Month: August 2008

THE reinstitution of the Western Rail Corridor has moved a step closer with the granting of planning permission for the redevelopment of Gort train station last week.

The corridor, which is currently on schedule to connect Ennis to Galway by early next year, had faced long de- lays if planning permission had not been granted for the Gort railway station.

The old Gort station, which is a listed building, will now be com- pletely overhauled and transformed into one of the largest stations on the

proposed rail corridor.

Galway County Council last week granted permission for Iarnrod Eire- ann to construct two new 90 metre platforms, an 80-bay car park, a pe- destrian bridge, a platform and bicy- cle shelters.

Earlier this year, the rail com- pany got permission to upgrade Craughwell and Ardrahan railway Stations.

Meanwhile, the campaign to secure a rail stop at Crusheen on the West- ern Rail Corridor continued this week with the instigation of a major postcard writing campaign to politi- EE

Hundreds of postcards featuring an image of the old Crusheen rail station have been sent to politicians over the last week.

“The campaign is continuing and we are making progress but it is slow going. We are in contact with larn- rod Eireann on an ongoing basis and we are very hopeful that this situa- tion will be resolved but it will take a concerted effort from all concerned,” said Mike O’Doherty of Crusheen Development.

“We are still very hopeful that a station can be up and running in Crusheen before the rail corridor 1s introduced. We are not going to put

a time limit on the process but we would like to see it happening sooner rather than later.

“It is definitely still possible for us to get this station up and going. We have already received the support of a number of people including Minis- ter Eamon O Cuiv.”

Mr O’Doherty also confirmed that Crusheen Development were cur- rently waiting for a response on a number of new proposals from Iarn- rod Eireann.

He also confirmed that that organi- sation would stage another public meeting before the end of August to discuss the way forward.

IF YOU are a shower-time singer or a office canteen comedian, the time has come to hang up that hairbrush microphone and get your hands on detom usted maenbetce

After organising a number of suc- cessful gigs earlier this year, the Shannon Gigs Club has decided to turn it’s attention to giving amateur local artists their big break.

At present the club is organising a Open Mic nights due to take place in the next couple of weeks.

The night has been organised to give locals artists a forum to play and per- form, and offer first time performers the chance to try their luck 1n front of a small and friendly crowd.

“What we really want to get off the eround is create a forum for local people to get up in front of a stage and give it a go,’ said event organiser Frank Sadlier.

“We are looking for all kinds of entertainers; people who can sing, musicians, comedians, anyone who would like to have a go at entertain- ing a crowd in any way.

“We are going to host them in the Back Bar of the Old Lodge Hotel which will be a nice location for any- one looking to get up on stage in front of an audience for the first time. It’s a nice cozy venue, not too small and not so big that it would make anyone who wants to perform too nervous.

“We’d like to see 1t become a very relaxed event, where people can bring a few friends along to cheer them- selves on and have a good night.”

Anyone interested in taking part should check out www.shannongigs. com for more information.

The Shannon Gigs Club would like to speak to all interested performers before the event and people will not be allowed to perform on the night without first registering.

“What we really want in a non- competitive outlet for local talent. But who knows, maybe someone who plays at the gig might get popu- lar with the locals and go on from there. Anything could happen,’ con- tinued Frank.

“We will be back to gigs later in the Autumn but for now we will be doing the Open Mic and see how it goes.”

NEW JOBS are on the way for Shannon in a welcome good news announcement from a Smithstown even er DENA

Bolgers, a leading supplier of fabri- cated products from has completed a €4.5 million expansion and plans to increase it’s workforce by 25 per cent by the end of 2009.

The firm recently completed the building and commissioning of a second production facility at their base in Smithstown. Capital expend- iture on the investment was €4 mil-

lion which has brought total invest- ment on their Shannon site to €10 million.

Currently, Bolgers employ 75 peo- ple. It is forecasted that this will increase to 85 people by the end of this year and to 100 by the close of paulo?

The firm contributes in excess of €2.5 million per annum to the local economy.

Jan Bolger, the firm’s joint manag- ing director, said the move will allow them to launch a range of new serv- ices, including laser-profiling.

“Our success is a result of anticipat-

ing and responding to our customers’ needs and keeping our organisational capability aligned with the market.”, he said.

Bolgers have a turnover of €10 mil- lion, with approximately 87 per cent made up of export sales. This is up from 60 per cent in 2006. In the last two years, the acclaimed fabrication company has more than doubled in size. At present, they are experienc- ing strong growth in export markets, particularly Northern Ireland and the 1S

In March this year, Bolgers became the first European fabrication com-

pany to receive Silver Certificate for Caterpillar’s Supplier Quality Excel- lence Process (SQEP).

Caterpillar introduced this stand- ard in response to rising warranty costs. As a result, the company in- troduced the SQEP standard for all international suppliers.

Currently, Bolgers is the only Eu- ropean fabrication supplier to be recognised by Caterpillar with its ‘silver’ level certification.

“This 1s a tremendous achievement due to the hard selection criteria in place”, a spokesman for the company said.

that this was the fifth time the sewers in his six-year-old house have been blocked due to rainfall since he moved in there years ago.

On Wednesday last water in the sewers close to his home reached the top, so he was unable to flush his to1- oi

“With all the rain I thought this might happen so I flushed one of the toilets and the water came up to meet me, it had no where to go.”

Two days later just one of the three toilets in the house could be used and then not very often, according to Pe- om

During the torrential rain he had five adult guests from France and two children staying at his home.

“It was very hard to have to tell them that they could not flush the toilets or that they should go to the pub,” he said.

The washing machine and dish- washer were also out of bounds.

Peter said the direct translation of the name of the estate is brown mash and he believed he would be living in

just that if the flooding continued.

Shannon County Councillor Ger- ry Flynn (Ind) believes not just the heavy rainfall caused the flooding in Shannon but an infrastructure defi- ole

“Thousands of homes were built and the people that bought them now can’t flush their toilets. “The writ- ing has been on the wall for years. We knew if we had major floods we were in trouble. The drainage system just cannot cope,’ he added. “If it is a thing that we cannot sustain a few hours of torrential rain without all this damage it is terrible,” he said.

He said that a council policy of in- sisting that houses are built below road level was further exasperating the problem.

Meanwhile a Clare County Coun- cil spokesperson said that Shannon coped well compared to other areas in the country hit by similar rainfall in the past week.

As workers travelled home some roads had to be closed and diversions put in place including at Minister’s Cross. “Land adjoining roads was discharging water so quickly that the drains could not cope,” he said.

From 4.45pm on Wednesday two See Seige Seitalmecanee ees e nis and Shannon fire service worked until midnight relieving flooding, putting up signs and distributing sand bags. The council contractors responsible for the pump houses – Response Engineering – worked all yen rea

HEAVY rains resulted in major flooding in Shannon last week and one local sports facility was among the areas heavily affected by the un- seasonal torrential downpour.

When officials from the Newtown soccer club paid a visit to the club’s erounds in Ballycasey, they were surprised but not too shocked at the sight that greeted them.

Four feet of water covered the play- ing surface at Ballycasey turning it from a soccer pitch to a temporary lake. Club chairman Brendan Wall

was among the first to inspect the damage in Thursday morning.

He explained that flooding had been an ongoing issue in the area for some years.

“I knew that after the heavy rain- fall it was probably going to be bad but when I got down to the pitch I was actually surprised at how bad it was. We’ve had flooding here before but never anything as bad as this”.

Wall, Chairman of the Clare Schoolboy Soccer League and a long time member of the Newtown club, said an adjoining stream which runs near the playing pitches, exacerbated

the flooding problem.

“It has happened three times in the past. One of the problems that makes the situation worse is the fact that there is a stream running near the pitch and when that overflows we al- ways have a problem”.

Ballycasey has been the home of Newtown soccer club since 1977 when the club played on land owned by Shannon Development.

21 years later and on the back of a major fundraising campaign, the club moved to its present site in 1998.

Wall, who last night was honored for his lifelong contribution to soc-

cer in Clare said the time has come for Clare County Council to seri- ously address the drainage system in NJetveveleee

“The pumps can’t cope with this amount of rainfall and everyone in Shannon knows this. This problem has been going on for the past few years and its time something was done about it”.

YOUNG FANS of Artemis Fowl turned out in force in Scariff last week to show what they could con- jure with the help of a camera.

The youngsters came to the library with pictures that they had taken to best represent their favourite charac- ters from the series.

The international best-selling se- ries of books by Eoin Colfer, Ar- temis Fowl, inspired Playstation3 to launch a photographic competition for kids and teens in association with

the Library Council of Ireland and Penguin Books.

The initiative was aimed at eight to 16-year-olds who were asked to get their hands on a digital camera and get snapping and bring the seven million selling series of books to life in a photo.

The results were brought to Scar- iff library – as well as other librar- ies across the county – and uploaded by Playstation3 consoles where they have been stored for the judges to see.

The weird and wonderful photo-

eraphic creations ranged from the abstract to the imaginatively staged and proved that the future of creative photography is secure.

Winners will be announced in Sep- tember with one winner being cho- sen from each participating county council. As well as winning a Play- Station3 console, each of the winners will also receive a once in a lifetime prize of a limited edition copy of an Artemis Fowl book with their own winning image on the cover.

“Playstation and Penguin have linked up to promote the games con-

sole as a device with more than a sole function of playing games. It can also be used to watch movies, upload and listen to music, access the in- ternet and upload, store and browse through photographs,’ a spokesman for the competition organisers said.

IT’S the battle of the Divas of Doo- nass and there are ten lovely “song- birds” about to take to the stage to give performances that east Clare has never heard the likes of.

And the song contest will be only a part of the show in the Angler’s Rest on Friday night, when the dresses, wigs and make-up will sort the men from the – eh – men!

The wannabee divas will be strut- ting their stuff and giving the songs socks as part of the St Senan’s Fam- ily Festival to raise money for health and safety training and equipment for the under-age GAA coaches and

helpers.

‘We have ten volunteers to perform and the audience will pay ©5 each for a voting card. Each man will be dressed and groomed by two women with make-up short skirts – the lot. It won’t be so much a case of Trinny and Suzannah warning what not to wear – more a case of what never to wear, at least in public,” Fiona McK- eown, one of the organisers said.

Paulette Egan, who came up with the divas idea said she was delighted with the response from local lads.

“People told me Id never get ten men to do it, but they came on board.”

The divas are: Miss Hot Toddy,

aka Tod; Miss Drip-Drop, a plumb- er; former Fianna Fail councillor, Michael Begley is Miss Devalora; Miss Daisy, a farmer; Miss Fortune plays for the senior hurling team; Miss Kerry-Ta-Phoney is from Kerry and works for Eircom; Miss Odette is the senior hurling captain; Paul Col- lins is Miss Caul Pollins and Miss Ju-na-Bee-Star is a junior-b hurling team member.

The entertainment will cap off the family day which was traditionally held to celebrate St Senan, the patron saint of the area.

Starting with Mass at 3pm, the day will include a townlands soccer tour- nament and fun stalls with ‘Steady

Eddie’, tin-can alley, hanging t-towel competitions and barrels of fun.

Proceeds from the afternoon will be split between the local ICA. “It was traditional that on August 15, people here would go to Mass and then go and say the Rosary at St Sen- an’s well. In the evening, they would all go to the Angler’s Rest. It had died down a bit over the years so a few of us decided we’d resurrect it and hold a family and community day on that day,” said Paulette.

No one is taking any bets on what St Senan would make of the Divas of Doonass but it’s hoped a miracle might be worked on the fundraising side of things.

THERE was music ringing around the hills of east Clare last week as upwards of 6,000 people came to the town for the six days of events.

Workshops were high on the list this year for visiting musicians sing- ers and dancers.

Gary Pepper, one of the driving forces behind the annual Feakle event, said that enquiries about this year’s musical extravaganza came from all corners of the globe.

“We had people from Japan, which has happened before as there are a couple of local people married to Japanese people. We’ve had people on from the continent and this year

we’ve had enquiries from Denmark and Holland too.”

Every other sector dealing with US visitors has reported a complete slump this year and, said Gary, the festival is no different.

“We saw very few Americans. Other years, there would be a lot of them interested in traditional music, but they don’t seem to be travelling this year,” Gary

But for foreign visitors and Irish people alike, the six days of music proved to be a huge success.

It was officially opened last Wednesday and the organisers used the event to pay tribute to renowned local flute player Paddy O’Donogue. A well-respected musician and com-

poser Paddy recently released a cd of his music with his son Cyril.

Eurovision winner Eimear Quinn performed in the community cen- tre while the concert in St Mary’s Church featured Frankie Gavin and Roisin Elsafty.

TG4 Musician of the Year and lo- cal legend Martin Hayes together with Dennis Cahill were a big draw and the gala concert featured Ceide, Tulla favourite Andrew McNamara and Rob Stein. The workshops con- tinue to be very popular and attend- ance has increased yearly.

As well as the usual classes, for the first time this year, there were four new workshops, for whistle, begin- ner’s concertina, sean nos dancing

and a one-day workshop in tradition- al song writing.

And there was plenty for those who came to listen rather than perform music, with sessions all week in the marquee and in the bars.

“It went very well and we were pleased with the turnout. We’d ex- pected the biggest numbers ever and it’s great to see that the Feakle Fes- tival is getting a name in even more countries abroad,’ said Gary.

BRINGING out children’s creative side is the aim of a series of new courses being run for after school hours in Killaloe.

On Tuesdays, nimble little fingers will learn how to make masks, pup- pets, paint glass and create wonders out of recycled materials.

And on Thursdays, older children will get to grips with still life, learn- ing observation to draw and paint, pen and pencil techniques and wa-

ter colours, all based on a simplified version of the art college’s founda- tion course.

Deirdre Grimes, who has a degree in fine arts, has been teaching young- sters since she graduated.

After working for several years full time as an art teacher in Killa- loe Boys National School as well as in Limerick and teaching art outside of that, Deirdre decided to take her teaching home.

She opened Art Farm, an after school care facility which specialises

in teaching children creative crafts.

‘A lot of parents were asking about art classes and particular courses for their children. I came up with the courses, which will start in Sep- tember and we’re going to limit the numbers so that they get lots of indi- vidual attention.”

Each lesson will be an hour and a half long and the lessons will run over six weeks, between 4.30pm and oy oye

And at the end of the course the youngsters will take part in a bigger

arts festival for young people which is being organised in the Killaloe area.

“Diane Daly who runs the Music in The Glen courses 1s putting together a festival of the arts for young peo- ple and these courses run right up to that, so they will be able to take part in the visual arts exhibition section of the festival,” said Deirdre.

For further information on Art Farm, Deirdre can be contacted on 086 2626525 or by email on artfarm. killaloe@gmail.com.

THOSE who thought that Kilkee was the preferred place of Limerick people to just “hang out” and relax were forced to think again on Satur- day last as a group from the Limer- ick Masters Swimming Club hosted a 12-hour swimathon around Kilkee er MA

The 250-mile swimathon began at Qam and finished at 9pm, as water wrinkled bodies emerged from the salty water.

The day-long event was organised to raise funds and awareness for the charity Muscular Dystrophy Ireland.

The swimathon was also organised as a training session for eight brave swimmers from the Limerick Mas- ters Swimming Club, including one from Clare, who are preparing to cross the English Channel in mid- September, weather permitting. This is also to raise funds for the MDI OitTeIA

These channel swimmers were in the water of Kilkee Bay for a total of

four hours during the west Clare part of the fundraiser.

MDI Lily O’Brien’s_ chocolates were also sold on the day.

Philip Mudge, a member of the Channel Swim Team, said all the swimmers have been training ex- tremely hard over the past year and are “100 per cent dedicated to raising as much money as possible to fund Muscular Dystrophy Ireland’s Medi- cal Research Fund.”

The two relay teams of four people will be swimming across one of the

busiest shipping lanes in the world and facing seasickness, jelly fish and severe cold waters.

Joe T Mooney, CEO of Muscular Dystrophy Ireland, added, “we would like to sincerely thank the Limer- ick Masters Swimming Club Relay Team for organising the swimathon and their remarkable commitment to high endurance training really de- serves a huge amount of admiration as they raise awareness and money for medical research into the cond1- tion Duchenne MD”.