The Clare People Archive

AFTER a brief hiatus, The Funktion Room returns to The Falls Hotel in Ennistymon this Friday, February 22. The occasional club night has been in operation for nearly two years and attracts a growing crowd from all over the county and beyond.

On the decks on Friday will be B: barham, Kid Cosby and local favour- ite Tokin’ White Boy. Funds raised on the night will go to an organisa- tion working as part of the Shell to sea Campaign.

“Doors open and music kicks off at 10pm and we will be going until 2am. We will have a decent disco,

strictly vinyl, 3 deadly Dy’s and lots of lovely people. What more could you ask for in a decent night out,” asked event organiser Roisin Garvey.

“It’s €10 cover charge and all funds raised go in support of a national en- vironmental and social justice group called Gluaiseacht, who at the mo- ment are putting some of their energy into raising awareness of the ongoing plight of the people of Rossport in Mayo.”

The Falls Hotel has organised a number of special offers for club goers who wish to spend the weekend in the hotel. Interested people should contact the hotel on 065 7071004 and quote the Funktion Room.

Meanwhile, there was celebrations in Ennistymon last week with the news that the Mol an Oige Steiner School is finally to get State recog- nition and funding from September 2008. The school, which has been in operation with no state assistance for some years now, has seen it’s en- rolment growing greatly in recent years.

“We are delighted with the an- nouncement, and look forward to opening the new Mol an Oige school in September at its temporary home at the Falls, Ennistymon,” said a spokesperson.

“The Mol an Oige Group wish to thank everyone who supported the

school since it was founded in Sep- tember 2005. The school could not have continued without the generous support of parents, teachers, friends, volunteers, local business people and all those who performed at and sup- ported our various concerts and fun- GTeTS ECA

Mol an Oige, along with Raheen Wood Steiner School in east Clare, will both becomes the first Steiner schools in the country to gain official recognition.

Mol an Oige has been in operation for two years and has more than 40 pupils while Raheen Wood started off as Cooleenbridge 22 years ago and has more than 100 pupils.

is pleased to announce that a heat of the pres- tigious Paddy Powers Lovely Girls Contest 2008 will now take place in Vaughan’s Barn on Tuesday, Febru- ary 26.

“Yes, the big news is that we have added the lovely girls contest. There has been a few heats around the coun- try already but this is the chance for a lovely girl to qualify for the finals on the Aran Islands,” said Fergal Mc- Grath organiser of TedFest.

“We are looking for overall loveli- ness in the girls. It will be down to WALoMAWE-UGDOTSMm DOCOMO oME UE @USTcomE-DOCOM DN we have a tie break situation then we

will have to hear their lovely laughs. And of course, they will all have lovely bottoms.”

With full festival ticket sold out, or- ganisers have made a small number of single event tickets available.

‘We have been able to make a few more tickets available. So many peo- ple wanted to come to the events that we have tried our best to make as many tickets as possible available for people,” said Kilfenora TedFest co- ordinator Janet Kavanagh.

‘We wont be able to get all the peo- ple into every event but there are a few tickets available for some of the events and we will do our best to ac- commodate everyone.”

The festival opens next Monday with registration in Vaughan’s Pub

before the official opening ceremony, Chinese reception and the Ecumeni- Ceili. Tuesday, or Mustarday as it’s being called, will see the arrival of the MilkFloat for the Milk Float and Banger Parade through town and the brick fada contest.

Later that evening Ireland’s first ever All-Ireland blondes-only snakes and ladders championship will take place as well as an evening with Fa- ther Ted creators Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews. Other events on Wednesday include the Linn- nane’s Music Emporium, Acoustic Karaoke with the singing Postman, Caesars Palace at Nagles, the all- Ireland Open Elvis lookalike contest and finally the Pat Mustard Memo- rial night featuring Mrs O’Reully and

the Hairy Babies.

Wednesday will see the ‘Ted Trail which will take in the Paro- chial House, the Chinese pub, Mrs O’Reillys house, the Song For Eu- rope waterfall and the caravan park from hell.

Linehan and Mathews will also unveil a commemorative plaque to mark the event at the Kilfenora Com- munity Centre.

If you are interested in sponsoring the plaque, getting involved in the lovely girls contest or book tickets contact Janet at 087 6277000.

WHEN Una Kierse decided to send her eldest child to a pre-school play- eroup in Killaloe, she discovered that there wasn’t automatically a place for every child and community facilities were scarce on the ground.

Joss Lowry, Michael Culhane and Michael Glesson all had similar con- cerns and together the four set up the Killaloe Community Development Company with the aim of providing a community creche which would cater for all needs, including pre-

school and after-school care.

That was almost two years ago and this month, the endless filling in of forms and making a case were rewarded when the company was awarded €1.2 million, the maximum that can be awarded under the Na- tional Childcare Investment Fund.

The group worked closely with Clare County Council to apply for the funds through Pobail and Una says they are “just delighted. Now we can start looking at a premises or a site.”

The aim of the development com-

pany is to provide community facili- ties, which will cater for 35 full-time childcare places and 15 after-school je ENerone

“It’s wrong that some children get to go to pre-school and others don’t. The child who doesn’t have that year before going on to primary school is at a disadvantage from the start. If there are any difficulties like ADD, these are often picked up on in pre- school. Without it there 1s a year lost.”

“The new facility is still in the early stages and the company will have to

find a site or premises, get a contrac- tor on board and work through the planning process, but the grant was the start.

“We want to provide services across the board, including school holiday times, which can be very difficulty for working parents. Every child and every parent is entitled to have quali- ty childcare facilities where children can be encouraged and cared for. This is a facility which is very badly needed in Killaloe and now we have the money to get started on provid- ing one,’ said Una.

A THIRST for entertainment and a place where they can meet their peers, the transition year students of St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe have been brewing an idea which could see the start of a youth oF Nom bee stomcedwate

The transition year students have been researching the café for the Young Social Innovators Project.

The project, was founded by Sr Sta- nislaus Kennedy and Rachel Collier. The philosophy is that young people pursue a social issue they are con- cerned about and come up with re- sponses and actions to it. Becoming socially aware young citizens and making a real difference to people’s lives is one of the main aims of the

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The students have got moving to realise their vision for a place where young people in the area can meet and socialise in an alcohol and drug-free environment. For the past number of months the students have conducted a survey of their peers to establish the need for a Youth Café.

The overwhelming response was that there is a huge need for the fa- cility in the twin towns of Ballina- Killaloe.

WW aTem AU Cele olicmreD acm eri e-lO UL OUD OTSAM BD IT. @s with the Garda Siochana, Clare Youth Services, North Tipperary VEC., County Clare VEC, the Fam- ily Resource Centre Killaloe, Aware West of Ireland and the Health Serv- ice Executive.

They will now be looking to their

local politicians for support in secur- ing a venue and funding to see their project to completion.

‘The students have been very dedi- cated to this project. They’ve done the research and made all the contacts as well as visiting other youth cafes,” said teacher, Brendan O’Brien.

“There is still the question of a venue and what they are looking into now is starting small, maybe with something in the school.”

To create awareness around the project the students attended a Young Social Innovators speak-out forum in the Ardilaun Hotel in Galway City and gave a two-minute presentation to an audience of more than 400 oth- er students as well as politicians and invited guests.

The national policy on youth recre-

ation “Teenspace’ advocates such in1- tiatives. By April 3 next the students will know if their project has been selected to be displayed with hun- dreds of others in the RDS Dublin as part of the Young Social Innova- tors Showcase. The Showcase, which takes place in May, is a national event where hundreds of young peo- ple meet and discuss issues of social concern with each other and with the decision-makers and people whose lives they wish to improve.

EARLIER this month, surviving members of the victorious team that won the 1982 Intermediate Champi- onship attended a reunion in Mike McNamara’s bar in Scariff.

Twenty-six years ago, Scariff had plenty to be proud about. Their in- termediate team beat all other Clare teams and achieved the ultimate dream, they swallowed the opposi- tion whole, winning the 1982 Inter- mediate Championship.

After simmering for several months, the people of Scariff were finally presented with the banquet that was a “bua’ for their new heroes, who conquered Clare on the pitch.

The team members included the

following: captain Liam Nugent; Adrian Nugent, son of Tom Nt- gent; Brendan Walsh, son of selec- tor John Walsh; Peadar McMahon; John Minogue; James O’Grady; Gerry Nugent; Mike Minogue; Pat Minogue; Teddy Murphy; Neilus Minogue; Pat Clancy; Mike Mc- Namara; Padraigh Giblin; Eamon Giblin; Mike Ryan; Jim Corbett; Pat Carey; TJ O’Callaghan; Aiden Rochford; John O’Grady; Martin O’Grady; Sean McInerney; Eamon Fahy; John Liddy; Sean Murphy; Mike O’Donnell; and selectors John Walsh, Tom Minogue and Tommy Giblin.

Twenty-six years on, and not much has changed. The win hasn’t been forgotten, and the lads are still pas-

sionate about their sport.

Some have even remained in the sporting world. John Minogue is the Clare county under-2] manager, and Mike McNamara is the Clare coun- ty senior team manager. But sadly Scariff lost Mike O’Donnell, John Walsh, Tom Minogue and Tommy Giblin, who have passed away since WeomNante

At the long-awaited reunion, eve- ryone had the chance to renew old friendships and reminisce on life all those years ago. Each member was presented with a framed photograph of the winning team and a reproduc- tion of the match programme.

Special guests were former Clare captain Sean McMahon and Pat Fitzgerald, newly-appointed Clare

County Board secretary.

THE gloves are on for the annual Scariff Spring Clean, part of the na- tional event sponsored by An Taisce every April.

Last year, a number of community eroups in Scariff, including Scariff National School, stepped up to the mark and this year, the appeal has gone out early through the Scarif Newsletter to encourage all groups in the area to get organised and join ne

Those who volunteer for the big clean up get Spring Clean packs, including an information pack, some gloves and lots of large bin bags, which are colour co-ordinated for

plastic bottles, tins and drink cans, and general rubbish. This will make recycling the haul so much easier.

Anyone can sign up by registering online at www.nationalspringclean. Oo uee

Clare County Council is supporting the campaign by providing groups with free access to local centres to deposit waste and recyclables col- lected during clean-ups. To avail of a free pass to dispose of waste collect- ed as part of the Spring Clean Cam- paign groups can contact the Envi- ronment Section on 065 6846331 or Olea morse Teve toler

Phoebe O’Brien, one of the organis- ers of the clean-up last year said that small groups set out “each armed

with a couple of bags of each colour to see what we could tidy.

“The children were really helpful, and great at spotting things hidden in the bushes. It was lovely to see them becoming aware of their en- vironment and having such a sense of empowerment from their achieve- ment. As the groups arrived back for a celebratory tea, we were amazed at the full bags being loaded into the trailer, which we filled twice over. This was from just under three miles of roads, a mile of which had been tidied the year before.”

Notices will be posted around the town in the coming weeks, and the organisers are asking as many peo- ple as possible to come out and give

a hand.

Particularly needed are adults to collect rubbish along the main roads where it wouldn’t be possible for the children to clean.

‘In spite of our efforts, there seems to be a lot of litter about. Most of the litter along the road is drink bottles, fast food packaging and cigarette boxes. Apparently, people are more likely to throw rubbish where litter is already noticeable. So please be a part of the clean-up this spring. We are lucky to live in an area where the majority of people dispose of their rubbish properly and cleaning up what doesn’t get into the bins is not an insurmountable challenge,” said Phoebe.

CLARE Living Links will hold a healing programme for people whose lives have been affected by suicide. The introductory night is on Wednesday, February 27 at the meeting room, 52 Kincora Park, Lif- ford, Ennis.

The programmme will continue each Wednesday night for eight con- secutive weeks. It aims to help adults who have experienced a death by sui- cide to find healing and support in a safe and caring environment and to provide and opportunity of meeting others who have experienced loss by suicide. The meetings aim to provide

healing through talking and listen- ing in small groups.

For the past six years the Living Links organisation has offered a suicide outreach support service to families and individuals in Clare who have been bereaved by suicide. There are currently ten fully trained volunteers staffing the service in EK

Clare Living Links operates under the auspices of the Health Service Executive and all volunteers are ful- ly trained.

In addition to healing programmes volunteers respond to approaches made by a bereaved family or in- dividual and can arrange to meet

them inside or outside their homes or wherever the bereaved person feels most comfortable.

All meetings are conducted with complete confidentiality. A spokes- person for Clare Living Links ex- plained the meetings are handled entirely at the discretion of the indi- vidual concerned.

“Healing programme volounteers respond to approaches made by a bereaved family or individual and can arrange to meet them inside or outside their homes, or wherever the bereaved person feels more comfort- able.

‘All meetings and sessions are con- ducted with complete confidential-

ae

The spokesperson added

“The aim is to help people talk about their loss and the whole proc- ess of bereavement. There is no set formula for bereaved persons feel- ings or reactions. Different people will react in different ways and in a different order. Through talking and sharing in a safe environment the pain is eased and healing is allowed to begin”.

For further information regard- ing individual or family support or the healing programme contact the Support co-ordinator between Spm to 7pm Monday to Friday at 086 Onto eee

TEACHERS and students at Clare Music Makers will be looking to build on 14 years of achievement and acclaim at the Feis Ceoil in March.

IN 1993, founding directors And- rea Creech and Tony Ovenell accept- ed the first classes of young classical music students into the new Ennis music school, Clare Music Makers (CMM).

In the 15 years since that date there have been many changes in the teaching staff and hundreds of new students. Many of these stu- dents have moved on to national and international post secondary music schools and into music teaching and performance careers.

Consistent however has been the erowing national reputation of Ennis and CMM as centre of excellence in teaching music.

Each year CMM students, at all performing levels, have been award- ed a high number of honours at major Irish festivals, including Féile Lu- inmi (Limerick), Feis Maitt) (Cork) and Feis Ceoil (Dublin).

There was further national rec- ognition of CMM’s high standards at recent festivals in Limerick and Cork for students of Danette Eddy (violin), Tanja Fritschi (flute), Fred Hannford (brass), Marta Lalek (vio- lin), Michael Joyce (piano), Teddy McCoy (flute) and Catriona Moloney (violin).

Flute players entering Feile Luinmi

included Sinead McAteer, under 16 silver medal, Madeleine Arkins, un- der 14 gold medal, Alice Twomey, under 14 bronze medal, Eimear Ca- sey, under 12 silver medal and Orla Bredin, highly commended in the under 12 category.

Violinists entering Feéeile Luimni included Crea Sullivan, under 9 gold medal. Crea shared the bronze med- al with Hannah Bredin in the under 11 category and Heidi O’Dwyer was highly commended in this same cat- egory.

Abbie O’Sullivan won the silver medal and Emerald Kennedy was commended in the under 13.

Michelle Heffernan won the silver medal in the under 15. Michelle also received the silver medal and Bron-

wyn Power won the gold medal in the prestigious Bernard Cup. Cellist Hannah Ryan was awarded the silver medal in the under 15 category.

Trumpet player Roisin Phelan re- ceived the gold medal in the under 14 category and pianist Donal McHugh received the gold medal in the under 17 category.

In addition Donal was awarded third place in the under 17 category Feis Maitu in Cork.

At the same competition, CMM v1- olin students Crea Sullivan won the silver medal in the under 9 catego- ry. Abbie Sullivan won silver in the under 13 and Darelle Colleran was awarded a certificate in the under 13. Michelle Heffernan won a silver medal in the under 15 category.

A BRIGHT future is forecast for AskMoby.com after the Ennis based company made a major impact at the world’s largest communications show in Barcelona.

The Ennis firm has developed de- tailed accurate digital weather fore- casting and is now targeting the glo- bal mobile phone market after taking part in Barcelona.

Located in the Ballymaley Indus- trial Park, AskMoby.com has devel- oped a global reputation providing detailed weather forecast and analy- sis for a variety of industries.

AskMoby.com is a free weather forecast service from Nowcasting International based in Ballymaley.

It is designed for mobile phones providing a forecast for the area in which the receiver is located and re- lated to the specific activity picked by users, who should log onto www. askmoby.com on their mobile phones and click the appropriate choices. Hourly forecasts are provided and there are choices of detailed maps, Synoptic charts and satellite pic- RUN KeNe

Minister for Trade Enterprise and Employment Micheal Martin, TD was on hand in Barcelona to support the efforts of AskMoby.com to tar- get new markets. More than 60,000 delegates from the top international mobile phone networks attended the World Mobile Congress.

Paying tribute to the companies

team of 12 people at the Ballymaley Industrial Park Minister Martin said they had developed a cutting edge product which has huge potential worldwide.”

“The mobile phone sector is one of the fasting growing in Ireland with exports doubling since 2005 to €280 million. Companies such as AskMoby are at the forefront of our efforts to remain at the forefront of this rapidly growing industry. The Clare based company already has a worldwide reputation for providing high tech weather forecasts for oil and gas sector as well as shipping. It is now delivering forecasts to mobile phones. The forecasts can be as spe- cific and detailed as the user wants.”

Minster Martin said the reputation

of companies like AskMoby.com was an important factor in Ireland’s ability to compete in the global tel- ecommunications market place. ‘“AskMoby is one of 21 Irish firms who made important contacts with the world’s leading mobile phone networks in Barcelona. They trav- elled to congress with the support of Enterprise Ireland.”

“Such companies are important if we are to ensure that we continue delivering quality jobs for people in communities across Clare and around the country’, concluded Min- ister Martin.

AUSSIE rockers AC/DC famously declared “it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll’, and new band CMC will discover just what it takes when they compete against other new bands in Dublin next eeKeyeiaee

The Clare band will not only be judged on their musical capability, but also on their ability to success- fully co-ordinate all the elements that go into making a live rock show.

Seven steps up – a nationwide mu- sic competition for young people, is a competition with a difference. The aim is to provide young bands with an insight and practical knowledge of the music industry.

CMC were elected top of Clare’s youth bands at a recent Clare Youth Service gig. Before they hit the road to perform alongside some of Ire- land’s best up and coming bands, CMC will be performing on Satur- day February 23 at a gig in Ennis.

Other acts taking the stage in the youth centre on the night include “A star called Henry, the Alan Rooney Experience, The Elastic Band, Dara O Loughlin and Ceile Varley”.

CMC will then go on to compete against 17 other winning acts from around the country in Dublin at the Seven Steps Up awards day on March.

The acts will be judged not only on their musical ability but on the efforts of a full back-up team which

include media, stage crew, and PR eroup made up of over 20 musicians from the competition all working to support and promote the band in the Dublin gig.

CMC will have the chance to play their demo and be mentored by mu- sic industry professionals.

The winners of the overall compe- tition in Dublin will have the chance to make a professionally recorded album, featuring the other acts from their region.

Ceile Varley an acoustic performer involved in the project, said the com- petition provided a great opportunity for young musicians.

She said “This competition is an amazing opportunity for young mu- sicians – both for the winning act and

for the music and media team. Eve- rything is organised by young peo- ple, which means that we gain valu- able information on setting up gigs and managing bands.

Ceile explained “We learn how to promote bands and musical events, giving us an insight into the music industry.

“Everyone involved is working ex- tremely hard for this so come to the Youth Centre and support us – we guarantee an exciting night”

CMC play in the Clare Youth Serv- ice, Ennis on February 23, from 7- 9.30pm. The cost of entry is €5 and all over 15’s welcome. As with all other events the gig 1s drug and alco- hol free. For more information con- tact Jean Tierney 065-6845356