Tag Archives: clare county council

A FORMER Bus Eireann inspector from Killaloe has driven to the top of Clare County Council. Councillor Tony O’Brien was elected unopposed as Clare’s next first citizen without a vote as part of the power-sharing arrangement that was first brokered in 2004 at the annual general meeting in Ennis on Friday. The former Smith O’Brien GAA club secretary replaced Councillor PJ Ryan, who was lauded for being a great ambassador for the county over the past year. Councillor O’Brien was proposed by his Fianna Fáil colleague, Councillor Pat Hayes and seconded by Joe Cooney, Fine Gael, while Councillor Gerry Flynn, Independent also expressed his support. Councillor Hayes said his close friend Councillor O’Brien’s years working as a union official for the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) has left him very grounded in reality of how things worked. Since his retirement from Bus Eireann, the new first citizen is challenging planning, housing and budgets in the council, Councillor Hayes said. …

AT the monthly meeting of Clare County Council the local authority endorsed proposals from the Independent Post Masters Group, which would see community banking rolled out across the An Post network of post offices. Fianna Fáil’s PJ Kelly sought the backing of the members, saying that community banking in post offices has already been rolled out in other countries. “I’m not saying that the post office of yesterday or the post office of today should be the post office of tomorrow. No. The future post office will have to be a totally different item. It will have to be a community post office integrated with other services. “In recent times we’ve seen post offices in big shops and so on and so forth, a wonderful solution, but this goes further. It references something that is a success in other countries, community banking, in Germany and in New Zealand.” He said that under the community banking model in other countries, people …

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 …

Clare County Council has appointed an acting director of services to co-ordinate the local authority’s response to the Ukraine crisis. Jason Murphy has been made Acting Director of Services (International Protection – Ukrainian Response) to strengthen the Council’s response to the current crisis by providing a focal point through a new, dedicated team. A spokesperson for the Council said it has played an integral role in the State’s response to the Ukrainian crisis thus far and this appointment was meant to consolidate that. “To date, we have worked with our communities and State agencies in the initial phase of this response. We are now taking steps to consolidate our approach and provide a coordination and activation role for services,” said the spokesperson. Reporting to the Chief Executive of Clare County Council, the role will specifically involve working with various partners such as the Community Response Forum, NGOs and agencies. Speaking about his appointment, Mr Murphy acknowledged “the crisis experienced by …

A REVIEW of ‘No Mow May’ , a policy where areas of grass weren’t cut last month to promote biodiversity is required before next year, last week’s meeting of Clare County Council heard. At the June meeting of the Council, Councillor Ian Lynch asked for the review , which he said is required “to develop a suitable policy that ensures public spaces and recreation areas are maintained to ensure the needs of residents and users”. In a report to the meeting, Senior Engineer with the Council’s Environment Department Cyril Feeney stated, “The ‘No Mow May’ initiative is part of the wider All Ireland Pollinator Plan. The plan’s main aim is to ensure that pollinators have safety from pesticide chemicals and have food and shelter. “The plan is not a prescriptive series of must-do actions but instead provides guidelines which require us to manage amenity areas and the countryside in a slightly different way. It is not about abandoning the landscape …

A YEAR as first citizen will conclude for PJ Ryan this week, with the independent councillor set to be succeeded by Fianna Fáil’s Tony O’Brien on Friday. “It was extremely busy, very, very busy and I suppose that was due to the fact that the two previous years had been very quiet because of Covid. I’d say we had more Ministers visiting County Clare than in the five years before that,” said Councillor Ryan this week. His time as Cathaoirleach of the County Council started on a low note, as he attended the funeral of Fionn O’Brien, the lifeguard who died after a surfing accident last June, within days of his election.  Also, the early part of his year with the chain of office was a time when Covid was still dominating much of life. “In the 2021 section of the term it was still very prevalent. It did constrain us a bit and we had to be careful. And …

A FORMER Bus Eireann bus inspector from Killaloe has driven to the top of Clare County Council. Councillor Tony O’Brien was elected unopposed as Clare’s next first citizen without a vote as part of the power-sharing arrangement that was first brokered in 2004 at the annual general meeting in Ennis on Friday.   The former Smith O’Brien GAA club secretary replaced Councillor P J Ryan, who was lauded for being a great ambassador for the county over the past year. Councillor O’Brien was proposed by his Fianna Fáil colleague, Councillor Pat Hayes and seconded by Joe Cooney, Fine Gael, while Councillor Gerry Flynn, Independent also expressed his support. Councillor Ann Norton was elected as vice-chairperson for the next year, succeeding Councillor Joe Killeen. In his wide-ranging address following his election, Councillor O’Brien pledged to work in partnership with the Shannon Group to attract further investment and more traffic through Shannon Airport. The Killaloe resident promised to continue progressing the proposed …

THE delivery of flood protection defences for Ennis paves the way for the future development of the county capital into “the town it really has the potential to be”, Minister of State Pat O’Donovan said this week. The Ennis South Flood Relief Scheme, the final of three flood defence schemes in the town, was officially opened on Tuesday by the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. This scheme provides protection from flooding to the residential areas of Ballybeg, Clareabbey and Toberteascáin as well as St Flannan’s College and the Quin Road Business Park. Minister O’Donovan said working in partnership with the OPW, Clare County Council has delivered peace of mind to 121 home owners and five businesses in the local community with this last phase. Speaking at the opening, Minister O’Donovan said the future growth potential of the town was dependent on flood defence works being carried out; that industrial, tourism, housing, commercial and retail …