Regional

AFTER a three-year sojourn in Ennis, the Merriman Summer School will be held again in Lisdoonvarna from next Wednesday to Sunday, with events taking place in the Pavilion Theatre, the Royal Spa Hotel and other locations.Prof Nóirín Hayes of DIT, an expert in childhood and children’s rights is director of the 2011 Summer School, which is entitled Changing Irish Childhoods. She has invited a distinguished group of speakers to the school, which promises to be engaging, informative and enjoyable. The theme is particularly timely given the recent appointment of a Minister with responsibility for children, Frances Fitzgerald, who will open the school, and in the light of serious concerns about Ireland’s record in protecting and caring for children.  As a new Strategy for Children is being drafted, the summer school offers an opportunity to reflect on our views of children, our values as a society and our obligations to our youngest citizens. The afternoons and evenings are devoted to lectures, …

TOURISM in West and North Clare would benefit from the provision of a new looped walk from Loop Head to Black Head, according to Councillor Gabriel Keating.Speaking at a recent Kilrush Electoral Area meeting, Councillor Keating said walking is becoming a very popular recreational activity and has huge spin-offs for tourism once it is properly promoted.Councillor Keating proposed the provision of a walking route from Loop Head to Black Head should be developed to boost tourism in West Clare.Following the opening of Loop Head Lighthouse for the first time in 351 years, he explained this provided the council with an ideal opportunity to develop the tourism product in the area. Two years ago, he recalled the possibility of developing these walking trails was identified at a meeting in Kilkee and he suggested a lot could be learned from the way walks are developed in England.Councillor Pat Keane said a lot of work has been completed concerning the promotion of walks …

HAVING spent 50 years at the helm of the family-run O’Connor’s Bakery, Pat and Mary O’Connor would be forgiven for taking it a little easy these days.However, when The Clare Champion visited the bakery on the Tulla Road to speak about their upcoming golden year celebrations, 78-year-old Pat was hard at work with his baker’s cap firmly on, while his wife, 75-year-old Mary, was up since 6am that morning making sure that everything was spick and span to her exacting standards of excellence.It is that hard work and attention to detail that has seen O’Connor’s grow from a small bakery in Parnell Street to a business with shops in Clare, Limerick and Galway as well as a large modern bakery. However, while the O’Connor’s brand has grown over the years, some things never change, with many of their 145 staff working there for over 40 years, while most of the breads and confectionary are still handcrafted like they were in …

A South Galway councillor has called for the reopening of Thoor Ballylee in an effort to attract more tourists to the area. Councillor Gerry Finnerty recently requested that TD Michael Kitt raise the issue in the Dáil as to why the former home of WB Yeats is now closed for the second year in a row. In a letter to Deputy Kitt, Fáilte Ireland stated that it is not in a position to reopen the building for the foreseeable future.“As you are probably aware, Thoor is a protected structure, listed on the Record of Monuments and Properties. In late 2009, it suffered serious damage from unusually high levels of flooding. The damage to the building and surrounding area was extensive, as the water reached about 12 feet high. In March this year moisture levels were still between 25% and 70%, which is quite unsuitable,” stated Mary Penny, parliamentary affairs, Fáilte Ireland.Ms Penny confirmed Fáilte Ireland had been in discussions with …

WHILE there were a number of positives at the Shannon Free Zone last year, the numbers working there ultimately declined by 4% in 2010, the Shannon Development annual report shows.There were 362 new jobs created at the Free Zone last year but 616 jobs were lost, a nett loss of 254.The overall loss follows on from a nett loss of 787 jobs (11% of the total) in 2009 and a net gain of 108 jobs in 2008.In the annual report, it was claimed the overall performance was quite good in the circumstances. “The Shannon Free Zone performed well against a difficult global business environment in 2010. During the year, 362 new jobs were created. Among the job highlights in 2010 was the announcement of up to 117 Shannon Development-supported new jobs at US global financial security firm Genworth Financial. While overall employment at Shannon Free Zone fell 4% year on year, it should be noted that almost 90% of these …

THE Ennis Brass Band are hoping to get themselves into the Guinness Book of World Records, as the first brass band to have ever played on all three Aran Islands in one day.The band, who this year celebrate 40 years in existence, recently visited Inis Mór, Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr where they played for islanders and tourists. According to Darragh McAllister of the Ennis Brass Band, it is now hoped the venture will make it into the record books. “We are going to ring the Guinness Book of Records about this. And if they don’t have a record, we will try and get them to put us in. We have all the documentary evidence of us being on all the islands,” he said.He explained where the idea for the record attempt came from. “We often take trips away and it was decided that since we were celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, we would have to do something together. …

After 20 years of neglect, a scenic river walkway has re-emerged from the overgrown wilderness and has been transformed through a Quin Tidy Towns initiative. Cormac McGuinness, who has been involved in the project, has explained how the initiative has revived the riverbank and the addition of a stone bench feature, being dubbed “the seat of serenity” has really helped improve the area. The Tidy Towns committee, made up of 19 volunteers from the Quin community, took on the task of opening up a small stretch of the riverbank adjacent to Marlborough Cottage. The project included tidying up the area around a derelict cottage and the planting of new hedges and flowers. “Twenty years ago FÁS put in a riverside walk and put down gravel around this area. It fell into neglect and fell overgrown and no one really went down there. We decided, as one of our projects for the community, we would open up that stretch of bank,” …

The University of Limerick’s reputation as Ireland’s leading sporting amenity has been furthered with the development of a state-of-the-art, all-weather sports facility on the Clare side of the college campus.The new €9 million facility is the largest all-weather sports field complex in Europe. This multi-purpose, fully floodlit synthetic grass park contains third-generation pitches including two soccer, one rugby and two GAA pitches. Third-generation all-weather surfaces play like natural grass and are designed for full contact. Each full-size pitch can be sub-divided to create smaller-sized playing areas for various sports. This is the largest artificial grass development in Ireland to date, designed to IRB, GAA and FIFA specifications.David Mahedy, director of sport and recreation, welcomed the development, saying, “This is a real life ‘Field of Dreams’ come true that is a top-quality unique facility for every player in every code to experience and enjoy. Training and especially matches can now be accommodated in all weathers and at all times on the …