Lifestyle

A CLARECASTLE family has paid tribute to their local community, following their second successful educational mission to the heart of Africa. Pat and Frances Bergin and their adult children, Tim and student teacher, Laura, have expressed their appreciation to all those in the Clarecastle-Ballyea parish, who supported their month-long trip to Zambia in July. The Bergin family were accompanied by five student teachers from St Patrick’s College in Drumcondra for their lengthy stint at a school in the Linda compound, outside Lusaka, the capital of land-locked Zambia. The school was originally founded as a community school in 2003, with the help of Frances Bergin’s sister, Sr Claudia, a Mercy nun, who is now living in Trim, County Meath. Last year, Laura set up a society in St Patrick’s called ZOCS, Zambian Open Community Schools, and she and three other students, including Ennis trainee teacher, Ultan O’Brien, went to the Zambian school with Laura’s parents to begin the work. “It was …

Clare county councillors have been asked to ban animal circuses from performing on public land. However, in a statement, the council said they do not issue permits to visiting circuses. In an open letter to the council, Mullagh resident Betty Fowler said councils in South Dublin, Monaghan, Wicklow, Waterford, Drogheda and Clonakilty have already banned animal circuses from performing locally. “Animals are being caged, transported and made to perform in unnatural ways for the fun and amusement of people. Animals are not on this planet for human entertainment. It distresses me to see circuses like this being given permission to tour this misery around Clare and Ireland,” her letter read. “I am calling on you, as our public representative, to put forward and vote to pass a motion to ban animal circuses on public land in Clare and I look forward to hearing back from you,” Ms Fowler wrote. Independent councillor Christy Curtin said councillors will consider Ms Fowler’s request. However, …

Earlier this year, Burrenbeo Trust put out a call looking for a ‘Young Burren Leader’ to represent the landscape charity at the world’s largest conservation conference in Australia. This week, the successful candidate for the role as a Global Youth Ambassador (GYA) has been announced as New Quay’s Cillian Fahy. This is not the first award for Cillian, who became the only Irish person to receive a Gates Cambridge Scholarship this year, allowing him to pursue an M. Phil in European Literature and Culture at the university starting in October. After getting As across the board in his Leaving Cert in 2010, Cillian sold his notes online for €3,000 and subsequently was a regular columnist in the Irish Times education section. He holds a degree in English Literature from Trinity College, Dublin. After being named a global youth ambassador, Cillian will now represent the Burrenbeo Trust at the world’s largest conservation conference, the IUCN World Congress in Syndey, this November. …

September has been designated ‘National Chipping Month’ when dog owners can avail of free or reduced-price microchipping, as part of a nationwide campaign. Thousands of lost and stray dogs are destroyed in Irish pounds every year. But a simple microchip, no bigger than a grain of rice, can effect a successful reunification without delay and implantation is painless. “Alert to all dog lovers like myself: did you know that there are over 100,000 dogs out there with an incorrectly registered microchip? Were you to lose your pet it would be impossible to reunite you”, cautioned RTE news presenter, Sharon Ni Bheolain,who is backing the campaign. One in three dogs in Ireland is currently chipped but microchipping will be compulsory under the new Animal Health and Welfare Act by 2016. National Chipping Month is being promoted by veterinary practices, animal welfare organisations, re-homing centres, local authority pounds, pet retail outlets and charities around the country. Those with chipped pets are also …

Bus Éireann has announced that all students who have paid for tickets will be carried on school buses after a computer problem resulted in many Clare families not receiving their tickets on time. The company blamed “technical glitches” and late payments for the problems experienced by some families. This is the first year that tickets are being issued through a central reservation system and not by the 11 regional school transport offices. The company issued a statement on Tuesday apologising for “any inconvenience this has caused” and asked for patience “as we work through a small backlog, owing to the introduction of the new online school transport system last month complicated by the large proportion of late payments. There were some technical glitches with the new system that were promptly rectified and we extended the payment dateline by one week earlier this month, to alleviate any inconvenience this may have caused”. The company said it has issued the vast majority of …

Dogs Trust, the dog welfare charity, is now available to visit primary and Montessori schools, along with community groups in Clare and Galway, offering free, curriculum-linked workshops, teaching children about responsible dog ownership. Dawn Kavanagh, a fully qualified secondary school teacher with a Masters in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, who just has taken the up the education officer role in Dogs Trust, will lead the programme in this region. “Dogs Trust’s philosophy of never putting a healthy dog down is something I really admire, and especially needed here in Ireland. I truly believe the key to improving welfare for all animals is education, and Dogs Trust education programme is doing just that. This really is a dream role for me, combining my education and animal welfare passions,” said Dawn. In underlining the importance of Dawn’s appointment to cover Clare and South Connacht, Dogs Trust executive director, Mark Beazley, said, “We have had a phenomenal response to our education programme and …

JOE RUSSELL, general manager of Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland in Doonbeg,  has said the five star west Clare resort is currently experiencing its busiest month since opening in 2006. Currently the golf club and lodge employees 230 full and part-time people. Acknowledging that early year uncertainty adversely affected trade in Doonbeg, following receivership and the winter storms, Joe Russell says that business has picked up considerably in recent months. “With the receivership it was slow to start off and obviously coming out of the storm, that had an impact on our golf business at the beginning of the year. But we have done a tremendous amount of work in the last number of months and August has been our best ever month since we opened. July was very strong, August is stronger and September will be strong. We’re also looking at a good October. While the early part of the year was tough going, giving everything that went …

The average cost of teeth whitening in Clare is the fourth highest in the country, according to new research from private healthcare search engine, WhatClinic.com. Their survey has found, depending on where you live greatly affects how much you will pay for dental care in Ireland. According to its findings, the most expensive place for achieving pearly whites is one clinic in Sandycove, which charges patients more than €650 for the treatment. Across Ireland, the average cost of teeth whitening is €262, but for the best value for money people should head to Westmeath where it costs just €159. County Kerry, at €388, is the most expensive county for pearly whites, at more than double that of Westmeath. This is followed by Wicklow at €350 and Clare at €337. However, Clare fares reasonably well when compared to the average prices in Ireland for the five most common types of dental work. The average cost of getting dental fillings in Clare stands …