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Blazing a trail for women in science

An Ardnacrusha third-level student scooped €3,000 as part of a prestigious prize to help her academic pursuits. Eve McMahon (21) was one of the three University of Limerick students from the Faculty of Science and Engineering who received prestigious awards from Regeneron Ireland. Ms McMahon, Kate Storan from Dooradoyle and Anna Feenan from Carrigaline were presented with their awards at a special ceremony in Regeneron’s Industrial Operations and Production Supply (IOPS) facility in Raheen, Limerick recently. Students from the University of Limerick were given the unique opportunity to compete for awards in Quality Control, Manufacturing, or Engineering, depending on their specific field of study. The students were tasked with the exciting challenge of developing a project based on a topic provided by Regeneron. They presented their work to a group of business representatives, followed by an interactive question and answer session, allowing them to engage directly with Regeneron colleagues. The three award winners received a paid internship at Regeneron where …

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Mort to be honoured on St Patrick’s Day

Ballyvaughan’s finest, Mort O Loughlin, has been chosen to be the grand marshal of this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Fanore. Mort, who last year retired after 55 years of service as the local notes correspondent for The Clare Champion, has been a huge supporter of the parade over the years. This year, the local organising committee could think of no one more fitting to oversee this year’s event. “We have always had a great relationship with Mort. He has been a great supporter of the parade for many, many years and gave us great coverage in The Champion, both before and after the parade so we are delighted to be able to honour him,” said Anne Pilkington, co-organiser of this year’s parade. “That is really what this is about, it is about honouring him and thanking him for all the support that he has given to us over the years. “He came to every single parade that we …

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Breaking down barriers at St John’s school in Shannon

AHEAD of International Women’s Day last Friday, representatives of Shannon Airport Group paid a visit to some younger members of its local community to deliver an important message about gender diversity. Students from St. John’s National School in Shannon were asked to draw three different job roles in Shannon Airport; a fire fighter, a police officer and an engineer. Research has shown that children start to form perceptions of gender roles from as early as two years, with such perceptions typically fully formed by the age of seven. During this lesson, over 70% of children in the classroom, aged between four and eight, depicted male representations of fire fighters, police officers and engineers in their drawings. At the end of the lesson, there was a surprise waiting for the children, when they were told that they were going to meet the people they had drawn working at the airport in real life. Much to the children’s surprise, three female employees …

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Lifesaving addition to Ballina Handball Club

Ballina Handball Club has installed a new defibrillator costing an estimated €1,600 on the outside wall of their handball alley for the benefit of the club and residents. This latest initiative is part of the club’s drive to increase the provision of facilities for the benefit of the local national school and the local community. The first part of this drive was the introduction of dads and lads as well as mothers and others in the handball alley to encourage people to engage in a fun physical exercise without the commitment of training for or entering a competition. This started about three weeks ago and already it is proving very popular with people who never played handball previously. Teaming up with Defibs for Life in Nenagh, the club contacted this organisation who was delighted to supply a defibrillator on the proviso they would receive a donation. Club Chairman, Paddy Collins explained a defibrillator is essential for a club and the …

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Funding boost for Seafield dunes project

Local efforts to promote and protect plants and wildlife in West Clare have been given a huge boost with a local sand dunes conservation group receiving its first grant funding for its biodiversity work. Seafield Conservation Forum €5,000 grant is to support the future development of its community biodiversity action plan, according to Caroline Egan, Co-Moderator of the Forum. The voluntary association is dedicated to addressing coastal erosion, and to the restoration and conservation of Seafield’s sand dunes. It plans to work with experts, the local community and land-owners to implement actions which not only respond to the biodiversity emergency but will also provide a template to help protect the sand dunes at Seafield as a natural resource for all people. Welcoming the recognition of the forum’s work, Ms Egan said: “Seafield Sand Dunes has been a haven for bird life and an abundance of nature for millennia. Given the biodiversity and climate crisis that threatens unique sand dune habitats, …

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Fresh start for Ballymacraven River in Ennistymon

The groundwork has been laid for a major restoration of the Ballymacraven River in North Clare, which was devastated by pollution last year. The Restore Ballymacraven River Association hosted a public meeting in Ennistymon last Friday, and outlined their plans for the river for this year, and into the future. The river, which is a tributary of the Inagh River, was the site of a significant water pollution event in May of last year, with thousands of fish and other wildlife being killed. Earlier this year, Uisce Éireann were fined €10,000 for the incident, which threatens the viability of the river’s population of Atlantic salmon and eels among other species. Local community group, the Restore Ballymacraven River Association, now plans to help restore the waterway, starting with the area around The Glen in Ennistymon. The first step is to remove a large number of invasive trees from the river bank and replace them with thousands of native trees. This will …

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Maura O’Connell to take Western Highway home for Patrick’s Day

THE Grand Marshall of this year’s Ennis St Patrick’s Day parade will be two time Grammy award nominee, Ennis’ very own Maura O’Connell. Clare County Council are extending a warm welcome to all to gather in Ennis to celebrate our national holiday on Sunday, March 17. Maura, of ‘Tumbleweed’, ‘De Dannan’ and ‘A Woman’s Heart’ fame, released her first solo album ‘Maura O’Connell’ in the early 1980s which was an eclectic mix of genres. Moving to Nashville in 1986 Maura went on to have a very successful career in the US releasing albums with Jerry Douglas and Béla Fleck and sharing the stage with many top artists such as Dolly Parton, John Prine, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, John Oates, Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt. Joining this year’s parade will be a delegation from Ennis’ twinning town in Germany, Langenfeld. The Mayor of Langenfeld Frank Schneider and members of the city administration and twinning committee will participate in the …

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Sights trained on future of Shannon Estuary

The first industry endorsed marine mammal observer (MMO) training programme which aims to train young professionals who are seeking fulfilling careers in marine ecology and sustainable energy has been completed by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB). Five applicants who took part in industry-approved training courses recently successfully completed the course and it is hoped these professionals will be key components in the delivery of offshore wind projects over the coming decade. Ireland has a unique capability for such delivery given its prime location which will enable the country to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. Support for the programme was provided by the Kilrush-based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) along with the Marine Mammal Observer Association, and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. Participants in the initiative took part in MMO training provided by IWDG and spent two nights onboard the research vessel, Celtic Mist at Kilrush followed by a half-day at sea. Qualified MMOs …

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