Category: News

WARM tributes have been paid to the two fishermen from Quilty who died in tragic circumstances at sea last week.

Michael Galvin (64) and Noel Dickinson, who was in his late 20s, were near neighbours.

Last week, friends and neighbours recalled two men who were popular in their local community.

Speaking last week before both men were laid to rest, Martin Lynch, Chairman of the local Kilmurry Ibrickane GAA club, said the community was still struggling to come to terms with the double tragedy.

He said, “The bigger community are only trying to be there for both fami- lies. It was just horrendous to see two hearses brought into Seaview Park and to see those two men brought into their houses and only one house between them. Even being there you can’t put words on it. I would only hope that people would be strong enough for both families. We have to think about Noel Dickinson’s partner who is expecting a child. Hopefully the local community will be able to be there for her.”

Mr Lynch added, “I can see already that people are coming out in droves to help out with traffic control in the area and around the village. People are just trying to help out with whatever is trying to be done.”

Both men were also remembered for their involvement in local sport.

Mr Lynch said, “Michael Galvin was so involved in the GAA – he was a total supporter and player. He would’ve mentored a lot of teams at underage down the years. Noel Dickinson was a dedicated follower of all teams.”

A fisherman and former tradesman, Mr Galvin played for and coached teams with Kilmurry Ibrickane.

“He was larger than life. He was so spirited. He was so humorous, witty and, no matter how bad a situation seemed to be, he seemed to find the positive out of it. On the lead up to the All Ireland final, he gave great support to the team.

“He goes back further than that. For under 14 and under 16 teams, when we needed transport, he was the man who pulled up with his long station wagon and brought people to games. It goes beyond words to describe what kind of a clubman he was. His heart was always with Kilmurry Ibrickane.”

Mr Galvin was also known for his passionate support of his local football team. Mr Lynch said, “He played at all levels. When the chips were down, Michael was definitely the man to rally the troops. The bigger the challenge, the higher Michael rose to meet it.”

Mr Lynch added, “He really came into his own in opposition territory, be that in the terrace or an opposition pub. He never left anyone in any doubt about where his loyalties lay. He was well known for his passionate way of supporting the club and team.”

A NOTE of hope for the future of Ireland was heralded by Professor Kevin Whelan at the Merriman Summer School in Lisdoonvarna last week. Professor Whelan, who is the Director of the Keough Naughton University of Notre Dame Centre in Dublin, opened this year’s Summer School at the Pavillion in Lisdoonvarna.

According to Whelan, rural communities in Clare and all over Ireland remain beautiful but should be developed with reference to the local environment and the work of previous generations, rather than through other ideas imposed from outside.

“Despite our efforts to exploit it, to ravage it and to neglect it, we still live on a beautiful island. We can re- store Ireland to itself and bequeath it to Irish people not yet born. We can all still open our minds, our eyes and our hearts to it,” he said.

“Seamus Heaney does this as he experiences the Flaggy Shore in the Burren in autumn. He says, ‘When the wind and the light are working off each other’ and ‘big soft buffetings come at the car sideways and catch the heart off guard and blow it open’.”

The theme of the 2012 Summer School was ‘Thriving at the Crossroads: Rural Ireland in a Globalised World’ and this put the focus of many contributors on both the positive and negative changes which impacted on rural Ireland during the Celtic Tiger years.

“The rural countryside is the cumulative creation of countless gen- erations of people living in a specific place, the sedimentation of culture from the stream of time,” continued Professor Whelan. “It nourishes deep social and psychological wellsprings by providing a sense of continuity. It remains too, an enduring source of spiritual and artistic inspiration, stimulating creativity in our best artists. It provides an inexhaustible font of ideas on how we can best use our land, sympathetic with the wider search for ecological sustainability and socio-economic well-being.

“The countryside is the dynamic arena in which the drama of human history, the never-ending dialogue of nature and culture, has been constantly played. Cultural landscapes embody the natural history of humankind, of a long and evolving relationship with landscape.”

FISHERMEN have a special place in Quilty. They always will.

It’s history; it’s heritage; it’s family; it’s been a way of life for so many down the generations, that has touched so many families as a job of journeywork, a livelihood.

In Quilty fishermen know the floor of the sea like farmers know their land. They do, because it’s part of their DNA, part of what they are and it’s something they’re proud of, and fiercely so.

Pride at this long association with the waters around Mutton Island is everywhere. In the plaque on the sea wall opposite the Quilty Tavern that reads, ‘Heroism remembered: On October 3, 1907 tragedy was averted in Quilty village’. The crew from the French ship, Leon XIII, were rescued from their stricken ship by local fisherman and despite stormy conditions not a single life was lost; in the artwork on the same wall; in the name of the local chipper that commemorates the Leon XIII; in the church that’s named Star of the Sea; in the bell in the sanctuary of the church that once belonged to Leon XIII.

When the church bell rang out on Friday afternoon for Noel Dickinson and Michael Galvin, there was still pride at that association with the sea, but overwhelming sadness had enveloped the village. Quilty was a community in mourning, and a community drawing on each other for comfort, or as parish Fr Pat Larkin said in search of “meaning”.

One of the laments played at Noel Dickinson’s funeral was ‘Fiddler’s Green’, while members of the fishing community from Clare and as far away as the Aran Islands were present to pay their respects to the two men and their families for their tragic losses.

Fr Larkin, told the congregation about how the previous Monday, August 14, was “like any other day for Michael Galvin and Noel Dickinson” before turning to a double tragedy that had rocked the community.

“Just another ordinary day going out to work to check the pots and put out the nets and, above all, hope there would be a catch coming back in,” said Fr Larkin.

“But things changed, changed drastically, changed forever. And in that change, hearts are broken, lives are turned upside down and we search for meaning. We look for hope and we turn to each other. That’s what we’ve done over the past week – turning to each in support,” added Fr Larkin.

A NEW form of decentralisation was on the table for discussion in Lisdoonvarna over the weekend, as Fianna Fáil spokesman on Agriculture, Food and Community Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, called for a reintroduction of the much maligned policy of his former government.

Deputy Ó Cuiv was speaking at the final major panel discussion of the Merriman Summer School alongside MEP Mairéad Mc Guinness at the Pavillion Theatre on Saturday evening. The theme of the discussion was ‘On the Land’ and Ó Cuiv suggested a new targeted form of decentralising as a means of invigorating rural areas.

The outspoken former Fianna Fáil deputy leader said that decentralisation could be carried out again on a more organised and incremental fashion over a longer period.

“I believe that the current Government should continue with a targeted programme of decentralisation,” he said. “Unfortunately, urban areas tend to be socially segregated and, in my view, that is a great ill in our society. Having grown up in Dublin and come to live in Cornamona, I have come to appreciate the strength of community life,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, MEP McGuinness said there was more to rural Ireland than septic tanks and turf-cutting rows. “In a globalised world, there is no room for a mentality of ‘they are for us or they are against us’,” she said.

The Director of this year’s Summer School, Chairman of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Bob Collins, said this year’s summer school is about the very future of rural Ireland.

“In current economic conditions, where the easy optimism of a few short years ago has evaporated and where the enduring presence of institutions that have supported rural communities for almost two centuries can no longer be taken for granted, there is much on which to reflect,” he said.

ENNIS is well positioned to benefit from any future expansion plans by Microsemi.

That’s according to the IDA who have welcomed the announcement that Ennis has been chosen as the European headquarters for the US company.

Barry O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer of the IDA, said, “Microsemi is a growing company with ambitious plans and Ennis is wellpositioned to contribute to this growth.”

He added, “The contribution of the company to the local economy and community is highly significant, and it is gratifying to see the partnership strengthening with the announcement that Ennis is to become its European headquarters.

According to local Fine Gael TD, Joe Carey, the news that the Ennis facility will serve as the company’s European headquarters is “a real vote of confidence in this region, its workforce and the future of the mid-west”.

He added, “The company will have done their homework and will know that we have a vastly improved infrastructure network in the midwest, easy access to global markets and a skilled and dedicated workforce, all of which will help foster future growth and development.

“I welcome the fact that 50 jobs were created this year and look forward to more announcements on jobs in the future as the company continues to grow and develop and expand its range of products and activities in Ennis.”

A SENIOR executive of Microsemi in Ireland has said the company is considering expanding its operations in Ennis.

In light of Ennis being named Microsemi’s European headquarters, Vice President Richard Finn said operations at the plant could be increased further.

Ennis was selected as a base to consolidate many of Microsemi’s legal and human resources functions.

Microsemi also recently moved a new product line to Ennis, boosting the number of people employed by Microsemi in Clare to 300.

Mr Finn sees similar developments as crucial to the growth of the Ennis plant.

He explained, “Since January we’ve taken on 50. We’ve moved a product line out of Lawrence, Massachusetts, just 20 miles north of Boston, in January.

“We’re still hiring a few engineers and technicians. Hopefully it will continue to grow.”

Asked if the designation of Ennis as Microsemi’s European headquarters could aid expansion of the plant, Mr Finn said;

“Absolutely. My job is to find what the next thing is that we can move in here because we do squeeze some efficiencies in here and we do have economies of scale in what we do which is primarily the test and burn- ing of discreet semi-conductors, which is a fairly narrow field. But we’re the best in the world at what we do. If we can bolt on something else, then so much the better.”

Mr Finn said there was no shortage of skilled workers in the labour market.

He added, “Generally yes. We’ve had a great response.

“We advertised in January and got a great response. We got huge numbers.

“We got maybe 400 people for 30 jobs in terms of people applying. We interviewed about 100. There is no shortage of people looking for work or willing to do it.

There’s always going to be a scarcity in a specialised field.”

THE future of the Burren Farming for Conservation Project (BFCP) is one of the key goals outlined in the draft Burren Charter, which was published last week.

The project, which formed part of the pilot BurrenLIFE project last year, currently supports 266 Burren farmers to farm in a way that will protect the Burren natural limestone pavement, control pollution and prevent the encroachment of scrub.

According to Michael Davoran of Burren IFA, the way of life for the people of the Burren can be saved through this charter.

“This is ground-up management for the Burren. It is about preserving the way of life for the people at the Burren and that is not something that the farmers of the Burren can do by themselves.

“We need help, we all need to work together, that is what this charter is about,” he said.

“It started off with farmers working with the National Parks and Wildlife and that is to broaden out through the Heritage Council to the management of all aspects of the Burren.

“Everyone needs to have a voice in this – it is people in once-off houses, people who live in villages around the place, people who earn a living locally through the service industry and tourism. We all interact with each other and we all need to realise that,” said Mr Davoran.

Along with the preservation of the BFCP, the charter also advocated the development of a one-stop Burren shop and helpline to support and help farmers, as well as increasing the opportunities for local farmers in the areas of conservation, tourism and enterprise to help supplement farm income.

“This is the people of the Burren managing the Burren for the betterment of all. It is the people of the Burren asking themselves, what can we do for ourselves, instead of having something imposed from above,” said Mr Davoran.

“The Burren is managed by the farmer. The archeology, the geology, the flora and the fauna are all a product of the farming which has gone on for generations. ‘If we want people to continue to support us in projects like the Farming for Conservation Programme, the more people who are playing a role in managing the Burren – farming and non-farming bodies – the better.”

A NEW constitution has been drafted for the people of the Burren – a document which, it is hoped, will help preserve the environment and way of life of the area for future generations. After more than two years of consultation with the local people, the first draft of the Burren Charter was released last week. The charter contains a set of aims for all sections of the community involved in the area and the hope is that the entire local population will sign up to uphold it.

The draft document was compiled by the BurrenBeo Trust, The Burren Farming for Conservation Group, Burren Connect, Burren IFA and both Clare and Galway County Councils.

“This has been developed through contact with the local community and it is about the people who live here deciding what they want for the future and what they can do to make this happen,” said Áine Bird of the Burrenbeo Trust.

“This is a draft charter at the moment and a lot of research has gone into it. But it is still a working document and we really want to the local people to get stuck into the document and tell us if they think we are going in the right direction.

“We need to get the community’s input into this and for them to tell us if we are going in the right direction with this or not.”

It is unclear at present whether members of the general public in the Burren will be asked to physically sign up to the Burren Charter once it is completed but the charter will have no legal standing.

“We are already working on different projects that have come about through the work already done on the charter.

“One of these is a community festival for the Burren which will take place in October and should be a great event but we are also working on a series of recordings of the farm- ing tradition with the Cuimhneamh an Chláir,” said Áine. “We are also looking at creating a one-stop-shop resource centre for the people of the Burren and also an audit of the heritage courses which are available in the Burren to see is there a gap in the market. This isn’t just a book exercise, things are going to happen ot of this.”

Anyone who wants to comment on the Burren Charter can download it at Burrenbeo.com or in the North Clare libraries.

CLARE will now have two respesentatives at this year’s Rose of Tralee Festival – and both of them will be named Flanagan.

Despite Clare Rose, Orla McDonagh, not making it through to this year’s final, the county will be represented by London Rose, Nóra Ní Fhlannagáin, who hails from Corofin, and also the New Zealand Rose, Alana Marshall, whose family comes from Ennis.

Alana, whose great-great-grandfather, Michael Flanagan, left Ennis for New Zealand in 1864, was among 15 overseas Roses who gathered in Dublin yesterday to be presented with a certificate of her Irish heritage.

Sporting the Clare jersey, Alana was presented with her certificate by leading Kerryman, Dick Spring. The Certificate of Irish Heritage is a Government document, signed by the Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, as an official recognition of a person’s Irish ancestry by the Government of Ireland.

“From a young age, I was very aware and proud of my Flanagan Irish connection. My parents took me to Clare when I was 11 and I returned again when I was 18, during my gap year.

“I felt an amazing sense of belonging and felt so at home. I am delighted to honour my ancestors and the sacrifices they made through the Certificate of Irish Heritage,” she said yesterday.

Each Certificate of Irish Heritage is a personal record of the recipient’s Irish roots, showing the name of their Irish ancestor and the town or parish in Ireland from which they came.

It is as yet unclear whether Clare’s two Flanagan representatives are in any way related to each other but they will be able to assess their family histories when the Rose of Tralee festival gets underway later this week.

Nóra Ní Fhlannagáin is an Oxfordbased PHd student but her roots are very much in County Clare, with her father, John Flanagan, living on the main street in Corofin and a collection of cousins and friends all over the county.

Indeed, Nóra even has a connection to this year’s Clare Rose as her uncle, Tom Flanagan, is a next-door neighbour of Orla McDonagh in Clouna.

ONE million euro has been donated to the Diocese of Killaloe to promote vocations and to help fund the training of new priests in the diocese.

The money was a bequest to the diocese in the will of an unknown local person, on the condition that it only be used to promote new priests entering the ministry.

The cash windfall was yesterday described by diocesan spokesperson, Fr Brendan Quinlivan, as a sign of “new hope” for vocations in the diocese.

The Killaloe diocese currently has one person studying to become a priest, while a number of other men are currently considering entering formal studies.

“This is a sign of great hope for the diocese. The person who made this donation must have been someone whose life was greatly impacted on by the priesthood,” said Fr Quinlivan.

“The money will be used for the promotion of vocations and also to help fund the studies of anyone from the diocese who decides to study to become a priest. Between accommodation and the cost of studies it can cost between € 15,000 and € 20,000 a year for a person to train to become a priest and this could take between five and seven years.”

According to Fr Quinlivan, the type of people who decide to join the priesthood these days are very different from the people who joined in the past. New entrants are generally older, and must undertake psychological testing as well as a period of deep reflection before they are allowed to begin their studies.

“We had two ordinations in the parish this year, we currently have one person in studies and we have a number of people who have expressed an interest in becoming a priest and are currently in a period of discernment,” continued Fr Quinlivan.

“It is different from how it was in my day when people came straight from school. These days we are finding a lot of older men, who have lived through the Celtic Tiger and have come to the conclusion that there is something different out there for them.

“Many of these people may have to give up jobs to begin their studies so it is a total change of life for them.”

The diocese will receive the € 1 million in three different payments over three years. Pic kin g u p to wa rd s th e we e ke n d bu t e a rly in d ic a t io n s a re n o t gre a t , m o re c lo u d wit h o n ly spo ra d ic su n sh in e .