East Clare

PROSPECTING for minerals in parts of Tulla and Bunratty may be give the green light, a government department has said.  The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is accepting submissions up to January 8 on an application from a Meath-based company. The Department has posted a notice of its intention to grant a prospecting licence to Minco Ireland for base metals, barytes, and ores of silver and gold. In the notice, the activity to be allowed is described as “mineral exploration involving desktop studies, geo-chemistry, surface geophysics and drilling”.  A map of the townlands affected is available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/507ce-prospecting-licence-notices/ The notice states that, where possible, the details will also be made available at Ennis Garda Station, Clare County Council and the Geological Survey of Ireland in Dublin.  The Department has stated that a prospecting licence authorises exploration for mineral deposits, but not the mining of any minerals. “The activities permissible under a licence are, in general, non-invasive and of …

GOVERNMENT funding of €524,000 has been approved for Clare County Council to proceed with the design and planning stages of a major regeneration project for Scariff Town Centre. The funding will pave the way for a further application of funds to provide a multi service innovation and engagement hub in the east Clare town, to add to the ever growing network of remote working facilities in the Banner county. The project will also deliver improvements to the public realm in Market Square and the town centre, and provide enhanced parking and ancillary facilities. The application was submitted under Category 2 of the Government’s Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and will facilitate a further application under Category 1 of this Scheme to make these plans a reality. Fine Gael Deputy Joe Carey welcomed the funding saying, “This regeneration project will be a game changer for the town of Scariff and its large hinterland. He added, “I want to acknowledge the huge …

DEVELOPERS looking to build a 24-metre mast in Quin have offered to reduce the height of the structure as part of an appeal against the council’s decision to refuse permission. After a significant local opposition, and multiple objections, County Planners refused an application from Vantage Towers for the structure at a site at Quinnville South. The planning authority said that the proposed mast would materially contravene the zoning of the site and adversely affect Quin as an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA). In addition, planners noted national guidelines stating that free-standing masts should only be located, as a last resort, in residential areas or close to schools. County Planners added that the mast development would also impact negatively on a medieval settlement area. In an appeal lodged earlier this month with An Bord Pleanála, Vantage Towers has now offered to reduce the height of the mast to 21 metres. The company said that this is in order “to uphold the attractiveness …

EAST Clare marked the passing, in recent days, of Scariff man Brendan Cosgrove, with many tributes to his positive and lasting impact on his native area. Over the course of his 40 year career with Golden Vale/Kerry Agribusiness in Scariff, Brendan was well known and highly respected across the region. At his funeral mass, Parish Priest Fr Joe McMahon described Brendan as “decent, kind and honourable”. He added that the Cappabane native was “a man who enhanced the life of everyone he knew; a man that you went away feeling better for having met; a man who inspired great respect, but also great affection”. Brendan’s achievements in sport and his contribution to his local club were also fondly remembered. “Everyone who knew Brendan, knew of his interest in sport and he was very ecumenical in his choice of sports – hurling, football, snooker – all equally fascinating, and lots of other sports as well,” Fr McMahon said. “In his school …

A NEW plan for the twin towns of Killaloe-Ballina has been hailed by the council’s CEO as an example of “political and executive collaboration across the water”. Pat Dowling made his remarks as an eagerly-awaited mobility plan was formally ratified by local authority members at their December meeting. The Killaloe and Ballina Town Enhancement and Mobility Plan (TEMP), outlines a number of key projects for both sides of The Shannon, including the future pedestrianisation of the old bridge once the new bridge and bypass are completed. Measures to boost walking and cycling are outlined as well as actions to connect the flow of traffic to the bypass, reducing the number of vehicles in the centre of the two towns. The drafting of the plan involved expensive public consultation and cooperation, over the course of more than a year, between the local authorities in Clare and Tipperary. “Killaloe and Ballina are often referred to as two towns, but one community,” Mr …

East Clare councillor says farmers feel ‘abandoned’ due to government inaction on disease killing native hardwoods AN EAST Clare councillor has described the response of government to the problem of ash dieback disease as “pathetic”. Councillor Pat Burke told the December meeting of the local authority that farmers feel “abandoned” by the Forestry Service, and are facing financial hardship over the loss of their trees. The Whitegate native was sharply critical of the Green Party minister with responsibility for forestry, Pippa Hackett and he urged Senator Róisín Garvey and Councillor Liam Grant to make representations to their party colleague on the issue. “I planted land myself back in 2011 with ash saplings which were approved by the Department at the time,” he said. “Since then, they brought in the virus – which is nearly worse the COVID Chairman – this ash dieback disease to our native trees. “I planted 17 acres of ash on reasonably good land that was well …

TWO Clare-based charities have benefitted from the very first fundraising exhibition organised by Mountshannon Arts.  Entitled ‘Hush Hush’, the exhibition was the brainchild of Tara Considine, an art lover and local librarian who brought the idea to Mountshannon Arts committee. Hosted by Scariff Library, the show allowed members of the public to buy a painting for €40. Only when they collected their piece, did they discover the identity of the artist. This week, the proceeds were donated to Clare Haven Service who offer refuge, support and safety to women and children subjected to domestic abuse; and Every Child Ireland, who work to establish an ongoing back-to-school assistance fund for children living in Direct Provision.  University of Limerick (UL) Arts Officer, Patricia Moriarty opened the exhibition at Raw Café in Killaloe at the end of November and the exhibition continued mid-December. Two hundred pieces of original work were submitted by artists from all over Ireland, Europe and the USA. Children from …

HISTORIAN, Dr David Fleming from Tuamgraney has been elected to the Authority of The University of Limerick (UL). Dr Fleming has been involved in a several projects in Clare, including the work of Friends of the O’Brien Column, Liscannor. He is also a regular host and contributor with Scariff Bay Community Radio. The Cork native is a historian of 18th-century Ireland. On completing his undergraduate studies at UL, he was awarded, in 2006, a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where he had been a senior scholar at Hertford College and an Arts and Humanities Research Council postgraduate awardee. His research concentrates on the social and political development of 18th-century Ireland, and has published on topics ranging from provincial politics, poverty, religious conversion, associational behaviour and prostitution. Dr Fleming was commissioned, in 2012, to write the official history of UL. Prior to taking up his position at UL, Dr Fleming taught at the University of Oxford and NUI Maynooth. He …