Lifestyle

{morfeo 137}

Harriet Simpson was born in Cooks Lane off O’Connell Street in Ennis. Her father managed a theatre and her mother acted. She took to the stage at an early age, moved to Dublin and then to London. There she got minor roles with a group managed by William Abbott.

STUDENT businesses from St Anne’s Secondary School in Killaloe and Coláiste Muire in Ennis will represent the county at the national Student Enterprise Awards next month. Knot Me, a business set up by first year student, Dermot Foley of St Anne’s in Killaloe, took the first prize in the junior section of the county final of the Student Enterprise Awards. Transition year students, Sarah Cronin, Ciara Ryan, Emer Varley, Laura Kelly and Caoimhe Feerick of Coláiste Muire and their business Inky Pinky took the first prize in the senior section. Their business makes nail varnish pens, while Knot Me supplies leather laces for deck shoes. The winners were presented with their prizes at the county Student Enterprise Awards, supported by Clare County Enterprise Board, an the West County Hotel in Ennis recently. Both will now go onto represent Clare at the national final of the competition in Croke Park, Dublin on April 18. According to Sinéad Dixon of Clare County …

Despite not being included in a recent announcement of school developments under the five-year school building plan issued by the Department of Education last week, Scoil na Mainistreach’s proposed eight classroom development will be going ahead.The Quin school got news last November that the department was proposing providing the classrooms in a standalone building on the school site by 2013. There was some concern as the building was not on the recently announced Department of Education and Skills list of building projects to be completed in the next five years. Clare Deputy Joe Carey said he received assurances from the Department of Education that the school build will go ahead as planned.“I can confirm that funding is secure for an additional eight classrooms, to allow Quin National School to develop into a 12 classroom school in accordance with the announcement of last November,” he said. “A statement in response to my representations from the Minister for Education’s office confirms ‘The …

THE closing date for entries to the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is fast approaching and companies across Clare are encouraged to get their entries in by the March 30 deadline.Entries for the competition can be made in any one of three categories – emerging, industry and international. A nominee must be an owner-manager who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old. Founders of public companies are eligible, provided the founder is still active in management and anyone can nominate an entrepreneur, including the entrepreneur himself or herself, employees or company advisors. A panel of judges, chaired by Aer Arann  chairman, Padraig O’Ceidigh and an award recipient in 2002, will select the shortlist, to be announced in May. At the launch of the 2012 programme, the organisers said Ireland must remain optimistic but realistic in terms of its economic future. Frank O’Keeffe, partner-in-charge of the Entrepreneur of …

{morfeo 136}

A LONG-hidden green, white and gold tricolour dating from the War of Independence has been discovered in West Clare. It was concealed for over 90 years in a sealed-up recess in the chimney breast of an old house in Mount Scott, near Mullagh.Built in the 1880s, the house is the ancestral home of the Lynch family and the flag was discovered by Jim Lynch during recent interior refurbishments. There had been some speculation within the family over the years that the flag might be hidden somewhere in the walls of the house but the subject was never discussed by the older generation and its emergence from the secret hiding place caused great surprise and excitement.Its reemergence from a 92-year-old concealment has revived long-lost memories of the War of Independence in the local area and the Lynch family’s involvement in it. The central character in the history of the flag is Matthew Lynch, around whose coffin it was draped when he …

THIRTEEN might be unlucky for some, but hopefully not for Joe Reid from Inch. Joe has been chosen to take part in this Saturday’s Winning Streak show with the chance to win a whopping €500,000.He will be the 13th contestant to have purchased his winning ticket from O’Dowd’s convenience store in Ennis.O’Dowd’s on the Turnpike Road has been dubbed one of luckiest shops in Clare. The store has seen not only 13 Winning Streak winners but also three lotto winners, including the €2 million Bredin syndicate.Joe told The Clare Champion he isn’t worried about the so-called unlucky number. He said, “I’m not at all superstitious. It’s all the same to me, it’s just a number.”He has asked his daughter Rosemarie to take his place on the programme and said he has no plans for any of his potential winnings. “Sure anything I win I’ll be delighted with. It will all go to my family anyway.”He said he had no idea …