Month: January 2008

THE JESUIT COMMUNITY has been saddened by the passing of a much loved Ennis colleague.

Phillip O’Keefe spent most of his life as an SJ in Africa and came home just weeks before his recent olor hdee

He worked with his community in Mazabuca in South Africa, returning to Ennis to see his family every three to four years.

He was a student in Clongowes Wood before entering the Society in

1963 at the age of 17.

He studied Philosophy and Theol- ogy in Milltown Park, and was or- dained in 1975. Though Fr Phillip entered the Irish Jesuits, he subse- quently transferred to the Zambian province.

He worked at Maamba Catholic Church, Maamba and also St. Mary’s Parish, Monze.

His most recent appointment was as Superior and parish priest of Na- kambala Catholic Church, Parish of St Paul, Mazabuka, Zambia.

He was a keen golfer and wrote

little religious instructional books for the African children he worked wel80

At his funeral, Mass in Milltown Park, ex Jesuit Provincial, Fr Colm Brophy, paid tribute to Fr Phillip and his faith. He said that Fr Phillip, normally a shy man who didn’t like the limelight, “is awe-struck today, lying here listening to us, with what- ever ears death has, to find himself the root and centre of an enormous number of conversations of people who knew him. People in Zambia who admired and respected him,

people in Zambia who loved him.

Friends who are no longer in Zam- bia, many who are here. His cher- ished Jesuit family and his treasured own flesh and blood”.

He added that Fr Phillip was “very honest with himself” and had a “wry sense of humour which didn’t desert him, even at the end.

Fr Philip passed away peacefull in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin aged 62.

He is survived by his brothers, Dan Rory, William and David and his twin sister, Molly.

GREATER representation will be given to skateboarding and rugby on the re-structured Ennis sports facili- ties committee.

The committee, established in 2003 to facilitate communication and dis- cussion on the development of sport- ing facilities in Ennis, is to be ex- tended from nine to 11 members.

This comes after concerns were raised about the effectiveness of the committee.

Currently the committee is com- prised of three elected representa- tives from Ennis Town Council, three elected members of Clare County Council and a representative from the GAA, athletics and soccer.

However with the development of a new skate park and the increased use of Lees Road by underage and

senior sections of Ennis rugby club, the Council is seeking greater input from both groups.

A report prepared by Ennis Town Council proposed that ‘the number of sporting bodies representatives be increased and that each body be asked to confirm their existing rep- resentative or to nominate a repre- sentative to the Committee’.

A vacancy, created when a repre- sentative from Clare County Council was elected to the Dail in 2005, will also be filled.

A proposal to create an extra po- sition for schoolboy’s/girls soccer on the committee was rejected at the January meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Speaking at that meeting Fianna Fail councillor Joe Reidy said greater commitment was needed from sport- ing bodies.

He said, “It’s not up to us its up to individual sporting bodies. The peo- ple that are chosen have to speak up for themselves. The sports we are looking to hear from are skateboard- ing and rugby”.

Mayor of Ennis Tommy Brennan said previous committee meetings had been poorly attended.

Committee chairman and _ inde- pendent councillor Frankie Neylon said, “I would suggest five represent- atives from five different sports. We already have one from soccer, GAA and athletics. We have a particular problem with communication on the committee. We need to hear from the people, like those in rugby and soc- cer, who are frequent users of Lees Road. Its better to have people like that, rather than six councillors sit- ting around a table”.

Fianna Fail councillor Tom Glynn

expressed concern that an en-larged committee could prove less effec- tive.

He said, “I would have some con- cerns. Do we need to extend com- mittee? What you find sometimes with large committees is that it can take longer to get things done. Would it make the whole process more un- wieldy?”’

According to the report “The com- mittee has an important promotional role to play in highlighting the nature of the facilities available amongst sporting clubs and associations. The committee can further promote ad- ditional facilities as these become available for use’.

TAKING inspiration from the worlds of classical and jazz music, the Jazzi- cal Quartet plays Danlann an Chlair on Thursday.

This is the second outing on stage for the recently formed four piece who also performed in the Ss Peter and Paul Cathedral during Christ- Tete

The band is comprised of Michael Hennessy on piano, drummer Danny Byrte, Deridre Frost on bass and flut- ist Tanja Fritschi.

They will be performing work by

renowned French jazz pianist Claude sXe)iunetee

A fusion of two apparently con- trasting styles of music Jazzical utilises motifs from classical piano repertoire as subjects for jazz inter- pretations for solo piano, chamber ensemble or jazz combo, and orches- tra. A true marriage of classical and jazz, it is designed to bridge the gap between classical and jazz music and its audiences while remaining true to both forms.

Michael Hennessy explained the kind of show audiences in the Dan- lann are in for.

He said “It is a classical jazz cross- over So the very music on the night will be all instrumental, very light, very easy listening. We have played together once before, 1n the cathedral on December 8, but we have been doing a lot of rehearsals”.

After the Ennis concert, the band hit the road for a show in Cork at the newly completed Cork School of Music. The school is the fist pur- pose building of its kind consists of specialist tuitional areas, rehearsal areas, live recording studios and lec- ture rooms.

A teacher in Colaiste Muire, Ennis

for over 25 years and vice principal there for six, Michael is currently pursuing a Master in Music from University College Cork.

He said “I took a year off to do the Masters down in Cork so it will be good to get the opportunity to down and play there.

The award winning Colaiste Muire Choir, led by Carmel Griffin, will provide support at Thursday’s con- cert in Ennis.

The band takes to the stage at 8pm with tickets €10 and €3 for students. The Jazzical Quartet plays the Cork School of Music on January 19.

TWO young Shannon men will defy medical advice in undertaking a nov- el challenge which will see them run no less than 12 marathons this year, in aid of charity.

Darren O’Connell (32) and Alan Mullin (30) from Tullyglass ran their first ever marathon a year-and-a-half ago and were so enthused by it that they decide to take up marathon run- ning on a large scale.

The two are now hoping to under-

take the multi-marathon challenge and stand to enter the record books, if successful.

The two friends ran the Dublin marathon in 2006, in memory of their friend Earl Duff (21), who died from Cystic Fibrosis 10 years earlier.

They then decided to set them- selves a challenge and run one mara- thon every month this year, in aid of Cystic Fibrosis.

They rang in 2008, running their first marathon of the challenge in Zurich on New Year’s Eve, with a time of four hours, 19 minutes. They are now in training for the next run in Valencia, Spain on February 17. They will also run marathons in Rome, Switzerland, Berlin and New York, along with five runs in Ireland. The challenge will wind up with the final run in Milan on December 2.

The two have been keen sports enthusiasts over the years, but mar- athon running is quite a new phe- nomenon. They are looking forward to the tough challenge that will lie ahead this year.

“We said we would do something to generate money. We have always been into sport,’ said Darren, who is a secondary teacher.

“The medical advice is we shouldn’t do more than two or three marathons a year. We have carried out research, which shows that it has been done before, in the UK and the States. We are not allowed to break any records. If we stay injury free, it shouldn’t be a problem,” said Darren, who has played hurling for Wolfe Tones for many years.

“It is not about the times. It is about getting through them. The trick is not to burn yourself out and do just light training in between the mara- thons,’ he added.

Both Darren and Alan – who works in Dublin – had just three marathons under their belts prior to taking up this challenge, but are confident they will get through it.

The two are hoping to raise €20,000 from the challenge and are due to set up their own website www.l2marathons.com within the next few weeks, on which they will invite sponsorship.

THE tragic Whitegate man whose body was found in the Shannon after a 32-day search was laid to rest on Sunday.

Teams of experts and volunteers had combed the area around Lough Derg, Killaloe and Ballina when James Burke from Ballinruan disap- peared after a night out with friends.

He was last seen near the bridge in Killaloe on Sunday, December 9, just after 10pm. He was heading for The Anchor Bar after an evening’s socialising in the town with friends, but never showed up in the bar.

Last Friday, a local man walking his dog spotted the body in the water north of the bridge in Killaloe a little after 9.30am.

A garda spokesman said the dis- covery was made at the rear of the li- brary, on the Scariff side of the town. The spot is not far from where James was last seen.

Gardai called in the local coast guard unit to help recover the re- mains which were taken from the lake to the Mid-West Regional Hos- pital in Limerick where a post-mor- tem and official identification were carried out.

Silom DENese Maye ame:Bicre Ma J eles pMmE-De eto didn’t show up for work or contact his parents.

Before Christmas, his mother, Peggy, made an appeal for help with finding her son.

“James was a very keen angler and he would have known not to go near the water when it was so high. He was a very happy lad with not a worry in the world. He phoned me earlier that night to say he would be home shortly.”

A widescale search of land and wa- ter was launched, including dives of the main River Shannon when the Ardnacrusha Power Station turbines were turned off.

The building site where the 23- year-old worked closed down and his workmates from Muggivan’s build- ers joined in the search.

A spokesman for the gardai said that they do not suspect any foul play. It’s thought James may have slipped and fallen into the water.

At one stage, neighbours called on the help of a psychic to try to locate AF Weatene

It’s not clear whether the body was obscured and missed in the initial searches or whether extremely high, fast-moving water in the area made it difficult to see.

A KILKEE man who is serving a 12- year sentence for aggravated sexual assault was yesterday handed a five- year-term for sexually assaulting a woman in Ennis.

Brian Mulvihill (30), of Lislana- han, Kilkee, admitted the offence, relating to an incident at a flat in En- nis, in January 2005. He also admit- ted sexually assaulting a woman in Tralee in November 2004.

Both incidents and the aggravated

sexual assault occurred within a five-month spell when Mulvihill was “gripped” by drink.

During that time, Mulvihill’s “life crashed around him. His old friend drink let him down and led him on a merry dance,” said his barrister Mark Nicholas.

The 12-year term, imposed at the Central Criminal Court last April for the assault on a 20-year-old student in a caravan in west Clare in August 2004, is currently under appeal.

Referring to the Ennis incident,

Garda Val McCormack told En- nis Circuit Court that Mulvihill had been drinking with the injured party for several hours. They both later re- turned to her apartment.

She went to bed and “as she knew him, she allowed him to sleep on the bed outside the covers, fully clothed,” said the garda.

She fell asleep and when she woke up, he was sexually assaulting her.

When she shouted and attempted to push him off, he started pulling her hair. She attempted to strike him

with a bedside lamp and flee the apartment, but had difficulty escap- ing. He asked her to promise not to the tell the gardai. She agreed, in an effort to get away from him. The young woman was later treated at a sexual assault treatment unit.

Mr Nicholas said his client “went on a downward spiral over the five months and was out of control on olen om

Judge Carroll Moran said Mulvi- hill was invited to stay at the young woman’s house, but “he abused the

invitation and took liberties of a fair- ly intrusive nature.”

He noted that a psychiatric report on Mulvihill didn’t question the ex- istence of sexual deviance which, he said, had to be a factor.

“It can’t all be down to drink and mood swings,’ he said.

He said he must impose a prison sentence and jailed him for five erase

“What he did was dreadful but there has to be some element of pro- portionality,’ he said.

THE house that inspired the final play ever penned by WB Yeats is in the centre of a growing row between the descendants of its former owner and the State.

Tyrone House, which is located on the outskirts of Kilcolgan and close to Coole Park in Gort, where Yeats spent much of his time, was the inspiration for the Nobel Prize winners’ final play, “The Death of Gee y re

The 18th-century property, which was formerly the home of the St George family, has also been cred-

ited as inspiration for a number of other artistic works, including “The Big House of Inver’ by Somerville and Ross.

According to the St George family, the Government has gone back on a commitment to purchase and pre- serve the historic property.

The property, which is currently in a State of disrepair, was designed by renowned Irish architect, John Roberts for Christopher French St George in the early 18th century.

One of his direct descendants, Gordan St George, last week criti- cised the Government for going back on acommitment to allocate funds to

purchase and preserve the property.

The house was abandoned in 1905 and then burnt by the IRA during the War of Independence in 1920. It iS now in private ownership but has been ransacked and looted down through the years.

Galway County Council has pre- viously tried to purchase the build- ing on behalf of the Department of the Environment, but with no suc- TIE

Labour TD and former Minister for the Arts, Michael D Higgins has sup- ported a proposal to purchase Tyrone House, but ownership problems de- layed the plan.

According to Deputy Higgins, fur- ther representations were made last year but he was informed that Gal- way County Council had written to the owner in relation to the building but had received no reply.

‘The Death of Cuchulain’ was writ- ten by Yeats in 1939 and tells the sto- ry of the last few days of his life. It was the fifth in Yeats’ series of plays on Cuchulain.

He also wrote ‘On Baile’s Strand’ in 1904, “The Green Helmet’ in 1910, ‘At the Hawk’s Well’ in 1917 and “The Only Jealousy of Emer’ in 1919.

Yeats also penned a number of po- ems on the legend of Cuchulain.

FARMING experts and conserva- tionists from all over Europe will at- tend Ireland’s first Farming for Con- servation conference which takes place in Ennistymon next month.

The conference, which is being or- ganised by the BurrenLIFE Project, aims to bring together leaders in the field to assess and examine the eroundbreaking strides which have been made towards creating sustain- able farming in the Burren.

The conference will also focus on pooling the participants’ knowledge and discovering new and exciting ways of creating sustainable farming in north Clare and across Europe.

The conference, which is entitled ‘Farming for conservation — support- ing the future’, will take place in the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon from Feb- ruary 24 to 27.

The conference will include speak- ers from a number of European coun- tries and in particular from other limestone regions such as the Alvars of Sweden, the Causse in France and the Yorkshire Dales in England.

The Minister for Environment, Heritage and local Government, John Gormley (GP) and the newly appointed Director of Teagasc, Pro- fessor Gerry Boyle, will be among those to address the conference.

Proceedings have been broken into three sections with the first day fo-

cussed on introducing the concept of ‘farming for conservation’. This will include presenting European case studies, outlining the work of the BurrenLIFE Project and a dis- cussion on the practical difficulties and obstacles associated with farm- ing for conservation. Day two will involve a visit to a number of Burren farms where conservation farming 1s taking place. These field trips will be followed by a panel discussion on the future of farming for conservation in the unique context of the Burren. The final day of the conference will look at potential models for Supporting and delivering farming for conservation. A discussion will also take place on the marketing of

conservation produce and on deliver- ing conservation through innovative agri-environmental schemes.

The BurrenLIFE project is just over half-way through its five-year long project on north Clare. The overall aim of the organisation is to help cre- ate a means of farming in the region than can both protect the local ecol- ogy and give local farmers a means of making living.

Over the past two years, they have undertaken the largest campaign of scrub removal ever seen in Ireland, established a producers group for top-quality ‘ecology class’ Burren beef and lamb and undertaken a mas- sive education programme aimed both at children and older people.

NEXT Friday sees the opening of the first exhibition of the year at the Bur- ren College of Art in Ballyvaughan. The exhibition, which is entitled ‘Flicker’, explores the possibilities that emerging technology and exper- imental new-media can have on art and artistic creation.

‘Flicker’ also aims to introduce a selection of Dublin-based artists to the region and allow them to explore how art can function in a more rural context.

It is also hoped that this launch will be the first in an active programme of shows and screenings of lens- based artists at Burren College of Art Gallery.

The exhibition will run from next Friday, January 19, until February 16 at the Gallery of the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan.

The five Dubs making their way out west for the show include Mark Cullen, Brian Duggan, Niamh Mc- Cann, Cliona Harmey and Darren Bolger.

Mark Cullen’s recent work explores artificial and natural light instal- lation while Brian Duggan’s work creates on performative based video installations.

These installations aim to question the limits of the physical body and endurance.

Niamh McCann on the other hand uses a variety of new technologies to push the boundaries in drawing and

photography.

Cliona Harmey’s is based in audio- visual pieces in which she uses sound installation, video and printmaking.

The final member of the group, Darren Bolger, is an experimental film-maker.

All the artists have also been ac- tively involved in a number of im- portant Dublin-based new-media art collectives and initiatives, including Pallas Contemporary Projects, Tem- ple Bar Studios and ArtHouse. The show 1s curated by Martina Cleary, a multi-media artist and lecturer at the college.

Burren College of Art is an inter- nationally recognised not-for-profit independent college specialising in undergraduate and graduate fine art

re Lb Ter-ta Oyen

The exhibition will be opened by the film-maker Vivienne Dick this Friday, January 18, from 6 to 8pm. For more information check out www.burrencollege.ie.

Meanwhile, following the success of the Ennistymon Christmas Ex- hibition which featured works from well-known Clare artists Richard Sharpe, Barbara Roder and Finola Graham, Sarah Fuller has taken up residency in the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon.

Sarah will host her puppet show and art exhibition in the gallery until January 26.

For more information on this ex- hibition, contact the gallery on 065 POP a Teele)

STORIES and the ways in which they are passed on and retold is the central theme of the 2lst Annual Spring Conference which takes place next month. The conference, which is entitled ‘Narratives of People and Place: Burren Stories, Told and Un- told’, takes place in the Burren Col- lege of Art in Ballyvaughan from February | to 3.

“Stories knit community together – both the telling and the listening of a story bind us. As I have been organising this conference, I have been amazed by different conversa- tions I have overheard walking down

the street. In Ireland we don’t seem to disguise our telling of a story. We don’t hide it,” said conference direc- tor Anne Byrne.

“If I tell you a story, you are bound to me through the telling of that story and I to you. In the Burren it- self there is a lot of activity going on around that idea. It’s almost like the old community 1s still held in our minds and in our imaginations and it just needs to be expressed and found ayers be

“All the time you hear it said that there is no such thing as community anymore, but as long as you tell sto- ries the community can be given life here 00 ae

The conference will include a number of expert speakers who will each aim to explore different elements of conversation and storytelling in a Burren context. Speakers include Daithi O’hOgainof the Department of Irish Folklore in UCD, writers Re O Laighleis and Kieran Sheedy, Celtic Scholar Sean O Duinin, Lelia Doolin and Donnachada O’Corrain.

‘This year we are trying to draw at- tention to the stories that we tell our- selves, but also about the places we live in and the people who populate those place. Some of those people way well be gone and forgotten, or gone and remembered, but the con- ference is about bringing attention to

the story,” continued Anne.

‘We have a wonderful collection of speakers but it’s important not to for- get that this is just a representation of some of the people who tell stories.

“The Burren is an organising de- vice – it’s a place where nature meets you face to face, there are no distrac- tion. I think that does something, it helps the creative process. These are all creative people – whether they are farmers or people working in art or in film. They are all people who have a passion about storytelling.”