Floating the Tidy Towns’ boat

Everything is ship shape in Tuamgraney as the annual Tidy Towns competition approaches and the development association has enlisted the help of students to restore an old boat that has been installed in the village this week.
Tuamgraney Development Association put out a request for the donation of an old boat that they could use as part of a flower installation on the approach into Tuamgraney from the Killaloe side. 
Mary Cassidy and Liam Furlong from the development association spoke to Mark Curley, construction studies teacher, and Áine Purcell, green school co-ordinator, both of Scariff Community College, about the possibility of building a large boat to be used as a flowerbed in the centre of the village.
Mark Curley suggested restoring a boat and a notice was put on the green school notice board and pupils were asked if they knew of anyone that would donate a boat.
Fifth-year pupil Daniel Levie of Williamstown, Whitegate, spoke to his parents Angus and Ulrike, who own Shannon Castle Line Cruisers and they offered to donate a boat.
“The idea behind it is to link the centre of the village with the waterways and the Shannon. You have to have a link for the Tidy Towns competition so we are using the boat to create a linking up with the waterways and Reddan’s quay in Tuamgraney. Preparations for Tidy Towns are going great and we have just three weeks left but we will be ready for the judging on June 1,” said Mary Cassidy of Tuamgraney Development Association.
Explaining the involvement of Scariff Community College, Áine Purcell said the pupil were delighted to take on the project and added that Scéal an mBád (the boat’s story) shows how a community can work together.
“The boat was brought to the school by the Levie family and Daniel and another fifth year student, Cathal Glennon, from Riverview, Scariff, set about restoring the boat.
This was an intensive job as the boat had to be sanded down and repaired. This was done over the winter and required many hours of work. The boat is now ready to be moved on to the heart of Tuamgraney village,” Ms Purcell said. The boat was moved from Scariff Community College and was put in place on Wednesday evening, where it will be planted in the coming days ahead of the judging for the Tidy Towns competition.