Category: News

A WIDE range of events will take place around Clare to celebrate Aontas Adult Learner Week, which runs from February 24 to March 1.

The Adult Learners’ festival is a nationwide celebration of adult learning coordinated by AONTAS, the National Adult Learning Organisation.

In the last seven years, the festival has become a firm fixture on the adult learning calendar with events taking place nationwide, including anything from information sessions, taster workshops, sample lectures to small gatherings of people who love to learn.

Jacinta Davenport, Guidance Counselor and Coordinator at the Clare Adult Educational Guidance and Information Service, says this year the service has focused on working in partnership with employers to develop courses that develop the skills and competencies required in the workplace.

The Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (formerly Clare VEC) has established several partnerships with employers around the county and nationally in order to provide relevant, current and specific education and training programmes for learners in Clare.

These programmes have been jointly developed and are delivered using real-world scenarios, that equip learners to work or secure work in sectors which are enjoying employment growth e.g. hospitality, catering, retail.

Ms Davenport explained, “One new partnership is with the Irish Hotels Federation, who report that there are 3,000 chef vacancies in Ireland. In order to help address this, Clare LCETB and IHF have developed a 15-week part-time pilot Breakfast Chef course in partnership, it will be followed by work experience with IHF members in Clare.

“Last February the Adult Education Service commenced a FETAC Level 5 in Sound Production in partnership with Clare FM. Clare FM provided the technical skills training in Sound Engineering Production, Music Technology and Radio Programme Production.”

For details on Clare events log onto www.adultlearnersfestival.com.

MIKE O’Connell said he went mad when work dried up a few years ago. A Limerick man who now lives in Ennis, Mike previously spent 12 years in the Army before working with Pan-American airlines.

When that ended, Mike worked briefly as a taxi driver before that too dried up. “I used detest going up to sign on. It used to break my heart. I’d have avoided it if I could have,” he recalls.

Salvation came in the form of an invitation to attend the Adult Education Centre where Mike enrolled in a two-year community care course.

He hasn’t looked back. “I’ve always dealt with people in my other jobs so I decided to go for community care and I’m glad I did because it opened my eyes to a lot of things that are changing,” he says.

“The ambition for everyone here is to get a job but even if you don’t, you learn so much.”

Like her classmate, mother of four Margaret O’Riordan had been out of education for 40 years before enrolling in adult education.

“I always had this feeling that I lost out a bit on education because I got married so young,” explains Margaret. “I felt I always would like to go back to education. I always had that in my head.”

Margaret, who previously worked in Spec Savers and Dunnes Stores and volunteered with local community groups, admits she found the prospect of returning to the classroom a daunting one.

“I was worried, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I’d been 40 years out of education and I though, God, how am I going to learn all this? But step by step, we did it,” she says.

Both Margaret and Mike say their experiences of adult education have been hugely positive. “They have a saying here, education but not as you know it,” says Mike.

“It gives you confidence and builds up your self-esteem,” agrees Margaret.

For anyone unsure or anxious about returning to education, Margaret has a simple message – just go for it.

Mike says, “Do your day. Treat it like a job. After the first two weeks which are helter skelter, it will calm down. Give it the two weeks and then you get into a routine. I could never go back to sitting at home wondering what am I going to do all day.

“I’m sure there are people at home out of work who are mad to do something with their lives. This is the place to start it,” he adds.

“WE PLAN to spend a lot of money, obviously fix the course, make it play perfect and integrate it with a hotel collection.”

Eric Trump literally blew into West Clare on Storm Darwin on Wednesday night with his older brother and fellow Executive Vice President Donald Jnr just one day after they reputedly paid € 15 million for the 18hole golf links, hotel and spa.

Even though the five star lodge was dimly lit amid a local power outage, the businessmen were impressed with the authenticity of the architec- ture and the rugged beauty of the surrounding area. The American brothers, sons of the world famous Donald Trump, announced that the existing jobs would be safe at the resort and even more will come on stream in the next six months to a year they promised, and it was all good news.

“You are putting a property in a very, very big engine and I think that is a very good thing for the region. I think it will bring a tremendous amount of people here,” Eric Trump told The Clare People. The Lodge at Doonbeg, now known as Trump International Golf Links Ireland, is West Clare’s largest employer.

A UNIQUE insight into Clare’s intrinsic role in the development of aviation in Ireland will be broadcast onto RTE screens over the next two Thursdays and will make for fascinating viewing for anyone who is curious about Shannon’s impact on Irish aviation.

The documentary was commissioned by Dublin based Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company founded by Domhnal Slattery, the Ennis native who is also Chairman of The Clare People . Pioneers and Aviators tells the story of the remarkable individuals whose vision, passion, successes and failures helped forge Ireland’s unique aviation landscape. The documentary charts Ireland’s aviation history, from its beginnings with the first transatlantic flight landing in the west of Ireland, through to the present day and the role Ireland and the Irish play in the global aviation industry.

Of course Shannon is an integral part of that story and it features heavily in the documentary, both from the airport’s genesis itself and of course its location as birth of the aircraft leasing industry, through Tony Ryan’s Guinness Peat Aviation.

The documentary was written and directed by Alan Gilsenan, an award winning Irish film-maker, writer and theatre director. His work has appeared on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, RTÉ, the History Channel and CNBC among others. The music score for the film was composed by the renowned composer Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin.

The Clare connections are many. Contributors to Pioneers and Aviators include Avolon CEO Domhnal Slattery, who began his career in aviation with GPA in Shannon, former employees at Shannon Airport like former Airport GM Liam Skelly and the well known Michael Collins, who along with his brother Paddy, was a barman at the airport for over forty years.

The documentary was produced by Newgrange Pictures and Clare woman Jackie Lavin. From her storm hit Kilbaha base last week Jackie told The Clare People that putting the documentary together was something of a labour of love:

“It was a labour of love as all the fond memories of visiting Shannon airport as a child came flooding back and the excitement of getting on that outdoor viewing platform being so close to the runway, something that could never happen in today’s world.

“Of course the story we are telling has never really been told in this format. In particular I think people will be amazed to see the role Shannon has played in the history of aviation. It really has been a heavy hitter and I think that does come across in Pioneers and Aviators . I know I was very proud to see Clare play such a prominent role in a worldwide industry,” Jackie told us.

Complete with archive footage dating before World War Two, Pioneers and Aviators traces the introduction of the airplane into Ireland, from Alcock and Brown’s landing in Clifden to the establishment of the flying boat facility at Foynes, right up to the present day and the development of Shannon.

Along with an in-depth look at Tony Ryan’s rise to prominence through Aer Lingus to GPA and on to Ryanair, the documentary interviews many former and current key players in the aviation industry. These include former minister Des O’Malley, former Aer Lingus head Willie Walsh, current Boeing CEO Ray Connors, who attended the official premiere of the documentary in Dublin three weeks ago. Pioneers and Aviators airs this Thursday on RTE 1 television at 10.25pm. The second part of the doc- umentary will be shown on Thursday week, February 27th at the same time.

A WEST Clare developer who raped a Brazilian woman he had asked to clean his house has been sentenced to seven and a half years, after a judge said he couldn’t “buy himself out” of a custodial sentence.

He had denied the charge. Mr Justice White said that on reading the victim impact report provided by the victim, he did not believe the rape had “a profound psychological effect” on her. “It strikes me that your victim is more interested in compensation rather than anything else,” he said.

VICTIMS of industrial abuse in Clare are preparing a mass protest against the newly formed CaraNua organisation, which they say does not represent what the vast majority of victims actually want.

CaraNua, formally the Statutory Trust Fund, was formed last month to oversee the provision of services for people who have suffered abuse at the hands of the religious orders.

It is estimated that there are between 13,000 and 15,000 survivors still alive and CareNua has a budget of around € 110 million to help gain different services for these people.

Many victims groups are against the service, and claim that the money is owed directly to them from the religious orders and the state should not get involved. Ennis resident and spokesperson for the Survivors who Standing Together group, Cathriona Barker, said that many abuse victims now feel that a massive public protest is the only was of forcing the Government to change its mind.

“This money was given to survivors as a good will measure by the religious orders and the state have no business putting their hands on our money and dictating to us what happens. The state are guilt party in our childhood abuse, along with the church. What’s worse is that no survivor was ever asked for their opinion about any of this,” she told The Clare People yesterday.

“The vast majority of people would like this money split up between us. If you did that, then each victim would get € 7,300 from the church. For what many people went through this would be an insult, but at least it would be our decision.

Cathriona has been in contact with a number of other abuse survivors and the possibility of a mass protest seems to be getting closer.

“I was talking to a survivors group from the UK over the weekend and the majority of people over there don’t want anything to do with this new group either,” continued Cathriona.

“As far as we can see, most of the services being offered by CaraNua are services that a person should be able to access anyway. It is things like dental care, if a person needs a hip replacement, maybe if you need a door in your house widened.”

For more about Survivors Who Stand Together visit survivorswhostandtogether.wordpress.com.

IN THE 24 hours after news broke that Doonbeg golf club and hotel was to become Trump International Golf Links Ireland, traffic to the Doonbeg website multiplied five times.

Eric Trump said the Trump name brought with it new recognition from people who may not even have heard of the west of Ireland, never mind Doonbeg, and testimony to the interest in the newly-acquired resort and golf course was evident from the online searches.

According to Doonbeg Managing Director Joe Russell the week had been full of bombshells.

“The initial atmosphere was one of surprise that somebody of Donald Trump’s stature, and international recognition decided to take on Doonbeg,” he said

The property and business was just four weeks in receivership when the deal was done.

“When it came on the market I found out it created a certain ripple around the market of ‘my goodness Doonbeg is up for sale, let’s go for it’,” explained Mr Russell.

Donald Trump Jnr, Executive Vice President of the Trump Organisation, had toured the golf courses of Ireland two years ago, and Doonbeg had left a lasting impression.

“It’s the location. It’s the quality of the property. It’s what we have done since we opened, in terms of awards, recognition, hospitality. We have our own selves and our own success to thank to get someone like Donald Trump here,” said Mr Russell.

“On a larger scale it is a huge vote of confidence for Ireland, West Clare, Clare. We got Donald Trump!”

“They are a big company, they have the resources, they have the engine in terms of marketing, there is a structure there as it relates to how one does things.

“It will probably move us out of our current comfort zone in terms of how we do things, but that is to be expected when you join an organisa- tion, when you change an organisation. If you went into a new job you would have to modify your practises and your approach as to how you do things. But they didn’t come here for no reason. They came here to take what’s here and take it to the next level in terms of the amenity development, and they are bringing a lot to the party too in terms of expertise,” said the managing director.

He is not surprised however that Doonbeg is an attractive location.

“It is a very special destination and at least now we have a very good chance. The day you stand still in this business you are dead in the water,” he added, happy that there is potential to develop the tourism business further.

“Everywhere this organisation goes it appears to have an affect. There is an immediate impact. There is an operational impact. For me they expand our facilities again, I don’t have definitive on what they are talking about doing but there will be things put in to grow the business.”

When the golf course opened more than a decade ago, it brought with it the job equivalent of a major international company to a city.

“Something of this magnitude moving into a rural location in Ireland at the time was significant, it was major press, similarly you have a situation where you have Trump Organisation now coming into Doonbeg,” said Mr Russell.

But how will Trump tally with the area.

“How will it fit? Certainly the local community will see itself as responsible for a business being here at all. Many of them have worked with the club from a community perspective,” said Mr Russell adding that community involvement must be retained and built upon.

“It is not the castle on the hill. It is part of the community. If you ever move away from that ethos and you ever become anything other than that I think you are in trouble. 40 per cent of our market is North America, what most of those people want to do is go to the village, they want to drive around and if there is any hostility towards the club that will seek it out.”

“This is a destination now. You look around – Loop Head right up to Kilkee, to Doonbeg right up to the Cliffs of Moher, this is a destination.”

A YOUNG family lost not just the roof of their home but a lifetime of memories and numerous precious objects when storm Darwin took the roof from their house and destroyed their home in Rehy East, Cross.

The Abel-Cahill family are now staying in a house in Kilkee, as each day more of the ceiling disappears and cracks appear on the family home.

Mother-of-two Kim Abel is thankful however that her young family escaped physically unharmed.

“I am glad I had my daughter in the living room with me at the time of the storm, because if she was in her room napping she would have been covered in glass because the sky light came right in,” she said.

Terrorised Kim was at home with her six-month-old baby daughter Kaylana when the storm took hold at lunchtime on Wednesday.

Kim recalled how a tree and debris fell outside narrowly missing her car as the gale became stronger. The house began to shake and she began to panic.

The young mother screamed for her partner’s mother, Anna Cahill, who was on the other side of the bungalow building and then ran into another room to be with her.

“I was on the other side of the house with my mother-in-law when I saw something crash on the ground. It was the roof from the other side of the house, where I had just left,” she said fighting back the tears.

The two women decided to grab the baby and run for the car in an attempt to drive away from the house. Ms Abel’s partner, Paul Cahill, has just arrived home grabbed the two pet dogs and joined the evacuation.

Ms Abel’s other daughter Chloe (5) was still in school just a few miles away.

The devastation of the house came at the worst time for the family as they have planned baby Kaylana’s Christening for this weekend, and family and friends from as far away as Wales and England are to gather in West Clare for the special family occasion.

“We have lost everything we had in the house. Everything in the attic is destroyed, all my memories are ruined,” said Kim.

For Mrs Cahill too the event was both emotional and frightening as the house was built by her later husband for his family.

“I don’t know what we will do, but we are all staying together where ever we go.

We are all a family and we need to be together,” said Ms Abel.

The family are currently staying in a house in Kilkee, but are now also under financial pressure as they do not qualify for rent allowance as they own a house, albeit one they cannot live in.

“We are definitely not going to be home in the next few months,” explained Kim, who continues to be haunted by the traumatic events of Wednesday afternoon.

DOONBEG was this week welcoming the investment by the Trump Organisation in the local Greg Norman designed golf course and hotel, and said it is looking forward to working with the new owners.

The community in Doonbeg have experience when it comes to deal- ing with large international companies and local development, having initiated the development of the world-renowned golf course in the late 1990s and manoeuvred its way through many issues surrounding its later development and expansion.

Rare snails, rights of ways and access to the beach were all difficult and emotive issues that have been worked through in the community and in the courts, but that hard work is now done, according to Doonbeg Community Development Ltd.

The chairman of the community group Willie Hanrahan said the investment by the Trump family “secures the whole golf course; it secures the properties, it secures the jobs and the on going facilities in the area”.

He said the financial backing of the company will have a major impact on the area. “If they help with the coastal erosion and secure the property that would be fantastic.”

He has no concerns that relationships may sour down the line, as Doonbeg is an established golf course and facility.

“There are always problems when you set up something new. Doonbeg is there. It is established. We have been there and done that. We had problems with the rights of way. We had problems with the access to the beach. They have all been sorted. They are all secured now. There will always be ongoing issues but we have a very good relationship with the management, with Joe Russell at the moment and the current management and we would hope that will continue,” he said.

IRELAND’S oldest living person, Clare native Kathleen Snavely, celebrated her 112th birthday on Sunday by relaxing and getting her hair done.

Kathleen Hayes Rollins Snavely, who was born in East Clare on February 16, 1902, became Ireland’s oldest ever living person late last year when she overtook Louth woman, Katherine Plunket, and is now clos- ing in on becoming one of the oldest people ever to live on planet Earth.

Kathleen, who lives in Syracuse in upstate New York, is currently in excellent health and is now just three years from becoming one of the 10 oldest people ever to have lived. She is, however, still a long from becoming the worlds oldest person – that honour rests with Jeanne Calment, who was 122 years and 164 days old when she passed away in 1997.

Kathleen was born in Maghera near Feakle in East Clare in 1902. She emigrated to America in 1921 and set up a successful dairy, completely from scratch.

Up to two years ago, Kathleen was living independently, travelling on the bus and shopping for food, until she broke her hip and had to move into a local care centre.

Sr Kathy Osbelt, a friend of Kathleen’s, says that Snavely regularly talks about her experiences growing up in Ireland and her family.

“She talks about the wit and the appreciation for natural beauty. She is very funny and very feisty and loves a good story and to tell stories,” said Sr Osbelt.

“It is unfortunate that more people don’t know her. She is a treasure; she really is a peach.”

So far Kathleen has lived through two wars and survived 18 American presidents and two husbands. She never had any children.

Kathleen received a letter from President Michael D. Higgins last year and the centenarian bounty of € 2, 540.