Regional

Tulla resident and horse breeder Gina Sivyer has the magic touch when it comes to horses, as she has a unique ability to help relieve pain and discomfort.  Gina has an unusual but rewarding job as an Equine Touch and Tennington Touch practitioner. These are energy and connective soft tissue disciplines used on horses to addresses injuries the animal might have, in many cases leading to behavioural changes for the better. Equine Touch is a gentle, hands-on soft tissue bodywork technique that encourages tight muscles to relax, stimulates blood circulation, reduces pain and boosts the immune system, helping a horse’s whole body improve its functionality. Gina breeds horses and works with this technique to rehabilitate sport and race horses at Kiltannon Home Farm in Tulla, where she works through horses’ physical and behavioural issues.  “For the last eight years, I have been involved in learning alternative techniques, I started with the Tellington Touch Equine Awareness Method (TTEAM), which is a …

The Christian Community Church based at Drewsborough in Tuamgraney held an open day for its congregation and members of the local community last weekend. Described as a great success by the Reverend Malcolm Allsop, many turned up for the meet-and-greet event, which included an art exhibition, choral singing and children’s activities.“It was an amazing day, contrary to all expectations with the weather and religion is not exactly a best seller, a lot of people turned out. There were a number of people who came that aren’t connected to the church who were invited and some people who I’d never seen before who had just heard about it,” Rev Allsop said. He added that last Sunday was Whit Sunday, an important Christian festival and he believed this gave wind to their sails. The Christian Community Church has begun holding a gathering for those who have died on the first Sunday of the month at 7.30pm and their next service takes place …

ESB Moneypoint representatives paid a visit to Burrane National School in Killimer last Thursday as part of their IT link up with the school.

Kilrush Town Councillors are anxious that a proposed Retail Incentive Scheme be extended to the whole town. The proposal was debated at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the town council, where it was mooted that Moore Street would be the primary beneficiary of the initiative. In introducing the Retail Incentive Scheme proposal, acting town manager, Nora Kaye, said the council had conducted a survey to find out how many businesses had started or ceased in a 12-month period. “It was found that while 11 businesses ceased trading in the last 12 months, 10 new businesses opened up in the town,” she revealed, adding that the rates income in Kilrush for 2010 was down 20% on 2007 figures. Ms Kaye explained the genesis of the scheme is to encourage people to set up businesses in vacant premises. “This is done by way of a grant towards the fit out costs of the new business, subject to the amount of the grant …

PLANS for a new railway station in Crusheen have been given the green light by Clare County Council, following years of campaigning by a local lobby group.The Crusheen Railway Committee, which is spearheaded by Sean Keehan and Michael O’Doherty, has spent years lobbying public representatives and Iarnród Éireann to construct a rail stop in the village. The group presented a strong case, which showed Crusheen is an ideal location for a rail stop to facilitate people coming from Ruan, Corofin, Tubber, Boston and elsewhere in North Clare, as well as Tulla and other areas of East Clare.Funds of about €1.5 million have already been allocated for the Crusheen stop on the recently opened €106.5m Western Rail Corridor, which delivers services between Galway and Limerick.New and changed services on the route include a new Galway to Ennis evening commuter service, departing Galway for Ennis at 6.30pm and departing Ennis for Galway at 8.15pm, the latter providing a new evening link from …

NATURE at the Cliffs of Moher, a new wildlife DVD, shows in remarkable detail how the world-famous landmark is far more than a 700ft wall of rock.The 40-minute DVD is produced by Waxwing Wildlife Productions, a Clare-based film company run by John Murphy and Stan Nugent, which specialises in nature documentaries. The DVD took almost two years to film and produce and features interviews with staff at the Cliffs, especially the rangers, with all aspects of nature and biodiversity covered.The DVD looks closely at the 30,000 strong breeding seabirds that summer there and gives information on their lifestyle.One of the species highlighted is the puffin, of which there are almost 1,200 pairs nesting at the Cliffs. These birds are known as the clown or parrot of the sea and the puffin is one of the most recognisable and colourful seabirds.The puffin is a species of conservation concern and Amber-listed due to its localised breeding population. The European population has been …

THE Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is set to feature in the new RTÉ series, Creedon’s Retro Roadtrip. In the series, John Creedon retraces the route of the only holiday his entire family ever took together. In 1969, John and his 11 siblings were loaded into his father’s enormous Mercedes and those who wouldn’t fit were piled into a borrowed caravan, before the family took off for a two-week road trip around the country. More than 40 years later, he took off on his own journey, retracing the family’s footprints, looking at how the country has changed and visiting places captured on grainy homemade footage and in black and white photographs.The series started last Sunday and the third episode will feature Clare, where John met Crusheen-based seanachaí Eddie Lenihan, someone he said, he had a “great laugh” with.It also features a trip to the famous Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, which he said was quite bittersweet.“We spent two days there and we were kind …

PLANS for the development of a multi-million euro nursing home and commercial development in Gort have been deferred for five years after the promoters revealed funding for the project couldn’t be secured at this stage.However, the developers of a proposed “high quality” town centre mixed-use development are confident this will become more attractive to the market and will achieve the required funding in the coming years.Galway County Council recently granted a decision to extend the period of time for planning permission already granted until April 14 next. Gerry, Aleisha, Gearóid and Fergal Lydon were granted a five-year extension to their original plans until April 13, 2016.The proposed mixed-use development includes a 48-bedroom nursing home; 10 two-bed sheltered homes; 31 townhouses comprising one one-bed, 24 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom units; medical centre, retail/commercial, offices, plant and associated external works such as protection quay wall in the townland of Lavally.Planning permission was granted by Galway County Council on June 20, 2006 with …