West Clare

IT WAS a fairytale at Fairyhouse this week for one Clare man who watched his horse romp to victory in Ireland’s biggest race. Owner Pat Blake has admitted he might need a few days yet to come down from the clouds after seeing his Lord Lariat take the BoyleSports Irish Grand National on Easter Monday. The Kilkee man told the Clare Champion, “We’re a bit on the hoarse side after it. We knew there was a big day in him and he picked a good day to do it, it was brilliant, we had a great day.” The horse was brought down from his County Meath stable this Wednesday to parade in front of a big crowd in the seaside town with those that supported him at 40-1, and bigger, most vocal in their appreciation. Pat watched Monday’s drama unfold in the Fairyhouse parade ring accompanied by family and friends and trainer Dermot McLoughlin and there were joyous scenes as …

LAHINCH Seaworld and Leisure Centre will open its doors for the first time in two and a half years, after extensive input from the local community. The board of directors made the decision to close in December 2019, just before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, to find the investment needed to enhance the facility. Eoin Conlan, manager at the centre, emphasised the importance of Clare County Council in getting the facility up and running again, as well as a range of philanthropic donations to that end. He said, “Pat Dowling and all his team, with other local councillors, made funds available for us. Roughly €6 million has gone into the facility in the last two years, and the massive community effort came as much from the local businesses and the regular people.” One feature which the local community asked for was a learning pool, because of the lack of a communal pool in Lahinch; campaigns began to surface on …

A PROJECT to explore the improvement that growing hemp could have on soil quality has been launched in West Clare. Community-based local development and farming forum Loop Head Together launched its Hemp4Soil project with the aim to vastly improve overall soil quality and benefit local biodiversity. Based on the west Clare peninsula the group has organised the experimental project in conjunction with Hemp Co-Operative Ireland and Teagasc, the first of its kind in Europe. The results could potentially help create sustainable income streams for the farmers involved, as well as providing a product from which offshoots could inspire local industry. Margaret Cotter, speaking on behalf of Clare County Council’s Rural and Community Department, said, “This is a wonderful demonstration of how a small rural community can lead the way in research and real-life practice for climate initiatives and potential carbon sequestration.” Hemp4Soil intends to use regenerative farming techniques to improve the life of soil via soil remediation, microbial life and …

TWO men from opposite ends of the world convened in Kilrush last week to discuss the possibility of shooting a film based in the west Clare town. Joe Riley, now living in Sydney had his autobiography (initially known as Ghosts of Kilrush and now as Life in Kilrush) published a number of years ago and he was in west Clare to meet Chris Cusack from Grafton Productions in Hollywood. “What’s happened is the film rights, I sold them to an American company in Hollywood. The film producer has flown from LA to here, and I’ve come from Australia to here,” said Joe. While there is no indication yet as to when production might start, he said that a script has been written, various other preparations made and an overall investment of in the region of one million dollars made. “I haven’t come from Australia for the fun of it, and he hasn’t come from LA for the fun of it,” …

AN application to extend a mobile home holiday park in Kilkee has been refused permission by the local authority. Cunningham’s Holiday Park at Well Road, Kilkee Lower, had applied to extend and provide an additional 20 mobile home sites. A number of objections had been made to the proposed development. A cover letter accompanying the planning application said, “The proposed development consists of an extension to the existing holiday park (mobile home park). “The proposed extension will be located within the applicant’s own lands, which adjoin the existing park and the extension will accommodate an additional 20 serviced mobile home sites. “All 20 sites will be for static mobile homes and will be sold individually to private clients as is the case with the existing park.” An objection made by a number of residents of Dunlickey Road stated, “There are too many mobile homes in Kilkee at present, more mobile homes than residents. “These mobiles are unoccupied for most of …

A judge has described the circumstances in which a west Clare farmer lost his life in a farm accident as ‘horrific’. At Kilrush District Court, Judge Mary Larkin made her comment after hearing an outline of the State case concerning Damien Carmody’s death at Doonaha, Kilkee on January 22 2021. One of the two men being prosecuted concerning alleged Health and Safety breaches arising from the farm accident is farmer, John Roche of Doonaha Kilkee. Judge Larkin commented: “These are all horrific circumstances. This was a man who was his neighbour and his friend.” Mr Carmody had only got married to wife, Elaine 12 months prior to the fatal incident. In court on Tuesday, State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey said that the case against Mr Roche’s co-accused, Christopher Keane of Bella, Kilkee, is to be heard in the circuit court and a Book of Evidence is to be prepared for service in June. After hearing an outline of the …

AN ambulance base for west Clare has been identified as a priority for HSE Mid-West and a number of possible sites are being assessed. Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey says the health authority is examining sites in Kilrush for suitability. Deputy Carey, a long-time advocate of an improved ambulance service for West Clare, raised the issue in a recent parliamentary question to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. He has since been informed by National ambulance Deputy Director William Merriman that a new ambulance base in Kilrush has been identified as a priority. “An option appraisal of sites in the Kilrush area is currently under way and a capital submission will be prepared with detailed briefing document, programme and costs once an appropriate site has been identified,” Mr Merriman explained. Describing the response as a positive development, Deputy Carey said that he would now be asking the HSE to move ahead with the next phase of the project without delay. “The …

ACTIVE Travel projects are transforming pedestrian and cyclist access in West Clare, a recent meeting of the municipal district has heard. However, some works cannot proceed until aspects of the design of the West Clare Greenway have been ironed out.  In response to a question from Councillor Shane Talty, members were updated on a range of projects across the area. Seeking the update, Councillor Talty said he regularly receives questions about “projects which have been announced but not seen”. “I fully understand that these are in the pipeline and the Active Travel project have massive visibility,” he said. “My only concern is that some of them are contingent on the Greenway, which is still a number of years away.” In a written response to the motion, Senior Executive Officer (SE), John O’Malley provided an update on range of works on paths, crossings and lighting installations.  Mr O’Malley’s response noted that Active Travel is a five-year programme of funding which began …