Month: March 2012

A LOCAL sculptor has rejected criticisms made online about his recent work, which was unveiled in Ennis last week.

Barry Wrafter says he doesn’t care what critics think of his Market Day sculpture. The piece, which comprises two farmers, a cow and a dog, pays a tribute to Ennis’ market tradition.

Made from granite, the near 20 tonne work depicts the two farmers discussing the purchase of a cow. The sculpture was installed on the market roundabout last Tuesday as a replacement for the Icarus statue, which has been re-located to the Rocky Road roundabout.

The statue has attracted plenty of attention from passers by. However it also provoked a string of both positive and negative comments on social networking and news websites such as Facebook and Broadsheet.ie.

Some critics claimed the statues are too bland. But Barry says he’s not bothered by what people think of his work. “I don’t really care about the negative stuff. People were giving out about the cost of it and saying we shouldn’t be spending money on things like this when the economy is the way it is. It’s Ennis Town Council and the Sculpture Initiative who paid for it. I did a year’s work on this for nothing. What I got paid only covered the cost of it.

“Anytime I’m up around the market people are saying fair play to you. There were two people on Facebook who were negative about it. I went on to respond and as soon as I did a lot of people started putting up messages in support. That gave me great heart.”

The piece was commissioned in 2009 and is a joint initiative between Ennis Town Council and the Ennis Sculpture Initiative. The Newmarket on Fergus based artist has been working on the piece for past 12 months.

Barry explained, “It is two men of the land meeting on some fine day in the past to come to an agreement on the purchase of a cow. This is the moment in time literally set in stone that the deal is made the way deals were made back then with the gesture to spit on the hand and then a firm handshake and always with the right hand.

He added, “I’d like to thank Ennis Town Council for facilitating this sculpture and Keatings for the work on the roundabout especially Michael Murphy. I would also like to single out Tommy Scott for praise and the Halpins for the handling of the stone and lastly to Al, Alex and Neo for the inspiration to keep going at this.”

Barry who documented the making of his work on his website www.barrywrafter.com.

GOVERNMENT cutbacks in youth services that are set to be implemented over the next three years now means that frontline services provided throughout the county by the Clare Youth Service will be closed.

That’s the warning that has been issued by both the chairman and chief executive of the Clare Youth Service, as they front up a new fundraising campaign to try and stave off the forced closure of key services that will be brought on by budget cuts.

These fears for the future of Clare Youth Service operations have been sounded out in a letter, secured by The Clare People this week, in which chairman Michael Byrne and chief executive Margaret Slattery launched their appeal to members of the public to row in behind a fundraising campaign for youth services throughout Clare.

“We’ve responded to the cutbacks of recent years by pay reductions, restructuring and changing the way we work. This has helped us maintain core services,” the letter outlining the current financial well-being of Clare Youth Service states.

“However, we’ve now been informed of the scale of cuts to our grants up to 2015. There will be more significant reductions each year to the extend that internal savings will not allow us to maintain a reasonable level of service.

“Unless alternative income in generated, frontline services will close,” it adds.

Clare Youth Service has a huge network of services throughout the county, providing 68 projects in 25 locations for up to 3,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 25.

Clare Youth Service had its beginnings in 1969 when it was established as Clare Regional Youth Council. Over the years it has changed and developed to become a leader in the field of youth services.

The range of services includes youth clubs, certified training, music projects, youth cafés and education programmes.

To ensure that services can be maintained, people around the county are being asked to become “a patron or a friend” of Clare Youth Service.

“Individuals and companies can become a patron for a donation of € 50 or become a friend for € 20. There is no ongoing commitment. Friends will receive a car sticker, whilst patrons will receive a certificate for their premises or home in addition to the sticker,” the letter adds.

THE people of Doolin will hit the big time later this week as the town features in an hour-long programme to be broadcast on Sky TV. A number of local people and musicians were interviewed during the recent Micho Russell Memorial Music festival in the village, with many of these interviews to feature on the programme.

The programme, which is entitled ‘Out and About in Ireland’ will be broadcast on Sky channel 201 this coming Thursday, March 8, from 9pm and repeated twice on Sunday and Monday, March 11 and 12, at 11pm.

It is not clear as yet which local people have made it into the final cut for the programme, but it will feature something from local musicians Kevin Griffin, Adrian O’Connor, Albie Grace, Donal Murphy, Pat Ryan, David Crowe, Tom Delaney, Matt Burke and Christy Ennis, as well as an interview with Sean Keane who was in Doolin performing for the weekend.

“It is always an honour to be invited back to perform in front of people that really appreciate and understand the music,” said Keane about the Russell Memorial Festival.

“I love coming down to Doolin. Micho Russell has a legendary place in traditional music and I think this weekend embodies the emotion and spirit of his music.

“There is something about Doolin and the music of Clare that is magical and I am sure people will really enjoy this programme.”

The programme focuses on the Russell Memorial Music Festival, describing it as one of the “hidden gems” of the Irish traditional music calendar.

While the festival already attracts musicians and music-lovers from all over Ireland, it is hoped that the exposure gained from the television programme could attract new audiences to the festival for 2013.

The programme was made for Sky by a film crew from an Irish television company who will also be streaming the programme online at www.irishtv.ie from this Thursday.

It is presented by Pierce O’Reilly and, besides focussing on the traditional music of the area, it also looks at some of the leading local artisan food producers in the area, including the Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna and Linalla Ice Cream in New Quay.

THE village of Kilmaley is to get an economic and jobs boost, as a result of further investment into a local voluntary housing scheme.

The Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association has received € 2.126 million from the Department of the Environment Community and Lo- cal Government, which will fund the building of 12 new houses for older people. This will bring to 24 the number of houses in the scheme.

Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association Director Cllr Tom McNamara (FF) said the committee fought hard for the funding, but it will prove to be great value for money in the provision of elderly care.

The group now hopes the HSE will provide funding for at least two supervising staff for the housing scheme.

Cllr McNamara explained that many of the residents living in the houses have been there for a number of years, and require a little more support. He said it is also hoped that the adjoining day care centre’s opening hours will be extended to seven days a week. The day care centre is currently open four days a week providing services to at least 100 people from Kilmaley, Lissycasey, Inagh/ Kilnamona and Coor as well as some people from Ennis.

It currently costs between € 300,000 and € 400,000 to maintain the service, with the HSE providing € 158,000.

Cllr McNamara maintains that the service could be extended to seven days a week at a relatively low cost and is hoping to receive HSE support to undertake this challenge.

It is hoped building on the new houses will begin next month and is likely to take 10 months to complete.

The construction phase will provide much needed employment and a local income injection according to Cllr McNamara.

A NEW multi-cultural women’s group with the aim of empowering women and promoting greater integration is to be established in the county this week.

Excelling Women Network will be the Clare branch of a national organisation for women of all ages in the county and will be launched by the Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes, this Thursday in the Old Ground Hotel to kickstart International Women’s Day celebrations in the county capital.

“Excelling Women is a network for all women,” says spokesperson Orla Ni Éilí, “and will focus on activities that engage, inform and empower women, support and deepen integration and create opportunities for self and community development and fulfillment.

“Excelling Women Clare are delighted to be launched on the 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day, a day that is celebrated and marked worldwide in commemoration of the New York women garment-workers’ strike for equal pay and better working conditions in 1911,” Ms Ní Éilí added.

“The organisation is a network of women from many different cultural backgrounds coming together to learn, celebrate, build relationships and enhance life in Ireland for themselves and the wider community,” explained Kate Njoku for the Excelling Women Network. “Women will have the opportunity to get out of their homes, meet others, cut down on isolation and also engage in society at all levels from the very personal to the political,” she added.

Ahead of launching the new organisation, Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes said, “Excelling Women is a very positive initiative for the county.”

The calendar of events for Excelling Women Network includes information sessions and discussions on health and wellbeing, participation in civic and political life, training and employment, child rearing and the family and of course intercultural celebration.

The next event, pencilled in for April, will focus on personal development and active citizenship at local and global level.

THE quest to reclaim the memory of one of Ireland’s foremost storytellers and social historians begins this weekend in Kilbaha with a lecture on the life of Bríd Ui Choisteala – the blind storyteller of West Clare.

Bríd, who was recorded by Tadgh Ó Murchú on behalf of the Irish Folklore Commission in the 1930s and 1940s, was once recognised as one of the finest tradition-bearers in Ireland. However, over the last number of decades, Bríd Uí Choisteala has largely fallen from social memory.

Cuimhneamh an Chláir, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Group, will host a public lecture in Kilbaha Community Hall this Friday, March 9, to remember Bríd and her work.

“Women can be fantastic bearers of tradition but often dismiss themselves and fade into the background. In our collection of work, we have made every effort to ensure that the memories of Clare’s older women are documented and added to our archive and have been privileged with some of the memories and stories we’ve documented from women in Clare,” said Tomás Mac Conmara of Cuimhneamh an Chláir.

“The case of Bríd Uí Choisteala is a sad example of how, over time, these great storytellers can be largely forgotten outside of their native area.”

Last year, Cuimhneamh an Chláir produced an outreach project called Faces of Folklore, which featured Seamus Ó Duilearga, Stiofán Ó hÉalaoire and Bríd Uí Choisteala.

“We highlighted in Faces of Folk

lore that, in a picture

of Bríd Uí Choi

steala taken in the

1930s, she had been

reduced in the cap

tion to the blind wife

of Mr Costelloe,”

continued Tomás.

“We wanted to ad

dress this terrible

reduction and it re

ally seems to have

struck a chord with

people across Clare.

We received a lot of

interest in the storyteller over the following moths and so decided to arrange a public lecture in her honour in her native place of Kilbaha. In fact, the lecture takes place in the very building she went to school in the late 1800s.”

Cuimhneamh an Chláir have spent a number of days in the Kilbaha area, gathering local traditions about Bríd Uí Choisteala and are anxious to meet with any other people who may remember her from their childhood or have heard any information about her.

THE Clare branch of Legalise Cannabis in Ireland (CLCI) has vowed to continue to fight for the decriminalisation of the use of medicinal cannabis following the withdrawal of a case against one of the group’s key members last week.

The case, which was taken against one of the founding members of CLCI, Kevin Clohessy, was withdrawn last week because of a technical issue involving the search warrant used by Gardaí in the case. Mr Clohessy suffers from Osteoarthritis, which is a progressive condition that effects his shoulders, hips and knees.

“It is very painful for him to move, and he has reduced flexibility in certain areas. This is a progressive condition so it is going to continue to get worse as he gets older. Cannabis is an anti-inflammatory; it also provides pain relief and is a muscle relaxant.

“When he can smoke, all of his body frees up and he can flex his wrists and his shoulders in ways that he just couldn’t before,” said Niamh O’Brien, founder of CLCI.

“There is a chemical tablet for cannabis about to come on the market in the coming weeks. We can’t understand why it is okay for some pharmaceutical company to grow it, put it in a pill and sell it to people for a massive profit, and it is not okay for us to grow this natural plant for ourselves.”

According to Clare LCI, the decriminalisation of cannabis will help stop people with genuine medical conditions from coming into contact with criminals and help stop the drugs trade in Ireland.

Medicinal cannabis has been legalised in a number of European countries to date, including Spain and Portugal as well as a number of US states.

“We don’t want to be involved in criminality, we don’t want to go down any dark alleyways and be involved with unsavoury people. We want to know what we are smoking. We are being responsible, we know that this stuff works and all we want to do is to be able to treat ourselves in the best way possible,” continued Niamh.

“What we need is more education and information about this issue. The Clare organisation is still going strong but it is hard to get people actively involved.

“People are still afraid of what might happen if they speak up. We really do want to reach more older people in Clare. They are the people who are most likely to get a benefit from this.”

EAST Clare could soon become Ireland’s destination of choice for canoe and kayak trails following new proposal to first map, and then open up the scores of rivers and lakes in the area to tourists.

North Clare canoe enthusiast and businessman, Fergus Brogan, is currently at an advanced stage of negotiations with LEADER and the Clare LDC and, all going well, a canoe trail could be up and running in area before this summer.

“There was a book published last year, the first major list of canoe trails in Ireland, and there was not one trail at all in Clare. That got me thinking. It is crazy that a place like Clare, that has so much water, has no real canoe infrastructure. There is 30 lakes within a 10 mile radius of Peppers Pub in Feakle – 30 lakes and not one of them has ever seen a canoe,” said Fergus. “That is just one area. This is a major major resource that is not being tapped at the moment. I would estimate that there must be more than hundreds of lakes in East Clare alone – along the path of the Scariff River. I am going to be the first person to paddle the full length of the Scariff River.

“I know that the English tourists would absolute love to come to East Clare and go canoeing with their family. I am talking about an area between the M18 and the River Shannon – this is an area which at the moment has very little tourism and something like this could really get it going.”

Fergus is hoping to begin by developing between 10 and 20 recognised canoe routes in East Clare. This would require mapping the routes as well as collecting some valuable information for the canoeists such as the distance and time needed for each route, a details description of the routes and any points of interest or facilities along the way.

“I have been talking to LEADER and they do seem keen about the idea. The beauty about this is that with a very reasonable amount of investment you could have a product in place and ready to go very quickly,” continued Fergus.

“You don’t need signpost or things like you might need for a walking trail. It would be very very each to get this off the ground.”

NORTH Clare businessman Marcus White will fly to Moscow next month to sign a deal that could bring tens of thousands of new visitors to Clare, through Shannon Airport, this year.

White and his father, James White, met with the head of Russian company Pegus Tours in Asia last week and have arranged a second meeting in the Russian capital for April 8 when, it is hoped, contracts can be signed.

Pegus Tours are one of the world’s largest tour operators and currently bring more than 100,000 Russian tourist on package holidays to Thailand each year. It is hoped that this contract could open the door for tens of thousands of Russians to visit Lisdoonvarna each year on wellness holiday tours.

An estimated € 5 million was generated in North Clare last year as a result of the 6,000 German tourists who visited Lisdoonvarna as part of the Whites’ seven-day wellness trip to Clare operated with Trend Tours. It was confirmed last week that 16,000 German tourists had already booked to come to Ireland with Trend Tours for 2012, with a large portion of them coming to North Clare.

“We met a major tour operator in Asia last week and he already brings several hundred thousand Russians into Thailand each winter for sun holidays. We met the owner personally and we have another meeting for April 8 when, hopefully, we can sign contracts to bring Russians into Shannon or Dublin Airport,” said Marcus.

“Russia and China are the markets to go after at the moment. We always go after bulk business and, if we can get this Russian charter into Shannon Airport, then I think that everyone in the area will be very happy.

“This is something that we are do- ing completely off our own bat, without the help of any state agencies. We got the Germans in ourselves, myself and my father, and we now want to get the Russians into North Clare and to go after China after that. This has been done with absolutely no help from anyone else.

“If this starts off, we hope that everyone involved in the tourism business will come in and get behind it.”

James White, who is a former Fine Gael TD for Donegal, will meet with the Minister for Tourism, Jimmy Deenihan (FG), in the coming weeks to discuss speeding up the visa system for Russians visiting Ireland.

AS MANY as 1,222 people have retired from the HSE West since last September, but the HSE said it will employ more than 100 “essential” staff to cover some of the loss.

The health service area, which includes County Clare, has lost 680 people mostly front line staff to the Early Retirement Scheme since the beginning of the year.

In the former Mid Western Health Board area, made up of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, almost 300 staff had retired just one week before the cut-off mark of February 29. The majority of these staff – 205 – retired from the community sector, an area of health care that has been championed by the HSE as the way forward.

As many as 124 members of personnel retired from the Mid Western Hospital Group which includes Ennis General Hospital.

Four members of the ambulance service in the mid-west retired, with four more gone from corporate services.

At last week’s meeting of the HSE West regional forum, Clare member Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) asked if management had any idea of how the retirements would impact on services.

“Where are we going to have a staffing shortfall?” he asked.

Assistant National Director of HR Francis Rogers said that a robust contingency plans were in place to meet the shortfall.

Regional Director of Operations HSE West John Hennessy said the HSE “would be backfilling 123 post, particularly in midwifery, neonatal services and intensive care”.