Tag Archives: funding

  THE development of a walking trail on the Loop Head peninsula and upgrading of the Shannon Looped Walks are among the five Clare projects that will benefit from an allocation of more than €400,000 to rural recreation schemes in the county. Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said the fact that Clare had secured the second highest allocation of the 20 counties included in the €4.5 million scheme was an indication of the national importance of the Clare tourist industry and its outstanding record of innovation. Clare County Council has been allocated €255,625 for the Shannon Looped Walks while the Clare Local Development Company will get €68,415 for Costal Trail Guide training at the Cliffs of Moher; €58,952 for the Loop Head walking trail; €16,520 for the development of a trail monitoring app and €4,536 for maintenance of the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Trail. “The importance and popularity of recreational pursuits in the Clare countryside continues to grow with …

Clare Crusader’s Clinic is facing the threat of closure by 2020, unless major Government funding is provided on a annual basis. While neither of the co-founders, Councillor Ann Norton and Frank Cassidy, want to close the clinic, they have warned its current losses are unsustainable without Government funding. In the wake of the Console scandal, the co-founders have decided to open the accounts for the first time to dispel the perception that it has loads of spare cash. According to profit and loss accounts provided to The Clare Champion, the clinic has accumulated losses of €107,341. The charity made a slight profit of €1,495 in 2012, a profit of €14,615 in 2013 before sustaining a major loss of €48,523 in 2014. The clinic suffered further losses of €17,587 last year and €41,231 for the first six months of this year. Fundraising from 2005 to 2016 generated a gross return of €2,684,779, less €395,931 in costs, giving a net figure of …

A total of €4.71 million in funding for the Ennis South Flood Relief Scheme has been approved by the Office of Public Works. The money will be made available to Clare County Council when it addresses some technical aspects of the scheme. The scheme will involve extensive flood alleviation work to the St Flannan’s and Ballybeg streams in the Clonroadmore, Ballybeg and Clareabbey areas of Ennis and Clarecastle. “There are some residual matters that require further consideration by the council and its consultants prior to implementation of the scheme. The offer of funding has been made on the basis that the council addresses and satisfies itself in relation to these matters prior to entering into any binding contractual commitments,” explained Clare TD, Joe Carey. Responding to a parliamentary question from Deputy Carey last month, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohue acknowledged that discussions relating to technical aspects of the scheme had impacted on progress but he expected that the OPW would …

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, has allocated €100,000 for the hosting of Fleadh Cheoil na h-Eireann in Ennis this August. The allocation is part of Fáilte Ireland‘s national funding of just over €1.8 million for 23 key national festivals and events. Welcoming the news, Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Pat Breen said the return of the Fleadh to Clare is a major boost.  During the 10-day event over 300,000 additional visitors are expected into the county as well as 4,000 competitors and 9,000 session musicians and it will generate €40 million in income for the local economy. “There was a 14% increase in overseas visits to Ireland for the first eleven months of 2015 and the most recent figures show that revenue in the sector has increased by 16% to €4.2 billion. A significant factor in this growth is the festivals and events on offer in all parts of the …

CLARE County Council’s senior engineer, Tom Tiernan has admited that funding levels have “crashed downwards” in recent years, leading to local authorities having to “abandon tertiary roads”. Tom Tiernan commented that the entire road network needs to be in a good condition to facilitate the country’s economic recovery, saying current funding levels are not “sustainable”. He was speaking following the release last week of the National Oversight and Audit Commission Report, which found that Clare had the highest percentage of “severe structural defects” on tertiary roads in the country. However, Mr Tiernan stated that the figure presented in the report for Clare “isn’t necessarily representative” of the situation in the county. As outlined in The Clare Champion last week, the report looked at the standard of primary, secondary and tertiary roads. League tables were compiled, with criteria such as surface defects, structural distress and pavement defects all considered. According to the report, 22% of tertiary roads in Clare were found …

Ennis has been selected as one of 17 Irish towns and cities eligible to benefit under a new urban renewal funding scheme. The Clare County Capital has been named among the locations included under the Designated Urban Centres Grants Scheme 2014 – 2020, announced by Government in July, which will enable investments in Irish urban centres to the order of €80 million for the period 2014-2020. The Scheme will involve European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding of approximately €40 million and matching funding from the relevant local authorities. “Ennis has in recent years been rejuvenated, particularly the wider town centre area thanks to ongoing investment from Clare County Council with the support of the local business community. With projects such as the West Clare Greenway and proposed redevelopment of the Market area, it is clear there is a solid commitment to making Ennis an attractive and vibrant location to live and work in, as well as visit,” commented Senator Tony …

Additional funding of €1,056,700 has been allocated for the maintenance and strengthening of local road network in Clare. Twenty per cent of the funding can be used for Community Involvement Schemes (CIS) whereby an individual, or a group of people, with the consent of the road authority, can carry out maintenance and improvement works on local roads. This allows community participation, either in money or through the provision of road-machinery, excavators, road building material or labour in having lightly trafficked roads maintained to a good standard. Ten per cent can be invested in Local Improvement Schemes (LIS) – roads and laneways that have not been taken in charge by the council, the maintenance and improvement of which is a matter for the relevant landowner. In addition, approval can be sought from this extra allocation to fund urgent road safety projects which local authorities wish to progress this year. Deputy Pat Breen said the additional funding will ensure that Clare County …

Funding has been approved for a coastal erosion and flood risk management study along a 1.5km stretch of coastline in Doolin. Informed of the funding by Minister of State, Simon Harris, Senator Tony Mulcahy said that the study will cover the length of coastline shown from Crab Island, located south of Doolin Point, to the mouth of the River Aille. “Doolin was badly affected by the succession of storms that battered the county during the period from late December 2013 to February 2014. The carpark area and access road to the pier were particularly badly affected. In light of the shortly to be completed €6m pier at Doolin, it is imperative that steps be now taken to minimise the risk of flood damage in the future. “This funding announcement is particularly welcome considering it follows on foot of an announcement by Government last week of a similar coastal erosion and flood risk study for the section of coast from Quilty …