Category: News

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.

SIX years ago this June, The Clare 10k took it’s first tentative steps. As we begin to look forward to the event on June 25, it is the hope of the organising committee that we will welcome back many old faces and say hello to many more new ones.

2010 saw our biggest numbers to date and we are confident that 2011 will see another rise in participants.

Over the coming weeks we will furnish you with training plans, tips on how to stay healthy and more importantly information for the day itself.

Clare Sports Partnership have come on board for 2011 and with their links to the sporting community we will follow the progress of six people who will run 10k for the first time.

It is now 11 weeks until The Clare 10k so there is no more time to be wasted. Get your training gear out, put that extra daylight to good use and get ready for The Clare 10k.

For more information check out www.clare10k.com.

CUIMHNEAMH an Chláir, the Clare oral history and folklore group, is preparing to spread its wings as far as the nation’s capital in an attempt to track down and interview older Clare people living in Dublin.

The voluntary local group has recorded and saved the stories of countless Clare people over the last two years. The group have recorded the stories of a number of Clare people who have sadly since passed away including recordings of Ireland’s old- est man, 106-year-old Paddy Gleeson, before his death in September.

The new initiative, which is entitled ‘A part of what was Dublin’ was launched by the group last week.

Two Dublin-based Clare natives have been trained by the group in recent months and are ready to start documenting the lives of older Banner natives who are based in Dublin.

The work is to be carried out by East Clare natives Bríd McNamara and Tara Sparling, who have been trained under the Cuimhneamh an Chláir Cuairteoir programme and have also conducted their first interview with 91-year-old Ennis native Mai McNamara.

“It’s great to be involved in documenting the history of Clare lives in Dublin. As a Clare woman, I’m delighted to be working with Cuimhneamh an Chláir on this project,” said Brid.

“It can’t have been easy for these people to leave their homes to find work in Dublin when they did and I’ve no doubt that they all retain a strong sense of identity as Clare people and will be happy to tell us their story.

“The recording with Mai McNamara, who left Clare for Dublin in the 1950s, already demonstrates the wealth of memories that exist among the elderly Clare natives in Dublin.”

Immigration from Clare to Dublin was at its highest level since the Famine in the 1950s and the group is hoping to tell the stories of many of the Clare people who were forced to leave during this period.

“We are very conscious that Clare people who migrated or emigrated in the past often retain a strong connec- tion to the county and also have picture perfect memories of their youths in Clare,” said Cormac McCarthy of Cuimhneamh an Chláir.

“We have gotten strong support from the Clare Association in Dublin and hope that with a media campaign in the capital that we will hear from many Clare natives who should be recorded.”

Anyone who wishes to nominated elderly Clare people in Dublin are asked to contact clarememories@eircom.net or telephone 087 9160373.

TOURISM interests on the Clare side of Lough Derg are banding together to create a range of activities and packages to take advantage of the imminent launch of seaplane services into Mountshannon.

A meeting of tourism providers in Pepper’s Pub in Feakle heard from Seaplane CEO Emyly Heapes that plans are running on-schedule for the first commercial flight to land in Mountshannon in mid-May.

“We hope to have the airstrip up and licenced by then,” he told The Clare People .

Mr Heapes told the meeting of more than 20 Clare tourism providers that he wants them to be creative and give people cause to stay in the Lough Derg area and spend their money.

“We’ll bring them in but the business people need to give visitors a reason to come here. Flyfishing classes, packages, horse-riding, golfing – whatever it takes to bring people in. We have to pull together and help ourselves, because if anyone is waiting for the Government to bring business in for them, they’re out of their minds. It won’t happen,” Emylyn said.

Gary Pepper, a member of the East Clare Tourism Forum, said that he is very optimistic about the new service bringing extra vistors and revenue to East Clare. “We would like to see a scaled down version of Shannon Airport in East Clare when these planes arrive. Anything which brings people in is to be welcomed. We need every advantage we can get.”

The Feakle publican said that the area “has fantastic things to offer. We have walking trails, boating, water sports, fishing, golf, music, food – everything and Lough Derg is the nerve centre of all that. Now we have to work together to attract people to use the new service and to come here.”

It’s envisaged that the seaplane service will ferry passengers between Mountshannon, Cork and Galway.

The proposal ran into stormy waters when it was originally proposed, with objections from a number of bodies and individuals who feared that landing planes would interfere with boating and wildlife on the lake.