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Bush priest on walkabout in Bodyke

He  is known as the Mandiago priest in his adopted home in The Gambia but for the next few months, Fr John (Jackie) Sharpe, CSSP, will be in Bodyke parish. He celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination over the weekend. He has already celebrated his 50 years of service in the Shrine Church he built at Kunkujang, The Gambia in March but his official golden jubilee date falls on July 5. A native of County Tipperary Fr Sharpe’s connection with East Clare goes back to 1965 when he first met Bodyke man, Bishop Michael Moloney, in The Gambia. Having been there since 1937, Bishop Moloney extended him a céad míle fáilte. Reflecting on his 49 years in Africa, Fr Sharpe sits in his Bodyke living room looking out at the beautiful view, content with what his retirement has to offer. He came home in 2009 on sabbatical, after spending nearly 45 years in The Gambia without a break. He was sent …

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Sarah Jane in Miss Ireland final

Sarah Jane Dunne, a daughter of the famous late Pecker Dunne from Killimer, has qualified for the Miss Ireland finals, which will take place on Saturday, July 19. She is the first member of the Travelling community to be selected as a finalist for Miss Ireland, a competition, which has a 67-year history. Speaking about her qualification for the finals, the 24-year-old said it came about after she entered a radio competition. “I was in a competition that Ryan Tubridy had on 2FM, Miss Personality, basically nobody knew what we looked like when we entered that competition. We just filled out application forms with all our details and then they picked eight finalists, who they thought were interesting. It went on for two days; we went on the radio, we were interviewed, there was a public vote online and the public decided who they wanted to be Miss Personality. “After that, I was asked to go forward for the semi-finals …

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Burren College of Art turns 20

The Dean of Colombia University’s School of Art, a twice nominated Turner Prize painter, a former Danish Minister for Culture and a leading art theorist from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are among the confirmed participants in a programme of events marking the 20th anniversary of Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan. From July 17-20, works by some of its most successful and high profile alumni will go on show, with a symposium exploring alternative models of education, featuring contributions from groundbreaking Irish and overseas art education innovators. Irish-born American painter and printmaker and twice Turner Prize-nominee, Sean Scully will also receive an honorary doctorate. Located at Newtown Castle, the Burren College of Art specialises in delivering a range of contemporary fine art programmes including photography, sculpture, painting and digital media. Postgraduate programmes at the college have been accredited by National University of Ireland, Galway since 2002. Mary Hawkes Greene, president and founder of the Burren College of …

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Clare archbishop’s portrait for auction

A portrait of a highly influential County Clare ecclesiastical figure is to be auctioned next week. It is that of Archbishop Joseph Clune of Perth, Western Australia, a native of Ruan. The portait, on canvas measuring 72 x 54 inches, is signed and dated on the lower left, Leo Whelan, 1913. It will go under the hammer on Wednesday next at 7pm at Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in Durrow, County Laois and, according to the auctioneers, is expected to fetch in the region of €1,500 – €2,500. Patrick Joseph Clune, DD CSsR, was born on January 6, 1864 in Ruan and died on May 24, 1935 in Perth. He was the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth and first Archbishop of Perth, serving continously in these roles from 1910 to 1935. Educated at the local national school and at St Flannan’s College in Ennis, in 1879 he entered the Catholic Missionary All Hallows College in Dublin to study for the priesthood. …

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Out of the loop at O’Briensbridge

The “permanent” closure of a small section of a National Looped Walk near O’Briensbridge in the interest of safety has been described as “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut”. Councillor Michael Begley made the assertion after it emerged that it could take years before the public walkway near the bridge in the village is re-opened after it was closed off last week. Last week, Clare County Council explained this walkway was shut for the “forseeable future” after Christy Crotty and a young toddler passed under the bridge minutes before mortar fell when the bridge was hit by a truck. This was the second incident involving falling mortar after another walker, Sean O’Dowd, has a similar experience. However, it could take years before this walkway can be used again, after the council linked its re-opening with the opening of the Killaloe bypass. Killaloe Municipal District senior executive engineer, Hugh McGrath explained the council couldn’t give a date for re-opening as …

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Indicators good for June milk price

Despite  the strong supply situation globally, dairy markets over the past month have shown perceptible improvements and Irish dairy farmers expect that these developments will be reflected in the Irish Dairy Board price index for June. That’s according to Pat McCormack, deputy president and chairperson of ICMSA’s dairy committee. “At this stage, there is strong evidence to suggest that the marketplace has factored in strong global supplies and a number of major market indicators have shown positive moves over the last month – actually, as recently as this week the significant product categories all went up,” said Mr McCormack. “Prices on spot milk markets have improved with the Dutch dairy quotas running close to 4% higher for butter than this time last month, increasing by 3% and WMP remaining stable. In Italy, for instance, according to the newly established Milk Monitoring Observatory (MMO), the spot milk price increased by 10.5% in the last four weeks and in the Netherlands, the spot …

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Sean saddles up for 4,000km cycle

Kilmihil exile, Sean O’Neill  is preparing for a 4,000km cycle from Alaska to Vancouver. The 36-year-old has been based in Vancouver for around 12 years and, speaking from there , he outlined his plans for the cycle. “Basically, I’m going to head off in about four weeks from Vancouver on a ferry along the BC coast and that’ll take about four or five days,” he said. “I’ll get as far as Anchorage and fly from there on to Prudhoe Bay, which is at the very, very top of Alaska, way up there, right on the Arctic Ocean. That’s where I start and it’s all the way back to Vancouver. “It’s over 4,000 kilometres. It’ll probably take about two months or something. The first 500 miles of it should be fairly interesting, there isn’t a sinner really. It’s kind of like a gravel road for 500 miles and it’ll be about 10 or 12 days of just me, a bunch of …

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Water leak leads to dry pub

We’re all familiar with the ditty, The pub with no Beer, but a  busy pub and restaurant in East Clare was without a proper water service last weekend, after a major leak occurred in Whitegate. Publican at the Half Barrel, Batt O’Riordan and his local representative, Councillor Pat Burke, were surprised that Irish Water did not consider the “major leak” to be an emergency. They were equally surprised when Irish Water said they could not come out until Monday and advised them to contact the local authority emergency number. The issue was reported on Saturday evening. A member of Clare County Council assessed the situation that day but was not in a position to repair the leak. Irish Water did come out on Monday morning and repaired the leak. In the meantime, the Half Barrel operated its business with the assistance of a neighbour who was able to run a hose to their water tank. Batt O’Riordan said Irish Water …

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