Lifestyle

TWENTY walkers, many complete novices to the popular and growing outdoor pursuit, scaled the summits of Carrantuohill and Mount Brandon on successive days, all in the name of charity.The walkers, the majority from Clare and the remainder from Waterford, took on the twin challenge in late September to raise funds for The Voice of Autism in County Clare and Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin.Their efforts realised €10,000 and last week, the proceeds were handed over to representatives of both organisations at a presentation ceremony at The Woodstock Hotel.From the youngest of the group, 13-year-old Colm Fitzgerald, son of former Clare hurler and current Waterford team manager Davy, to 66-year-old Joe Lillis, a twice championship medal winner with Kilmurry-Ibrickane, the challenge was embraced with great enthusiasm.Carrantuohill, almost in the centre of the spine of MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and Ireland’s highest mountain at 3.123ft, was first up.  While demanding, the walk is achievable once people have a reasonably good level of fitness …

THE storytellers and tradition bearers of County Clare as well as the history of Folklore Collection in the county, will be discussed at the second lecture of the Sámhain Folklore series this Friday at Cois na hÁbhanna, Ennis. The lecture series organised by Cuimhneamh an Chláir, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Group, began with a talk on Biddy Early by the historian Meda Ryan. According to Cormac McCarthy, the group’s vice chairman, over 170 people attended the event and the group were delighted with the interest. “It illustrates to us the depth of interest there is in Clare in the folklore heritage of the county. This is something we have been confident about for a long time and we’re glad that this was shown at our first lecture. We are also confident that there will be huge interest in the Storytellers of County Clare”.   The second talk, The Storytellers of Clare, The Work of the Irish Folklore Commission in …

PEOPLE with learning disabilities want and need to be included in their communities, was the key message at the recent National Advocacy Conference, organised by the Brothers of Charity Services in Clare.This is the 12th year of the conference, which this year was held in the Clare Inn and saw delegates from all over the country attend.The conference heard of the importance of inclusion within local communities, from both international academics and people with disabilities from Clare. Key research dealing with inclusiveness carried out by people with disabilities was also presented at the conference.Rob Hopkins, of the Brothers of Charity in Clare explained, “We were delighted with the results of the conference. The feedback has been particularly good, with everybody saying it was very inspiring. Some of the CEOs from other organisations were very complimentary. “One of the things this conference highlighted was a leap on from advocacy, to doing research. People have always spoken up about their needs but …

By John Rainsford ALTHOUGH some indicators of crime have shown a downward trend over the past few years, violent crime is one activity which continues to rise year after year. In the period 2004 to 2009, for example, Central Statistics Office (CSO) crime figures reveal that murders in Ireland increased by 80%. Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassment and related offences rose by 37%. Furthermore, public-order offences and other social-code offences increased by 20% with controlled drugs offences rising over the period by a massive 123%. Almost 5% of the Irish population were recorded as being victims of crime in 2006. Between January and June 2010 alone, Support After Crime Services, with a regional office in Cork City, received over 640 referrals and a total last year of 1,012, a figure which is likely to be surpassed this year. Sally Hanlon explained, “Crime is now more violent nationwide. It is no longer a case of a few bad areas. There is …

THERE have been a number of golf competitions calling themselves some form of world championship. Many fell victim to more lucrative prize-money somewhere else in the world but the World Cup of Golf – previously the Canada Cup – has managed to survive. Ireland has a good record in it.In recent years Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley won in 1997 and Ireland finished runners-up twice, in 2009 with Graeme McDowell and 1990 with David Feherty and Ronan Rafferty. Perhaps our greatest achievement was our earlier win in Mexico in 1958. Canadian John Hopkins started the tournament to promote international goodwill in 1953. It remained known as the Canada Cup until 1967, when it was then called the World Cup. Throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s it was one of golf’s most prestigious tournaments. Until Harrington won his British Open title, the most talked about Irish involvement with that famous tournament was how Harry Bradshaw did not win it. Fred Daly …

THE national mood may be a little muted because of the recession and the country’s (and its citizens’) finances but this is no reason to tone down the Christmas wardrobe. In fact, tossing aside the winter woollies and jazzing up for one night might even offer a fleeting lift from the blues.The 2010 party dress has hit the shops with sharp tailoring, nods to the 1920s and plenty of one-shoulder wonders. This Christmas, short is sweet and there is a length and style for every shape and wallet. Be it hourglass or pint size, there is a dress out there to make everyone look and feel a million dollars without the matching price tag.Women conscious of broad shoulders and narrow hips should avoid halter-neck dresses and opt instead for wide straps. A full skirt or one with hip detail will help create balance with the shoulders.For those with fairly straight body shapes, where the difference in width of the hips, …

ENNIS pupil Sinéad O’Neill has snapped up a first prize in a nationwide photography competition. Sinéad was the senior cycle winner of the annual Science Snaps photographic competition, held in the run-up to science week. Bus Éireann are set to use the winning pictures in posters inside a selection of its coaches.This year’s theme for the competition was ‘The Wonder of Small Science’. Sinead’s winning photograph was titled An Eye for Nano and depicted a memory card. “I was thrilled when I found out I was one of the winners, I was so surprised,” Sinéad said.The Leaving Certificate pupil comes from a family of avid photographers, with Sinéad first taking up the camera when she was just 12.She explained the idea behind her award-winning photo. “I had a few ideas for the competition and my mother helped me narrow them down. I could only enter two photographs. I was thinking about small technology and the way technology has gone so …

That profound song, All My Life’s A Circle, has been resonating in my brain continually. Not necessarily because of events in my own life but because of occurrences in the life of someone close to me.