Regional

Jet ski operators, who drive at excessive speed on Lough Derg, are putting the lives of swimmers at risk, Killaloe Coast Guard has warned. Killaloe Coast Guard was tasked to assist local gardai deal with jet skis being operated at dangerous speeds near Killaloe Bridge on Monday and Tuesday. A number of vessels were requested to return to the relevant slipways and the owners were spoken to by Gardai. A Coast Guard spokesman told The Clare Champion that some jet ski operators were driving at speed of up to 60 kilometres an hour near Killaloe Bridge in a speed limit area of about five kilometres. He said some jet skis were doing “doughnuts”, which is akin to doing a handbrake turn on the water, which in turn creates a backwash that causes issues for boats being knocked against jetties, and for swimmers. During periods of hot weather, he said large numbers of young teenagers are congregating and swimmers dive off …

THE decline in commercial activity on the Main Street in Killaloe has been lamented by the man whose business it has been, for the past 10 years, to keep it looking its best. John Tuohy of Millstream, Killaloe, recently retired as local authority street cleaner, has fond memories of meeting business people and shoppers while at his work keeping the picturesque town clean and tidy. However, he was saddened by the relocation of Killaloe Post Office from Main Street to Convent Hill and the closure of several businesses on the street. “A lot of the shops on the street like butchers are gone. Jimmy Whelan’s shop in Church Street also closed. Keith Wood had a lovely restaurant and café for a while before it closed. “It is sad to see the Main Street now, it is practically derelict, you don’t meet people on it. I loved meeting people. Brendan Grace used to drive down the street, let down his car …

A RELIGIOUS renewal group has secured conditional planning permission for a small-scale housing development in Tuamgraney, for older members of its community.  The Christian Community has been given the green light for 12 new accommodation units and the updating of their existing facilities at Drewsborough. A design statement submitted with the application last June, outlined how the existing centre is made up of a chapel, priest’s house, visitor accommodation, therapy rooms and associated services. Subject to 11 conditions, planners have given the go-ahead for the demolition of part of an existing building, the extension of the chapel and the creation of a new accommodation block. While assessing the application, planners raised a number of concerns, including the possibility of future interment of cremated human remains at the site. Through a Further Information (FI) request, they also queried elements of the design and landscaping and how the building would integrate into the traditional streetscape of Tuamgraney. Other questions about the ownership …

THE welcome “with open arms” which has been given to the people of Ukraine has been praised by Ennis’ outgoing mayor as she reflected on her year in office. Councillor Ann Norton recalled “a very good and very positive year” as the county capital’s first citizen at the AGM of the Ennis Municipal District on Friday. She revealed that on the morning before handing over the chains of office she paid a visit to the children of Ennis Educate Together, which has welcomed 44 children from Ukraine in recent months. “We have a war still going on in Ukraine and we have many Ukrainian people now living in County Clare. “We have a huge amount of them in Ennis. I am the chairperson of Ennis Educate Together and we have taken 44 children into the school. “Before I finished and handed over the chains I wanted to go in and talk to them and see how they are doing and …

A SWEDISH filmmaker, whose work features the legendary piper, Willie Clancy, will return to Miltown Malbay next month for the first time since 1965.  Lennart Malmer travelled to Ireland in the mid-‘60s in search of music. His visit took him into traditional music circles in Dublin, Scariff and on to Miltown, where he filmed in the home of Willie Clancy on the Flag Road. The result of the young Swede’s musical journey is a film called ‘Porter och Pipa’ (Porter and Pipe), described as “a fascinating snapshot of the lives and music of some of the finest musicians in the history of Irish traditional music”.  The short film will be screened on Wednesday, July 6 at 6pm in the Community Centre, with Mr Malmer present.  The highly-regarded filmmaker was traced by Alan Woods of the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA), who set the ball rolling for the filmmaker’s return visit to West Clare, after an interval of 57 years. Harry …

SHANNON Musical Society has announced plans to hold what will be its first show since 2020 on the week of February 12-18 of next year. The Society’s production will be Little Shop of Horrors, which it had planned to perform some months ago but decided to cancel due to continuing concerns about Covid-19. Director of the show will be Aodán Fox and he said they are looking forward to getting down to business once more. “Basically the new committee was elected and they decided that they’d continue with Little Shop of Horrors, which we were supposed to do in February just gone. “We’ve a slightly new production team in that our musical directors Carmel Griffin has stepped down and Shane Farrell is our new Musical Director. “Shane is from the Tuam area and he’d be well known from Operation Transformation. He’s just after winning a national AIMS award as best musical director for a production of Little Shop of Horrors …

CLAIMS that people have been seen injecting “in broad daylight” as well as “public urination and worse” in an Ennis lane-way have led residents to petition for the closure of a right of way. The concerns of residents of Dalcassian Park and Upper Turnpike Road were relayed at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District where it was alleged that anti-social behaviour has been on the increase at the lane-way since a change in management at the Laurel Lodge hostel. According to Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy 62 out of 67 households closest to the lane-way to the rear of the Turnpike Road have signed the petition urging the council to extinguish the public right of way. She outlined that residents have experienced “ongoing intimidation”, detailing an incident where gardaí had to be called to deal with a number of men drunk and disorderly in the lane. “This is a very settled community with a lot of older people and they …

Clare County Council has partnered with the University of Limerick (UL) to sponsor a new PhD Scholarship Programme at the Cliffs of Moher Experience. Working with UL’s National Centre For Tourism Policy Studies (NCTPS) and The Kemmy Business School, Ireland’s most visited natural attraction this week welcomed the sponsored PhD student Ernesto Sanchez as part of the tourism research project he will undertake over the next four years.  The structured PhD programme will focus challenges and opportunities of responding to a paradigm shift in the tourism marketplace, including visitor experience, sustainable tourism, destination and visitor management and the role of technology in shaping tourism.  “This programme represents an excellent opportunity to collaborate with the University of Limerick in generating important research that will help to define and shape the future of tourism in Clare,” commented Geraldine Enright, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience. Ms. Enright added, “In addition to providing Ernesto a monetary sum to support his academic studies and research, the scholarship …