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SCARIFF NEWS
Acupuncture An Unending Tale Bridge Club Camogie Child Labour Drama Festival February Draw Foot and Mouth For Sale G.A.A. I.C.A. News Public Speaking Rugby United Nations projectThe entire Scariff region is very much preoccupied with preventing an outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease. Not only is it the main topic of conversation, everyone in Scariff is actively involved in the preventative measures. Shops, pubs and other retail outlets have placed mats soaked with disinfectant at all their entrances. So have all the schools in the area as well as churches. Many events have been cancelled, all sporting events were held up as well as ICA meetings and talks. Like other parts of the country, Scariff displayed the solidarity which has been a feature of recent weeks. As we go to press, there is still but the one case in the republic and some of the restrictions have been eased, notably those affecting sport. Many of us can remember the worry of the outbreak in the sixties. A few can remember the outbreak in the forties when Foot & Mouth last reared it's head in East Clare. We don't want it back!
And so, in September 1919, Scariff Played versus Newmarket – on - Fergus in the County Championship and lost. A major contributory factor to their defeat was the undoubted skills of a certain Rob Doherty, on the opposing team. Doherty was a Newmarket man who worked in Tipperary, and as events will show, he also hurled with that county; a fact well known to certain men in the Scariff camp. Scariff lodged an objection with the County Board and the case was heard in Ennis in October, but a witness for the Scariff team failed to show up so the hearing was postponed to January 22nd 1920. The big day arrived, and the Scariff objection was heard by Rev. Fr. Crowe, Chairman of the County Board. Scariff was represented by Mr. Tommy Walle, Commander of the Scariff Volunteers, and it was his military status which, more than anything influenced the outcome of the Scariff objection. Newmarket was represented by Mr. Thomas Doherty, brother of the man at the centre of the dispute. Backing Doherty as a delegate was a certain Mr. P. Flanigan who proved to be a slippery customer, and moreover, was armed with a secret weapon which he used to deadly effect. Walle in evidence, stated that he had attended the Infirmary Tournament final in Limerick, a week before the Scariff match, and he saw Rob Doherty lined out for Tipperary versus Cork. He later saw this same man lined out for Newmarket – on – Fergus versus Scariff. Rev. Chairman- Can you prove it was Rob Doherty you saw. Doherty- Yes, Go on, prove it. Walle- I could have proved at the first hearing but my witness emigrated before the hearing came up. Anyhow I know Rob Doherty well. Doherty- you have no proof, so sit down. Walle-I am asking you a simple and straight question, did Rob Doherty hurl for Tipperary in the Infirmary Tournament? Doherty- I do not have to answer that question. Further vigorous questioning of Doherty no more than led to personal comments, and fearing that the two men would come to blows, the Rev. Chairman intervened and asked Doherty if he was denying that Rob Doherty had hurled for Tipperary that day. At this point Mr. Flanigan jumped to his feet and stated that the question was unanswerable by Doherty, as he was not at the match. Doherty- That’s right I wasn’t at the match at all. Walle- Well I was there and I saw Mr. Flanigan there also. So Mr Flanigan I am asking you man to man did you see Rob Doherty hurl for Tipperary that day? Flanigan- I am not here to answer questions at all, Rev Chairman Mr Walle keeps saying this, but he cannot prove anything. Walle- You haven’t denied it either. You never raised the issue of proof until the Rev. Chairman raised it at the first hearing. If Doherty did not play for Tipperary it means that I am telling lies! That I came to this meeting to tell the County Board that I saw a man hurling that did not play at all, or that I didn’t see play at all. Rev. Chairman- If you say that it is up to you to provide evidence, but they still have not answered the repeated question, and they well may have their own reasons for refusing to answer. The case was now beginning to look bad for Newmarket but Flanigan had a master card up his sleeve. He announced that Newmarket now had an objection to the Scariff team on the grounds that on the day of the match versus Newmarket, they violated the ‘Parish Rule’ by playing a man who was not living in Scariff Parish, even if he was a Scariff man. The objection was upheld by the Board, and was not contested by Scariff, who probably wondered how the devil Newmarket had found out. The upshot of the matter was that the Rev. Chairman advised both sides to go home and give careful consideration to his suggestion that since it was obvious that both teams had played illegally on the day, they might see their way in having a re-match. Everyone went home, probably wondering what to do next, particularly in regard to Fr. Crowe’s suggestion. However fate intervened, in the form of the British Government, who had just lately passed a Bill of Suspension of Haebus Corpus in Ireland. Under this bill Sinn Fein was declared an illegal organisation and the Volunteer movement was to be disbanded at once. To implement the tenets of the bill, all the leading members of Sinn Fein were arrested and also all the Commanding Officers of Volunteers. Among this latter group of men was our hero, Tommy Walle. They were all transported to prisons in England- Tommy spending his time in Brixton Prison until the ratification of the Treaty in 1921. Obviously it was internment-without-trial – what’s new? On his release from prison Tommy joined the Free State Army and remained there until his retirement, He died in 1942, having never resolved the dispute over the illegal Newmarket hurler. Michael O’Gorman. In view of the Foot and Mouth crisis all I.C.A. activities are cancelled. We hope to resume as soon as the present restrictions are lifted.
The child labour project is coming to a close and we will be sorry when it is over but before its final conclusion we are planning a cultural evening sometime in May all being well. The cultural evening will be included in an awareness week we have planned. The awareness week is due to commence May 1st which as you know is Labour Day. The awareness week will include another viewing of the play, music, song, poetry and much much more. Antoinette Collins Scariff Community College Reach All-Ireland Semi-Final For the fourth time in the 20 year history of the competition, Scariff has reached the All-Ireland Semi-Final of the Mental Health Association’s Public Speaking Project for Schools. This year’s team achieved that when they won the Mid-West Regional Final held in Adare, Limerick on Friday 23rd February. The Regional Final brings together the County Champions of Clare, Limerick and Kerry. Limerick were represented by Ard Scoil Ris, North Circular Road and the Kerry champions were Mean Scoil na Toirbhirte, Dingle. The Public Speaking Project is designed to increase public awareness and understanding of mental health issues. Each school that participates is expected to research, write and present speeches on given topics that relate to mental health and mental illness. The public speaking aspect of the competition is designed to increase students’ presentation skills and confidence, while providing a medium for the findings of their research. Speaking in public is a demand that many find too daunting. Therefore participating in the competition, even if the team gets knocked out in the first round, represents a great achievement for each student. Speeches must be between six and seven minutes long, and students are expected to know them off by heart. Each speech must include research, quotes and references, and reflect the team’s ideas and thoughts on the chosen topic. In the county stages, Scariff chose as their topic ‘To be mentally healthy is to be free, strong, rational and joyous.’ For the Regional Final the team topic was ‘Mental Health in a Material World.’ The team itself is made up of three Leaving Certs who came top out of roughly forty students who auditioned. They are Eavan Brennan and Cathy Duffy, both from Mountshannon, and Deirdre Clancy from Scariff. The team also has a substitute, Feakle’s Anthony Guilfoyle. The two coaches are Olwin Kelly and Noel Harrington. In the summing up delivered by the Adjudicators at the Regional Final, the three girls were praised for their outstanding confidence and mastery of the material. They do not use a podium, they rarely refer to their notes and they constantly engage their audience, whether relating an amusing anecdote or hammering home the relevance of some harsh statistics. The members of the losing teams were quick to congratulate the girls afterwards, and wished them well in the semi-final. The date for the semi-final has been put on hold due to the foot-and-mouth measures, but the team has built up a great deal of self-belief and, regardless of the opposition, they know they can perform to the highest level doing themselves, their families and their school proud. It is a heavy burden to place on such young shoulders, but there is a definite feeling that this year’s team can match that of 1988, who remain the only team from Clare ever to have won the coveted All-Ireland Final. Noel Harrington Scariff Bridge Club Results
The Bank of Ireland Trophy was competed for over two nights-22nd February & March 1st and the winners, Ann Harte and Noreen Doyle, were presented with their prize by Redmond Walsh, Manager, Bank of Ireland, Scariff. Other Winners were : 2nd John Brigdale & Danny Dillon 3rd Mary Murphy & Margaret Macnamara 4th Tim McGillicuddy & John Doyle.
Drama Festival Cancelled
The 55th Clare Drama Festival, which was due to begin on March 15th, was cancelled as a precaution against the spread of Foot and Mouth disease. Many other drama festivals around the country, including the one in Doonbeg, were also called off. This year's drama circut will at the very least be severely curtailed if not completely wiped out. While there has been no indication as to whether the committee will try to reschedule the festival later in the year, the likelihood is that it will not take place until 2002. The drama festival has been held without a break since 1947 and is one of the longest continuously running festivals of its kind in these islands. While the committee are disappointed with the cancellation, it was stressed that the interest of the country as a whole must prevail. United Nations project draws to a close Readers will recall two previous articles regarding a unique United Nations project on child labour conducted with Transition Year students at the Scariff Community College. This project began in January this year and will come to an end within the school by 31 March. However, while it will end within the context of the school, there are efforts under way to ensure that the whole community can benefit from the fruits of this project. This edition of Scariff News contains an article by one of the students in the project, Antoinette Collins, who writes about a piece of drama that was written, developed and performed by the Transition Year class before the entire school and its teaching staff on Friday 16 March. Their work is original, imaginative, creative and very powerful in its simple presentation. Rather than focus their play on a developing country, the students based it on a futuristic and fantasy view of what might happen if the Earth tilted on its axis and the geography, climate and economies of the world changed. Europe might become the Third World and the young people of Ireland might become the victims of child labour. Enough said about the details of the play, as it is hoped that the community will have the opportunity to see it for themselves in early May. Suffice it to say that the play was very well received by their peers in the school and it revealed a depth of understanding and sympathy that left some of us breathless and moved. Quite simply, the play is too good a piece of work not to be performed again. In addition, the project was based on the principle of community education and by performing this play for the community, the Transition Year students will be fulfilling the key role of educators. It is tangible proof of the success of this project and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva is extremely pleased with the results. A project such as this only works through the total commitment of people involved. In this respect, we were very fortunate to have had the help, support and dedication of Anne Jones and Ray Conway in the project and video development. Anne Jones, in particular, provided a level of support that went way beyond the project’s expectations and the project co-ordinators and the ILO are deeply indebted to her. In addition, we were fortunate to have had the help of Theatre Director Denise Moroney in terms of teaching and supporting the students in drama development. Denise worked extremely hard with the students, to the point of exhaustion in the week before the performance. However, without her help, this play would not have had the impact it did on both the audience and the students themselves. Special thanks must go to the Scariff Community College, particularly Principal P.J. Mason and Transition Year Co-ordinator Geraldine Condren, for facilitating the project and welcoming those involved. Johnny O’Brien, the wizard of the keyboards, and his excellent choir also performed in the context of the play and helped to make it the success it was. T.J. O’Halloran also helped the performance by assisting with lighting and special thanks go to both these teachers for their great help. This project grew as it went on and we would like to thank all the teaching staff at the College, particularly those involved with Transition Year, for their welcome and support. Some graciously allowed the project team to assist in some classes and to film the proceedings. Others facilitated the project work by agreeing to numerous classes being taken over. Without their co-operation, the project would have been much more limited in its success and impact. The most important individuals in this project were the 24 Transition Year students who took part in it. Without them, it could never have happened. They responded very positively to every aspect of the project, particularly the drama. They spent a week of intensive rehearsals prior to their performance and they gave their all. Their wholehearted participation has won over officials in the ILO and we hope that you, the people of the community, will have an opportunity very soon to witness their work. If this opportunity does arise, and we are doing our utmost to make sure it will, then we hope that you will respond enthusiastically and completely. Watch this space! On a personal level, I feel honoured to have been offered the opportunity to work with the students. I soon came to respect them for who they are and what they were prepared to do to guarantee the success of this critical project. More than that, I enjoyed their company for three months and I wish them well in their future endeavours, both in and out of the classroom. They are a fine group of young people. Child labour is one of the worst forms of human rights violation that exists. It is crucial that people are made aware of what is happening and what child labour means for the 250 million children between 5 and 14 years old who work around the world. In particular, young people must be made aware through education and they must learn what they can do to help the global campaign to eliminate child labour. This is what this project has been about and it reinforces the concept that young people are among the most powerful and influential agents for social change. Together, with every community around the world becoming involved, we can make a difference. Twenty-four young people from our small community here believe this and we can all benefit from listening to what they have to say. Nick Grisewood Scariff Camogie Club We had a very successful A.G.M. in the G.A.A. Hall Scariff in early February. Training has already commenced with the Intermediate team and we would hope to start training with the U-12’s, U-14’s and U16’s in the coming weeks. We will be holding a meeting to select trainers for the under-age teams in the next week or so. We would also like to sincerely thank all those who helped with the very successful Bag Packing Fundraiser in Dunnes a few weeks ago. Your help and support was greatly appreciated. We would also like to welcome all our new members and look forward to having an enjoyable and successful year. Result of February Draw £50 Gary Dear £30 Michael Hickey £20 Sean Bugler Scariff G.A.A. News The month of March has virtually passed and no hurling of any great significance has taken place at county or national level over the last three weeks. The potentially disastrous consequences of the Foot & Mouth disease dictated that there would be no games. Thankfully after this necessary measure we are about to see the action again. The draw for the senior championship has seen reigning Clare, Munster and possibly All Ireland Champions Sixmilebridge grouped with Ogonnelloe, Eire Og and Scariff. With the first round guaranteed for the first weekend in June the clock is ticking fast. Alan Dunne is again training the team with Pat Minogue and Tommy Noonan acting as selectors. The first club team into action will be the U-21 team who have drawn Newmarket in the first round. This team, under the care of Paul Crotty and Mike Rodgers, have been training, as this match will be played on the last weekend in March. In preparation for this they had a good win over Whitegate in a recent challenge. For the record Scariff won by 2-9 to 3-6. The team lined out as follows – Jim Minogue, Shane McMahon, Dave Jones, D. Mason, Michael O’Brien, Barry McNamara, Robbie Madden, Mike Scanlon, Padraig Brody, Conor McNamara, H. Mason, Brian Rodgers, Kenny McNamara, Niall Minogue, G. Bugler. With a bit of luck and an extended run this team has the ability to go all the way. This would be a great boost for everybody in the club. Next month hopefully will provide this columnist with a lot more topics to discuss and hopefully there will be an air of optimism prevailing. As one regular Connacht Rd. reader keeps reminding this columnist one has always to be optimistic and always looking on the bright side of life Rugby Notes Foot-and-mouth crisis hits under-age rugby fixtures As with all sports in Ireland during the unfortunate spread of the foot-and-mouth disease within Great Britain and now in Ireland and other European countries, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) called an immediate halt to all matches pending further advice from the Department of Agriculture. The last game to be played before the halt was called was by the Scariff Under-18s who took on Thomond at home. This was a great performance by the Scariff lads – in spite of some confusion over kick-off times! Thomond Under-18s are a big aggressive side with excellent handling and forward skills. However, Scariff under-age teams have now begun to understand the need to start their matches very strongly from kick-off. They withstood a number of Thomond attacks with some fantastic offensive defence and took the game to the Limerick team. Unfortunately, some basic errors let the Scariff team down and allowed Thomond to cross the line on four occasions. Nevertheless, a great rally in the second half saw Scariff crossing the Thomond line twice, leading to a final score of 24-12. It was a close match, very exciting and very promising for the future. We can build on this platform next season. Since the announcement of the relaxation of regulations regarding sports fixtures in the country, the Munster Branch has announced a resumption of the under-age leagues. These leagues would normally have been completed in February. Because of adverse weather conditions this winter and the foot-and-mouth crisis, the delays mean that we are now entering the hurling season. Scariff Rugby Club has already withdrawn the Under-18 side from the North Munster League. However, with some judicious juggling of the few remaining Under-16 matches, it seems likely that this team will be able to complete its full season. The Under-16s played St. Senan’s away in Shannon on Sunday 25 March and produced their best result in the league to date. Indeed, they were unlucky not to have won on this particular occasion. Both teams evidently have suffered after a three-week enforced break and the fitness and sharpness levels were greatly depleted – although Scariff seemed to be suffering more than St. Senan’s (could it have something to do with a few late and long nights lads??). The team was somewhat changed due to injuries to Michael Scanlan and one or two others. However, they started the match very well and defended their try line ferociously against the Shannon side. Such was the defence that eventually the St. Senan’s fly-half took a drop goal rather than keep pressing for a try – although a try followed not long after. Scariff came back very strongly and Ger Bugler went over for a hard fought try. Scariff still need to develop their kicking skills before next season as we consistently struggle to convert our tries and penalties. Scariff continued to defend their line very well and went on the counterattack at every opportunity. A fantastic burst through by Michael O’Brien, ably assisted by Patrick Minogue, paid off with an excellent try. Barry Nugent followed soon after with a well-earned try by the forwards who played solidly in spite of their state of fitness. Towards the end of the match, a blind side break by Patrick Minogue, assisted by Conor McNamara and Donal Kavanagh, nearly resulted in the try that would have levelled the scores before the final whistle. Unfortunately, Kavanagh was tackled while trying to ground the ball but it was a fine strong effort by him and he had to get around several of the St. Senan’s players. The final score was 22-15, a converted try’s difference. A magnificent performance after such a long break and their coach was very proud of them, a fine team effort. Two more Under-16s league matches remain in which Scariff will meet Richmond and Ennis. There will also be a knock-out cup competition with the draw coming up at the end of March. For those concerned, Under-16 training has resumed on Tuesday evenings at 16:30 until the end of the season. Gearóid Devanney will also resume training for his Under-14 squad as of Thursday 29 March at the usual time. The Scariff Junior team also has a Cup match coming up at the end of March and training is expected to resume. Nick Grisewood 1993 Peugeot 405 Turbo Diesel for sale. Contact 087 2633751 061 921027 What is acupuncture and how does it work? Acupuncture is a very old system of medicine that has been practised in China for several thousands of years. It involves the insertion of very fine needles into specific locations on the body in an effort to restore a balance of ‘energy’ within the body. Who Can Acupuncture Help? An Acupuncturist may be consulted by people with specific symptoms or conditions, such as pain, anxiety, arthritis, eczema, sports injuries, hay fever, asthma, migraine, high blood pressure, menstrual disorders or intestinal problems. The aim of acupuncture is to treat whole patient and to restore the balance between the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the individual. In traditional acupuncture, since all illness is considered the result of an imbalance of energy, treatment can benefit almost any ill person as long as the degenerative process in the tissues of the body is not too extensive. Many people also have acupuncture as a preventative treatment or because they feel unwell in themselves but are not "ill" in the Western sense. (The above thanks to the British Acupuncture Council) The following is a list of some of the conditions which, according to the World Health Organisation, lend themselves to acupuncture treatment. Low Back Pain Sinusitis Sciatica Rhinitis Osteoarthritis Trigeminal neuralgia "Frozen Shoulder" Premenstrual tension "Tennis Elbow" "Morning Sickness" Migraine Headache It can also help with various problems of the gastrointestinal system e.g. constipation, diarrhoea and irritable bowel syndrome. Is Acupuncture safe? Acupuncture is perfectly safe when practised with appropriate training. Only single use, sterile needles are used. K. Morgan, Acupuncturist, Tel: 087/6838347
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There appears to be a certain air of unreality about life in Co. Clare
during the years between 1916 and 1920, because regardless of the uneasy political
situation existing throughout Ireland at that time, everybody who could, if he had any
opinion of himself as a ‘Gael’, attended hurling matches every Sunday. Every
young man with red blood in his veins wielded his ‘caman’ on behalf of his
parish as often as he could do so. Let there be no doubt about the matter, politics and
politicians made for great debate but the real purpose of life was to win every hurling
match. World War, how are you!
We the transition year students have been extremely busy over the past few
weeks , between writing a play, rehearsing it and then performing it. Over the last month
or two with the help and expertise of Denise Moroney we have been putting together a play
that deals with the topic of child labour. We wrote the play during the mid-term break and
incorporated into it some music, song and dance. We had planned on staging our production,
which we named SCREAM at the Drama festival but as this was cancelled because of Foot and
Mouth restrictions we were happy to give a private showing to the pupils and teachers on
Friday 16th March. Their comments were positive and encouraging and we all
agreed staging the play was a very rewarding experience.
