Lifestyle

GIVEN the weather in recent weeks, strappy sandals and peep toes are not the first choice for this year’s festive season. From high street to high end, The Clare Champion has taken a look at some of the cutest court shoes available this Christmas.Metallic courts are a great way to liven up a predominantly black outfit and give it a little seasonal touch. Team with a black jumpsuit and matching clutch for a perfect Christmas night out ensemble.Sequinned court shoes look great with black denier tights and a dress, while silver or gold glittered pumps instantly bring an outfit together when worn with the right silver or gold accessories. For those opting for a red dress this year, gold shoes and accessories add a splash of festive decadence. Silver looks great with purple and black courts in rich indulgent fabrics like suede look smashing with teal.While many will have been ogling Louboutin’s calf hair, leopard print beauties this year, for …

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  CONTRACTING a parasite during a holiday in South America three years ago proved to be a blessing in disguise for an Ennis-based woman, who was subsequently diagnosed with coeliac disease. Originally from Monaghan, Mariea Hand came to work in Ennis five years ago and in November 2008, had the misfortune of picking up a parasite during a trip to South America.When she came home from her holiday, it kept coming back, which prompted a consultation with an Ennis GP, who suspected coeliac disease. This prognosis came back positive after a blood test.Mariea was referred for a biopsy with a gastroenterologist in Galway and six weeks later, she had the procedure. She had to keep eating gluten until after the treatment, which was a bit difficult as it made her feel unwell.“The parasite was in the lower intestine. That didn’t affect the coeliac disease. When I took tablets to kill the parasite, I was still unwell because of coeliac disease, …

By John Rainsford   AOIFE Nic Giolla Coda knows all about bees. In fact, her family owns some of the most extensive apiaries in Ireland. For the last eight years, she has been living in County Clare, only moving back to her native Tipperary recently with her husband and children to look after those honey-making assets. “My aim is to work with my father and the bees, eventually taking over the honey production completely. I also kept bees in County Clare on a much smaller scale. I supplied a couple of farmers’ markets before I had children,” she explained. “I spent three years as the secretary of the Banner Beekeepers’ Association (Banner BKA), which is the association for County Clare. I was very involved in teaching beekeeping to beginners and mentoring. I also helped to set up the apiary of native Irish bees at the Irish Seedsavers’ Association in East Clare and gave workshops in beekeeping there.” Aoife grew up …

THE Citizens’ Information Service in Ennis has been helping Clare people with their concerns about this year’s Budget. According to Paul Woulfe, while Budget 2012 may not have been as bad as people expected, callers have been contacting the organisation for advice on how it affects them.“There are a lot of concerns by people about this year’s Budget with a wide range of people from all over the county contacting us. Right now, people are just reacting to it and absorbing it to see how it will affect them. People were expecting it to be worse but we have had lots of people getting in touch with us to find out how it will affect them. Changes to Job Seeker’s Benefit and Allowance, the cut in fuel allowance, changes to the Household Benefits package for carers and the Back to School Allowance are just some of the items that people have contacted us about. We are available to talk to …

EVERY child knows Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. There we will also find Mrs Claus, the huge toy factory and the magical elves. Of course, we cannot forget his flying reindeer. Then, on one special night, the reindeer fly him all around the world as he gives presents to all the children everywhere. We know all this for about 200 years since the poem The Night Before Christmas was published in the New York Sentinel in 1823. This poem reflected much older Christmas traditions, particularly Dutch, some of which had previously appeared in print in America. But where did he live before he went to the North Pole?The very original Santa Claus came from Turkey. St Nicholas was born in Patara, became bishop of a town called Myra and he is revered as a saint in both the western and eastern churches. Very little is known of his life except that he performed many good deeds and was …

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CHRISTY Healy collected his certificate from Guinness World Records at the weekend after the organisation confirmed he is the first man to complete a 10km dive without surfacing. The Barefield man undertook the dive in Lough Derg recently to raise money for Limerick-based charity, Share A Dream Foundation. He completed the task in six hours and 21 minutes.This length of the dive, recorded with photographs, video and technical evidence, proved sufficient for Guinness World Records to award Christy with a certificate confirming his accolade. The award was presented to Christy at the annual Share A Dream Foundation Children of Courage Awards in Limerick on Saturday night. The successful dive was Christy’s second attempt at the record in three weeks having previously attempted the task off the North Clare coast in October, where he managed 9.4km before surfacing.“I have the evidence that I did it. I have the plaque and I have the card and the whole lot and I’m happy …