East Clare

FÁILTE Ireland is set to support an approved Local Link bus service for East Clare, boosting public transport facilities for visitors and residents alike. News of the development was secured by Deputy Cathal Crowe who said additional routes will be added as part of the Shannon Tourism Masterplan, which was unveiled last week. The Fianna Fáil TD said that the planned investment will play a major role in rejuvenating the entire east of the county. “There is huge untapped potential in terms of Lough Derg and East Clare’s tourism product,” said Deputy Crowe. “For many decades, the entire focus has been on developing the Cliffs of Moher and West Clare’s tourism offering and while this has been great, it has led to an imbalance of tourism development within our county and there has been a neglect of the Lough Derg-Lower Shannon area for too long.” Deputy Crowe also noted the importance of the new routes in the context of the …

MORE than €13,000 has been raised for Crumlin Children’s Hospital (CHI) by a Feakle family whose youngest member had open-heart surgery at the facility almost a year ago. Freya Hayes, who will celebrate her first birthday next month, was diagnosed with a serious heart defect shortly after birth. Thanks to the team at CHI, Freya has now fully recovered and her family and the local community have been able to make a substantial donation so that other children might be as fortunate. Freya’s mum, Avril Collentine told The Champion the family had had “a roller coaster year” in 2020, with the pandemic complicating an already challenging situation. Just as mum and baby were ready to go home to dad Henry and Freya’s older brother, Harry, an ultra-sound scan detected an issue. The images were sent to CHI, where specialists spotted a hole in Freya’s heart. After the team at Crumlin recommended open-heart surgery, the family returned home to allow Freya …

ALL-STAR camogie player, Anna Geary, shared some of her top tips with the staff of Beckman Coulter this week as the company marked International Women’s Day. The international bio-medical firm, which employs 500 people at its Tulla site, also announced the appointments of a number of women to its senior management team. Four-time GAA All-Star, Anna, who is now a performance coach and broadcaster, delivered a talk open to all staff on the topic of Balance, resilience and Coping with Change. She also discussed  the concept of Progress – not Perfection. The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge, and as part of the festivities, Beckman Coulter also published facts on the history of the annual event and the history of women’s rights and how women’s rights have evolved over the years in Ireland. Staff were also encouraged to ask children in their families about their understanding of women’s rights and equality with girls and boys …

TOURISM operators in East Clare have been urged to get behind the development of a visitor and interpretative centre for Inis Cealtra, by supporting a Part 8 application from Clare County Council. Addressing the AGM of Tourism East Clare last week, Tourism Officer Joan Tarmey said the authority is hopeful of a funding allocation under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) to progress the “landmark tourism project” for the region. “Looking at the long-term objectives for the Inis Cealtra project, one is to conserve it as a really important ecclesiastical site,” Ms Tarmey said. “We also want to expand its attractiveness as a tourism destination. These are the two long-term objectives. It’s massively important for the Killaloe Municipal District and it’s really important in raising the profile of East Clare as an attractive visitor destination. The elected members have really been on board with this. They’ve been really wanting to see this happen for a long time and pushing …

CALLS for urgent action on illegal dumping have been repeated in response to concerns about the worsening biodiversity crisis. At a meeting of the Physical Development Meeting committee of the local authority last week, Councillor Alan O’Callaghan said community groups are fed up with having to respond to the ongoing problem of fly-tipping in scenic areas across the county. The Fianna Fáil members’ comments followed a detailed presentation from Heritage Officer Congella McGuire on biodiversity initiatives in the county, and an outline of the threats to nature created by pollution and other issues. “I don’t need to remind you that we are in a biodiversity crisis,” Ms McGuire said, as she outlined a number of initiatives that are ongoing in the county. “One-third of our bee species are threatened and two-third of bird species are in a red or amber conservation concern criteria. 85% of our important wildlife habitats are seen as being in an ‘unfavourable’ status.” Responding to the …

TUAMGRANEY native Edna O’Brien is to be awarded France’s highest cultural honour on the eve of International Women’s Day next Monday. The multi-award winning novelist  will be named Commander of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French culture minister, Roselyne Bachelot. The online ceremony will be also attended by Irish culture minister Catherine Martin, actor Gabriel Byrne and writer Colum McCann. The French Embassy in Ireland said the honour is being made in recognition of “the struggle of a committed feminist who offered a voice to women around the world”. The citation also described Ms O’Brien as “one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century”. The Commander of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres is France’s highest cultural distinction and Ms O’Brien will join previous Irish recipients, Bono and the late Séamus Heaney. The Clare author previously made French literary history in 2019 when she was awarded the prestigious Prix Femina and became the first ever non-national to …

HOLY Island and the Ardnacrusha hydro-electric power station have been identified as catalysts for development across the East and South East Clare regions in a new masterplan developed for the promotion of tourism along the River Shannon. The Shannon Tourism Masterplan was launched on Tuesday, after being commissioned by Waterways Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, and supported by Clare County Council along with nine other local authorities. The document proposes an investment of over €76 million in visitor facilities, along the river, up to 2030. Clare features in a Lower Shannon Discovery Zone which runs from Portumna to Limerick. Among the ‘hero products’ of this zone is Inis Cealtra. According to the masterplan, the monastic island will “form a core element of the emerging Pilgrim Way, offering clusters of early Medieval monastic sites of exceptional interest… at Limerick, Killaloe, Tuamgraney, Inis Cealtra, Johnstown, Lorrha and Portunma”. The new masterplan also underlines the importance of the proposed Shannon Greenway which will link …

THE WORK of a Scariff man will be aired on the national broadcaster from Friday evening, as part of The People’s Angelus, which is screened daily at 6pm on RTÉ One. James Treacy, a photographer and videographer, made the piece along with his former lecturer, Martin Ryan. The short film was made at Kilmallock Mart in County Limerick and aims to reflect the rhythm of agricultural life and what the mart has come to mean, over the decades, to the fabric of farming life. “It took me three days shooting to get the film right,” James said. “The indoor scenes had to be shot three times because to get them just right. We had about two hours of footage to choose from in the end. When we thought we had the film 100% complete, the director in RTÉ wanted us to have the gate in the auction ring fully closed at the end of the video and we hadn’t footage …