Lifestyle

LECTURES, parades, book launches and commemoration ceremonies will be celebrated as part of a comprehensive programme in Clare to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising. In total, 66 actions, covering seven strands, reflecting the themes adopted for the national programme were unveiled in the Clare schedule on Thursday in Dublin. The two main actions associated with World War I – the Clare Peace Park initiative and the Merriman Summer School, themed Ireland’s Gallant Allies in Europe – will be among the highlights of the local programme. It will include a focus on two men who are associated with 1916 in Clare – Con Colbert and Peadar Clancy. The official Clare County Council event is the re-development of the site commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising at the Club Bridge in Ennis. It is planned that there will be a re-launch of this site in early May 2016. The sub-committee meeting of the Cultural, Arts, Community, Recreation and …

BreastCheck has reiterated the importance of women between 50 and 64 availing of a regular mammogram when invited. The programme also encourages women in the age range to make sure they are on the BreastCheck register by checking online at www.breastcheck.ie or by calling Freephone 1800 45 45 55. For those women who have never been part of BreastCheck, there is a short video about having a mammogram on the website, showing exactly what happens at the appointment. Most women aged 50-64 have had at least one free BreastCheck mammogram, and eight out of every ten women come for their next mammogram when they get their appointment. However, the overall numbers of women taking part in the programme are falling and BreastCheck is particularly concerned that women in their early 50s are becoming less likely to go for their appointment. The risk of breast cancer increases with age and it is important women aged 50-64 avail of their regular free …

Tourism Ireland has launched a new online film, ‘The Outing 2015’, specially created to target LGBT couples around the world. The organisation is encouraging them to come and celebrate their weddings and honeymoons in Ireland. The video was filmed last weekend at The Outing, the world’s first-ever LGBT matchmaking festival and an offshoot of the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, which saw thousands of people descend on the North Clare town. It also features footage of the spectacular scenery in the area. To view the film, click here<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2SREnibYGM&feature=youtu.be>. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said, “Research unveiled at World Travel Market last year showed the annual spend on travel by LGBT people exceeded US$200 billion for the first time in 2014. Ireland’s ‘yes’ vote in May also delivered a strong message of tolerance, respect and open-mindedness, positioning Ireland as a welcoming destination for LGBT travellers. We are delighted to unveil our latest online film, highlighting The Outing and promoting Ireland to LGBT …

The new Public Health (Alcohol) Bill can reduce health harms in Ireland, according to a high-profile medical professional. Professor Frank Murray, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, said the findings of the survey carried out ahead of the Bill are not surprising. He revealed three people die in Ireland every day as a result of alcohol misuse. “We are concerned that the findings show a lack of awareness of the damage that alcohol causes to health. It is linked to seven cancers including of the liver and colon and breast cancer in women. Alcohol is a factor in one in 10 deaths before aged 50,” Professor Murray said. He emphasised how every family is affected by alcohol. “Our harmful relationship with alcohol damages men, women and children. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill contains many evidence based initiatives, primarily setting a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol that targets those who drink large volumes of high strength cheap …

“THE greatest con job of all time” is how Liam Skelly describes the decision to leave Aer Rianta International (ARI) with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) as part of the process that preceded Shannon becoming an independent airport. A Tipperary man domiciled in Scariff, the former airport director says Shannon, and indeed Cork, were plundered with hundreds of millions going unfairly to the capital, even leaving aside what happened with ARI. “According to EU and Irish accounting law if you want to separate a bit of your business from the main business, the main business must have indistribuble assets, which is money, of what has been taken away. The Minister said we’re taking Shannon away first, the asset value of Shannon is 70 million so Aer Rianta must be left with 70 million in cash. How do you get that? You sell assets, other assets. As regards Cork, because there was a new terminal, they said Cork’s asset value was …

More than 240 Fixed Charge Notices (FCN) have been issued to cyclists in the first two months of the introduction of the new regulations. Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe said the new regulations are helping to promote better cycling behaviour and keeping our cyclists and other road users safer on the roads. ” An Garda Síochána has indicated that between July 31 and the end of September a total of 244 fines have been issued to cyclists who have broken the law and committed one of the seven road traffic offences identified under the regulations. “Unsurprisingly, most fines have been issued for the offence of breaking a red light (144), with failure to have appropriate lighting on a bike accounting for the next highest number of fines at 44. “This measure was introduced with a view to promoting safe cycling practices and changing poor cycling behaviour and preventing needless collisions and injury on our roads. Last year, 13 cyclists were killed …

Teenage gambling has become a major issue in the county, with a “notable increase” in the numbers presenting for help at Bushypark Addiction Treatment Centre in Ennis. Team leader at the centre, Gerry Murphy said the accessibility of gambling is now a major issue and the ramifications have led to a shift in the demographic of the typical person who is attending their treatment centre. “I would say we’ve seen more people presenting with gambling, more young people coming in with a problem. Their families are getting involved much earlier now and trying to do interventions with them. We’ve had quite a few 18 and 19-year-olds presenting with difficulty,” he said. “You could be gambling on your smartphone while you’re at work and it’s available 24/7, so it’s very accessible and it’s very well marketed. There’s a lot of advertisement on the television, even around the Rugby World Cup, you can back this or back that, just by pressing a …

MOST people in Clare will have grown up without thinking anything unusual about aircraft crossing the Atlantic from North America to Shannon every day of the week but when the first passenger plane made the journey on October 24, 1945, it was a massive event. ‘TRANS OCEAN FLIGHTS’ screamed the lead headline on the following weekend’s Clare Champion, with sub-headlines of ‘New Air Service to Rineanna’ and ‘Clippers Defy Gale’ beneath it. The accompanying report said, “The Flagship ‘London’ of the American Airlines system landed at Rineanna at 3.30pm on Wednesday, thus inaugurating the land plane passenger service between America and Europe. Taking off from La Guardia Airport at New York on Tuesday night and calling at Gander Airport in Newfoundland, it flew the North Atlantic in half a gale in eight hours and twenty minutes. It was followed an hour later by a second Skymaster of the same Line. “The Irish and American flags fluttered from the fuselage of …