ONE of the primary reasons why Éire Óg has withdrawn from the Clare Intermediate Football Championship is because the club has adopted a policy of not fielding players who are not registered members. Éire Óg were due to play Clarecastle last Sunday evening in Round 1 of the intermediate championship but they did not fulfil that fixture. They also withdrew from the Division 3 football league earlier this season. “The decision we made was based on two factors. One was the numbers we had and the other factor was membership. We are not allowing any team to take the field unless they are all fully paid members. That’s where we stand,” Éire Óg club secretary Paddy Smyth told The Clare Champion. He cited an instance where a senior club hurler was told he would be dropped from the club’s championship team, unless he paid his membership. “We want everyone to be paid up members for insurance reasons. If there is …

AN environmentalist has been refused leave to appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to a grant of permission for a 2km bypass around Killaloe in South East Clare. Peter Sweetman, and an environmental protection company, The Swans and the Snails Ltd, claimed the project, including construction of a 170 metre bridge over the River Shannon, would result in irreversible destruction of a woodlands habitat. The habitat, an alluvial wet willow-alder-ash woodland, is located on the western side of the proposed bridge. The High Court case was brought against An Bord Pleanala after it granted permission for the project in March 2013 to Clare County Council. Mr Sweetman, Bunahowen Cashel, Countty Galway, and the company, with an address at Rossport, South Ballina, County Mayo, claimed an environmental impact assessment carried out by the Board did not comply with the Habitats Directive or planning legislation. Mr Justice Paul McDermott dismissed their challenge last month after finding the board received comprehensive …

THEN There Was Light, a radio documentary and a book, is a project that has been initiated by the ESB to mark the 70 years since the commencement of the Rural Electrification Scheme. The book promises to be a unique collection of stories by people recalling their memories and experiences of the Rural Electrification Scheme and will provide a valuable snapshot of the time Ireland left the dark ages by allowing power and light into the midst of even the most remote communities. The stories for the collection and radio programme are expected to provide a frank insight into the suspicions, worries and welcome the ESB’s light brigade faced as they began work on one of the most important undertakings in recent Irish history. The stories encapsulate and preserve the approach of a previous generation as it came to terms with the prospect of rapidly changing rural lifestyles. The collection and editing for the book and documentary is being undertaken by authors and editors …

A SPOKESPERSON for Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg has told The Clare Champion that a weekend visit from presumptive US Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump is “unlikely”. The owner of the West Clare golfing resort said two weeks ago that he was going to stop off in Doonbeg, following a three-day visit to Scotland, which will coincide with the re-opening of Trump Turnberry. He purchased that business in 2014 and has since renovated it, at an estimated cost of €250m. Trump purchased Doonbeg, which was in receivership at the time, in early 2014. He is also expected to visit another of his Scottish golf properties in Aberdeen this week. ‘Trump Not Welcome’ campaigners, opposed to a potential visit to Ireland by the billionaire businessman, held a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday to announce details of a protest, should the New Yorker announce a last-minute visit while on his trip to the UK. “The message is that if he …

Clare County Council has joined local authorities across the country in raising a flag to coincide with the first annual LGBTQ Pride festival of 2016 which is taking place in Dublin this week. The Council is participating in the inaugural ‘Having Pride in Local Government’ initiative which is being coordinated by the Local Government Management Agency. Councillor James Breen, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council raised the Pride flag outside Clare County Council’s Corporate Headquarters at Áras Contae an Chláir on the New Road in Ennis. Councillor Breen said the raising of the flag is also a mark of respect for the victims of the shooting in Orlando, Florida earlier this month.

FLEADH Cheoil na hÉireann Inis 2016, from August 14 to 22, will be the biggest cultural event ever to be hosted by Ennis. In advance of the festival of music, singing and dance, The Clare Champion will have a comprehensive feature, including interviews with musicians and members of the public about their experiences of past fleadhanna and their expectation of what’s to come. The All-Ireland Fleadh was previously held in Ennis in 1956 and 1977 and The Clare Champion is asking members of the public to submit photographs from either event. Some may never have been published and would be of historical significance. All photographs will be scanned and returned to the owners.

CLARE County Council has announced the appointment of consultants for the design and delivery of a new €8.6 million county library in Ennis. The project will see a new library building developed at the site of the existing Glór facility, replacing the current De Valera Library. A full design team has now been put in place to progress the design and planning phases of the new build project and the council says contractors could be on-site early next year, subject to the planning process being negotiated. Some months ago, the council received a €3m capital grant towards the cost of the project from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, while €1m in EU funding came from the Southern Regional Assembly’s Operational Programme 2014-2020. In February, Clare County Council voted to take on a loan to fund the remaining €4.6m. Earlier this year, a county library spokesperson said it was likely the new facility would be an “open …

The body of a man found on the shoreline at Aughinish, Kinvara on Sunday evening last been identified as an 86-year-old retiree who was last seen near Salthill on June 17. A post mortem is due to take place tomorrow (Thursday) at Limerick Regional Hospital. On Sunday, gardaí in Gort received a report that the body of a male was found washed up on the rocks at Aughinish, Kinvara. When they went to the scene, they found the body. A local doctor was called and he was pronounced dead at 10pm at scene.