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Great Scott – it’s Pamela

IT’S a case of key of the door for Irish-owned fashion group, Pamela Scott as 50 O’Connell Street, Ennis becomes their 21st retail outlet in Ireland. The opening on this Thursday – quite deliberately October 21 – is being welcomed by women of all ages as an important addition to the range of fashion stores in the county town.Another important dimension to the arrival of Pamela Scott is that the store will create around 10 new jobs.Located in the centre of Ennis, the bright and airy refurbished store will offer popular casual and smart-casual brands such as Gerry Webber, Biba, Bianca, Olsen, Not Your Daughters Jeans and Ruby Rox.  This will be alongside a wide variety of very reasonably priced cocktail and evening wear and a full range of fashionable accessories.Shoppers in Ennis can also look forward to seeing for the first time the fabulous new autumn winter collections by best-selling brands Twist, Sophie B and Zapara – brands that …

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Keeping it real at Ennis Fashion Fortnight

A UNIQUE fashion show catering for women of all ages, shapes and sizes was one of the highlights of the Ennis Fashion Fortnight, which draws to a close this Friday.Last Thursday, the popular Cloister venue staged the Real Clothes for Real People Fashion Show, with a host of first-time female models taking to the catwalk for their first time to showcase some of this season’s most popular and wearable looks.Gwen Culligan of the Ennis Fashion Fortnight committee said that the event was very popular and a lot of fun. “Hardly any of the ladies who agreed to model at this fashion show had ever done so and were understandably nervous because of that. But once they got out on the catwalk, they looked like pros and did a fantastic job. Their nerves soon went and some of them have even said that they’d love to model again. They all looked a million dollars for the fashion show and modelled with …

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History of Clare fishing published

A REMARKABLE insight into the offshore fishing industry in County Clare in the early 18th century is provided in a recently published book, Troubled Waters – a Social and Cultural History of Ireland’s Sea Fisheries.Author Dr Jim MacLaughlin argues that the political marginalisation of the fishing industry in Ireland is matched only by centuries of the neglect of the country’s sea fisheries by historians and social commentators. He is a political geographer who has written extensively on emigration, nation building, ethnic minorities, racism and social history.In his latest book, he further suggests that the rise of rural fundamentalism and social Darwinism after the Famine greatly exacerbated the neglect of maritime history in Ireland. In refusing to treat inshore and deep-sea fishing as mere footnotes in the evolution of Irish society, the study stresses the historical importance of the coastal economy to the country’s maritime communities. Topics examined include the archaeology of Irish fishing, cultural representations of coastal workers in Irish …

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A harvest not our own

THIS year, the children of St John’s National School, Shannon chose the harvest thanksgiving reading from the Bible’s Book of Ruth.This is an Old Testament love story that happens at harvest-time. It is about kindness, caring, sharing, putting others first.  Naomi and her husband and sons go to live among strangers, outside Jewish lands and culture, at a time of hardship.  The sons marry but they and their father all die, leaving Naomi with two daughters-in-law, both of whom love her deeply. One finally returns at Naomi’s urging to her mother’s house but the other, Ruth, says she will never leave Naomi and goes with her to her hometown, Bethlehem, to live among strangers. Naomi’s people will be her people and Naomi’s God, her God. This is a big decision, for widows were dependent on their male relatives and they did not know what reception they would get.  They go to Bethlehem, arriving at harvest time. Naomi’s relations don’t support …

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The US purchase of Alaska

Apart from Sarah Palin, the state of Alaska has a lot to offer the United States. It has immense reserves of oil, coal and natural gas together with many precious metals. The Prudhoe Bay oilfield alone is estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It is a vital part of the future of the country, which is a great change from those people who felt that the United States should have nothing do with the area. It is a massive and remote state which covers a huge territory. Its capital Juneau is almost as near to Tokyo as it is to Washington DC (300 miles difference). Not surprisingly, it has the most northerly point of the United States but it also has the most westerly point – Peaked Island – and the most easterly point. Some of its islands straddle the 180 degree line of longitude with the result that Pochnoi …

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The pride of Spancilhill honoured by council

CLARE County Council paid tribute to the legend that is Robbie McMahon at a civic reception in the Council Chamber on Monday evening.For those who know Robbie or who have had the pleasure of hearing him sing or been in his company, he needs no introduction. But for those who haven’t, Robbie is a singer, songwriter and genius for the comic turn of phrase. He is also an entertainer, a great traditional showman and to those in his local community, is a great neighbour and friend. Robbie, who is now 83 years young, was born in Spancilhill and has lived in the same house all of his life on the family farm. Robbie says he has been singing all of his life. “As a very young boy, I’d be out on the farm with my father and I’d be singing away making up old songs in my head and humming away thinking of words. I remember a medal at some …

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Cooraclare woman made of strong material

FOLLOWING a successful career as a television camerawoman, West Clare resident Deirdre Noonan had surgery earlier this year which meant she could no longer carry heavy equipment. Having made her own clothes for years and faced with the high cost of buying materials for her daughter who is studying fashion design, she decided to open her own fabric shop in Limerick. “Part of the reason I decided to open the shop is that I was spending so much money on fabric for my daughter and we ended up having to go to Dublin and over to London a lot to buy it,” she recalled. Deirdre has lived in Cooraclare for the last 11 years in the house that has been in her family for 160 years. Her love of fabrics and textiles, however, came from her time in London where she studied painting. She started her working life on a placement with RTÉ in 1986 going on to work for …

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