der-8s, three-legged races, married men and married women races. There were three bonny baby com- petitions and other field events in- cluding finding the most glamorous granny in the area – Sile Pass. Among the more gruesome of the competitions was the “Bush Tucker Trials” which saw Mike Murphy and Rory Quinn tucking in for success. “The committee would like to thank everybody who helped to make the weekend such a success, especially all the volunteers who worked very hard at the various events,’ a spokes- person for the committee said.

A KILRUSH man who played for 52 clubs in 11 cities and in four countries was honoured by his native county in Chicago last night (Monday).

Hailed a “true GAA legend” PJ O’Dea who played both football and hurling with Clare, Munster and Lon- don was presented with an engraved plaque by the Clare Tourist Council at Chicago’s historic Gaelic Park.

Known affectionately in Chicago as ‘The Man From Clare’, PJ was born in Kilrush and won his first county medal in 1939.

He represented Clare in minor, junior and senior hurling and also played senior football with Clare and with the Munster teams in 1951 and ays

Before moving to Dublin to play with Sean McDermott’s, PJ lined out in attack with Treaty Sarsfields of Limerick collecting both senior

hurling and football winner’s med- als. He then went to England and played with the Holy Rosary club in Birmingham and won an All-Ireland hurling medal with Warwickshire. From there he immigrated to the US where he played hurling and football in Toronto, Los Angeles, San Fran- cisco and New York City.

He finally settled down in the ‘Windy City’ with his wife Mary.

Despite the many injuries he re- ceived during his 30-year playing career, PJ lined out for the Chicago- based Shannon Rangers Erin’s Own and St Mel’s club.

The Chairman of Clare GAA Michael McDonagh described the Kilrush man as a “stalwart of the GAA in America’.

“PJ O’Dea remains a proud west Clare man to this day and the entire county is delighted to see that he is finally being officially recognised for his invaluable contribution to the

GAA.”

Speaking during the function at Gaelic Park, Mr O’Dea said he was honoured that a delegation from Clare had travelled to meet with members of the Irish community in Chicago.

Mr. O’Dea added that his love for Gaelic Games went with him wher- ever he travelled and that he re- mained passionate about hurling and football.

Commenting on a playing career that spanned three decades, he ex- plained, “Medals were not important to me, I was just happy to have my health and play the games.”

According to Cllr. Flan Garvey, Cathaoirleach of the Clare Tourist Council, “PJ is seen as a father-fig- ure by Chicago’s Irish population, in particular by people from County Clare. He has worked selflessly for decades to assist the many thousands of Irish people who have travelled

to this area in search of new begin- nings. He is also highly regarded by Chicago Mayor Richard M Daley.”

“PJ never misses an All-Ireland at home and travels every year. He 1s considered by many as the sports- man supreme and is one of the great- est living ambassadors for Gaelic Games and the Clare Tourist Coun- cil feel strongly that PJ should be honoured by his native county,’ he said.

PJ was presented with a piece of sculpture that included an inscrip- tion from the poem “The Spirit of the Bannermen”’.

“We have household names who have played our games, from the Burren to Doon Lake, George Com- erford, Considines, Goggles Doyle, Jimmy Smith and Larry Blake. We had Tommy Doyle and PJ O’Dea, Jordan’s dash and dare. With spirit of the Bannermen, in the storied County Clare.”

TWO west Clare schools are to benefit by as much as €15,000 from the out- door facilities enhancement scheme.

St Joseph’s National School in Mil- town Malbay and Kilmaley National School have received €7,500 each for work on their playgrounds and out- door facilities.

The money allocated is to go to- wards projects such as upgrading of grass and tarmacadam areas where OIC E

The schools are two of only three from the county to benefit from the grant – Drumcreehy National School

was also awarded funds.

Goal posts, nets, basketball hoops, and other sporting equipment are also supplied through the scheme as are other recreational facilities for out- door play areas.

Minister of State and Clare TD Tony Killeen has welcomed the an- nouncement that these Clare National Schools have received funding under the CLAR programme.

“The CLAR Primary School Out- door Play Facilities Enhancement Scheme is a jointly funded scheme aimed at improving outdoor play fa- cilities in small rural primary schools in CLAR areas,” he said.

‘This scheme has been very suc- cessful so far, with hundreds of pri- mary school children in Clare now benefitting from the new equipment and improved facilities. We all know that good play facilities in schools are absolutely necessary, so I am delight- ed that the schoolchildren in the Kil- maley, Miltown Malbay and Drum- creehy areas are going to benefit from this scheme,” he said.

CLAR and the Department of Edu- CP THCO)O EAH OCC MNS LOn(o) Com AIIM RU ICM Mm Oot cent of the cost of projects being un- dertaken by schools. This figure is supplemented by a 25 per cent con- tribution from local sources up to a

maximum of €10,000. Expenditure in excess of €10,000 must be funded entirely from local sources.

According to Minister Killeen, the latest allocation follows on from simi- lar allocations, under the CLAR Pri- mary School Outdoor Play Facilities Enhancement Scheme, made earlier this year. In 2007, funding has been allocated to schools in Baltard, Dan- gan, Cloonanaha, Doonbeg, Ballyea, Clondrinagh, Inagh and Knockerra.

“This latest round of funding dis- plays the Government’s commitment to improving outdoor play facilities in small rural primary schools in CLAR areas.”