Lifestyle

A 20 year old man was before a special sitting of Ennis District Court this afternoon on a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Eugene McNamara at Lifford, Gort Road, Ennis on October 26 of last year. He also faces a charge of unlawfully taking a vehicle at Lake Villa, Gort Road, Ennis on the same day. The defendant, Rene Miko, is a 20 year old man originally from Slovakia and now with an address at Place de Plouzane, Kilrush. Judge Gráinne O’Neill agreed to grant bail subject to several conditions. These included that the defendant reside at his address in Kilrush, sign on at the local Garda station daily and that an independent surety of €6,000 be provided, with €2,000 to be lodged. Alternatively, she said two sureties of €3,000 each could be provided, with a total of €2,000 still to be lodged. A separate bond was required from the defendant and he was also required not …

ENNIS Circuit Criminal Court has heard details of a catalogue of injuries sustained by a five-month-old baby at the hands of her mother. Judge Gerald Keys heard that the baby had multiple fractures, including a fractured arm and skull and healing fractures to areas on both her legs, when presented to hospital in 2015. A 22-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to the willful assault and neglect of her daughter. Garda Hilda Moloney outlined that on February 13, 2015, the baby’s mother attended a Clare GP with her daughter “in a distressed state”. She said the baby was not moving her left arm and “something must be wrong”. The GP carried out an examination and, along with the lack of movement, he noted bruising on the left elbow and some swelling. He also found fading bruising along the arm, suggesting older injuries and noted that the baby had signs that the underside of her tongue was torn. Further to this, there …

Fourteen-year-old Adam Moloney was a hit on last weekend’s The Voice Kids UK. The St Patrick’s Comprehensive student was wanted by all three judges, will.i.am, Pixie Lott and Danny Jones, with Pixie and Danny turning their chairs within seconds and will.i.am eventually following their lead. Roger then had his choice of judge and eventually opted for Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am, after the American spoke about his work with U2 to lure the Shannon singer. Adam sang When You Love Someone by James TW. His father Roger said that Adam hasn’t been too caught up in all the excitement following the broadcasting of the show, which was aired on ITV and TV3. “He’s a really laid-back kid, to be honest with you. He’s just taking it in his stride. He loves his music. He was playing a gig last night in Limerick. He loves the feedback he’s getting off it. All he’s into is his hurling and music; they’re his …

TWO men who were involved in the media campaigns for US President Barack Obama, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton are coming to Ennis next month. The visit has nothing to do with elections but puppeteer Chris Green and director David Soll will be among the interesting figures in the line-up for Ennis Street Arts Festival, from July 3 to 9. The theme this year is Culture and Identity, once again creating a platform for artists and the community to embrace and celebrate our cultural and artistic diversity. “Chris Green brings us The Language of Things, an intensive master class for puppeteers, choreographers, actors, performance artists, animators and creative people of all experience levels who are interested in exploring the possibilities of material based story telling,” said Ana Bella Alvarez “The masterclass will be followed by an Ireland Premier, Puppet Film, a fascinating study of American puppetry’s history. This will be followed by a Q&A session with Chris Green, along with the director …

AN Ennis girl who was holidaying in Fanore recently got more than she bargained for as she was on an expedition to find interesting items on the beach, while on holidays. Sophie Rynne was walking along the beach in Fanore with her mother, Priscilla, searching for something rather unusual, a mermaid’s purse, but uncovered another curious item in the process. “We were looking for a mermaid’s purse. It’s the egg case of a dogfish, which is part of the shark family,” she said. They had found one on the beach in 2010 and have been on the look-out for one again.However, on this occasion, they spotted something else altogether, a plastic bottle with what looked like a note inside. “I said, ‘oh is that a message in the bottle’. I said I’ll walk over and see what it was. We saw there was something rolled up inside it. We weren’t sure and it looked like one of those colouring sheets. …

PEOPLE with memories of the halcyon days and nights of dancing to showbands are being sought to retell their tales as part of a new publication due out later this year. From The Candy Store to the Galtymore will chronicle this unique time in rural and urban Ireland through the stories of the young men and women who religiously went to their local Ballroom of Romance each weekend. The book will be co-edited by PJ Cunningham and Dr Joe Kearney, who are seeking memorable stories from that golden era, which saw the beginnings of thousands of romances. “What we want are the stories of romance, of chance meetings or tales that are funny and maybe even mischievous,” said PJ. “All human life gathered for the weekly dances in what was a cultural shift away from the more formal céilís which held sway up until then. “The showband dances were modern and slightly more brash occasions than the country had been …

The founding of Lions Clubs International, one hundred years ago, is celebrated on An Post’s new international postage stamp.   The €1.35 stamp, which covers standard letter postage anywhere in the world, was designed by Dublin company Red Dog and features a photograph from the annual Lions Holiday Project in 2016. The Lions Club is the world’s largest voluntary service organisation with a presence in over 200 countries and more than 1.4 million volunteers worldwide.  There are 2,700 members in 116 clubs across the island of Ireland, north and south. With their motto ‘We Serve’, they organise projects to help vulnerable and elderly people within their communities, and they undertake humanitarian work such as aiding street children, providing diabetic screening and preventing suicide and blindness. Paul Allen, District Governor of Lions Clubs International in Ireland, expressed his appreciation that the Lions Clubs work in serving their communities has been recognised by An Post with this special international stamp, reflecting the global reach of Lions …

Clare County Council’s Arts Office has announced of a four-year public art programme, entitled ‘Gaining Ground’. The aim of the council’s Public Art Programme 2017-2020 will be to utilise the pooled resources of the Per Cent for Art Schemes of the Local Authority and the Office of Public Works to maximise their potential. The programme comprises four strands taking place in North and West Clare, Shannon and Ennis. In North Clare, four six-month residency projects will be selected to take place over a two-year timeframe. A single residency project, entitled ‘Re-imagining the Rural’, will be selected to take place over a one-year timeframe in West Clare.  A single project, entitled ‘Dancing Together’ will be selected to take place over a one-year timeframe in Shannon.  ‘Reflections’, meanwhile, is the title of a publication and symposium in Ennis from 2019 to 2020. The launch of Gaining Ground will be held at Glór in Ennis on June 15 with guest speaker Annette Moloney, …