Tag Archives: community

  PEOPLE in Lahinch are mourning the loss of a community leader following the passing of Tomsie O’Sullivan. The long serving community activist died at his residence in Doonboy, Station Road, Lahinch, on St Patrick’s Day. After reposing in Lahinch Church on Friday, his Funeral Mass took place on Saturday morning before burial afterwards in the Old Cemetery, Ennistymon. While Tomsie was involved with numerous community organisations for decades, he is synonymous with the RNLI, who presented him with a Long Service Award for reaching 58 years with the organisation last September. The RNLI was very much a family affair as Tomsie’s children used to help him with church gate collections and flag days.   In an interview with the Clare Champion last year, Tomsie estimated the Lahinch branch used to raise between €6,000 to €8,000 annually over a 28-year period. Born in Main Street, Tomsie’s father, Thomas, who was a carpenter fell off a roof in the early fifties …

SCHOOLS may be closed, but the wheels on the bus of one Ennis secondary school are continuing to go round in support of the local community. Students at Rice College are carrying out their studies at home as efforts to control Covid-19 continue across the country. And while the youngsters are hitting the books from the safety of home, the school’s mini-bus is being put to good use. The school has begun a Community Reach Out, using the bus to provide support for the elderly and vulnerable. Principal Louis Mulqueen and Deputy Principal John Burns explain, “Thankfully all of our students are engaged in Remote Learning and we continue to support parents and teachers in ensuring ongoing teaching and learning as we navigate our way during this difficult time. Teachers are doing phenomenal work in this new educational landscape.However Management at Rice College are anxious to do what we can to assist our community in this very difficult time in …

REDUCED Garda presence. The demise of local businesses. The removal of GP services. All are familiar complaints in rural Clare. And these three complaints will top the agenda at a public meeting in Newmarket-on-Fergus next Monday night when locals give vent to their concerns for the future of the village. Eimear Murphy of Obair Newmarket-on-Fergus said, “We’re here in the centre of the village and over the last six or seven months we have had people coming into us a little bit concerned. “We’ve lost our GP, we’ve lost our local shop, our main street is very, very quiet. A lot of businesses have closed for different reasons, whether they’ve retired or just closed up. They would have concerns around where we’re going from here.” Earlier this year Dr Colm Hackett retired after serving the village for 42 years, with no replacement to date. The issue was raised in the Dáil this week by Dr Michael Harty and it has …

EVEN in the darkest days a gesture of kindness can bring some light. An Ennistymon family who tragically lost their daughter last year, are helping to make this Christmas a little bit brighter for others in an amazing act of generosity. Amy Dutil-Wall and her partner Vincent Wall from Ennistymon have endured the deepest of tragedies with the loss of Estlin Luna just before her fourth birthday in a car crash last year that also left Vincent fighting for his life. In honour of Estlin, the family have decided to donate some Christmas gifts to two worthy young girls around her age. Amy explains that she got the idea after seeing a number of offers of help to those in need on the Clare Free to a Good Home site. “It was something I was thinking of doing for a while, to give a gift in honour of Estlin and I thought why not this year. The holidays can be …

Clare County Council has announced an additional €1.1m investment in service delivery and tourism, business and community development projects around the county during 2015. The announcement follows the publication of the local Authority’s unaudited annual financial statement (AFS) for 2014, which shows that the council ended the year with a €611k surplus on a total revenue expenditure of circa €105m. Clare County Council billed a total of €42.4m in commercial rates in 2014, which represents approximately 40.4% of Clare County Council’s revenue expenditure in the year. The council collected €40.9m in rates in the year. Announcing the unaudited AFS for 2014 at its May meeting, Clare County Council also confirmed additional allocations in 2014 to the Municipal Districts (€400,000), Shannon Area (€100,000), proposed acquisition by the Council of Holy Island on Lough Derg (€100,000), a Visitor Services facility at Doolin Pier (€100,000), Library and Museum Development (€100,000), and Kilrush’s participation in the 2015 International Entente Florale competition (€50,000). Provision has …

THE enterprise and vision that transformed unused farmland into a state-of-the-art €2 million recreational park in Killaloe has been officially recognised with a national award. Clarisford Limited scooped a runner-up award in the national Pride of Place Community Innovation category at a function in Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis on Saturday night. Members of the group from Killaloe and Ballina were presented with a statuette and a €500 cheque for displaying great community innovation. Spearheaded by former Lions and Irish rugby star, Keith Wood, Clarisford Park was set up to provide a home for Lough Derg FC, Killaloe Ballina RFC and the local scouts group. The dream of providing a new recreational area for the local community became a reality due to funding from the Keith Wood Foundation, Clare LEADER, sports capital grants and the three anchor tenants clubs, who contributed about 10% of the overall cost. In fact, it has totally exceeded initial plans and expectations, with more than …

CLARE  Senator, Martin Conway has said that the roll out of community courts across the country could revolutionise our justice system and would provide a local solution to local problems. Senator Conway’s comments coincide with a Private Members’ Motion on the subject tabled by him in the Seanad this Tuesday. “I will be using the time during my Private Members’ Motion in the Seanad to call on Minister Shatter to establish a community court in Dublin as a pilot project, with the hope that if successful, the model could be rolled out on a regional basis,” the Fine Seanad Spokesperson on Justice said. Continuing, he said, “I am convinced that we need to change how we deal with low-level crime at a local level. By placing the court at the heart of the community and approaching problems in their local context, community courts can offer a pragmatic approach that deals effectively with low level crime. “We need greater community engagement …