The Burren Food Trail has been selected as the Irish winner of this year’s European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) award. The prestigious EU-wide competition is designed to encourage and promote a more sustainable form of tourism development and The Burren Food Trail was one of four destinations shortlisted earlier this month. The Trail now joins other Irish destinations such as Loop Head, Mulranny and Cavan Town in demonstrating best practice in various aspects of sustainable destination development. Launched by the Burren Ecotourism Network and the Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark and as the Mid West’s first food trail in 2013, the Burren Food Trail is supported by an innovative schedule of food events taking place every Monday from May to October. The events showcase the region’s cuisine and provide a unique food experience in the amazing landscape that is the Burren. Members of the Food Trail place an emphasis on the use of local ingredients and are committed to …

Clare County Council, as an agent of Irish Water, are currently carrying out works to repair a burst main in the Tulla area. The burst main may result in temporary disruption to the water supply in Tulla, O’Callaghan’s Mills and surrounding areas.  Group Water Schemes in the area are also affected. Clare County Council says it expects to complete the works by 10am tomorrow, Thursday

Over 500 Irish trade, including tourism businesses from Clare, recently attended Meitheal, Ireland’s largest travel trade fair, organised by Fáilte Ireland, in the RDS Dublin. This event is a central date in the tourism industry calendar, allowing the Irish tourism industry to actively grow its business in countries from around the world – with delegates from as far afield as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Meitheal provides a valuable opportunity to forge even stronger commercial relations between local tourism providers and the international travel trade. With interest in visiting Ireland growing, our appeal remains strong and we now offer better value than for many years. Thanking the Clare tourism trade for attending Meitheal, Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn commented, “Tourism is in robust health and we expect growth to continue this year. However, we are not complacent and the face to face meetings that took place with the Clare trade who attended Meitheal, …

Second-level teachers in Clare will protest outside their schools at lunchtime this Thursday but student class time will not be affected by the protest. The protest aims to highlight the need to maintain independent assessment of student attainment at Junior Cycle. It involves members of the ASTI and the TUI. Up to 27,000 second-level teachers across the country will participate. Peter Quinn, ASTI representative for Clare and a teacher at St. Flannan’s College said teachers fully support a move away from excessive reliance on written exams and want to see more focus in schools on practical, portfolio, and project work. “We want to maintain independent, external assessment in order to protect standards, equity, quality and fairness. Anything less has the potential to seriously undermine Junior Cycle education and to widen inequalities between students and schools. We cannot take this risk with our young people. “We appreciate the support we have received from parents and the community during this campaign,” he …

Gardaí at Limerick are investigating a robbery which occurred at a hotel on the Dock Road, in the city earlier to day. A lone male entered the hotel reception area around 3am and threatened the male receptionist with a syringe. He demanded cash and fled the scene with a cash box. Gardaí were alerted and pursued this man along Windmill Apartments where he was arrested. The 30 year-old man is currently detained at Henry Street Garda Station under the provisions of Section 4 – Criminal Justice Act 1984. No injuries were sustained during the robbery.

Shannon Chamber has stepped into the world of sport to equip business executives with the wherewithal to operate at optimal performance levels. Renowned high-performance expert Gary Keegan, who devised a world-class talent management programme for the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), has been drafted in to give a half-day seminar to both Chamber members and non-members on Wednesday, May 20 at 8.30am. The seminar is being held in the viewing gallery at Shannon Airport. Drawing analogies between business and sport, Mr Keegan will show how leadership, strategy, culture and execution for results are dependent on cultivating a high-performance ethos within a company. Speaking ahead of the event, Shannon Chamber’s chief executive Helen Downes said: “In his time with the IABA, and now as director of the Irish Institute of Sport, Gary Keegan has demonstrated his ability to get the best out of teams. In his five years with the IABA, Ireland won 29 medals at European, World and Olympic levels, …

Clare County Council has confirmed that Phase 1 of the Ennis Market Rejuvenation project is now proceeding to tender stage and construction is expected to commence in the autumn of 2015 The €1.75m loan for the Market Rejuvenation Project, which also includes the upgrading of the streets adjoining the market area, is now in place. Clare County Council says a detailed design will shortly proceed to tender stage in relation to Phase One of the redevelopment of the market which will begin at Garraunakilla, the site of the current Farmer’s Market. Speaking on behalf of the Elected Members of Ennis Municipal District Committee, Mayor of Ennis Councillor Johnny Flynn welcomed the progress being made in relation to the project in consultation with local residents and business people. “This project will have a significant role in the rejuvenation of this area of the town, which is significant, both from an economic and heritage perspective considering Ennis has always been an important …

Images of Ireland, including the west coast of Clare, have been beamed into the homes of more than one million Australians – in a brand new cookery series fronted by Dublin-born chef and restaurateur Colin Fassnidge. My Ireland with Colin is a new two-part cookery series which sees Fassnidge return home to discover the changing face of food in Ireland. Channel 7 in Australia – working with Tourism Ireland in Sydney – produced the new series which has aired to an audience of more than one million viewers. In the show, viewers see Colin learns to surf off the west coast of Clare! Fassnidge, who has become a celebrity chef in his adopted Australia, runs two successful restaurants in Sydney and is a guest judge on a popular cooking game show called My Kitchen Rules, which airs in Australia (also on Channel 7). Last autumn, he rode a Ducati 1200 around Ireland, followed closely by his film crew capturing footage …