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Carpe Diem finale to remember Eimear and Eli

A GRAND finale to a musical initiative to honour to young musicians will be held on March 11 in Gort.  The Eimear Noonan Music Bursary Award was established five years ago by the family of the inspirational young musician, who died in France in 2017. A Carpe Diem concert was also held annually in Eimear’s memory. That event was originally conceived by Katharina Baker and Fiona Buckley of Coole Music to honour Eimear’s memory and celebrate her participation in the School of Music, particularly in her role as leader of the Youth Orchestra. On the night of Saturday, March 11 at 7.30pm in O’Sullivan’s Hotel, Carpe Diem Forever, will offer an opportunity to celebrate Eimear’s memory and legacy, the music she made, and the many emerging young players that she supporter and inspired.  “The initiative was originally conceived of to remember our Eimear, but later included another young musician friend, Eli Murray, who died suddenly from Juvenile diabetes in 2019,” …

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Discussion on Traveller women experiences and achievements

THE varied experiences and achievements of Traveller women will be discussed as part of a panel taking place to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 in Mna Ag Gaire Women’s Shed in Ennis between 10.30am and 2pm. Women’s Collective Ireland – Clare, the Clare Traveller Community Development Project and Clare Local Development Company are hosting the celebration of this important date for women across the globe. There will be music with Mary Keenan and Yvonne Ketwa, refreshments and food with people invited to bring something to share. Guest panellists include Bridget Mongans; Primary Health Care Project Clare; Mary Connors from New Ross, recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Traveller Movement for her outstanding contribution and dedication to highlighting and achieving human rights of the Traveller Community; Nancy Power coordinator of the National Traveller Money and Budgeting Service which works to reduce poverty, discrimination and financial exclusion from what is considered mainstream and accessible for many in …

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Pyrite grant ‘impenetrable’ in current form

A NEW grant scheme to remediate homes with defective blocks have been described by a Clare activist as “onerous, prohibitive and almost logistically impossible” to engage with, in its current draft form.  Draft regulations on the updated grant scheme have been circulated to action groups in Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo, as well as to local authority members. Writing to the Councils, the Minister for Housing called for “good faith constructive engagement” on improving and strengthening the regulations. Minister Darragh O’Brien also expressed the desire to issue final regulations in March “to get the badly needed new scheme up and running”. Commenting on the draft document, which runs to 133 pages, Dr Martina Cleary of the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) described it as “impenetrable”. “There are prohibitive, up-front costs placed on homeowners before they can progress through the different stages of the grant application,” she said. “Certain phases of the process are time-limited for the applicant who could be …

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Scariff dinner to raise earthquake relief funds

AN INDIAN dinner takes place at Scariff Community Coop next Tuesday February 28 to support relief work in Turkey and Syria. The event is being organised by Didi Ananda Prama to support a colleague she worked with in Haiti after the earthquake there. The aim is to support a team to set up give mobile clinics in Turkey and to work with children to trauma relief through games and stories. Dinner will be vegan and gluten free. Tickets are €25 and can be purchased at Scariff Community Coop, or by calling Didi on 083-3983833 for reservations. The meal can be sit down or take away. All welcome.

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Quin adventurer completes Arctic odyssey 

RECORD-breaking biker, Declan McEvoy, has started 2023 on a high by completing a polar extreme adventure. Over the past fortnight, he has driven solo on his Honda 250 Rally from Helsinki to the very northern tip of Scandinavia, a distance of over 2,000km.  Fresh from his adventures on the west coast of Africa in 2022, Declan set the Artic Circle in his sights. No stranger to temperatures well below zero, Declan previously set a new Guinness World Record for riding the length of the frozen Lake Baikal. This year, Declan set himself the challenge of enduring night-time temperature of minus 18 degrees as well as regular blizzard conditions in bitter winds en route to Nordkapp. Inclement weather almost put paid to Declan’s ambitions with authorities shutting the last let of the route. A last minute change-of-fortunes brought the smiles of the weather gods and Declan reached his goal early on Wednesday last.  Throughout the Arctic odyssey, conditions were truly gruelling. …

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Decision expected on Shannon Heritage sites transfer

AN assurance has been given that jobs at Shannon Heritage sites in Clare are secure, as the transfer to the local authority is expected to be approved shortly by government.  Leonard Cleary, Director of Services for Tourism, said the authority expects sign-off very soon for the transfer of the sites to Clare County Council. “We would like it to happen, with government approval, before summer,” Mr Cleary told a meeting of the Council’s Rural Development committee.  Efforts to transfer the sites from the Shannon Airport Group met an impasse at the end of last year, when the government offered a fraction of the €15 million funding package sought by Clare County Council. Since then, a range of options has been explored and meetings have continued into this week in an effort to resolve the issue and protect amenities and jobs at sites including Bunratty Castle, Craggaunowen and Knappogue Castle. Addressing a rural committee meeting in Ennis on Tuesday (February 21), …

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Welcome for decision to finally hold Caitriona Lucas inquest

THE Irish Coast Guard Volunteer Representative Association (ICGVRA) has welcomed the decision to hold a coroner’s inquest into the death of Irish Coastguard volunteer and mother-of-two Caitriona Lucas (41) – more than six and a half years after her death. The Limerick Coroner’s Office has confirmed this inquest will take place at Kilmallock Courthouse in County Limerick on April 12 after Ms Lucas lost her life during an Irish coastguard search operation at Kilkee in west Clare on September 12th 2016. ICGVRA chairman, John O’Mahony said the association are in close contact with her husband, Bernard Lucas and its considers it is about time this inquest was held. Mr O’Mahony said he received an email from the Limerick coroner on Friday last and sent it to Mr Lucas. The group chairman said the association hopes to engage with the coroner’s office and plan to send them their issues with the MCIB report into Caitríona’s death and a list of those …

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Ennis data centre proposal features on BBC’s Panorama

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a proposed €450 million data centre in Ennis, currently awaiting a decision by An Bord Pleanala, featured on an episode of acclaimed BBC series Panorama this week. On Monday BBC One aired the programme which included filming in several Irish locations relevant to the growth in data centre operations and planning applications in Ireland. The programme questioned the cost of using more data in terms of the increase in emissions and use of water in several countries including the US and Ireland. Ireland already has over 70 data centres in operation which consume more than 13% of national electricity. At least 30 more have been granted planning permission. Filming took place in Dublin as well as Ennis at the 145 acre site where Clare County Council granted permission to Art Data Centres for the development which has faced opposition. The planning decision has been appealed by local groups and residents, and a decision is due from an …

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