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Lotto millionaires ‘tick off bucketlist’

A CLARE couple, who won over €1 million in the EuroMillions last month, plan to use their winnings to go on an exotic holiday and help a local charity. The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, bought their winning ticket in The Spar shop on the Limerick Road in Ennis, opposite St Flannan’s College, on Tuesday, February 23. They scooped a €1,026,063 prize with a €6 Quick Pick ticket in the EuroMillions, with the numbers: 23, 25, 32, 37, 42 and star number 1. Collecting their prize from the National Lottery headquarters on Thursday, the lucky couple said they made a bucket list together a few years ago and are now looking forward to ticking off a few things, including an exotic holiday. They also say they plan to make a donation to a local charity which means a great deal to their family. “We’re living the dream we never imagined would come true. We were so excited that we …

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Loop Head Lighthouse reopens

Loop Head Lighthouse is to reopen to the public on Saturday. Clare County Council, which manages the facility in conjunction with the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL), says the historic lighthouse will remain open daily (10am-6pm) until October. The popular tourist attraction attracted 26,932 visitors during 2015. The figure represents an increase of 6,564 or 32% on 2014 visitor numbers. Loop Head Lighthouse is a landmark location on the Loop Head Heritage Trail which was named winner of the ‘Culture and Heritage’ category of the 2015 World Responsible Tourism Awards. It is also one of 12 lighthouses which make up Great Lighthouses of Ireland, a new all-island tourism initiative, and is one of two Signature Discovery Points in County Clare along the route of the Wild Atlantic Way. Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, James Breen said the lighthouse has become “a key driver” of visitor numbers to the Loop Head Peninsula since it was first opened to the public in …

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Pearse and Plunkett material online

The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has  made personal papers and photographs related to Joseph Plunkett and Patrick Pearse available online. This material forms part of the 1916 Digital Collections – unique documents related to the seven signatories of the Proclamation that tell the story of the momentous events of 1916. The Plunkett and Pearse papers are now publicly available, free of charge, at catalogue.nli.ie. They join the Éamonn Ceannt collection, published in December to coincide with the launch of the National Library’s 2016 Programme, and the papers of Tom Clarke, James Connolly, Seán MacDiarmada and Thomas MacDonagh, which were published in January and February. The 1916 Digital Collections are a culmination of years of intensive work by the NLI team, with more than 20,000 items now available online. The digitised papers include diaries, postcards and photographs that tell the stories of the family and working lives of each signatory, alongside dramatic records of their activities during Easter Week 1916. …

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Moyhill Garden harvests a top award

MOYHILL Community Garden finished second in the Sustainable Community section of the 2015 Get Involved Community Award presentation ceremony, which was held in Dublin last week. Now in its third year, the Local Ireland Get Involved Sustainable Communities awards initiative is promoted by 51 weekly paid-for newspapers and this year’s initiative featured 30 projects from all over Ireland. The projects cover the essential areas necessary to build sustainable communities, including clean energy, water conservation, local food production, eco-tourism and developing local community employment. The North Clare-based group was also highly commended in the Community Impact section. In their presentation, the group told the gathering at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown that they had visited Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the UK in an effort to establish their own one. Green Party General Election candidate, Fergal Smith heads up the Moyhill group and he told The Clare Champion that reaching the national final was a positive experience for them. “Local …

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Donald Trump is not Barack Obama

LOTS of comments are flying about Donald Trump’s vocabulary. Some of the conversation has been about his lack of vocabulary. Others have pointed out that he is uncouth and crude in his speech. Others have noted that Trump tells it like it is, holding nothing back, saying whatever comes to his mind or speaking from his heart. Some on social media have commented they don’t want a president who cannot communicate more articulately or smoother than what Trump does. I have to note that we have a smooth president by the name of Barack Obama. I personally think that he uses the teleprompter as well as anybody I’ve ever seen. Or, when he has time to master his content, he can release his words in a very convincing manner. I don’t see that there is much debate on our current president’s ability to deliver a high-powered speech. On the other hand, we’ve all heard the president at press conferences “hem …

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Olivier Award nomination for Ennis actresss

An Ennis actress is in good company as a nominee for one of the world’s most prestigious theatre awards. Denise Gough has been nominated in the Best Actress category for the Olivier Awards, along with Hollywood actresses Nicole Kidman and Gemma Arterton. Denise, from College Green, has been nominated for her performance in Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things. Critics have been raving about her performance, describing it as “career changing”, “astonishing” and “emotionally shattering”. She has already won the Best Actress Award at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2015 for the same part and was nominated for the Best Actress Award by The Evening Standard for her “career-defining performance” as an actress whose life has spun recklessly out of control because of her addiction to drink and drugs. When she was named best actress for the Critics’ Circle Awards, she admitted almost giving up acting before she got the part with the National Theatre. Now she is the toast …

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Supporting mothers in the developing world

Kilmaley native, Eamonn Meehan from Trocaire is calling on people to remember the extraordinary mothers across the developing world this Mother’s Day. This weekend people across Ireland will celebrate the mothers in their families and honour the women in their lives. The ‘Irish Mammy’ is a blessing to be cherished, but having worked and lived in the developing world I always also remember the ‘Global Mammies’ I have met who, despite struggling against unimaginable poverty and injustice, are making sure their children have a brighter future. Mothers across the developing world are struggling to feed their children and earn enough money to send them to school. The sacrifices mothers and families are making is extraordinary and highlights their strength and determination. This week Trocaire is celebrating the women the organisation has been able to support thanks to donations from county Clare and across Ireland particularly during the Lenten campaign. The Trocaire Box is our biggest fundraising campaign and provides the …

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Mid-West hospital leads Caesarean research

NEW research spearheaded at University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL) has shown a reliable way to predict which first-time mothers are likely to need a Caesarean section when in labour. The research paper, The Genesis Study, was the only one from outside North America among the first 30 selected, from some 1,600 submissions from all over the world, for oral presentation at the recent annual meeting of the Society for Foetal-Maternal Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. The Perinatal Ireland research team showed in the study, which involved some 2,500 first-time mothers, that five key patient characteristics out of 37 characteristics that were analysed can be combined in a mathematical model to predict which patients are more likely to need a Caesarean delivery in labour. These characteristics are older maternal age, shorter maternal height, higher maternal BMI, bigger foetal abdomen size and bigger foetal head size. The study was designed and proposed in 2009 by Dr Gerry Burke, clinical director for Maternal and Child Health …

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