The 1968 Clare Rose was one of a bunch of 27 former Rose of Tralee winners who marched in the New York St Patrick’s Parade last Saturday. Clarecastle woman, Eileen Slattery Mostafa teamed up with her sister roses when the 1994 Rose, Muirne Hurley Goode, put out a call on their WhatsApp group. Battling breast cancer at the time, the Limerick woman had a dream to march in the famous parade, and the roses stepped up to the plate to help her realise it. The current Rose of Tralee, New York rose, Róisín Wiley, along with many of the 2023 contestants and escorts also participated in the event. “The seed was sown by our lovely 1994 Rose. She had the idea to live out a life long desire to walk in this special parade on St Patrick’s Day,” Eileen told The Clare Champion this week. “Courageous Muirne sent out the word to her fellow rose sisters. The response was amazing …
Read More »From Tulla to New York to Baghdad
OVER the course of a 45 minutes conversation on a Friday afternoon, Ray Leyden stresses that he feels lucky, feels blessed, that the United States has been good to him, that he thrived in its military, that business and life on the far side of the Atlantic are going very well. He describes himself as a ‘glass half full’ type of person and that outlook has stood to Ray since he emigrated to New York as a teenager, where he built a career and life. As a young man he worked on construction sites all across the Big Apple, before joining the US military just weeks before 9/11. He would go on to see action in Iraq, being among the first US soldiers to cross the border. With distinguished service behind him, Ray would go back to college afterwards and since 2018 he has been running his own financial services company, Feninal Capital Strategies. Back in the autumn of 1994, …
Read More »Shannon’s Aer Lingus transatlantic routes to be maintained
THERE had been fears that Shannon’s transatlantic connectivity was set for another pummelling, with Aer Lingus possibly transferring Shannon-USA routes to the UK, but it now seems that such concern was unwarranted. It is understood that at a recent strategic planning meeting of Aer Lingus, the airline committed to operating a summer 2021 schedule to New York and Boston, using aircraft which will be based at Shannon. It is expected that there will be two A321neo aircraft at the Clare airport, each one of which has 184 seats. While Aer Lingus may still opt to begin transatlantic services from the north of England, this will not be at Shannon’s expense. Although getting back to normal transatlantic services is still way off and dependent on the Covid-19 situation stabilising, the fact that Aer Lingus is planning to continue with the services will come as a major relief to all concerned with tourism and industry in the region. Shannon has already lost …
Read More »Ennis Man In New York Highlighting Irish Pride
AN Ennis man living and working in New York, which has seen the largest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US, has told The Clare Champion, “I can’t imagine life ever going back to normal.” Journalist Colm Flynn has been covering the effects the virus has had on the people of New York for a number of television companies. Just recently he presented a widely acclaimed RTÉ Nationwide special highlighting how the Irish community in New York have been helping each other through the crisis. Speaking to The Clare Champion from New York, Colm describes the atmosphere in the usually bustling metropolis as “extremely eerie”. He says he has been “overwhelmed” with the response to the Nationwide show, revealing the show almost didn’t make it onto our screens. “The situation was getting worse and worse here in New York, and back at home RTÉ of course was so focused on what was happening Ireland there wasn’t too much coverage …
Read More »Aer Lingus changes to Shannon-US winter services
AER LINGUS has opted to reverse a pattern of recent years at Shannon, opting to continue with its New York service in the opening months of 2019, while suspending its Boston service. A spokesperson for Shannon said that in the final analysis Aer Lingus will now be able to accommodate more passengers travelling between Shannon and the US due to this move. “On balance we are pleased with the extra transatlantic capacity that this service switch creates. This change strengthens Aer Lingus’s commitment to Shannon by adding an extra 2,500 (seats) and restores a year-round service from New York to Shannon, but we are disappointed that the Boston market can only be accessed via New York for this two month winter period.” While the statement said that Shannon would continue to work with Aer Lingus on the Boston service, there are extra benefits to maintaining a link with a major global hub like JFK. “The benefits of the restoration and …
Read More »Flynn live from New York on Christmas Eve
ENNIS broadcaster Colm Flynn will be bringing some Christmas cheer all the way from the Big Apple this festive season, as part of a very special radio show. This Christmas Eve on RTÉ Radio 1, Colm will be broadcasting a live show from New York City, where he will be meeting a host of young Irish people, who have made the city their home. He told The Clare Champion, “It will be a really special Christmas Eve show. It’s going to be really magical, with special guests, music in Central Park, the most in-demand Santa in the US and lots more.” As they broadcast from the NPR studios in Midtown Manhattan, Colm and his guests will be exploring the highs and lows of Christmas in the magical city that never sleeps. Among his guests is a Galway girl, who is now head of social media for Teen Vogue magazine; a Cork woman, who designs floral arrangements for all the top …
Read More »Eric Trump anger at media “attacks” on Barron (11)
THE Trump family’s relationship with the American media, particularly CNN and the New York Times could not be described as convivial. However, speaking to The Clare Champion in Doonbeg this week, Eric Trump has expressed particular distaste for how elements of the American media have written or spoken about his brother Barron, who turned 11 last month. “There was an unspoken rule for years that you do not attack the (young) children of the President of the United States. They have nothing to do with the administration. They didn’t have any part in being put in that role. They are very willing to attack him and I find that awful. They are willing to attack (sister) Tiffany as well. If they attack me the difference is I was out on the campaign trail, side by side with him for 18 months. I put myself in the cross fire so tee off on me but it’s sad when they do it …
Read More »Council promotes Clare in New York
Representatives of Clare County Council met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland in New York over St Patrick’s weekend. They were briefed on Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme for 2017, which is in full swing right now. Tourism Ireland aims to build on the success of 2016, which was the fourth record-breaking year in a row for Irish tourism from the United States. Tourism Ireland is prioritising North America this year, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure. Our important ‘culturally curious’ and ‘social energiser’ audiences are being targeted with distinctive vacation experiences, events and special offers tailored to their interests. Tourism Ireland is creating ‘stand out’ for the island of Ireland in the US, highlighting experiences like the Wild Atlantic Way, the Causeway Coastal Route and Ireland’s Ancient East. Promotions aim to grow travel to the regions of Ireland, during the shoulder and off-peak seasons. With the recent announcement …
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