Posted by in News.


Claregalway Bypass

Deputy Noel Grealish is to bring a deputation to meet with Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan and Michael Tobin of the National Roads Authority to discuss the provision of a by-pass at Claregalway. Following a meeting with Minister Brennan, Deputy Noel Grealish has secured an agreement to meet with a delegation in January. “A by-pass is badly needed in Claregalway, with in excess of 18,000 vehicles passing through daily. What is needed is a similar relief road to the Enfield model.” We hope that this deputation will help to move forward the provision of this much-needed relief road.

School Transport for Children attending the Oranmore Secondary School
I am pleased to say that Deputy Noel Grealish has taken up this matter with the Department of Education and Science. The junior Minister at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Síle deValera, has informed Deputy Grealish to acquire a list of all children from this area who are attending school in Oranmore. We are actively dealing with this matter and we also intend to forward list of children from this area that will be starting school in Oranmore in the next school year. There will be no delay on our part in having this matter resolved, hopefully to the satisfaction of the parents.

Deputy Noel Grealish & Cllr. Jim Cuddy
Your Progressive Democrats Team working for you

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & Peaceful New Year

Contact: Noel at 091 764807 Jim at 087 6360242

Fighting Flu

Flu is an infection caused by the influenza virus. The virus mainly attacks the breathing passages- including the nose, sinuses, throat and lungs. The virus spreads easily through the air – when someone nearby breathes in the spray of tiny droplets from a sneeze or cough.

Typical symptoms of flu include a high temperature, chills, a headache, aching muscles, a cough, a blocked nose, loss of appetite and feeling tired. These symptoms are usually more severe than with the common cold.

In general, the body’s immune system usually fights off the infection within 5-6 days, although some people may feel weak for longer. People at high risk from complications of flu include those; aged 65 or over, living in a nursing home, who have heart or lung disease (e.g. asthma), who have diabetes, who have kidney failure, who have an illness or medical treatment that could weaken their immune system (e.g. cancer or those taking steroid tablets for a long time). The flu vaccination is recommended for people in any of the at risk groups. It is based on a form of the influenza virus; it prepares the immune system for an attack by flu, but doesn’t actually cause the infection.

Treating the flu at home would involve getting plenty of rest, keeping warm and drinking plenty of fluids. Paracetamol will help reduce a high temperature and to relieve flu symptoms such as headache. A virus, not bacteria, causes flu, antibiotics won’t help. Your GP may sometimes prescribe an antibiotic to prevent or treat secondary bacterial infections especially in high-risk patients.

John Duffy MPSI.

Special News

Congratulations to Francis Murphy, Cregboy, who received two 1st class honours – one in Bachelor of Science and the other in Rehabilitation Engineering. Well done Francis – great achievements.

Congratulations to Rachel Farrell, Cregboy, who received a High Achiever Award in violin from Permanent-tsb.

Congratulations to two brothers who each have recently become engaged . They are:
Paul Noone, Cregboy and his fiance Maureen Newell from Annaghdown who announced their engagement in August.
David Noone, Paul’s brother, became engaged to Edel Quinn from Kinvara on the 22nd November 2003.

21st Birthday Greetings to Catherine Cullinane, Cahergowan, who celebrated the occasion with appropriate revelry in Grealishes of Carnmore on the 28th November 2003.

Happy 21st Birthday, also to Vinny Gavin, Gortacleva. Terry Brennan’s was the scene of this particular celebration and a good night was had by all.

Happy Birthday to Ryan Coyle, who was 3 on the 2nd December.

Carol McKiernan from Kiltulla celebrated her 15th birthday recently. Happy Birthday Carol.

Congratulations to Ethna Dempsey, Cregboy, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (Midwifery) from Thames Valley University, London on the 24th November 2003.

Congratulations to Assumpta and Paraic Walsh, Montiagh, on the birth of their son Connor born on the 7th December.

Congratulations to the following couples who celebrated 50 years of marriage and who were presented with a gift at the Senior Citizens Party held in Terry Brennan’s Tavern:
Susan and Joe Dooley, Carnmore
Mary and Paddy Commins, Kiniska
Winnie and Paraic Heneghan, LoughGeorge
Celia and Bernie Murray, Gortatleva

Make-up tips for Christmas

Make up should always be applied to a cool face. Many women make the mistake of coming straight out of a hot bath or shower, while the pores are still open, applying their moisturiser and make-up, then wondering why it has disappeared after a few hours. For make-up to last and to help stop skin sweating, the pores must first be closed with a toner, in an emergency, even a splash of cold water will do the trick. For a natural look when applying foundation, start in the centre and stroke outwards to the hair line or simply apply base where it is needed. Keep your hands away from your face if you want your make-up to last.

Eyes – remember that light eye shadows reflect and open up the eye, while dark colours detract and give shape and depth. This is why highlighters are used on the brow bone and deeper colours in the socket to accentuate shape. Pluck eyebrows to keep them tidy and to frame your eyes. To prevent eye shadow creasing, make sure eye lids are dry. Powder them first, if necessary.

For further information, please contact Evelyn Kitt 087 6783733.

Gardener’s World

Horkan’s Lifestyle & Garden Centre – National Winners of the An Bord Glas Christmas Display.

Horkans Lifestyle & Garden Centre in Oranmore Galway received the All Ireland award for the best Christmas display presentation by an Bord Glas in Dublin this week.

This all Ireland competition was judged by Kevin Waters – A Garden Centre consultant from the UK.

Kevin highlighted the outstanding Quality of Christmas decorations, themed displays, and variety of Christmas products as the key factors in awarding the All Ireland award to Horkans.

The Award winning Christmas display is currently on show in Horkans Lifestyle and Garden Centre in Oranmore, Galway.

Permanent TSB High Achiever Award

Outastanding musicians from Galway recipients of a ‘Permanent TSB High Achiever Award’ performed in a special Connaught Regional Gala Concert in St. Nicholas Church in Galway on the 16th November last. A total of 25 performers from the region took part in the concert which was organised by the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Patrick Farrell, Cregboy, Claregalway was among the performers who received an award.

The talented students, who hail from all corners of the county, sat the Royal Irish Academy of Music local centre examinations, and were chosen from over 35,000 applicants.

“ All recipients of a ‘Permanent TSB High Achiever Award’ should feel very proud of their achievement”, said Dr, John O’Connor, Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Primary Schools Cross Country

Claregalway N.S. scored a notable double in recent months by winning two cross country titles for the first time.

County Cross Country
The first win was in the County Galway Cross Country event which was held in Renmore at the end of September where over 120 athletes competed. Schools entered teams of six with the first four in each team to count for the team prize. Claregalway got off to a great start with Dónal Ó Conraoi going into an early lead and by the half way stage we had the amazing sight of four Claregalway runners in the first six places. The team kept up the pace for the remainder of the race and Micheál Ó hÉimhín surged to the front to take the individual gold medal followed by Dónal Ó Conraoi who took bronze. With four runners in the top seven Claregalway easily won the team gold medals with an incredibly low score of 16 points.

Team: Micheál Ó hÉimhín R.6(1st), Dónal Ó Conraoi R.6(3rd), Seán Ó Discín R.5(5th), Riocárd Ó Comáin R.4(7th), Peadar Ó Duibhghiolla R.6 (14th), Riain O hArrachtáin R.5 (24th).

At the Connacht Finals in early October, Claregalway picked up the silver medals despite the absence of star runner, Micheál Ó hÉimhín.

Galway City Cross Country
The highlight of the City Primary Schools cross country events, held in Renmore in November, was the marvellous win in the Junior Boys competition(4th and 5th classes). This event was held over two weeks with aggregate scores counting – teams of eight with the first five to count. Claregalway N. S. dominated the event and, with five runners home in the first eight, easily took the winners’ shield for the first time with an extra bonus of five individual prizes.

Team: Seán Ó Discín R.5 (1st), Seán Ó Móráin R.4 (2nd), Eoghan Ó Comáin R.5 (Joint 3rd), Riocárd O Comáin R.4 (J. 3rd), Marcus Breathnach R.5 (J. 6th), Lorcán Mac Aodh R.5, Ciarán Ó hAirt R.5, agus Éomonn Ó Lochlainn R.4

In the Senior Boys’ event (6th Class), Micheál Ó hÉimhín took the individual gold medal and Dónal Ó Conraoi finished in 5th place. The other team members were Eoin Ó Loinscigh, Ciarán Ó Flaithearta, Niall Ó Maoláin agus Eoghan Mac Donnchadhadh.

In the Junior Girls’ event Amy Ní Robhcháin (R.4) ran two great races against strong opposition to win an individual trophy in 4th place overall. Other team members were: Áine Ní Bhraonáín, Eibhlín Ní Mhóráin, Leona Nic Uidhir, Cáit Ní Dhomhnaill, Deirdre Ní Bhraonáin, Lauren Ní Mhuirí agus Tara Ní Oisín.

The Senior Girls team did not feature in the prizes but they all competed bravely.

Team: Caroline Ní Ghoill, Clár Ní Dhúbháín, Kirsty Nic Ghabhann agus Aoife Ní Nuadháin.

Well done to all involved and especially to our trainer, Pauline Harrington.

Claregalway N.S. Goes European

The European Union provides financial support for many programmes in the field of education. One such programme is the Comenius programme, part of which allows schools from at least three participating countries to work together within the regular class activities on one or more topics of mutual interest. Following a Contact Seminar in Turin in November 2002 (attended by Mr. Coen), Claregalway school has now teamed up with three partner schools to work on a project entitled ‘Flowing Together – Water in Life and Fantasy.’

The three partner schools are:Marienschule, Katolische, Grundschule der Stadt, Bonn, Germany
Szamu Hunyadi Matyas Altalanos Iskols, Miskolc, Hungary
Sibilla Aleramo, Turin, Italy.

The project will be integrated into the regular activities of the school and will include all subject areas. It will run for three years subject to annual evaluation. Claregalway is the coordinating school, which means that it will be responsible for most of the planning and organisation of the project. Detailed planning began at a meeting of Principals in Miskolc in November. Some of the classes have already exchanged letters with pupils in Hungary and Turin

All aspects of the project are funded by the EU, through Léargas, the national agency which administers all EU educational programmes in Ireland.

Christmas Stories and Poems from Claregalway N.S.

The Lucky Star
There once lived an old lady called Alice. Alice was a very lonely person. She lived all alone in a small cottage down a small lane. Her cat only died a few weeks ago. They were very close and most of her friends had died too.

One night she was sitting by the fire when she saw a bright star that stood out the most among all the other stars. She was amazed. She stood up slowly and walked over to the window and said in a soft loving voice “I hope that star will guide me to have a Happy Christmas.” “After that she decided to hang up some decorations. After all it is Christmas Eve”, she thought. When she was finished the doorbell rang so she went to answer it. “Hello” she called expecting someone to be there but she could not hear nor see anyone in sight. “Hello” she called again but this time a little fairy dressed in pink from head to toe came out and whispered in Alice’s ear “Get a good nights sleep, it will be a long day tomorrow” and then she vanished. So Alice took her advice and went straight to bed (even though she was frightened).

At about four o’clock the next day the doorbell rang again but this time it was not the fairy. It was a neighbour “Hello” Alice called. “Hello” the voice answered back. “I’m Mandy and I was just wondering would you like to come over for our Christmas party”. Alice was thrilled. “I would love” Alice answered. “Great! When you are ready I will bring you to my house” said Mandy. When they were ready they both went to Mandy’s house.

Alice thought the party was wonderful. There were lots of people in long dresses and suits and lovely music was played.

After the party Alice went into the church and went straight over to the crib. Tears came into her eyes but these weren’t tears of sadness. These were tears of joy.

Deirdre Brennan, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

The Christmas Story
2,000 years ago,
The baby Jesus was born,
In a stable in Bethlehem,
All cosy and warm.

The angels brought the news
to the shepherds that night
‘ Oh come all ye faithful,
What a wonderful sight’.

The three wise men
Followed the bright shiny star,
To bring gifts to the new born
King from afar.

Mary and Joseph watched
Over their son in the manger,
Animals surrounded them
To keep him from danger.
Jesus our lord “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
On Christmas day
Help us to be like you
In each and every way.

Jennifer O’ Keeffe, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

The Three Wise Men

The Three Wise Men,
Found a star,
Looking for a King
Who was very far.

They came to Herod,
And asked for a King,
“ I’m the only King here”,
Said Herod feeling his ring.

They were told to call in,
On their way home,
To let the King know
That he could roam.

But Angel Gabriel,
Put an end to that,
He told the Wise Men
That the Baby would be splat!

They came to the stable
A little late.
They gave the presents,
And closed the gate.

That was the story
Of the Three Wise Men.
And so for now,
That is the end!

Darragh Moylan, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

Mammies, Daddies, Shepherds & Kings
In the manger lies a King.
In Heaven, choirs of Angels sing.
Mother Mary and Father Joe
Both kneel beside, they ove Him so.

As the Shepherds watch their flocks
An Angel scares them out of their socks.
“ Get up and go, and don’t say maybe!
In Bethlehem you’ll find a baby!”

As the star soared through the sky,
Baby Jesus began to cry.
The three Wise Men travelled for days,
And when they got there,
They gave him praise.
Since that night in Bethlehem’s stable,
Because of Him we know we’re able.
Mammies, Daddies, Shepherds and Kings
Come together to pray for great things.

Sean Moran, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

Once Upon a Christmas
Once upon a time there was a toy factory, that was owned by Santa Claus. Before we get into that let me tell you that the true meaning of Christmas is about the birth of Our Lord. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this fact. Now back to my story. Santa travels all around the world in just one night delivering toys to good boys and girls. My story is about a girl called Linda whose family were not very wealthy. They were not very poor either. One day Linda was with her granny in town. They passed Toy Master. “O look Granny, I want to buy that pink jewellery box with the dancing ballerina” she said”. It is €10.00. I am saving up for it, I just need €8.50 more”.

Linda had been saving for weeks until she had her €10.00. One day she passed the shop after her modern dance class. The jewellery box was gone. “Sir what happened to the pink jewellery box”, she asked of the shopkeeper. “I sold it to a lady yesterday”, he said. Linda walked out very disappointed. “Christmas is only a week away”, she moaned. Then she saw a boy with his nose stuck to the window looking at all the toys. His sister was with him. “Don’t worry I’m sure Dad will buy us some new toys when he gets a new job.” Linda couldn’t help overhearing, so she gave the boy her ten euro.

When Christmas morning came, Linda got lots of presents. Her granny arrived. She gave Linda her present. It was the pink jewellery box that she had wanted.

You see her granny was the lady who had bought the jewellery box.

Sarah Burke, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

In the Night
Jesus was born not in a house
The only place available
Was in a stable.

Mary and Joseph were so proud
They wanted to sing aloud
Shepherds came with gifts
And their hearts filled with bliss.

Thomas Duggan, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

The Happy Christmas
Jesus was born on this very night
all the angels sang with delight
“ The Son of God is now born
It was in a stable not in a dorm!”
As Mary cried tears of love
Joseph listened to the angels above.

Michael Coyle, Age 9, Claregalway N.S.

Santa got Stuck on Christmas Eve
One day in December Santa and his helpers were getting ready for Christmas. Santa checked his list he had his toys and bags of coal ready for Christmas.

Every Christmas is the same, Santa got up at 4.10am and started bossing his helpers around the place. The reindeer got up at 5.00am and Kirk the elf who loved rock music, got all the reindeer and tied them to the sleigh. When Santa and his helpers were ready, Santa threw his sack into his sleigh.

Santa and Kirk flew off into the sky. All the people in Santa’s kingdom were cheering, laughing and waving good luck. In the sleigh Kirk was listening to rock music, “Turn it down a little bit,” yelled Santa.

“ What did you say?” asked Kirk.

“ I said, turn it down a little bit.” replied Santa. Then, suddenly, crash, bang, boom! Santa crashed the sleigh in to a roof top! Every one was OK except Santa. He was stuck in the chimney, HEAD FIRST!!

“ Is everyone OK?” asked Kirk

“ NO!” mumbled Santa.

But Kirk couldn’t see or hear him because the sleigh fell on him. One of the reindeer told Kirk that Santa was gone. Then Kirk started running around in circles saying “What do I do, what do I do?”

But then he stopped and whispered to himself “Stop, calm down, look for Santa. Now if I was a big, fat man with red clothes on and a long beard where would I hide?

Kirk looked everywhere for Santa, except under the sleigh. Then he asked himself, “I’ve looked everywhere, so where could he be? Wait, under the sleigh!”

So Kirk squeezed through the little gap in between the sleigh and roof. When Kirk got in it was dark, but he could see a big, bright, red bum! Kirk squeezed back out through the gap and told the reindeer to push the sleigh and free Santa. They did push the sleigh over. But Santa was stuck in a chimney.

Kirk went crazy when he saw thyis and he jumped down off the roof and walked in to the house and asked the people in the house to help Santaout of their chimney. The people helped Santa out of their chimney and Christmas was saved.

Steven Gilligan, Claregalway N.S.

The Birth of Jesus
Jesus was born as a king,
Mary loved this little thing.
In the stable where he lay
As he slept on the hay.

As the wise men followed the star,
It led them to a place afar.
When the wise men got near
King Herod began to fear.

As the shepherds watched their flock,
An angel appeared over a rock.
She told them of the little one,
That he was born to be God’s son.

By John Evans and Shane Divilly, 4th Class, Claregalway N.S.

Editorial

Hello and welcome to our Christmas issue of Nuacht Chlair. We had a fantastic response to our colouring competition in last month’s issue and it was a difficult task choosing the winner. Well done to our winner, 4 year old Ellen McCarthy. We hope to have more colouring competitions in future issues of the newsletter. Also this month, we received a huge selection of Christmas stories from the children in Claregalway National School. The standard was excellent but due to lack of space, we could only include a few stories and poems. Well done to all the children who participated. It’s great to see such creativity from the imaginative and fertile minds of the children.

Claregalway Celtic is definitely on the up and up now. Read about their progress here.

Congratulations and well done to Horkans Garden Centre on winning the title of the best Christmas Shop Display recently. It certainly is well worth a visit.

We, the Nuacht Chlair team, wish all our readers a very Peaceful and Happy Christmas.

Until next time,
Josette

Claregalway Basketball Club

The new season has taken off to a flying start and with an expanding schedule of challenge matches and tournaments it is sure to be an exciting year for the club.

Our first tournament of the season brought us to Cork on Saturday the 15th November, where our under 11 boys team represented the Club for the first time in the Cork County Board Annual Tournament.

A total of nine team from the Cork and Kerry area took part on the day with the Claregalway team getting through to the final. The boys played 4 matches in total – overcoming tough opposition from Carrigaline, Glanmire and Blue Demons of Cork City. In these matches they displayed outstanding teamwork and accuracy and were worthy of their place in the final against Balllincollig.

Progressing through to the final of this tournament was a major achievement considering the calibre of the teams involved. The first half of the final proved difficult as Ballincollig were very strong but in the second half Claregalway began to fight back. Unfortunately the game ended with Ballincollig winning out but not without a heroic battle from the Claregalway team. All the boys played brilliantly and can be very proud of their performance both on and off the court. As a result of being involved in this tournament the club will receive an automatic invitation to this event annually.

Club jackets: There has been a tremendous response to the new club jacket introduced this year. They are manufactured by the well known “Regatta” brand and have the club name and crest embroidered on them, We have a few in stock and are still taking orders – so if anyone is interested they are extremely great value at €36.00 – would be a nice Xmas present!

Contact Michele at 091-798917.

M. Rohan, PRO.

Claregalway Celtic FC Update

It’s Claregalway Celtic 3rd season playing junior soccer and after promotion last year, the step up in grade has brought the best out of the teams mixture of youth and experience. With Ger “Plum” O’Connell and Gerry Cloherty at the helm again, they have set about the task of building on last years amazing success. Training began back in the middle of August with numbers approaching 35 and several new faces, and with over 45 signed up members, the clubs strength in depth is a great asset. As we approach the middle part of the season, Claregalway Celtic currently top Division 2B, and with two sides going up all eyes are on one of those promotion spots.

Our annual awards night was held in the Summerfeld Lounge/Bar in September when medals were presented to the victorious Hibernian Cup winning team after a famour night in Terryland Park. Special awards were also given to:

Player of the Year – Kevin Kitt
Young Player of the Year – Niall Healy
Clubman of the Year – Paul Cloherty

A special mention to the following for their great support of Claregalway Celtic F.C. without whose assistance the club could not survive:

Paul Gill of the Claregalway Hotel who became the official club sponsor this year.

To everyone who attended the clubs annual table-quiz in Terry Brennan’s. A super crowd and a great night was had by all.

To all the local businesses for their continued support (too many to mention). Whether it be spot-prizes or sponsorship they never let us down. Check out their ads in our calendar due out sortly.

To Joe Morris who kindly gave us use of the soccer pitch for the current year.

to Joe O’Connell for help in setting up our new website – www.claregalwayceltic.net. check it out and stay up to date with all our results and fixtures.

Finally, to the grat support we have at all our home games, especially against Mervue Utd. A huge crowd and much appreciated.

That’s it for now. We’ll be back soon with more updates.

Barry Donovan.