Regional

West Clare artist Carmel T Madigan has been invited to attend and feature in a premier international arts event in Florence in December alongside 800 other specially selected artists from 74 countries worldwide.

Kilkee Town Councillor Claire Haugh has expressed her disappointment with how Allenders Field, located in the East End of the town, just off the Miltown Malbay Road, has not fulfilled its role as a recreational green walking area in the town.

A team of local people got their hands dirty this week when they participated in a clean-up of part of the Cullinagh River, which flows through Ennistymon and is visible from the bridge on the town’s Lahinch Road. According to a spokesperson for the Ennistymon and District Community Organisation (EDCO), the group who organised and undertook the clean-up, the river has the potential to be a significant resource for the town, but, because of its condition, it has been under-utilised for a number of years.

DONAL Walsh is becoming a familiar figure on the roads of South Galway as he tunes up for the Dublin City Marathon, on October 26. Donal who is manager of Rosemount Nursing Home in Gort will be covering the 26.2 mile course to raise money for the Samaritans and he has been in training all year.

AFTER two years of hard work, the Gort Fairtrade committee achieved its goal recently when Gort was announced as having achieved Fairtrade status.

A TOUCHING tale of doggy determination has resulted in Clarecastle pooch Mickey Blue reaching the final stages in a nationwide search for Ireland’s best-loved dog and cat. Proud pet owners from all over the country entered the Pedigree and Whiskas competition and Mickey Blue has been named a finalist. He is up against seven other dogs to win the title and the people of Clare are being urged to show their support by voting online to help Mickey Blue win. Mickey Blue’s owner, Annette O’Shea, found her beloved dog seven years ago at an animal shelter in Australia where she was living at the time. He had been in the shelter for 11 months and according to Annette he had “completely shut down, physically and emotionally”. However, after much hard work, Mickey Blue has learned to trust again and it is this inspirational story that has led the Lhasa Apso to the finals of the competition.Annette spent years living in …

A CURRACH-BUILDING workshop will be taking place in SkyCourt from this Monday until October 2. Shoppers will be able to watch progress being made on the construction of a three-hand West Clare fishing currach as it takes place in a unit within the shopping centre.The workshop is part of a skills-sharing initiative to keep traditional currach building skills alive in the county. Greg Duff is chairperson of local heritage group Dúchas na Sionna, which is backing the project. “It’s part of a West Clare Currach Club initiative to build 10 currachs throughout Clare. We have facilitated the building of one in Shannon with the co-operation of Pat Kelly of SkyCourt.“People might remember where the Paddy Power outlet was in SkyCourt, it’ll be built in there.”He said that Kilrush man James Madigan would be leading the project and showing how a currach should be built. “There is a lot of skill involved. James had the skills passed down to him from …

AN Ennis-based community art project is behind plans for an evening celebrating the journey towards motherhood through poetry, song and art next week.