AN Ennis world champion dancer has landed a major coup by persuading some of his former Riverdance colleagues to perform a special once-off production

Anthony Sharkey has teamed up with dancer Eileen Martin and former Clare-based Riverdance dancers for what is expected to be a sell-out event in aid of The Clare Crusaders on April 10 at Glór.
Anthony, who was crowned world champion on two occasions, joined Riverdance in 1998 and spent almost six years with the group, even dancing the lead role on their Broadway tour in 2001.
The qualified dance teacher is also passionate about passing on his talent to others and has set up the Sharkey School of Dancing.
He is thrilled to be able to bring Riverdance to Ennis in aid of Clare Crisaders, having struck up a great friendship with clinic manager, Ann Norton during their successful partnership in the recent Jigs and Reels competition.
While Riverdance dancers have performed at charity events in Belfast and Dublin, Ennis will become only the third town after Killarney and Castlebar to host an event, which has won international acclaim following its debut as an interval act for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest.
Anthony never dreamed that he would be able to bring the show to his hometown. “I have seen 48 out of the 50 states in the United States of America and have performed throughout the world but it will be an extra special feeling to dance in front of your own home crowd.
“There will be a fantastic lines of stars, I want to provide a very uplifting production of music, singing and dancing full of life and energy. Glór is also pulling out all the stops to make sure everything will be in place for the performers on the night.”
Clare Crusaders was set up five years ago by the late Howard Flannery, who found services for Clare children with special needs were not as good as they should be. It took two and a half years to raise enough money to set up the clinic, which Mr Flannery never got a chance to see before his tragic death in June 2007. In February 2009, a new clinic was opened in Barefield village, which employs four full time therapists who provide physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language and montessori for 130 children.
It is run on a very tight budget by Barefield mother-of-three, Ann Norton, whose eldest daughter, Nicole has Cerebal Palsy and local accountant, Frank Cassidy on a voluntary basis. It costs €230,000 to run the free service, which has proven to be a lifeline for Clare parents of children with special needs.
“Every parent of a child with special needs wants to provide them with the best therapy locally to give them the best start in life. The clinic provides great peace of mind to parents knowing that their children will receive therapy on a weekly basis without having to obtain it privately,” said Ann, adding “we work in co-operation with the HSE because it is important that important that a child is getting the best of both services”.
She said it is a constant battle to raise enough money to run the clinic. “We get great support from parents when it comes to fundraising activities. We need to raise €230,000 this year to ensure we can provide the same amount of therapy to children in 2011.
“Before Clare Crusaders was set up, I had to go to Dublin two or three times a month to get physiotherapy and speech and language therapy for Nicole. Obtaining private therapy is expensive for parents and can cost up to €150 an hour,” she said.
“I get phone calls every day from 8am to 11pm at night from parents looking for therapy for their child. Children are prioritised depending on the caseload and their individual needs. We don’t do assessments, the purpose of the clinic is to provide as much therapy as possible and we found over the last two and half years it has worked very well,” she said.
Tickets for The Reel Crusader go on sale from the Glór box office next Wednesday.