Lifestyle

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WHILE the country is preparing for a second vote on the Lisbon Treaty, there may be another referendum looming. Carys Thomas of the Children’s Rights Alliance certainly hopes there will be and she feels that a constitutional amendment on the rights of the child would be a fitting gesture towards the thousands who suffered institutional abuse.

WHEN Bobby Moorhead of Ennis joins 54,000 fellow runners at the start of the Great North Run on September 20, he will be passing two milestones. It will be his 20th run in the biggest half marathon in the world and it will also be his last. Bobby has been joining in the Great North Run since 1986, the year in which he completed his first New York marathon, a feat he was to repeat two years later.

SHE’S been selling clothes for more than 50 years but Anne Pigott will be retiring from the retail business this Saturday evening. Many businesses are closing their doors nowadays due to the recession but happily, that’s not the reason that Anne’s shop, The Fuller Figure on Parnell Street is shutting.

AN Irish institution turned 50 this week. It is the most unlikely of things nowadays. On paper it should not have survived the cultural revolutions of the 1960s and 70s, or the recession of the ’80s, but it did and more surprising still, is that it has made its way into the 21st century. The Rose of Tralee Festival has been parodied on television and in film but there is something intrinsically charming about it that draws viewers, crowds and indeed entrants from all over the world annually.

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Inagh man Damien Queally gave up his life as a successful economist to work in some of the world’s poorest countries. Eight years ago, when the Irish economy was in full flight, Inagh’s Damien Queally turned his back on a promising career as an economist with one of the country’s top banks to become an aid worker.

GLAMOUR, intelligence, beauty and talent will feature in abundance this weekend as 19 young hopefuls take to the stage to compete for the honour of representing Clare in the 2009 Rose of Tralee competition. The Clare finals take place this Friday at the West County Hotel, Ennis and are open to the public.