Festival makes for a swimming success at Scariff

THE Waterways Ireland Scariff Harbour Festival enthralled and engrossed the people of East Clare last weekend as distinguished guests Roy Garland, Edna O’Brien, Mary Black and Jeanette Ervine descended on the fair shores of the town.
Opening the festival on Friday, Northern Ireland peace activist Roy Garland remarked on the first harbour festival, which was opened by the late David Ervine and Mark Durkan in 2003, which, he said, added significance to the occasion as Mr Ervine and Mr Garland shared the same goals.
He spoke about his background growing up on the Shankhill Road in North Belfast and of the similar experiences that he and Mr Ervine would have had growing up in the city.
“We saw the futility of the old ways of division and conflict. We both wanted to create space for everyone. On one occasion in 1995, I shared a platform on Belfast’s Falls Road with former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, the SDLP’s Mark Durkan, Presbyterian Minister Rev Ken Newell and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness. This was a risky venture but immediately before it started, I was reassured when I received good wishes from David Ervine. This I will never forget,” he stated at the festival launch last Friday.
In his address to the people of Scariff, Mr Garland talked of the connectivity between Scariff and that of his native Belfast through the waterways of the Shannon into the Lagan.
He spoke fondly of the use of the waterways in Belfast and recalled the earlier days when barges were pulled by Shire horses along the river.
“The Lagan River always meant home to me. It was on its banks that Belfast City was built. Close to where the river enters Belfast Lough, the famous Titanic was built in the equally famous Harland and Wolfe Shipyard. The idea of reopening the waterway from Belfast to the Shannon Estuary is inspiring. That Scariff is playing its part in this innovative project must be a source of great pride for its people. It is helping to forge new relationships based on mutual respect and understanding,” Mr Garland said.
He concluded by saying that such efforts to forge bridges to connect communities rather than divides were “surely part of the new beginning heralded in the Good Friday Agreement and reflected in the British Irish Council”.
Later that evening, Mary Black gave a stellar performance raising the roof at the Sacred Heart Church and as an added treat was joined on stage by her brother, Michael and a young fan.
Meanwhile, the Saturday line-up was equally as good with Today FM providing live coverage of the event, while there was plenty of family fun entertainment throughout the town. A most interesting event saw the return of Tuamgraney’s Edna O’Brien, who gave an interview to UCD’s Declan Kiberd in the intimate setting of Scariff Library.
Tales of growing up in East Clare were recalled, while trials and tribulations arising from some of her books were also mentioned. That night the market came to life as Aslan took to the festival stage.
Meanwhile, the Sportsworld Netting and Waterways Ireland sponsored Cross Border Young Angler’s Competition saw two young French brothers, who each broke a leg this past week take first and second place on Sunday.
Pierre Nessim Charvet and his brother Jean Sanlim Charvet each broke a leg while on holidays in Portumna but while their luck seemed down it came around as the two were taken out on Lough Derg by world fly fishing champion Richard McDermott as part of the festival activities.
While the fish were slow to bite for the competition on Sunday, the two French brothers scooped the top two places. Other winners on the day were Billy Grogan in third, Wayne Barrett in fourth, James Clarke in fifth and Rob Dempster in sixth who were all down from Belfast on a youth exchange. While Niamh Deere from Scariff also took home a prize.