Five things to do

There will be a public meeting next Wednesday, March 25, at 8pm in Hugh Lynch"s, to highlight the fact that Offaly County Council has €2 million in ACCESS funding. That must be spent on developing an Arts Centre in Tullamore before the end of this year. Despite ten years of meetings, reviews, strategies and proposals there is still no published plan to complete such a project for which funding runs out in December 2009. If there"s no action this year, the €2 million funding will be lost. Register your support by logging on to - http://www.tullamorearts.com and please attend the meeting next Wednesday. Fundraiser This summer Adam O"Doherty, a past pupil of Colaiste Choilm, will be travelling to Haiti in order to carry out humanitarian aid work in one of the world"s poorest nations. A Charity Race Night will be held in Digan"s Bar next Friday, March 27, at 8pm in aid of this cause. A fun night will be had by all, whilst at the same time supporting this local man"s mission. See the latest exhibition Former County Manager Niall Sweeney will formally launch "The Here and There", an exhibition of new work by Jock Nichol next Wednesday, March 25, at 6.30pm. It"s taking place in Aras an Chontae in Tullamore. The Scotsman has worked with Sculpture in the Parklands and is a landscape artist. Go to an Irish Premiere Birr Stage Guild presents the Irish premiere of the first ever musical written by Rice and Webber in 1965 "The Likes of Us" from Tuesday 24 to Saturday 28. This musical abounds with great melodies and rousing choruses, larger than life characters and tongue-in-cheek comedy. The story is loosely based on Dr Thomas Bernardo whose crusade to rescue abandoned street children in 1860s London became world renowned. Early booking is strongly advised. Contac the box office from 1pm to 5.30pm on 057 9122911. Get your binoculars out As BirdWatch Ireland is organising a series of workshops to take place in Offaly. The course involves 10 workshops with fieldtrips held on Saturdays or Sundays between April and September. The first workshop is especially important, as it will contain an introduction to Special Areas of Conservation (history, policy and administration) and guidelines on becoming a site monitor. Places are limited and almost full. For further information, email enquiries@iwt.ie.