The Lough Ree Environmental Summer School begins next week and will feature lakeside entertainment in the form of the Happy Samba Band, art master classes, and field trips to study flora and fauna in the three-county area around the lake.
The school combines an arts festival with organic gardening lessons, hedgerow tours and visits to some of the many islands on Lough Ree.
The ESB Environmental Photography Awards Exhibition will also be on display. This exhibition is a shortlist of 50 prints from the 2000 competition. For teachers there will be courses in "the environment and the child", on July 9th, as well as details of environmental games which children can play in school.
An environmental art class will be hosted by Gordon D'Arcy, who will also host a field trip to St John's Wood. The social highlight of this year's summer school is the buffet dinner in Lanesborough Community College, while music and craic will be provided in many of the pubs and hotels in the area.
Something to interest everyone may be found at exhibitions of bog oak sculptures, landscape artistry, works from amateur artists, and a bat walk, which will take place at dusk along the banks of the lake.
A "Douglas Hyde tour" will visit places familiar to the Republic's first president, who came from Co Roscommon. The hegderow tours will be conducted by environmentalist and broadcaster Eanna Ni Lamhna, while the Douglas Hyde tour will be conducted by historian Vincent Byrne. Dr Sharon Parr will lead an exploration of the boglands while Dr Harman Murtagh will lead groups to the islands of Incherlaun, Inchboffin and Hare, to explore the heritage and flora and fauna.
The summer school is to be officially opened by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, on Thursday, July 12th, but some of the events such as the teachers' courses will open before then. A programme of events and venues is available from the Summer School office on 043-27070.
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