East Clare

A Clare missionary recently celebrated an important milestone in his ministry. Fr Donal O’Dea, a native of Quin, was ordained to the priesthood 60 years ago.A member of the Columbian Missionary Order, Fr Donal has served in the Philippines since 1951 and for most of his life has worked with the tribal people of the remote province of Zambales in that country.Fr Donal, whose brother Paddy and family live at Knocknagoug, Quin, returned to Ireland last summer to mark his 60th anniversary but officially celebrated the momentous occasion at his home in the Philippines on Wednesday, December 21. Fr Donal Hogan of the Columban order in Ireland said he could not speak highly enough of his colleague. He recalled his own time in the Philippines and visiting with Fr O’Dea on a number of occasions, including following some very grim natural disasters. “I visited him on many occasions. He is a fantastic priest. The Philippines was his first station and …

O’Callaghan’s Mills Community Council will hold a public meeting this Tuesday, January 10, to discuss plans to refurbish and extend the local community centre. The event kicks off at 8pm in the community centre, where there will be a presentation of the proposed plans for renovation. The centre, which was the old parish schoolhouse, was converted to a community hall in the 1970s and it has been used by the community as a meeting place and montessori in most recent times. However, the centre is in need of upgrading and the community council is proposing to carry out renovations to include the installation of new windows and flooring in the main hall, the upgrading of toilet facilities and to provide kitchen facilities. The council are also looking at providing a wheelchair toilet and wheelchair access. An extension is also being considered by the council, which would allow for more activities to take place within the centre.  The community council is …

RONAN Scully has spent the past 22 years working in the developing world, having lived in varying areas in that time, while working for the Irish charity Self Help Africa. Ronan, whose family hail from Spancilhill, recently completed the Great Ethiopian Run and told The Clare Champion about the influence his work has had on his life. “I have worked in the developing world for the past 22 years living in Calcutta in India for three years and then three years in Angola in Africa, also some time in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Ethiopia and a little time in Malawi. I work for the Irish charity Self Help Africa. I have something of a vested interest in what happens in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. It’s a connection that started way back in 1984, when the images from Michael Buerk’s BBC report on the famine prompted me to change my own life and begin a career that has seen …

PLANNING permission has been granted for the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant at Quin Gardens, Quin following a resolution passed at the December meeting of Clare County Council that the local authority proceed with the project.

THE Tulla Comhaltas Cultural Centre moves a step closer to reality this week with the announcement that the Cnoc na Gaoithe project has secured LEADER and private funding for phase one of its development project.

THE next few weeks will see a number of top-quality concerts in the East Clare area.

TEAGASC has entered into a new leasing arrangement with Clare Local Development Company for its Scariff base, which will mean the decision to close and sell this Teagasc office by January 2012 will not take place. The proposed closure was announced earlier this year and it had been intended to sell the Teagasc building redeploying staff to its Ennis base thereby cutting a service in East Clare. However, a five-year lease has been signed by Clare Local Development Company to take up residence in the building, while Teagasc is to lease a room within the building to maintain an advisory service at the centre. The advisory service previously offered at the Teagasc centre will be cut but the organisation will still maintain a presence for farmers by holding appointment-based clinics, with an advisor in Scariff, on a number of days each week. The new arrangement came about after the initial decision to close the Scariff facility was met with public …

TULLA Secondary School pupil, Ciara Bassford, is to go through to the district level stages of the Lions International Peace Poster contest after she was named the Clare winner of the competition.  The Lions International Peace Poster contest is an annual competition organised to encourage children aged between 11 and 13 to creatively express what peace means to them. The contest allows pupils to share their unique image of peace with others, so all have a greater tolerance and international understanding.This year’s competition kicked off in late October running in schools across the county, co-ordinated by Rosemarie Harte of the Clare Lions Club and the closing date for submissions was November 15. Participants were asked to design a poster with an international theme under the title Children Know Peace. Ciara, who is 12, designed a poster that depicted international people in their national costumes intermingling with one another. Following a judging process of all the entries submitted, Ciara’s poster design …