Category: News

IRISH Rail is planning a clampdown on passengers who buy discount offpeak tickets to travel from Clare to Dublin and other destinations.

With the train service between Ennis, Sixmilebridge and Limerick becoming an increasingly popular way for people to head for the capital for sporting and music events, or just for a weekend away, passengers are also taking advantage of the off-peak bargains available in rail travel.

But those who try to cheat the system by booking off-peak on-line and then travelling on peak-service trains on those tickets are facing fines of € 100 as well as having to cough up for the ticket they were supposed to buy.

Fares to Dublin are available online at discount rates on the Friday 5.30am, 10am, 11am and 20.55pm services. But with those fares costing either € 10 or € 15, many passengers are trying to pay the minimum while hitching a ride on the busiest trains.

A spokeswoman for Irish Rail said that when a passenger “reserves a ticket on a particular train it’s not transferable to another service. If you want to use that ticket on another train then you are obliged to pay a surcharge of € 20.”

Irish Rail have placed ticket checkers on trains and passengers found trying to use their discount tickets on full-fare routes face having to pay a fine of € 100 as well as the full cost of the ticket they need to travel on that service.

“Revenue protection and fare evasion is something we take very seriously and we have invested a lot in that area to ensure that it is effective,” the spokeswoman said.

FIFTY students from Scoil Chríost Rí, Cloughleigh, were among a host of performers who turned out to mark Love Live Music Day in Ennis on Friday.

The group included teacher David McMahon’s fourth class, the Blazing Bows Ensemble, who were performing in public for the first time with the Scoil Chriost Rí Band. Mr McMahon said the group have been learning violin as part of their school curriculum since September. He added, “They have been practicing very hard to be ready today.”

The event was one of several in Clare marking Love Live Music Day, an initiative by National Music Network, a celebration of all forms of music in Ireland through free nationwide music events which aims to promote access to live music for all. Other Ennis events included a performance of music by Bach at the Clare Museum and a lunchtime trad session at the County Council offices.

The combined group played a varied repertoire including traditional Irish tunes, film themes and blues numbers. Mary Fagin, visiting from Meath, was one of many onlookers who enjoyed the impromptu performance. “Today was a great day to be in Ennis. As I stepped out of the Temple Gate, I was serenaded by this wonderful music. The double bass player was great and the accordion solo from Titanic was brilliant,” she said.

Karen Vaughan, director of the school band, was delighted with the performance of her young musicians. “They are a very dedicated, enthusiastic bunch to work with. It is encouraging to see them engaging with their local community,” she said.

Fiona Power, principal, said, “I am very proud of the students. All the musicians will soon be busy preparing for their next event – the Scoil Chriost Ri Intercultural day at the end of May.”

Further information on the Blazing Bows music programme at the school can be found at www.blazingbows.blogspot.com, which is run by music instructor Cathy Desmond. Ms Desmond is the director of the Swinging Strings project in Ennis National School. The blog documenting the success of the Swinging Strings project was nominated for a prize at the Irish Blog Awards.

A YOUNG Clare singer is promoting the county in a major exhibition which has just opened in London.

15-year-old Ben Escorcio became a household name in the Banner County when he reached the finals of the All Ireland Talent Show last year.

But his latest venture is bringing the county to a wider British audience who can see a video of him singing beneath the stalagtite in the Doolin Cave.

The video is part of a project by well-known artist Dorothy Cross, who is currently exhibiting in the prestigious Fritch Street gallery in London.

Dorothy had seen Ben sing with the Lismorahaun Singers two years previously. “When we finally met, she told me she had been wanting to do a project with me since then,” Ben told The Clare People .

The two met for the first time when Ben’s singing teacher, Archie Simpson, introduced him to Dorothy and they went for a day out to see the cave.

“The stalagtite was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. It was in the cave that Dorothy got the idea for the video,” he said.

Doolin Cave co-operated with the plan and closed the cave for the day, building a platform for Ben to stand on while he was filmed singing.

“The acoustics were just amazing. It was a great experience.” Ben said.

The five-minute video is now part of the artist’s show in London.

“It’s great promotion for Clare. People get to see the cave and the stalagtite and may well want to see more,” said Sandy Escorcio, Ben’s mother.

Ben got a private viewing before the exhibition opened.

The success of getting to the finals of the All Ireland Talent Show was “a fantatsic experience” which has opened doors for Ben. And the St Flannan’s student is still determined to pursue a career in music.

“The way my voice is going, it will be tenor. I would really love to have a career in the music industry. That would be just fantatsic,” he said.

ONE of the smallest schools in Clare has launched a national campaign to fight the cause of schools facing possible closure under the terms of the controversial McCarthy Report that wants all units with under 50 pupils shut down.

The ‘Save Small Schools Ireland’ campaign was launched two weeks ago by the parents of Doonaha National School on the edge of the Loophead peninsula, who now say that it’s set to “snowball nationwide” as primary schools across the country join forces to keep their doors open.

“The parents are leveraging the power of social media, by launching a Facebook campaign called ‘Save Small Schools – Ireland’ to allow the voices of all small schools to be heard,” Tony Collins said on behalf of the Parents of Doonaha National School.

“The response in just two weeks has been very encouraging, including responses from all across Ireland.

IN PLEDGING to take the fight for education to the floor of the Oireachtas, Clare Seanad Éireann hopeful Declan Kelleher has accused the new Government of making rural Ireland the “soft target” for cutbacks.

The Corofin National School principal has told The Clare People this week that as a member of the Upper House of the Oireachtas he would “interrogate” and “embarrass” the Government on its commitments to rural Ireland if it dares to press ahead with the controversial McCarthy Report provision calling for every school under 50 pupils to be either shut down or amalgamated.

“Closing schools is not prioritising rural and regional development,” blasted Mr Kelleher.

“In fact closing schools is downgrading rural infrastructure.

“My role will be to stand up and embarrass the Government, to interrogate the Government. The Government are looking at the easiest way to save additional funding and rural areas are soft target,” added Mr Kelleher.

A CLARE man is on the verge of helping to achieving the impossible – discovering a cure for cancer.

Doolin native Gerry Dunleavy has been informed by experts at the Cancer Centre of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston that a cure for paediatric brain tumours is between 18 months and two years away.

This breakthrough has been made possible as a result of a large amount of research funding made avail- able to the institute by the Dunleavy Foundation. The foundation, which is based jointly in Doolin and Boston, was set up in 2002 following the death of Gerry’s son Michael as a result of a brain tumour. Eight-year-old Michael Dunleavy died on October 28, 2002, after losing his four-yearlong battle with brain cancer.

A number of annual fundraising events take place each year on both sides of the Atlantic, with the money raised donated to a number of child cancer research initiatives both in Boston and in Dublin.

“With all the money that has been raised by the Dunleavy Foundation, they have just been told that they will have a cure for paediatric brain tumours in the hospital within the next two years,” said Gerry’s sister, and Doolin coordinator of the Dunleavy Foundation, Mary O’Donoghue.

PUPILS who have promoted road safety in their schools have had their efforts recognised by Clare County Council.

The council runs a Junior School Warden Scheme, through which students from primary schools across the county are trained by gardaí. Under the scheme, the students play the role of the lollipop lady in that they help their classmates and friends to cross the road safely before and after school.

The scheme has been in existence for several years and has been stepped up in Clare, under the guidance of the council’s road safety officer Barry Keating.

The students in seven schools involved in the scheme were awarded with certificates at a function in one of the participating schools, Sixmilebridge National School, last week. The event was aimed at ensuring students were made aware of the importance of their role in the scheme.

The participating schools are St Senan’s, Clonlara; St Senan’s, Shannon; St Conaire’s, Shannon; St John’s, Cratloe; Kilkishen National School; Connolly National School and Sixmilebridge National School. The fifth- and sixth-class pupils in the schools lead the project. In total, 230 students are involved in the scheme across the county. There are up to 50 involved in the larger schools, with 15 or 20 pupils in the smaller schools.

“It is the same as the Adult School Warden scheme,” said Barry Keating. “It was very prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. We don’t have an Adult School Warden in every school, so that gives students the opportunity to do it,” he added.

“They are trained by Sergeant Daragh Molloy, who instructs them in exactly what they have to do. Every day they are out there, they have to have an adult with them,” said Mr Keating.

Last week’s event not only promoted the valuable scheme, but also gave students the chance to learn from others.

“It was the first time we brought them all together and gave everyone an opportunity to demonstrate their skills. They learn from each other,” he said.

“From a road safety point of view, it provides a valuable service for the schools and it gives students a great grounding in road safety,” he added.

Any other schools interested in getting involved in the scheme should contact the council’s road safety section. “For any school that wishes to get involved in the scheme, there has to be infrastructure in place like footpaths, so that children can cross to a safe environment,” said Mr Keating.

CLARE Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley is the only Oireachtas representative in the county with a property portfolio outside his primary place of residence that generates income, new figures secured by The Clare People his week have revealed.

The 2010 register of interests for TDs published last Friday show that Deputy Dooley, a poll topper in the 2007 General Election in Clare and was recently returned to Dáil Éireann for a second term, is also a landlord in Dublin, from which he derives income.

The Mountshannon man, who is hotly tipped to become a member of Micheál Martin’s front bench team later this month, owns a semi-dectached house in South Dublin and an apartment in the city centre.

IT’S HOPED that up to 1,000 women will turn out pretty in pink next month for the second Clare walk to raise awareness of and cash for breast cancer support services.

The second annual Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walk will take place through the picturesque town of Killaloe and around the stunning shores of Lough Derg on May 28.

The 10k walks starts out at the Lakeside Hotel and winds around the lake finishing at the hotel again.

Last year, 550 people turned up to join in the inaugural event in Killaloe, and the town showed its support by businesses decorating their windows in Pink, households hanging out pink flags and even bras and every walker dressing in pink. A toatl of € 80,000 was raised for Action Breast Cancer. A spokeswoman for the organisers said that there is “an enormous sense of solidarity among women and men on the issue. Everyone knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer. The walk is an opportunity to show support for loved ones who are affected by breast cancer.”

To register to take part log on to www.pinkribbonwalk.ie. The site also includes tips on training, keeping fit, fundraising ideas and details of upcoming events.

A 58-YEAR-OLD man has appeared before Ennis District Court charged with threatening his son with a loaded shotgun.

Patrick Moloney, with an address at Gaurus, Ennis, was present in court on Friday as Insp Tom Kennedy described details of the incident.

Insp Kennedy told the court that the charges relate to an incident that occurred at the home of Mr Moloney’s wife, where it is alleged that Mr Moloney threatened his son Joseph Moloney with a shotgun. Insp Kennedy told the court that no one was hurt in the incident. Judge Joseph Mangan declined jurisdiction in the case and remanded Mr Moloney on bail until May 6. He also ordered the preparation of a book of evidence.