Designed
and Maintained by Niall Farrell
© Nuacht Chláir
The steering committee set up, at a public meeting held on 27th September last, to organise the setting up of a Community Council has concluded that the Council would comprise of people willing to allow their names to go forward for election at a public meeting. The objective is to create a council that best represents area, taking into account geographic spread, the age profile, and the different organisations operating within the community.
The aims of our Community Council will be to:
1.
Promote the future of Claregalway.
2. Provide a forum for discussion within the community.
3. Create a better living environment.
4. Create employment opportunities within the community.
5. Act as a representative body on behalf of the community in dealing
with agencies.
To date over 25 people, representing different areas, organisations, sex and age, have agreed to put their names forward for election. If you are interested in joining the Council please detach the form below and give it to a member of the Steering Committee for inclusion at the election. Nominations will also be taken on the night.
Steering
Committee: Madeleine Flanagan, Sean Harte, Rose Kavanagh, Celia Lennon,
Vincent Lyons and Seamus O'Connell.
Contact Number:
798140
Gardeners
look at Autumn in the different ways, the lazier of us because garden
maintenance is greatly reduced now that the grass has stopped growing
and the weeds are no longer germinating in their hundreds. The rest of
us see Autumn as a busy and rewarding time in the garden, as the leaves
change to their autumnal colours and fall, the perennials start to retreat
underground and the emphasis shifts towards berries, colourful stems,
variegated evergreens, conifers and heathers.
There are a huge range of berrying plants at this time of year and the
bright berrying plants can often add colour to a very bleak day, bringing
a lot of activity to your garden with birds of all types, vying to fed.
You can derive many hours of pleasure watching the birds play and compete
for the feeders in your garden. Some people put up bird table, which are
designed now so the larger bird cannot feed off them; others hang up the
various type of seed or nut feeders, which can be hung from the house
or trees or stakes. You can feed the birds with loose peanuts, wild bird
seed, bread, fat, etc. so get cracking!
The birds will also feed off your plants that have berried in the garden.
Trees that give the best show of berries are the Sorbus (Mountain Ash) family. The common mountain ash, Sorbus Aucuparia is covered with masses of red berries, Sorbus Sheerwater seedling is another with orangery red berries. The best of all is Sorbus Joseph Rock with its yellow berries and Sorbus Vilmoring with pinkish berries, both often left untouched by the birds because of their strange colour. Another family of tree that looks well is the Malus (crabapple) species. Malus Golden Hornet with its yellow fruit, Malus Evereste with its orange fruit and Malus gorgeous with its fantastic red fruit. As a wall covering shrub, the pyracanthas (firethorn) gives great colour. It's a dense upright evergreen shrub. It has dark green leaves with clusters of small white flowers in summer followed by different coloured berries depending on the variety, red yellow or orange. Rosa rugosa (shrub Roses) give colour with their beautiful coloured hops. Holly's of different varieties berry now. A very good variety is Ilex J.C. Van Tol. This does not need a partner as it is self-fertile. It has red berries against dark green foliage and berries very freely. It is great for making Holly wreaths as it is not very prickly. Other good berrying plants are Skimmias, particularly Skimmia Reevesiana, Arbutus unedo, Gaultheirea, Celastrus and the cotoneasters.
Plants with good colour this year are the Cornus (Dogwood) family. Cornus Alba Sibirca has brilliant bright red stems and cornus stobonifera flaviramea has bright yellow stems. A smaller variety, approx. 3 ft. x 3 ft is Cornus Midwinter fire, with brilliant autumn colours and orangey yellow stems in the winter.
The profusion of colour we have in summer, we take for granted and we would be happy to have a fraction of it now, as the bare stems are revealed. While the glossy green leaves of modern shrubs like laurels, skimmias and fatsia all bring life to the garden of particular value now are the yellow leaved and variegated plants. They add a warm touch of sunshine to the garden during the dark months. Conifers of a bright colour can also do the same job. A nice idea is to plant everygreen gold splashed plants behind deciduous types so that only in winter will the variegated foliage show up. Conifers that can do this job are Thuja Orientalis Aurea-Nana, Chamecyparis pist. Sungold, Thuja Rheingold, Taxus Bacatta Fastigata Aurea, Chaemecyparis minima Aurea, etc.
Walls can also bealift with plants such as Hedera (Ivies) Helix, Goldheart, Hedera Buttercup, Hedera Canarisensis, Hedera Colchia P. varregata, to screen them off. Shrubs that can do the same job are Eleangus Pungens Maculata, Eleagnus Gilt Edge, Ilex Golden King, Ilex Silver Queen, Ilex Golden Milkboy, Ligustrum ovalifolium Aureum, Lonicera Nitioa Baggesons Gold, etc.
For those
who are worried about collecting all the leaves that have fallen in the
garden and the task of removing them, don't worry.
While it is essential to remove leaves from lawns, paths and driveways,
it is not necessary or even desirable to take them from other places.
Areas planted with trees and shrubs and even areas with herbaceous plants
of reasonable size, do not need to have leaf litter removed. In fact,
it is detrimental to a garden woodland areas to remove the leaves. The
litter layer returns nutrients to the soil and helps retain soil moisture
in summer.
Small plants such as alpines and low growing herbaceous plants will be damaged by a covering of leaves but taller flowers and plants will not be harmed. A layer of leaf litter mulches the soil, helps to keep weeds down, retains summer moisture and feeds the plants. So before getting out the leaf rake think - is this necessary at all? For those who do, put them on a compost heap and break them down, it makew a great fertiliser for plants.
In the vegetable garden, dig over empty vegetable ground and cover with some type of organic material to to break down over the winter. Remove summer bedding plants now, plant primulas, winter pansys, winter heathers, wallflowers, bulbs of all kinds, tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc. for colour now. Roses can be pruned back by a third now to prevent wind damage. Now is also a good time to plant roses, as most garden centre will be getting a new stock of roses in now.
All the bareroot trees, hedging and conifers are arriving in stock now. Bareroot hedging varieties, e.g. Griselinia, Escallonia, Beech, Laurel, Pines, Alders, Sitkia Spruce, Hawthorn Quicks, etc. Bareroot trees of many different varieties and sizes and conifers of large sizes in Burlap netting many different varieties again.
Lastly, now
is a dormant period for trees and shrubs, and plants may be moved from
one spot to another. So if you have a plant that's in the wrong place
and needs to be moved, do it now. Dig well around the plant and try and
get as much soil and root as possible Dig in some brown gold with it and
heel in to its new position straight away.
That's it for now,
Happy gardening,
Bosco McDermott,
Jnr.,
Glynn's Garden Fruit & Veg. Centre,
Lydican, Oranmore.
NOTE: New telephone No. 091- 799135.
The Nuacht
Chláir team wishes Bosco every good wish in his new position as
Manager of Glynn's Garden Centre. We know it will be a huge success as
Bosco's expertise in this field is renowned.
Claregalway/Carnmore Community Alert
During its period in office the Committee secured a grant from Social Welfare of £24,700. To date 90 Aid Alert Units have been bought, most are installed. The feedback to the Committee from recipients and their relatives has been very positive. The aid-alert units offers a greater security to the elderly, especially those whose who are alone at night and those whose relatives are away at work during the day. The added security and ease of mind offered to the elderly has made the project very worthwhile but more work remains to be done. To review where we are and to update our records for those who still need units a meeting will be held on Monday 15th November 1999 at 8.30pm at the Claregalway National School followed by our Annual General Meeting. If you are aware of relatives in need of aid-alert units or are aware of elderly neighbours in your area who are alone or vulnerable and need these units, please do not hesitate to contact the committee or come along to our meeting on the 15th. Also on the night a demonstration will take place on how the units operate. This may be of particular interest to those who have agreed to act as telephone contacts in case of emergencies.
Committee:
Martin Kirrane (Chairman) 798399, Margaret Waldron (Secretary) 798243,
Brendan Noonan (Treasurer) 798207, Sean Harte (PRO) 798726, Liam Glynn
755049, Murt Grealish 794171, Malachy Hanley 794463.
HONEY POTS - HALLOWEEN CAMPAIGN - A BIG THANK YOU
It never ceases to amaze and humble me, the generosity of people, especially in our own parish. I have been leaving out the honey pots in the now familiar yellow boxes for the past three years to various stores throughout the parish. At £1 per pot, all 1 oz or 28g of it, you surely aren't getting value for money or are you? Let me tell you a few interesting things and even if you didn't give a pound this time, maybe next time you just might!
We have a
Down's Syndrome little girl of seven years called Maeve.
Her arrival was a shock to say the least but I can now safely say she
is the centre of attention as well as the "Boss" in our family.
She is what we like to call a 'special child'. We joined Down Syndrome
Ireland a few years ago which is an organisation of parents and guardians
of people with Down syndrome. There are over 200 member families and 23
branches nation-wide. It is the biggest single parent group concerned
with the welfare of people with learning disabilities in Irelands. Since1996
D.S. Ireland has held an annual national fund raising campaign called
'Honey Days'. It involves selling the familiar miniature honey jars from
various locations throughout the country to the public at £1. This
campaign is held in late October every year. Funds raised are used to
support a wide range of projects and activities. Above all the money raised
is used to help people with Down Syndrome reach their full potential and
to become integrated members of the community.
Where
does the money go? Well, 40% funds local activities and 60% funds
Health Research projects. The 'Local' activities can include such things
as a Counselling Service, a Swimming Club, a Resource Library and Speech
and Language classes. The Health Research Project mainly involves 500
children with D.S. in the Eastern Health Board who have been interviewed
since 1997 in the most intensive clinical study ever
Conducted into Down Syndrome in Ireland. The objective of this research
is to highlight the medical problems faced by children with D.S. When
completed a world class document will be produced to try to improve the
medical treatment of people with D.S. This document will be presented
at the Down Syndrome World Conference in Sydney 2000.
Our Maeve benefits from all this and you who have given so generously
little know the huge contribution you have just made on a global level!
Thank you most sincerely to all the proprietors for again accepting the
boxes, to Boyne Valley, the wonderful annual sponsors and to you for your
support. Incidentally, over £60 was donated without the honey pots
being taken!
Josephine
Moran, Cregboy.
The recent
highlight in Badminton Circles was the International Match between China
and Ireland, which was held in Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday 6th
November. Hopefully everyone who went along to see these top world-class
players enjoyed the experience. Seldom is an opportunity like this available
locally.
Junior Badminton continues every Tuesday 5.30 - 8.30 p.m. Coaching on
Saturday from 4.30 - 6.30.p.m.
Congratulations
to our Senior Div.III and IV teams who won their first league games last
week. Division II beat Aughrim by 5 games to 2, in Aughrim. Division IV
had a 4-2 victory over Cortoon, in Claregalway. Best wishes to both teams
in their future games.
Congratulations to Gerry Rohan, Lakeview, who ran in the Dublin City Marathon on Bank Holiday Monday in aid of Shay Kinsella's "Share A Dream Foundation". The Share a Dream Foundation makes dreams come true for children with life threatening illnesses. Gerry raised £600 and would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who contributed so generously.
Mary and George Glynn, Lydican, would like to announce that in order to concentrate on our fruit and vegetable processing business, we have leased the shop and Garden Centre at Lydican to Bosco McDermott Jnr., Bosco has been with us for the last five years and we are sure Bosco will look after your every need. We would like to take this opportunity to wish Bosco every success in his new venture. We would also like to wish Martina Shaughnessy well in her new job.
Welcome to Josephine, Paul and sons Ronán and Dara Nash who have moved to Kiltrogue. Wishing you lots of happiness in your new home.
Congratulations to Mary and Tom O'Reilly, Gortatleva, on the birth of their baby girl Orla.
Congratulations to Patrick and Eilish Carr, Cahergowan, on the birth of their baby boy recently.
Best Wishes to Maria O'Connell, Knockdoe, and Kenny Fahy, Corofin, who were married on 15th October.
Best Wishes also to Maria Keogh, Cloonbigeen and Jimmy Duggan, Montiagh, on their marriage which took place on 22nd October.
Birthday
Greetings to Grace Casserly, Kiniska who celebrates her birthday on 18th
November.
Happy Birthday also to her brother Alan who celebrated his 18th Birthday
on 10th November.
Catherine
Cullinane, Cahergowan celebrates her birthday on 17th November, Happy
Birthday Catherine.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Alan Cullinane, Cahergowan, who is
currently "out of action." Alan had an accident recently, while
away on holidays, and he returned home with his foot in plaster. Hope
you will be fully mobile again before too long.
Training is continuing in all age groups, each section now has its own coach and we welcome the extra help from Sinead Greally, U13 girls, Liam Egan for the U11 boys, James McDonagh, the U13 boys and Liam Ryder. This help makes a great difference as we now have 140 members in the club.
The Under 19 team recently arranged a challenge match against Gort . Claregalway won by 4 points in a closely contested game. Gort were actually ahead at half time by 3 points. Brian Casserly, Evan Keane and Emmett Hartigan were the top scorers, Emmett scoring 16 points of the final 39 points to Gorts 35. It is hoped that we can arrange more friendlies at this level as our U19 team has entered for the Sprite Cup. This is a national event and hopefully we will attract some good competition matches to the Community Centre.
The next event on the calendar is the Basketball Marathon that is being held on the 21st of November. This fund-raising day will benefit the Community Centre and the club. It is also a very enjoyable day for the children and we would appeal to the community to sponsor them. The club now has a Ladies team in training! It is anticipated that they will be playing in the Galway League this year and we will hope to be reporting their success!
Please
remember that any child wishing to play basketball can call to the Centre
on Saturday mornings and make enquiries.
Claregalway
were the winners of this year's Coiste Peil na nOg Under 14(B) North football
league. After an indifferent start to the league the team improved gradually
to qualify for a semi-final meeting with unbeaten Mountbellew. A 3-7 to
2-4 victory saw them through to the final where they proved too strong
for Milltown.
The team was subsequently invited to Inis Oirr for a challenge game against
the Aran Island club. A most enjoyable day was had by all. The team was
accompanied by trainers Pat Coen and Michael Kirwan in addition to Anthony
Monaghan, Tony Clarke, Jim O'Connor, Kathleen Stephens and Sean Flanagan.
l. You try to enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3
4. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South America, but you haven't spoken to your next door neighbour yet this year.
5. You buy a computer and a week later it is out of date.
6. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends is that they do not have e-mail addresses.
7. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.
8. You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.
9. Your CV is on a diskette in your pocket.
10 You learn about your redundancy on the 9.00 0'Clock News
11 Your biggest loss from a system crash is that you lose all your best jokes.
12. Contractors outnumber permanent staff and are more likely to get long-service awards.
13. You know exactly how many days you've got left until you retire.
14. Interviewees, despite not having the relevant knowledge or experience, terminate the interview when told of the starting salary.
15.
The work experience person gets a brand new state-of-the-art laptop with
all the features, while you have time to go for lunch while yours powers
up.
16 There's no money in the budget for the five permanent staff your department is short of, but they can afford four full-time management consultants advising your boss's boss on strategy.
17. Holiday is something you roll over to next year.
18. Every week another brown collection envelope comes round because someone you didn't know had started, is leaving.
19. You wonder who's going to be left to put into your 'leaving' collection.
20. Your relatives and family describe your job as "works with computers".
21. You
read this entire list, kept nodding and smiling.
Designed
and Maintained by Niall Farrell
© Nuacht Chláir