Tag Archives: ballyvaughan

A LOW carbon plan is to be developed for the community of Ballyvaughan, thanks to a project spearheaded by An Taisce. The blueprint will be drawn up over the course of the next three months and will see the An Taisce Legacy4LIFE working intensively with the community. John Sweeney, Emeritus Professor of Geography at Maynooth University, is director of the Legacy4LIFE project and regular visitor to Ballyvaughan. “This is a great opportunity for the people of Ballyvaughan to plan the climate action they want,” he said. “To have their say in how they decarbonise their community; brainstorm the jobs that will be needed as they decarbonise their economy; figure out what changes will be most effective in decarbonising their energy systems, buildings, transport, agriculture, land use, industry and waste. They can explore ways to build a circular economy and ensure a Just Transition for everyone so that nobody is worse off having played their part in the greatest challenge of our time.” An example of the challenges faced in coastal areas is rising sea levels. …

WITH the amount of Ukrainian refugees in Ballyvaughan now greater than the permanent population of the village, the local Community Development Group has asked that no more be housed there. With local services struggling to cope, Ballyvaughan Community Development Group wrote to Minister Roderic O’Gorman last week about the issue. The group claimed the population of the area had suddenly risen from 300 to 700, and as a result the local national school is struggling, while there are long waits for appointments at its Medical Centre. It also warned that small businesses that rely on Ballyvaughan tourism will struggle if there is no tourist accommodation and that the winter could see a lot of boredom and frustration among the new arrivals, due to the relatively meagre facilities in the area. “The local community is becoming increasingly frustrated and angry with the lack of Government support and the lack of communication between IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services ) and the local …

A UNIQUE and touching film about a lovelorn North Clare bachelor will be screened in Galway on Friday (July 8), as part of a retrospective on Danish documentarian, Jon Bang Carlsen.  ‘It’s Now or Never’ was shot on location in Ballyvaughan and Fanore in the mid-‘90s, with local residents taking the lead roles. Among them was Austin Deely of Feenagh, who reminisced this week with Mr Carlsen about his film début.  The movie will be screened at the Pálás Cinema during the Galway Film Fleadh, and is part of a double bill. The other work is entitled, ‘My Irish Diary’ (Min Irske Dagbog). Also made in the ’90s, the short film follows six-year-old Hjalmar, who gradually comes to appreciate the strange language and weather, after his family moves to the Atlantic coast of Ireland.  After the screening, there will be an opportunity to learn more about Mr Carlsen’s work and about the documentary form, through a Q&A led by Corofin-based …

Ballyvaughan has been shortlisted in the 2022 .IE Digital Town Awards. After a competitive selection process by an independent judging panel, Ballyvaughan was shortlisted for a national award in the Digital Tourism category. The Ballyvaughan entry, “Linking the physical and digital worlds via interactive signage”, shows how the village has pioneered the development of interactive outdoor recreation tourism infrastructure, linking physical walking and cycling trails to the digital world. Now in its second year, the .IE Digital Town Awards honour local town projects and people that are using digital innovation, technologies, and digital-first thinking for the betterment of towns, citizens, and services in the community. During the shortlisting process, the judging panel looked for digitally motivated community leaders who demonstrated digital thinking to creatively problem-solve and develop innovative ideas that ‘disrupt’ and enhance towns and communities. The overall winners will be announced at the gala awards ceremony which will take place on June 8. Commenting on the announcement, Oonagh McCutcheon, …

PERMISSION has been granted to a telecommunications company to extend a mast in north Clare by 30% Ontower Ireland Limited’s application to install a 6m extension to a 20m lattice telecommunications support structure at Gragan West, Ballyvaughan, was approved by planners. In the application Ontower Ireland says it “has significant commercial relationships with each mobile network operator in the State, namely Three, Vodafone and Meteor/Eir in addition to radio, broadband and emergency communication service providers.” The application also says “Increasing the height of this structure from a 20m lattice tower to a 26m lattice tower will allow this site to accommodate mobile operators and a broadband operator, all above the local tree clutter, thus extending the reach of communication technologies into areas that currently have poor to non existent wireless mobile voice and data services. “The proposed structure will allow existing and future operators to bring a significant improvement in voice and broadband services to the area, particularly Gragans West …

AN application to build a business training complex in rural north Clare has been refused planning permission, writes Owen Ryan. The application made by Jo Irwin Training was for a building that would provide a space for business & management skills training and career/interview coaching purposes at Gleninagh, Ballyvaughan. The building would have used an existing access road and an entrance through the grounds of the family dwelling house. The application said that the training provided could be over a couple of days, at which time the service users would stay in Ballyvaughan and be brought by minibus to the training unit. At other times when training was on a single day, it stated that three cars a day could travel to the development. A planner’s report on the application said that while the Council encourages the provision of training centres “such facilities are more suitably located within rural towns or villages where opportunities for spin-off economic development are more …

Clare hospitality industry reaps staycation dividend as Irish tourists spend more money, writes Owen Ryan WITH schools back and the evenings shortening, the peak 2021 tourist season has ended in Clare. While international visitors were absent again, the fact Irish people couldn’t easily travel meant that west and north Clare got a large number of ‘staycationers’ which allowed local businesses to enjoy a very busy summer. Kilkee-based county councillor Cillian Murphy said that the area has been very busy since reopening from lockdown. “It has been unusual in that there was a short run-in, then craziness and a short run out. In a normal year you’d start in April, it’d get busier incrementally, and then you have the mad summer before winding down in September and October. “This year there was no run in, the doors opened on July 26 and it was championship football! I know from being in business myself and talking to a lot of my friends …

THE Food Safety Authority of Ireland served a closure order on the kitchen area of the Burren Atlantic Hotel in Ballyvaughan, after a number of issues were found there. Contraventions of food safety were discovered at the hotel which, according to the FSAI, “could result in a serious risk to contamination of foodstuffs giving rise to a grave and immediate danger to public health”. A letter sent to the company from the FSAI stated, “Foodstuffs likely to support the reproduction of pathogenic micro-organisms were recorded at temperatures that might result in a risk to public health.” It also said that small flying insects had been noted in flour drums. The letter sent on July 23 claimed there had been a “failure to maintain the premises in a clean and hygienic condition”. It listed a number of issues, claiming that surface areas had been covered in food scraps and debris, which had also been noted on the floors. Internal fridges had …