COMMENT

The Mayor of Kilkee this week reminded the people of Kilkee and surrounding areas that the deadline for making submissions relating to a draft 10-year improvement and economic development strategy for the town closes on Thursday, August 1.

Three local communities are preparing for the judging stage of the IPB Pride of Place Competition, which takes place next week.

The water services, fire service and environment sections of Clare County Council have issued a joint public appeal after latest weather forecasts suggested a continuation of the present dry spell into next week.

Editorial

A LIFE-size statue of internationally renowned uilleann piper Willie Clancy should be ready for viewing in September. Initially, it was hoped to have the statue of Miltown Malbay’s most famous son ready for the 2013 Willie Clancy Summer School. However, well-known sculptor Shane Gilmore said this arduous task has taken him longer than expected and he now anticipates it should be completed in September. Shane expects the statue will be quite big, considering Willie was 6’2” in height and plans to have him sitting on a stool with his legendary uilleann pipes in his hand. Having been commissioned by Barry Merrill and Judith Spencer Merrill, the sculptor visited Aras Oidhreacht An Chlár (OAC) last April to show a preliminary clay model of the bust of the statue to some of Willie’s old neighbours. The neighbours unanimously approved the likeness achieved by the sculptor. The sculptor’s work is based on a series of photographs in OAC and from Willie Clancy’s family, …

THE 17th annual Clarecastle Céilí at the Crossroads Festival takes place this week and this year’s expanded programme offers a rousing concert launching the festival and a fireworks display closing the festivities, with plenty of music in between.

A PREVIEW of a new one-man theatrical piece entitled The Mid-Knight Cowboy will be held in Kilkee this Saturday, before it heads to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.