This article is from page 16 of the 2011-07-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
THE PEOPLE of Shannon are being afforded the opportunity to build their own boat, which in time is expected to be involved in regattas.
The Shannon Traditional Boat Building Club was set up a couple of years ago, and facilitated the building of a fishing currach in September 2009.
The interest was such that the club has now decided to build another boat – in the SkyCourt shopping centre.
The club has started building the boat and meets every Thursday evening for 12 weeks at a vacant unit in SkyCourt to continue with the work. The base has been built during the past four weeks and further touches will be added over the next eight weeks until it is completed.
Greg Duff is one of those involved in the committee. “It’s about holding on to the old skills and traditions,” he said. “There has been a lot of interest, including from people who are out of work or retired. They are different ages, mostly people in their 40s and 50s,” said Mr Duff.
The adult education committee in Shannon provides a tutor who assists with building the boat. The tutor, Steve Morris, who hails from New Zealand, has experience in this area, having worked on an old turf boat in Querrin.
“The long-term thing would be we want to build a few currachs and get the younger people to get involved in the regattas around the coast,” said Mr Duff. “We gave the last one to the West Clare Currach Club. This one will be kept by ourselves to use. We are right on the estuary. We would love to have small little sailing boats and have a sailing club in the future,” he said. Members of the public are welcome to turn up for any of the weekly sessions every Thursday from 6.30pm to 9pm. “There is good interest. It is a new club and a club that is something different in this time of recession with loads of people off work,” he said.