Month: April 2008

THE future of Kilnaboy’s X-PO projects will be the main topic up for discussion this weekend when international artist Jay Koh visits north Clare. Koh is an expert in the possible interactions between art and society and will be assessing the impact that the Kilnaboy project has already had and what impact it could have in the future.

This Saturday and Sunday Koh will visit and evaluate the X-PO project, culminating in a public discussion on the future of the project at 2pm on Sunday.

“This the first of three evalua-

tive session that Jay will do for the project. He will be giving feedback to myself and to the community. On Saturday he will be available to the local people, to hear what they think of the project and how it is going. I won’t be part of that process at all. People will be totally free to give positive and negative feedback,’ said Deirdre O’ Mahoney, artist and man- ager of the X-PO.

“On Sunday then we will be con- cerned with getting the community involved in X-PO and the future of the project. It takes an awful lot of work to keep this place open and people will have to come on board if it is going to be sustainable.

“There is fantastic community spir- it in Kilnaboy. But we need to reach the people who don’t think they can get involved for one reason or anoth- er. Maybe they are shy or don’t feel that they have anything to offer – but everyone has something to offer.

Following the public talk, a new exhibition from Eileen Healy will be unveiled in the X-PO.

“The exhibition takes the form of videos and still photography piece. The photographs will be something that I think a lot of people will have interest in. It is three aerial photo- graphs, taken over a 40 year period at Eileen’s farm in County Tyrone. The photos show the kinds of chang-

es that have taken place in farming life over the decades. The first pho- tograph shows old pens, hedges and small fields.

“The second photo shows galva- nise steel sheds, the small pens are gone and the hedging is gone. The fields have been tilled in a mechani- cal way. In the third one it has all changed again. There is a slatted house and all the fields have merged into just once huge field. So it is very interesting, in it’s own way it tells the story of Irish farming over the last 40 years.”

This exhibition run until May 15, and like all events in X-PO are free and open to the public.

NEXT Sunday, April 27, hun- dreds will descend on Liscannor to take part in the Burren Chernobyl Project’s annual 10k walk.

Funds raised from this years walk, which starts from the Liscannor Ho- tel at lpm, will be directed towards the adult facility of Tarasik1.

The facility, which is home to more than 400 people, has been the focus of repair works over the last 5 years. These works have been led by Lis- cannor builder Kevin O’Sullivan.

“lve been going over there for 14 years now. We do a lot of construc- tion and repair work for them over there; we put in showers, toilets, ba- Sic sanitation, putting down floors –

anything that can make it more com- fortable for the patients over there,” said Kevin.

‘We have been to several different places down the years but we have been focusing on Tarasiki lately. We have been going there for the last 5 years. We have a good group, here is about 15 of us from all over the Coes as

“They are in very bad conditions over there. There are four big blocks over there and we are working on three of them. One of the blocks is almost finished and we have about 65 windows put into the other blocks.

“Whenever we can we try and get the patients working with us. It’s very important for them, it’s like oc- cupational therapy for them. They

love it when we go over. That’s our aim, to get them involved as much as we can at all. Some of them are very good workers.”

The work in Tarasiki is hard, but there is something about the expe- rience that keep volunteers coming back year after year.

“It’s very emotional for the people who go over for the first time. But I have built up a great bond over the year – I’d have no problem hug- ging them and having the craic with them,’ continued Kevin.

“There is a lot of sadness, but any- one who goes there will tell you that it is one of the best times of their life. It’s better than any holiday. You get so much out of it, people might say that you’re great for going out and

helping but you’re not. You get so much out of it.

“This year we are really trying to get a lot of plywood and lino. Mc- Mahons in Limerick have been very good to us over the last 4 or 5 years. Any sponsorship like that is a great great help.”

Sponsorship cards are available from the project office in Ennisty- mon at 7071130 but people can also come along on the day.

THE power of music is being chan- nelled to help people both musically and spiritually in Kinvara. Profes- sional psychotherapist and musician, Eileen Keane is preparing to launch a a range of new workshops which she hopes will help people with their singing as well as in their general Wate

“TI was running voice training class- es when I used to live in Dublin. But strange things started to happen, a lot of different things started to come up from people through the classes. Stuff about their schooling or the

music or their life,’ said Eileen.

“So I started to move towards that side of things. I work as a psycho- therapist and I developed these work- shops out of that and the music. It’s not therapy and it’s not voice training – but it’s a bit of both.”

The workshops have been designed as ameans of voice training, but also as a way of helping people relax and rediscover their inner voice.

“It’s about freedom of expression, about people developing a creative relationship with themselves,’ con- tinued Eileen.

“A lot of people are really blocked in terms of music. Maybe people

who were told not to sing in choirs when they were young and they got the idea into their heads that they weren’t able to sing.

“What I find is that these people are usually the people with the most interesting voices. They have voices that the people in the choir were just not able to manage but with a little work their voices can be really really POL Kosu eI BD OTS

“It’s about having fun and being free. There is an element of stress relief in it. If you tend to get stressed out abut your voice, not just in sing- ing but in public speaking as well, then this could help you.

‘There is also an element of com- munal singing and chanting. That can be a very cleansing experience for people. It can be a really nice space for people to come together hia

Eileen is hoping to make these classes into regular events and is also available for on to one consultations.

The day long voice workshop takes place in Kinvara on Sunday April 27. The workshop will run from |lam to Spm and costs €85.

For more information on the work- shops or to book a place contact Eileen on 085 7779474 or e-mail eileenpkeane@ gmail.com.

THE Brothers of Charity in Clare will benefit financially from a char- ity event which will take place in Shannon next month.

The Mayor’s Ball, scheduled for the Oakwood Arms Hotel on May 17, will be in aid of the Brothers of Charity and the Shannon Flyers Spe- cial Olympic Club.

The money raised from the event will go to both charities and such do-

nations go towards providing much- need facilities.

Although the Brothers of Char- ity is funded by the Health Service Executive and the Department of the Environment, other donations are es- sential, as the group supports some 170 adults with disabilities across the county.

According to the Chief Executive of the Brothers of Charity in Clare, Mary Feely, this funding is being earmarked for the provision of vital

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“What we usually do with funding like this is to help with the changeo- ver to support people from a group situation to an individualised life- style.

“The other big thing we use fund- raising money for 1s to support peo- ple to get their own homes,” said Ms roa

‘The money would support people to have holidays and decorate their homes and undergo radical changes,”

she added.

Given that this particular fund- ing is coming from an initiative in Shannon, some of the money will go towards improving life for people in Shannon. The Brothers of Char- ity has one respite house in the town and up to 10 people in the Shannon area benefit from respite.

The ball will be one of the final offi- cial functions of Cllr Sean McLough- lin, before his term as mayor comes to a close in June.

FIVE years after the first plans were put in place, the first sod will finally be turned on a €1.2 million multi-pronged community project in Sixmilebridge, later this week.

The site on the Shannon road will, within the next three years, house a community centre, playground, childcare facility and daycare centre for the elderly.

Those facilities are currently of- JC UL MED UOMO DU BKK ER (o) OL Uo MEE-D ILO MEE Te main aim behind the project is to en- sure top-class facilities are available, all on the one site.

The sod-turning on Thursday, by the Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pa- tricia McCarthy (Independent) will

pave the way for the development of the first prong of the project, the playground portion of the site.

This will later be followed by the development of the childcare facil- ity and then the elderly unit, both of which are awaiting the final funding NORE ene eLRe

It is hoped that a community hall will be built on the site, at a later Stage.

The project is being developed under the auspices of the Bridge Complex, which acquired the site. PRO Marelen Cadogan said there is a great sense of anticipation for the commencement of the work.

“Finally, after all the waiting, we will have the sod-turning and the diggers will move in,” said Ms Ca-

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Clare County Council allocated grant aid for the playground and the playground committee raised local funding to build what is expected to be a state-of-the-art playground.

Ms Cadogan said the fourth part of the project, the community hall, will be necessary, as there is pressure for space for rooms in the old courthouse building at present.

“The meeting rooms in the court- house are booked out at the moment. We are going to keep them there until we get to build the new centre. There is a need for more space,” she added.

Allied to Government funding, several thousands of euro was raised in Sixmilebridge and surrounding

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This project would not have been possible, were it not for those contri- le LULBKOyEtSE

“Locally, people have been very good. There is a great feeling about it at this stage,” said Ms Cadogan.

“This 1s a momentous occasion in our village and a testimony to the hard work and dedication of volun- teers who want to give something back to the community they live in,” she added.

The local group is also hoping to get Family Resource Centre status, which will give it a more structured working title.

“We are hoping to get that status. That will give us a structure then,” she said.

IARNROD Eireann is being asked to provide a detailed report on its plans to alleviate flooding at Bally- car, which resulted in the Ennis to Limerick rail line being closed for several weeks.

The line at Ballycar was closed during parts of February and March of this year. The flooding affected local residents, where at least three houses were inaccessible for almost a month.

At the time, locals felt that while the rail line closure gained headlines in the media, their concerns were not

THE sounds of castanets, Spanish guitars, and a range of exotic percus- sion instruments, as well as clari- nets, oboes and flutes were all heard around Newmarket-on-Fergus last N(1e) .@

This was due to the presence of musicians from the Conservatorio Francisco Guerrero in Seville. They were guests of the Irish Traditional Music Institute, whose director Deir- dre O’Brien-Vaughan initiated an ex- change between the two schools.

Last October, a group of 20 Irish traditional musicians travelled to Se- ville and performed three concerts

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Traffic including school buses had to take a detour around the Bally- car area as a result of the flooding, while several other vehicles had to be towed from the flood waters.

Last month, locals called for Clare County Council, Iarnrod Eireann and the local farmers to get together and decide what to do for the wider area, in an effort to address the mat- ter.

Last week, local councillor Pat Mc- Mahon (FF) called for Iarnréd Eire- ann to provide an up-to-date report on the flooding situation.

Using a pun amongst his comments

and a number of workshops, show- casing Irish music and singing.

Last week was the return part of the exchange, as 16 Spanish musi- cians and teachers were hosted by the families of the students who went to Spain.

The visitors performed two con- certs and presented a number of workshops in the local primary school.

The local children were delighted with the school performance and some of the eager pupils joined in the Flaminco dancing.

On Saturday night the Spanish mu-

to a Shannon area meeting of C;are County Council Mr McMahon said, “IT am delighted to see Irish Rail back on track. I see that the Board of Works were supposed to do a progress report. The problem hasn’t gone away.

“If that heavy rain came back in the next few years, the problem would come back. The landowners have suffered a grave loss of their land on a regular basis. The other aspect would be people who live on the Bal- lycar road, where they are cut off. It would be very important for Irish Rail to focus on this,” said Cllr Mc- Mahon.

sicians performed in a very well at- tended concert at the Clare Inn.

Music aside, the visitors enjoyed a variety of other activities as their hosts ensured they had a trip to re- nateseslolese

During their stay they were taken to see the Burren, the Cliffs of Mo- her and Bunratty and even though the temperature here was almost twenty degrees lower than it was in Seville when they left, they were overwhelmed by the warmth of the Irish hospitality, and returned home vowing to return.

Ms O’Brien-Vaughan plans to con-

‘People tend to forget pain when it disappears, but this is long-term and a long-term solution is needed,’ he PALO

Independent Councillor Gerry JSP AYSeve MMO CrIMmUYelcoO Mm Oso \ Lehi out mm \e-00I Corridor is opened, “the viability of the service to Limerick may be af- fected if we don’t have the link”’.

Cllr John Crowe (FG) said it is im- portant to get it right and ensure the link 1s maintained.

“So many millions are pumped into the Western Rail Corridor. If this section 1s going to create problems like that, it is going to be a waste,” he said.

tinue and develop the concept of cultural and educational exchanges, which she sees as having great ben- efits for the school, the students and the local community.

The hotel is set to be transformed into a picture of a bygone era, with

the help of Fun Ireland, one of coun- tries foremost event management companies, and will offer all attend- ing a night full of twists and turns, with champagne, food and cocktails to remember.

Last years event was an incredible success raising a massive €46,000 for two charities, the Tony Griffin Foundation, and the Miltown Senior yoke

This year organisers are hoping to repeat this success with the funds being divided between the Miltown Resource Centre which hosts many worthwhile local groups such as the

senior citizens, youthreach and li- brary, and the palliative care team of Milford Hospice.

Committee Member, John Burke, said, “The event this year should be just as enjoyable as last year. We have completely changed the theme, decor, prizes, band and dj, to vary the night for people attending from last year, and the primary focus again is to ensure everyone experi- ences a night to remember, while we as acommittee commit to preserving the money raised for the good causes deserving it.”

Last year the event caused quiet

a stir when the auction started and items as varying as an Omega James Bond watch, signed jerseys, luxury golf breaks, and bull calves, reached creat figures.

Returning as auctioneer for this years event, Cormac O’Sullivan said, “Tam really excited about this years auction. I believe there is again as varying and as novel a Selection of items up, and I look forward to see the faces around the room when the hammer strikes.”

Tickets for the John Burke Com- memorative Ball are available through Armada Hotel reception.

FUTURE developments in Kil- rush on land which borders or cuts through a planned amenity between Vandeleur and Cappa will have to give space over to a public walkway.

The town council has been working towards creating a public walkway in the beautiful surrounds of the woods and bordering the river and has al- ready factored it into a development which is underway. And the walkway will be further developed by having it as part of future developments,

town council members were told.

The plan was discussed at a meet- ing of the Kilrush Town Council af- ter Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) asked if there was any update on the mon- ies sought to do a feasibility study on toe LON chs

He told the meeting that the walk would be “a fabulous amenity, both for locals and for visitors”.

In areply to the councillor, Siobhan O’Keefe, Senior Staff Officer said that the town council has already submitted an application under the Failte Ireland-Historic Trails Fund-

ing Initiative, seeking funding to de- velop two sign-posted historic trails, the first around the core of Kilrush Town and the second an extended town trail, incorporating Cappa and the Vandeleur Gardens and Woods.

While no money has been sought to carry out a feasibility study, the council would remain alert to any opportunity to apply for funds.

Meanwhile, a preliminary assess- ment of the proposed walkway has identified the south side of the river as the most appropriate side for the development.

“The potential of the river and the wood in terms of amenity value for the town is acknowledged,’ the senior staff officer said. “It is now intended to submit a request to the council architect to prepare a design concept that will guide the future development of this proposed walk- way, she added. “Kilrush Town Council will also continue to factor in this proposed walkway into future planning applications similar to that currently coming to a conclusion at “The Manse’ development,’ she added.

A NEW initiative, which challenges children to read as many books as they can, has been met with great en- thusiasm in Kilmihil.

For the first time this year, the lo- cal national school has taken part in the readathon, which is organised by Clare County Library and is support- ed by An Garda Siochana.

The project is renowned across the country and the children in Kilmihil were keen to get in on the act this

year.

And, if they do something in Kilm- ihil, they like to do it well, as during a five-month spell, 100 children read no less than 6,000 books.

Although this amount was well short of the numbers recorded by children in other schools in the coun- ty, everyone in Kilmihil was well proud of their achievement, given WOLD LOM CRM OOC OD MBOOT-N(OloIMC NIDA YA

School principal Carmel Cough- lan praised the efforts of everybody involved and said every child thor-

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‘Every book read was logged in log books. Our big aim was to ensure that each child read books relevant to his/her age,” said Ms Coughlan.

“The kids got a kick out of it and we are trying to get them to keep reading. It was well worth it and has encouraged the children to keep reading,’ she added.

She paid tribute to the library for facilitating the project and making the books available and to teacher Yvonne Conway, who co-ordinated

the initiative in the school. She was also delighted with the co-operation of local gardai, who spoke to chil- dren about the importance of read- ing, during a visit to the school while the project was ongoing.

WITH an average of 20 deaths and more than 3,000 accidents reported on farms each year, farming 1s cur- rently one of Ireland most hazardous professions. Next Tuesday, April 29, EIRI Corca Baiscinn in Kilkee will host a tractor skills course day aimed at young people between the ages of 14 and 16.

According to the Health and Safety Authority, one in five deaths which occur on Irish farms involves chil- dren. In addition to this, almost half of these deaths involve tractors and other types of machinery.

In response to this alarming sta- tistic, Farm Family Support Service

and Farm Relief Services will run a safety course in Kilkee next week. The Safe Tractor Driving Skills course 1S aimed at young teenagers who are at particular risk from farm accidents.

The objective of the training day 1s to improve basic skills on the trac- tor and make parents and teenagers aware of the dangers involved in tractor and machinery usage, outline the legal requirements of tractor and machinery used by teenagers up to 16 years old and outline an approach to practical training which should be provided by a parent or guardian.

The course agenda includes safety checks before starting, setting up a good driving position, safe driving,

hitching the tractor to other imple- ments, operating trailed machinery from the tractor, checking the terrain and practical driving skill.

Each participant will drive the trac- tor with trailer around a specifically designed course and receive tips and corrections where necessary. The training day will also include basic first aid training, where each par- ticipant will learn the basic skills in first aid but with particular attention to common farm accidents such as cuts and bleeding, electrocution and eva

EIRI Corca Baiscinn provides a Farm Family Support Service to farmers in the west Clare area.

The Farm Family Support Service

at EIRI also provides free, confiden- tial advice and assistance on farm assist, social welfare entitlements, starting a new business, training for off-farm employment, farm en- terprises, farm finance management and information on schemes.

On completion of the course each participant will also receive a certifi- cate of achievement. The course will be run on Tuesday, April 29, from 9.30am to 4pm at Kilrush Mart.

The course costs €60 but families in receipt of farm assist will be enti- tled to a discount. Places are limited to 12 so early booking is essential. Please contact Hilary Gleeson at EIRI Corca Baiscinn on 065 9056611 Oy OL Lom WR hreF