A Kilrush engineer said he will never forget the groundswell of support from friends of a former Rose of Tralee contestant who passed away last year. Up to 60 Rose of Tralee escorts, contestants and friends of Adrienne Hussey crammed into the waiting room of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin at midnight on Wednesday, January 12, 2012. Barry Prendeville said people came from all over the world when they heard about Adrienne’s critical condition. Unfortunately, their worst fears were realised when Adrienne, at just 26, died from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm that doctors believe may have been congenital. She was a social worker from Plano, Texas. Like all her friends, Barry was devastated after her death and wanted to do something to remember her by. Having met Adrienne while she was competing as the Texan Rose of Tralee in August 2010, they struck up a great friendship. At the time, Barry was the escort for the Luxembourg Rose and when …

NOT many people use telephone directories. There are more mobile phones than people in the country and each has its built-in phonebook of regular numbers. Add in the fact that one can go online and access the directory directly and it is easy to see why there is less and less call for big paper directories.

THE inaugural Limerick and Clare Education Centres Education Research Conference was held in 2011, with a view to giving education practitioners and researchers an opportunity to showcase their work.

BEING part of the vibrant music scene in New York for the last few years, Christy McNamara knows the music of County Clare is a hard act to follow. The musician, photographer and storyteller has been spending his time between New York and Clare over the past few years, however, he is still very much rooted in his home county. “There’s always a sound of home in the music but it’s good to see outside of your own place, you look back in on it, you get a good perspective on it when you meet other kinds of people and different nationalities. It’s an experience that everyone should have,” he said.Born in Crusheen, Christy’s late father Joe, who passed away in 1996, was a box player as was his uncle Paddy, who also played fiddle. The two brothers from Drumbanniff played with the Tulla Céilí Band in its formative years. Due to responsibilities to work and family, however, Joe had …

MOTHERS’ Day is heralded by an avalanche of greeting cards, bouquets, chocolates, gift tokens for pampering at spa resorts and crowded restaurants, with Mother as the guest of honour. And why not? Yet an infinite number of women, who, for a variety of reasons, have no children, are viewed as just that – women. Yet, they are mothers or were potential mothers, as surely as any mother celebrating next Sunday with her loving family.

FINE Gael senator and member of the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee, Fidelma Healy Eames, has urged people to get involved in a national debate on Ireland and the future of the European Union.

CLARE County Library’s March programme for children and teenagers sees a number of  local and national festivals being celebrated once again though its branch network.

Ennis dancing entrepreneur Michael Donnellan brings his international show The Rhythms of Ireland to his native stage this April.Michael first began dancing at the age of five at the O’Rourke school of Dance in Ennis and he has two world dance championships under his belt. When he retired from the competitive dance scene at 21, another avenue opened up.He took on lead roles with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and then performed in over 1,000 shows with Riverdance. The opportunity to choreograph and direct his own production came about in 1999 when his first stage show Magic of the Dance went on tour and it continues to tour currently.Having acquired a grá for this type of work, Michael produced his newest production, Rhythms of Ireland, which has been touring the international stage since 2007. Rhythms of Ireland features a host of stellar performers, who boast world championship dance titles and/or lead performances in shows such as Lord of the …