Regional

EAST Clare’s internationally renowned fiddler, Martin Hayes, together with Steve Cooney, will perform as part of a gala concert to help with ongoing fundraising efforts for Brigit’s Hearth this weekend. The event, which takes place at 4pm on Sunday in Scariff Community College, has been organised to help raise funds for the childcare facility which started out 10 years ago. Speaking about Brigit’s Hearth, musician Martin Hayes said, “It’s a local East Clare project and it’s a project that I think has a positive influence in a fundamental way on children’s lives. I try to do a few benefits for local things and I am very happy to do so for this event. “Lina Pelaez, who runs Brigit’s Hearth, is my partner and I met her through this project. I played for the opening of it. First of all, one of the most striking things about it is the architecture of the building because it tries to establish a home. …

A group of pupils from Coláiste Muire have been named ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalists of the Year for their project All Washed Up that involved mobilising their community to clean up the coastline following a shipwreck. Young people from across Ireland were honoured at the 12th annual ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards showcase and ceremony attended by former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, in Dublin’s Mansion House.A total of 55 groups were selected for the finals from almost 4,000 young people throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland at regional Dragon’s Den-style ECO Dens. From carbon footprint apps to recycling awareness song It’s a (w)rap!, guerrilla gardening, a dam building project on the River Corrib, biodiversity trails and a climate change campaign involving polar bears made of recycled materials being placed around the capital city, it was all covered by this year’s talented group of Young Environmentalists.“It is inspiring to see the passion and talent of young people from every county on the island …

THE West on Track campaign has warmly welcomed Iarnród Éireann’s new range of developments on the Galway-Limerick section of the Western Rail Corridor. The group has also expressed satisfaction at the healthy passenger levels for its first year of operation,Over 250,000 journeys have been made across the Limerick-Galway route, including the Limerick-Ennis and Athenry-Galway commuter services, since it opened on March 30, 2010 and Iarnród Éireann has expressed confidence that service changes now in place will continue to attract more customers to the route.Following a successful trial period, the current online promotional fares of €10 each way on selected services between Limerick and Galway are to be extended until further notice. Iarnród Éireann has also said that new services introduced last month will give a boost to customers in the Galway area and along the Western Rail Corridor line from Galway to Limerick. New and changed services include a new Galway-Ennis evening commuter service departing Galway for Ennis at 6.30pm …

VETERAN broadcaster and sports commentator, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh last week presented Scoil Mhuire, Lahinch, the Foras na Gaeilge GLEO 2011 Award in Croke Park along with 16 other schools from all over the country. The GLEO awards recognise schools that have led the way in promoting spoken Irish in their schools and communities during the past year.  Schools are selected on the basis of their innovation and creativity and this year and 17 received an award of €3,000 to spend on Irish language resources and language events for their school.  Scoil Mhuire won first place in the Munster Region.“These awards are a great incentive for both teachers and students to look for innovative and interesting ways to promote spoken Irish in their schools,” said Mícheál.  “There’s no doubt that they make Irish more fun for the pupils, which in turn fosters a further love of Irish as they grow older,” he added.All English medium primary and post-primary schools in which …

ALREADY internationally renowned, the Burren is about to receive one of its best ever promotional boosts. Images of the unique landscape of North Clare will be despatched to the far-flung corners of the world, thanks to An Post.The Burren National Park is one of six of the best of Ireland’s National Parks celebrated with a special stamp series launched this week.Designed by Steve Simpson, the stamps feature The Burren, Connemara, Glenveigh, Killarney, Wicklow and Ballycroy, County Mayo National Parks and are based on photographs by well-known international photographer, Walter Pfeiffer. Also issued to accompany the stamp set are three first-day covers, two sets of mini sheets and a prestige booklet featuring the stamps and a wealth of background information about Ireland’s National Parks. Each of these beautiful items is available from leading post offices, at www.irishstamps.ie or from the Irish Stamps shop in Dublin’s GPO.The entire set celebrates Ireland’s top national parks, unrivalled in their beauty and home to a …

CLARE Roots Society is to host a major genealogy and family history conference at the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis this October.The conference, with the theme, The Future of our Past will be addressed by leading figures from the world of Genealogy and Family History and will take place on October 1. The keynote address will be given by Dr Nick Barratt, London, whose talk is entitled Family History and the Media in which he will examine the way genealogy has been transformed over the past five years by TV and the internet. He will go behind the scenes of programmes like Who Do You Think You Are to reveal how they are made and the impact the shows have had on the way people research. Nick Barratt is a TV presenter and commentator. He is editor in chief of Your Family History magazine and chief executive of Sticks Research Agency. He was the original genealogical consultant and lead researcher for …

THE deeds of a Meelick man, who was head of the East Clare IRA Brigade, will be recalled when Clare County Council hosts its July meeting at Knappogue Castle.Michael Brennan was the chief of staff of the IRA Flying Column and he was joined by John McNamara, Cratloe; Austin Brennan, Meelick; Michael O’Neill, Cratloe (a grand-uncle of Councillor Cathal Crowe); Patrick White, Meelick and Michael Gleeson, Meelick.During the War of Independence, Clare County Council held their meetings at Knappogue Castle where they were guarded by the East Clare Flying Column. Michael Brennan, General of the East Clare Brigade also used the castle as his headquarters during that time.Councillor Crowe tabled a motion at a recent Clare County Council meeting asking the local authority to hold its July meeting in Knappogue Castle as July 11, 2011 marks the 90th anniversary of the end of the Irish War of Independence.He said he is delighted the council has granted his proposal and looks …

AFTER more than a century of educating local children, Barefield National School ushered in a new era at the weekend with the official opening of its new state-of-the-art school.