The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
SUNDAY will be an emotional afternoon for Síle de Valera, as the woman who represented Clare in the Dáil for 20 years returns for the commemoration of her grandfather’s East Clare by-election win of 1917. Fianna Fáil has organised a range of events to mark the centenary in Ennis. One of the central figures in 20th century Ireland, Eamon de Valera played a major part in his granddaughter’s decision to enter politics, while she has warm memories of him as a caring grandfather. Indeed, she feels Dev might have lavished more affection on his grandchildren because the circumstances of his life meant he had often been separated from his own children when they were young. “At a personal level, I was 20 when he died, so I had the opportunity to know him very well as a grandfather. I have lovely memories of that and it’s interesting to juxtaposition the personal from the political. Very often, people saw him as …
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