Lifestyle

IN the 21 years since establishing the Share A Dream Foundation, Shay Kinsella has worked with over 20,000 families. Now, the foundation that makes the dreams of sick children come true, is celebrating its 21st year with a free Dream Concert in the RDS on August 20, where pop stars, boy bands, girl bands, dancers, face painters and costume characters will be present, along with over 1,000 kids. Shay explained how the foundation came about. “About 22 years ago, I had a bad accident and ended up in hospital, just feeling sorry for myself. I saw kids going up and down for treatment and thought, ‘wow at least I had a life, unlike these little broken bodies’. There was a gorgeous little girl and I was told she had leukaemia. When you’re in there you have a lot of time on your hands and I thought I should do something to cheer her up. I became friendly with her mother …

WITH Ladies’ Day at the Galway Races Summer Festival just a week away, it is time to put the final touches to the all-important outfit.While many will have everything at the ready, others may still be seeking the perfect partner for their favourite dress.As well as plenty of opportunities to rent or borrow hats, there are also a number of accomplished designers relatively close to Clare offering an extensive choice of ready-to-wear headpieces at competitive prices. As well as getting the ideal accessory, shopping local means supporting Irish crafts people and Irish jobs.Ennis woman Fiona Mangan is based in Athenry and makes bespoke hats and headpieces for all occasions. Bold fluid lines have been particularly noticeable in her recent collections, as well as vibrant colours and varied fabrics. Her works show strength of form and structure with a distinctly vintage nod.Another architect, Aisling Maher’s latest collection features pastels and vivid reds, greens and black in an array of rich fabrics, …

By John Rainsford   They called it a meitheal back in the day but now the ancient Irish word, denoting co-operation and team work, has been revived to link Ennis and Limerick in a very ‘practical’ way. This summer, the University of Limerick’s (UL) Practicum Project has joined with the Ennis Hub Plan in promoting the town as the central hub of the Mid-West. The idea for a practicum first emerged from UL’s highly successful Co-operative Education Programme under which students were placed in industry in order to acquire valuable work experience. The new practicum is enabling these same students to engage in faculty-designed research projects in close collaboration with community sponsors. The use of the name practicum is derived from the Latin word practicus meaning ‘one who practices’ or ‘one who takes action’. Spearheading the project in Ennis this summer are Susan Rice, Sherona O’Donnell and Avril Seery – all postgraduate students of the new MA in Technical Communication …

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IT’S July in Rehy East near Carrigaholt. The rain is clattering down on Terence O’Connor’s cottage. The wind is relentlessly arrowing in from Kilcredaun Point, drowning out the bellowing cattle in a field next door. Terence and his wife Kristine are used to West Clare summers at this stage. They moved to Kilfearagh, Kilkee from England in 1993 and to Rehy in 2000.Speaking to The Clare Champion as he prepared for the launch of his art exhibition at Kilrush Library, which runs from Thursday until July 23, Terence said having no ties to West Clare ironically drew the couple to the region.Terence has Irish blood, as his father’s family are from North Kerry and his mother’s family are from Derry. In 1989, himself and his brother travelled around Ireland with their ailing father and following his marriage to Kristine in 1990, they embarked on a similar trip.“Someone recommended a visit to West Clare. I didn’t have any relatives here so …

CORBALLY native Gerard Newsham became part of space exploration history when a science project he worked on at Limerick Institute of Technology was carried on the final shuttle mission from NASA Kennedy Space Centre in Florida last week.Staff and students at LIT were glued to live television feeds from the Kennedy Space Centre last Friday as Gerard’s research was taken on board for the historic STS-135 Atlantis mission to the International Space Station.Fellow LIT post-graduate students of Mr Newsham, whose life science experiment to test hypergravity interactions between bacteria and plants was carried on board the historic flight, gathered with the institute’s head of the Department of Applied Science, Michelle McKeon-Bennett to witness the historic moment.Meanwhile, over 3,000km away, Mr Newsham was celebrating the lift-off for his project on board the very last flight for the 30-year space shuttle programme. Speaking minutes after the launch, he said, “It’s an incredible moment for me, for my post-graduate colleagues at LIT, for …

Celtic Mist, the yacht sailed by the late Charles J Haughey, will finally arrive in Kilrush on Saturday. The steel yacht, which spent much of its sea-faring days in Dingle and on Mr Haughey’s Blasket island of Inishvickillane, was offered by the Haughey family as a gift to the Kilrush-based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.The 52ft motor sailor ketch, which has four cabins and six berths, had been on sale on the Isle of Wight since last year but the late Mr Haughey’s son, Conor invited the IWDG to take it over for its research in Irish waters.After completing the leg from Waterford to Greenock, Scotland in the Tall Ships Race, Celtic Mist will sail for Kilrush.Shannon Development is supporting the IWDG by providing a berth for Celtic Mist at Kilrush Creek Marina, as the company sees it as an important asset for West Clare.Shannon Development’s regional development manager for Clare, Finbarr Brougham said, “We are delighted that IWDG secured …

MEMBERS of the Mid-West Interfaith Network from Ennis, Shannon, Sixmilebridge and Limerick were invited to a garden party in Áras an Uachtaráin recently where they met with President Mary McAleese and Dr Martin McAleese. The group has members from all religious backgrounds who work together in love and harmony. Representing the group in Dublin were Raj Thapa, Hindu; Trish Fallon, Baha’i; Bart Gruzaliski, Buddhist; Eva  Coombes, Jew; Gurmukh Singh Birma, Sikh; Alan Hillard, Catholic priest; Vispi Shroff is Zorastrian while Abid Aldakar is undecided.Abid  Aldakar is integration officer in Doris Lumni and both he and Alan Hillard founded the interfaith network last year.