Tag Archives: Derek Clune

THERE will be an intercultural family fun day at the Town Park on this Saturday, June 8. It will be run through a partnership between Clare County Council, Clare Mela, Fidget Feet, Creative Shannon and Shannon Tidy Towns. There will be a range of family entertainment on the day, with an animal farm, painting, scavenger hunt and a teddy bears picnic, going on all day. There will be two magic shows, one at 1.20pm and another at 3.50pm. Chinese Lion Dance Ireland will perform at 1.20pm and 3pm. Acts on the main stage will include traditional Irish storyteller Balor O’Brien, local dancers, traditional Nepalese music with Hiralal and Ramji Gaine, I4 Drummers, local rapper Wilzee and Fidget Feet Aerial Performances with Fire Acts. There will also be a drumming workshop and a cricket demonstration. Derek Clune of the Shannon Tidy Towns group said that plans have been in train for some time. “Basically we started organising this about two months …

THE weather is changing and the days are shortening, but the Shannon Tidy Towns group is still active. “We’ll still be doing litter picks, that’s important because you’re never free of rubbish in any town or village, group secretary Derek Clune told The Champion. “It’s important to keep the River Walk tidy because it’s very well used, the Town Park is the same. When the Town Park was developed the Council introduced this Leave No Trace, the idea is that everyone takes away everything, and it’s great in theory but in practice it doesn’t work I’m afraid. “If that wasn’t done two or three times a week it would look bad. It’s very well used, families use it,  you have the pump track there, the River Walk is the same, even people from outside Shannon use it.” The group is also hoping to complete a long-planned project this month. “We have a big project in the pipeline for a long …

HAVING been very active since the start of the pandemic, the Shannon Tidy Towns group will hold its AGM at the Hope Cafe at 7.30pm on July 26. The height of summer has seen the group activity step up further. “It’s a very busy time of year for every Tidy Towns group. There are litter picks three times a week, the Council won’t do weeding and clearing of roundabouts and islands around the town, so we do that,” said the group’s secretary Derek Clune. “Our hanging baskets are up, our flower beds are planted, they are watered two or three times a week, that’s another job to keep on top of. “We have 22 hanging baskets at the entrance to the town so they have to be watered on a regular basis. There’s a lot of flowers in them so they need to be watered at least twice a week. “Of course we keep the River Walk clean as well, …

SHANNON Tidy Towns carried out a litter pick in conjunction with the An Taisce National Spring Clean recently which enjoyed a high level of community engagement. Derek Clune of the Tidy Towns said it had gone very well and there had been a good level of support. “It was a great day, an enjoyable day. I’d say we had around 50 people, maybe a few more. There were people from different parts of the town and a group of Ukrainian people came out as well. “We met at the Town Park and from there we headed out north, south, east and west for two hours. Over the course of it we collected 35 bags of rubbish. “We came back again to the band stand and had some refreshments, we had tea, coffee and some cakes and biscuits. “It was a great day, an enjoyable day and it was a successful day that we got that much rubbish collected off the …

THE Shannon Tidy Towns group is planning a significant clean-up of the town on Saturday, beginning at 11am at the bandstand in the Town Park. Secretary of the group Derek Clune said, “It’s part of the National Spring Clean that happens once a year, and in conjunction with that, we’re having it on April 23.” Explaining how it will work, Derek added, “What we do is we divide the town into zones. We meet at the Town Park, there’d usually be 40 or 50 people and we distribute them to the different zones. “You have the Drumgeely side, the centre of the town, the Town Park, the Tullyvarraga end and the Ballycasey side. “During the week then, obviously not on the Saturday, we bring the schools out, St Caimin’s and the Comp, and we normally do the River Walk with them, which gets them involved as well. “The Ukrainian people will be coming out as well on the 23rd, so …

FOR the first time since 2019 the people of Shannon were able to come out to see their town’s St Patrick’s Day parade. Derek Clune of the Love Shannon Community Council said that it had been a great success. “I think it was the biggest parade we’ve had in Shannon and the biggest turnout of spectators and floats that we’ve ever had. “It was a brilliant day and everything went so well. Everyone was really happy and we got some brilliant feedback. Everyone enjoyed the day, the weather was lovely, so it all went well.” He said that there was far greater interest given the restrictions that dogged life over the last few years. “There’s no doubt about it, there was a huge amount of interest because of the last two years. Because of that the turnout was bigger than normal, we were expecting that. Everyone was mad to go, the turnout was huge, bigger than we expected and I’d …