Tag Archives: clare

O’CALLAGHAN’S Mills’ artist Thomas Delohery continues to draw success since moving to Australia. He has been named as a finalist in the prestigious M16 Artspace Drawing Prize for his drawing of Australian actor Anthony La Paglia, which he did from life. Thomas describes his naming on the finalist list as “amazing”. Explaining how his award nominated art work came about he says, “Anthony is best known for Without a Trace and Bad Blood, etc. I met Anthony late in 2019 and did some drawings from life. Anthony was a pleasure to meet and draw in person. The selected piece is called, ‘Australian Actor Anthony La Paglia. In Conversation about our Fathers’. The artwork be on display at the M16 Artspace in Canberra from November 26, when the winner will be announced. The M16 Artspace Drawing Prize, established in 2006 has become an acclaimed event and attracts a number of high calibre entries from across Australia. A wide array of work is …

COVID-19 may have pulled the brakes on the annual When In Doubt – Pedal It Out charity cycle in Clare, but organisers are continuing to be in the picture when it comes to supporting mental health services. A novel photograph competition has been instigated, with people from throughout County Clare being urged to submit images of what they are doing to exercise during these Level 5 restrictions. Mayor of Ennis Councillor Paul Murphy, one of the organisers behind the annual cycle explains it is hoped this will motivate people and their families to get out and do exercise, which will support their physical and mental well being. He says that while the annual fundraiser is based around cycling, people can send photographs of any kind of exercise to get involved. “Running, walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, walking the dog, whatever they may be doing outside within the 5kms of their home can be posted to the When In Doubt – Pedal …

THERE has been a 25% increase in the amount of glass collected at local authority bottle banks across the county this year, already surpassing last year’s figures, Clare County Council have revealed. Details of the county’s recycling habits have been unveiled ahead of Clare Waste Awareness Week. Other statistics show that while almost every householder in Clare has a three bin collection service, only 75% use the brown bin. More than 156 tonnes of textiles are thrown away in County Clare every year, and in 2019, 65 tonnes of paint and 30 tonnes of waste mineral oils and filters were collected at civic amenity sites in the county. The awareness week to provide information and tips that will help the Banner County reduce its waste production will take place from November 16 to 20. Clare Waste Awareness Week is a five-day virtual event organised by Clare County Council, in association with the Southern Regional Waste Management Planning Office, to highlight …

FIVE-years old Clare student artist, Kate Moran, from Nicola Art Class, Ennis, has won a top prize in this year’s 66th Texaco Children’s Art Competition for her work entitled ‘My Daisy’. Kate won a Special Merit Award for an artwork that final adjudicator, Professor Declan McGonagle said, “was imaginative and displayed a high level of skill”. With the onset of Covid-19, the competition had to be extended over a longer period this year with delays to the final adjudication process and the announcement of winners. As a result, activities normally undertaken during April and May, traditionally, the introduction of winners to the media and the formal presentation of prizes, had to be set aside as a consequence of which prizes will be delivered by hand without the possibility of an awards ceremony. 

RELEASING her debut prose book ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ in the midst of a pandemic, Clare poet and author Doireann Ní Ghríofa admits she didn’t know what to expect. However, she had no need to worry, with the publication going on to receive critical acclaim, becoming a best seller and securing two nominations in the forthcoming Irish Book Awards. Doireann, who grew up in Kilnamona tells us, “It was due to be published in April but that was postponed until the summer. Everything was so strange with the coronavirus, and I was worried that after so many years of work, that my book would sink without trace and completely disappear – but I was wrong. “Readers took it into their hearts from the very start, and they kept it the Top 10 national bestsellers from when it was published in August all the way up to October, something I could never have dreamed of. I’ve been surprised and delighted …

DOZENS of objections have now been lodged with Clare County Council against the development of a windfarm at Cahermurphy and nearby townlands, close to Kilmihil. While the application from MCRE Windfarm Limited claimed that there are positive relationships with people in the area, many of the local residents are against the proposal and a large number of strongly worded objections have been lodged with the local authority. Among them is one from the Cahermurphy Wind Farm Phase II Opposition Group which claims there has been little consultation from the company with locals. “This application has been rushed into the Council with little to no public consultation, during a pandemic. There are many locals who have none or very little knowledge of this proposed industrial development,” it said in a submission to the county council. “As we needed hand signatures to validate this letter and our request, the collected signatures are the result of a limited round trip on October 21, …

CLARE Youth Service has been at the forefront of responding to the challenges faced by young people as a result of the onset of Covid-19. Now its efforts and those of its summer camp leaders has resulted in their winning the online Covid Community Responder award at this week’s Creative Techfest. With the changed environment last spring, CYS moved rapidly to ensure accessibility of its services for young people across a variety of new platforms but one of the greatest challenges was how to ensure the continuation of the long-established summer camps which have achieved such a significant place in the lives of local young people.   Working with Techspace’s Leigha Dugdale, a group of young people came together to create an online experience for young people in the absence of a traditional in-person summer camp experience. Learning new skills in online journalism and training techniques, they worked with CYS youth workers to create instructional videos, songs and activities to recreate the summer camp …

THERE has been a dramatic reduction in the 14-day incidence of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Clare, according to the latest figures. A few weeks ago, Clare had the fourth highest 14-day incidence rate of the virus in the country with 303 per 100,000 compared to just 77 in Tipperary and 183 in Limerick. This rate, which has rocketed from about 70% from September 17 to September 30, was very high and was way above the national average of 279%. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time in the county when 1,030 were notified on October 17. Thirty-three more cases were confirmed a day later bringing the county total to 1,063 on October 18. This overall figure increased to 1,311 on November 1. As Clare people continue to endure Level Five restrictions, the spread of the virus is slowing in Clare compared to other counties and is now the eighth lowest in the country. According …