Regional

THE contribution of the late William McLysaght to the state-of-the-art facilities at Raheen Community Hospital will be remembered in a fundraising climb of Moylussa on Saturday, January 14.  Mr McLysaght was co-founder of Raheen Hospital Support Group and passed away in May of last year. His efforts, combined with those of a dedicated committee, facilitated significant development and expansion of the HSE-run hosptial, which will shortly unveil a new extension and kitchen facilities.  As well as paying tribute to Mr McLysaght, the aim of the fundraising climb is to secure services for those who attend the day centre in Raheen, through the purchase of a new mini-bus. The existing bus has been on the road for six years taking people from 17 villages and townlands to Raheen for a range of vital services, five-days-a-week. “After those years on the roads of East and South East Clare, from Flagmount down to O’Brien’s Bridge, the bus needs to be replaced,” explained Mary …

ENNIS residents’ concerns over “haphazard development” and vacant homes at St Flannan’s Terrace have prompted calls for ‘Development and Design Guidelines’ to be drawn up for the area. A newly-formed residents association of St Flannan’s Terrace have made the request for the area which was built in the early 1900s and has been designated Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) under the Clare County Development Plan. Councillor Johnny Flynn at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District urged his fellow councillors to support the residents in their call for guidelines to be drawn up under relevant planning legislation. “The procedure for such guidelines is laid out in Section 84 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) together with advice on public consultation, enforcement etc,” he pointed out. The terrace constitutes 46 houses, six of which are unoccupied. “They are quite concerned about haphazard development occurring and some vacancy,” he said. He continued that because the terrace is an ACA design guidelines …

THE “great endeavours” of world champion athlete ‘Honest’ John Purcell should be honoured in a more visible way, as the existing plaque at John O’Sullivan Lees Road is “not noticed”, says Mayor of Ennis Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy. A request for a more prominent memorial to the Ballymaley world record holder, following representations from the Purcell family, is now to be made to the Memorial Committee of Clare County Council. Councillor Colleran Molloy told a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District that members of the Purcell family had been in contact about the need for a new memorial. The track at John O’Suillivan Lees Road is dedicated to world champion ‘Honest’ John Purcell who reigned as world champion and world record holder for long jump, and for hop, step and jump in the 1880s.  John Purcell was born in Ballymaley in 1860 and died in San Francisco in 1904.   Councillor Colleran Molloy outlined that the existing dedication marker is a …

A Ukrainian artist, living in Ennis, Yeni Goryeva, has painted a portrait of Irish showjumper Conor Swail, and is hoping to contact him to present him with the painting. The Ennis based artist painted Swaile from a magazine cover. Yeni came from Kiev earlier in the year and now lives in a hotel in Ennis with other members of her family. Yeni is an artist and was also the owner and professional hairdresser at her beauty salon in Ukraine. But everything changed on February 24 with the start of the war and Yeni and her daughter Anastasia came to live for now, to Ennis. While living in Ireland for the last few months she has been inspired by beautiful nature, people and Irish people’s hospitality. She never stopped painting her art work and this year her work has featured in art exhibitions called ‘A Ukrainian Artist’s View of Ireland’. One day in a store Yeni saw a magazine with a man …

A FASCINATING radio documentary tracing the story of a Mayo woman, who orchestrated the bombing of a community dancehall, has an East Clare twist, it has emerged. RTÉ’s Doc on One production, ‘Dancing Nancy’ by John Corless and Ronan Kelly, details the bombing in the 1970s of Claremorris Community Centre. While a paramilitary motive was at first suspected, Cong businesswoman Nancy Murphy, who ran a rival dancehall, was found to be responsible. Since the documentary aired last August, RTÉ’s Ronan Kelly has updated the piece with an interview broadcast earlier this week featuring Scariff’s James Treacy. The original documentary had revealed that Ms Murphy had found romance, but little was known of her mystery man until the piece was broadcast. James Treacy, recognising himself, in the description of the couple checking into Ashford Castle, contacted RTÉ. He told the station that he had been a long-time companion of the late Ms Murphy, and the revelation prompted Mr Kelly to visit …

AFTER highlighting the danger caused by an ‘explosion’ in the deer population in East Clare, a local councillor is urging members of the public to take part in a new national consultation initiative.  Deputy Pat Hayes told the most recent meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District that several people had raised the matter with him, with particular concerns over road safety, as well as the damage caused by deer to farm lands and crops. He told colleagues and Council officials that the Slieve Aughtys are currently host to a massive population of wild deer, who have moved from the hills down to the valleys, with  ongoing encroachment into farms. Since the matter was raised, the Ministers for Agriculture and Housing have launched  a new public consultation initiative as part of the development of a Deer Management Strategy. Ministers Charlie McConalogue and Darragh O’Brien unveiled the consultation in recent weeks to gather views on key issues relating to deer management in …

AHEAD of a major public meeting  to discuss the granting of permission for a biogas plant in Gort, campaigners described the news as an “absolute disaster” for South Galway.  At the end of last month, An Bord Pleanála granted permission for the facility which will be less than one kilometre from the town centre, covering a ten hectare site. While Galway County Council turned down proposals from Sustainable Bio Energy Ltd, the appeals board overturned that decision and has given the green light, subject to 22 conditions.  Gort Biogas Concern Group organised a public meeting on Wednesday (January 4) to examine options, including a judicial review. “In terms of health issues, traffic issues, environmental issues, we have grave concerns,” group member Ciarán O’Donnell said ahead of the gathering. “The main thing is that this is a 25 acres massive industrial plant, 900 metres away from Gort town centre, ten metres from Gort river. It’s 100 metres from the nearest resident …

ENNIS remains among the cleanest towns in Ireland with the county town claiming a top five spot in the national IBAL litter league. The final litter survey of 2022 by business group Irish Business Against Litter shows Ennis in fifth place in the ranking of 40 towns and cities nationwide. Three quarters of Ireland’s cities and towns were deemed ‘clean’ in 2022, compared to just over half in the previous year. Naas was again top of the rankings. An Taisce conducts the surveys on behalf of IBAL. Its report for Ennis stated, “A very strong performance by a former IBAL Winner – the location of the IBAL sculpture is the impeccably presented and maintained at Abbey Street Car Park. “Other top-ranking sites included the three approach roads and O’Connell Street, Market Place / Market Street Lower and Monastery Park.  Gort Road Business Park and Ennis Bus / Train Station were very much deserving of the top litter grade this time …