Regional

A RECENT Gort Community School graduate is using eBay in an attempt to raise money to support him as he starts life as a student.Eighteen-year-old Cillian Fahy collected his Leaving Cert results from the school last week and is now offering his notes, which helped him achieve seven As, to the highest bidder.The young entrepreneur, who has accepted a place in Trinity College Dublin’s English literature and maths course, put his study notes up on online auction site eBay late on Monday night.“It probably won’t fund my way through college but I hope this will give me a bit of a kick-start to get even a small amount of finance. With the economy the way it is now, students have to be a bit smarter about money and hopefully this will make me something and perhaps if it works out, it will encourage other people to do something similar,” the New Quay man told The Clare Champion.Cillian has set a …

A PRESENTATION for trophy winners and section champions in the Gort Show, which was held in Sullivan’s Royal Hotel, Gort, attracted over 40 people from counties Clare and Galway, who were also there to see who had won the Gort Town Basket and Boxes Competition.The winner of the best private house judged on the hanging baskets and window boxes was Vera and Seamus Killeen of Church Street, Gort. Donoghue’s house on George’s Street was second.The best business was Hennelly’s Bar in George’s Street, with the Gallery Café coming a close second. According to the organisers, George’s Street deservedly scooped the top prize for best street.Margaret Cummings of The Punchbowl was awarded a special surprise certificate for the best single hanging basket in the town of Gort.The section champions from the Gort Show included Mary Mahon of Gurteenboy, Gort, who was section champion in both the home produce section and the handcrafts section.“Mary won both these sections in 2009 also, which …

A NORTH Clare establishment has beaten some of Ireland’s best-known restaurants for a top-three position in one of the country’s most prestigious culinary awards ceremonies at the weekend.Gregans Castle in Ballyvaughan came third overall in the Food and Wine Magazine/Penfolds Restaurant of The Year Awards 2010. The hotel was beaten by renowned Dublin eateries Chapter One and l’Ecrivain. The hotel’s head chef Mickael Viljanen was named the fourth best chef in the country sharing the position with TV’s Neven Maguire. He was also named best chef in Munster. Taking the Munster award Mickael beat off competition from Martijn Kajuiter at the Michelin-starred Cliff House in Ardmore, Waterford and Paul Flynn from previous best-restaurant winner The Tannery in Dungarven. Both establishments were highly commended and commended respectively within the Penfolds Best Munster Restaurant category which was won by Gregans. While the awards are most prestigious, Gregans owner, Simon Haden, is honoured but not overwhelmed to feature so prominently especially given the …

THE Cliffs of Moher received a number of endorsements at the weekend for its campaign to become one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.Just days before they took part in the Rose of Tralee Festival, the 32 Roses visited the Cliffs of Moher where they took the opportunity to vote for the landmark in the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign.Many of the international Roses declared themselves joint ambassadors for the Cliffs and their home finalist.There are only 28 finalists remaining in the New 7 Wonders of Nature contest that will run until November 2011 before the final seven are named. Back for her second visit in as many weeks was Danielle McBurnett who is representing Arizona in the Rose of Tralee Festival. During her first visit, as a guest of the Ennis Twinning Committee, she voted for both the Cliffs of Moher and the Grand Canyon in the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign.“I’m delighted to have the …

Scariff native Margaret Kelly nee McNamara recently celebrated her 108th birthday in the USA. Born in June 1902, Margaret currently resides at the Pines Nursing Home in Glens Falls, New York, about 50 miles north of Albany, having emigrated to the United States in 1918, when she was just 16 years of age. Following receipt of her eighth commemorative coin and ninth signed letter from President Mary McAleese, Margaret gave an interview to the Irish Voice publication in New York where she regaled them with tales from her youth in County Clare and taking the boat to a brave new world. Margaret has a number of relatives still living in Ireland and her nephew Noel McNamara continues to hold the family farm in Clonusker, Scariff. Noel and his sister Eileen visited Margaret and her older sister Nellie in New York 12 years ago just after Nellie celebrated her 103rd birthday. Eileen, who now lives in Dublin, but whose daughter returned …

THE parish priest in Tulla received some interesting post last week after it was thought he had a secret line to the person or persons occupying Tulla graveyard.An ESB bill addressed to “The Occupant, Tulla Graveyard, Tulla” made its way to Fr Martin O’Brien last Thursday after the local postman was confused as to which occupant in the cemetery he was supposed to deliver it to.  Fr O’Brien said, “the local postman obviously amused and amidst considerable local amusement wondered who was the occupant and in the fun decided to deliver it to me. I suspect he thought I had a line to the occupants”.While the letter to the unknown occupant of the graveyard caused a local stir and spurred plenty of jokes around Tulla there was a serious side to the matter and the community remembered the late Brian Culloo who spearheaded the committee that lead to the graveyard being so nicely lit.A number of years ago the local …

THE proposed extraction of up to 500 million litres daily of water from Lough Derg would hinder efforts to attract large multinationals into the region, a local angling group has claimed.

CALLS to put a masterplan or commercial template in place for Meelick and the surrounding areas amid the opening of the new Limerick Tunnel were dismissed by Clare County Council in a formal response at a recent Killaloe Electoral Area meeting.