Tag Archives: Nelson Mandela

THE wisdom of Nelson Mandela was cited at the monthly meeting of the local authority when no less than 12 members called for a new system to make sure that all motions adopted result in action on the ground. “Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world,” said Councillor Cillian Murphy quoting the late South African leader. “It is relatively easy to have a motion passed here on the council, but the real work is ensure there is a follow-up.” Along with 11 council colleagues of all parties and none, Councillor Murphy asked the authority to devise a publicly-accessible system to record all motions, official responses and follow-up actions. “Many motions come from environs outside these walls and arise from conversations with constituents,” he noted. “It can be very wearying to track what progress has been made and we must prove to constituents that action is being taken. What we are proposing would …

FOLLOWING the death of Winnie Mandela on Easter Monday, former airport police officer John O’Halloran recalled a stopover she made at Shannon Airport in 1990. It was shortly after her husband’s release from 27 years of imprisonment, and the visit was quite unexpected. “At the time this photo was taken she was due to come to Ireland about a month later on an official visit,” says John. He ended up with the first photos of Mrs Mandela taken here with her husband. “He [Nelson Mandela] was on a tour of a handful of nations around the world. He had gone from Johannesburg, arrived in Rome, stayed there for a while and he was going to Ottowa in Canada. “On the way they were running low on fuel and they diverted into Shannon unexpectedly. On the day I was in charge of Airport Police and I didn’t call anyone in, we looked after them while they were there.” John added, “She …

CLARE missionary nun Sr Ethel Normoyle has vowed to continue her work, helping thousands of poor and unprivileged people in a South African township, until a plan is put in place for sustainable development. Sr Ethel (70) said she has no plans to retire or to return home, after spending 27 years developing and maintaining the Missionvale Centre in Port Elizabeth. The Lissycasey-born nun said she could not betray the trust of hundreds of people who have donated time and money to build the centre, until a strategic plan has been put in place, considering the centre gets no financial help from the South African government and is relying on the goodness of others. She noted this process is in the capable hands of Missionvale Ireland chairman, Ollie O’Loughlin; secretary, Kieran McDermott and their board of trustees. A member of the Little Company of Mary order, she revealed she was subjected to an attempted kidnapping during the Apartheid years after …

FOLLOWING his “rejection” by Fianna Fáil at the party’s West Clare Electoral Area convention on Monday, Councillor Tom Prendeville has claimed that he was approached immediately after the meeting and asked if he wanted to be added to the list of candidates. The sitting Kilrush Town Councillor refused to completely rule out running as an independent candidate, labelled Fianna Fáil a rural organisation, said the late Nelson Mandela wouldn’t have been successful at the convention and maintained that he was “shafted” by Fianna Fáil party strategists. Outgoing county councillors PJ Kelly (51 votes), Pat Keane (50) and Bill Chambers (32) were selected to run for the party in next year’s expanded West Clare constituency, which will elect eight councillors. This means that, as of now, Fianna Fáil will have no Kilrush town candidate in the field for the 2014 election. It has also emerged that there is no registered Fianna Fáil member within Kilrush town. Michael O’Neill (15), Tom Prendeville …