Tag Archives: clare champion

A CLARE priest will be the voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli to millions of people around the world this Christmas. However Fr Brendan Quinlivan, the parish priest of Tulla, won’t be striking a chord with his singing. Instead, Fr Quinlivan has done the voice-over for a new radio Christmas special in which the multi-award winning Bocelli sits down with Ennis journalist and presenter Colm Flynn. The programme, ‘Andrea Bocelli, Christmas Special’ will be broadcast on the ‘Heart & Soul show on the BBC World Service on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The show goes out to around 22 million listeners on the BBC radio network around the world and Colm had exclusive access to Bocelli for the interview in Florence, Italy. Fr Quinlivan’s involvement with the programme came by chance, as he happened to be in Italy just as Colm was trying to find the ideal English speaking voice to dub over Bocelli’s Italian. “The whole thing was fortuitous …

SCHOOLCHILDREN from over 20 Clare national schools have joined a campaign that’s planting more than a million trees in Ireland and Africa this year. In the lead up to Christmas, close to 160 class groups at national schools across the county will hold tree planting ceremonies on school grounds, local parks and public land, and will lend their backing to communities who will be planting tens of thousands of new trees in Uganda, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi before the end of the year. The schools initiative is part of the One Million Trees campaign, which will see Self Help Africa plant over a million trees this year.  The campaign is being coordinated by Clare native Sean McMahon, the former principal of Mullagh National School and a former President of the INTO teachers union. The campaign is being backed by the INTO,  and will see native Irish seedlings being distributed for planting by each participating class group. Workshops, collections and other …

SHANNONDOC has predicted patient numbers across the Christmas period this year will be double normal operating levels. Looking ahead to the busiest period of the year for the service, which provides non-emergency GP care outside of normal surgery hours, ShannonDoc Chair Dr Ailish Kenny urged the public to be patient as staff try to deal with the huge increase in calls. “We normally deal with about 2,500 patients per week but that will more or less double over Christmas when GP practices will, of course, be closed for public holidays as well as weekends. Over the course of the Christmas and New Year period, we could care for approx 10,000 patients in total. “That’s a huge throughput and a credit to all our staff. Every year the organisation rises to the challenge and our staff have been incredible over the past 20 months with Covid-19, while the public, too, have been understanding and supportive in light of the challenges facing …

A CLARECASTLE woman has been appointed as the Irish Ambassador to Singapore. The ambassadorial appointment of Sarah McGrath to the prestigious role was among 22 approved by the Government at a meeting last week and has been described as “a proud day for County Clare”. Sarah is a daughter of Anne McGrath and is a native of Clarecastle but has lived in Dublin for some time. She has worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs for the past 20 years where she is currently Director of the UN and Multilateral Unit, Development Cooperation and Africa Division. Deputy Joe Carey said, “I have just spoken with Sarah McGrath to congratulate her on being appointed the next Irish Ambassador to Singapore, Brunei and Timor Leste.” “This year’s ambassadorial nominees made history with women due to take up half the roles for the first time ever. Sarah will take her place in this historic announcement as the first female Irish Ambassador to Singapore, …

AN elderly woman using a walking frame was forced to step onto the road due to cars being parked on the footpath at a popular Ennis beauty spot in an incident described as “upsetting and frightening”, a meeting of local councillors heard. The Ennis Municipal District is now to make the case to gardaí to have double yellow lines installed at the entrance to Ballybeg Woods after “health and safety concerns” about motorists parking on the footpath at the entrance was highlighted. Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy raised the issue at a recent meeting of the municipal district calling for a review of the area to be undertaken to address “ongoing parking on the footpath approaching the Ballybeg Road entrance to the Ballybeg Woods”. She said the current situation “is preventing pedestrians, pedestrians with child buggies and wheelchair users from using the footpath, thereby forcing them to walk on the road”. The councillor acknowledged recent improvement works carried out at Ballybeg …

PLANS for the development of a pet crematorium in Ennis, which has the support of local vets, have been put on hold after an appeal to An Bord Pleanala. The appeal against the proposed development at an existing vacant unit at the Ennis Enterprise Centre in the Gort Road Industrial Estate has been lodged by a resident of County Meath, Don Weldon. The development of the pet crematorium is proposed by Aimee and Danny Keller in response to what has been described as “a lack of this service” within the county and surroundings. The nearest such facility is in Kerry, with the developers stating that the associated delay following the loss of a pet “can be very distressing” for owners. Planning permission was granted to the Kellers by Clare County Council in September subject to eight conditions. The local authority stated, “the proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity and …

AN Ennis toyshop will feature in a brand new television show airing this week on RTÉ. Little Ones on Parnell Street, in the county town, which specialises in traditional wooden toys and children’s gifts, is among the stores to appear in The Toy Shop which airs on RTÉ One on Wednesday evening at 9.30pm and again on Christmas day on RTÉ 2 at 8.45pm. The programme has been made by Atom Films, the makers of the acclaimed Older Than Ireland, Abbeyfealegood and The Irish Wedding. Fiona Ryan, owner of Little Ones, told The Champion she was delighted to take part in the programme and to be able to share the joy that toy shops can bring into people’s lives. “I was contacted by Atom Films to take part in the programme, I don’t know how they found out about us but I think originally they were looking at doing a programme on toys in general, then they wanted to focus …

Doireann Ní Ghlacáin tells Jessica Quinn about her documentary on the life of her grandfather Sean Ó Riada FIFTY years after the death of influential Irish composer Seán Ó Riada, his granddaughter the musician and broadcaster Doireann Ní Ghlacáin has explored his enormous legacy as part of a brand new TG4 documentary which will be broadcast on St Stephen’s Day. Originally from Clontarf but now living in Clare with her partner, Doireann says the programme ‘Seán O Riada – Mo Sheanathair’ is the result of an “all consuming labour of love over the past two years”. The documentary sees Doireann investigate her own heritage by charting her grandfather’s life and times, uncovering the true Ó Riada in a moving tribute to this giant of Irish cultural life. The programme, the first feature length documentary by Táin Media, is directed by Feilimí O’Connor and produced by Dónal O’Connor. It was co-written by Doireann and Feilimí in collaboration with executive producers the …