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Tag Archives: Ian Lynch

Councillors keen for Maritime Training Centre to set sail ASAP

AT Friday’s West Clare Municipal District meeting Councillors Ian Lynch and Cillian Murphy requested that the Council set up a Designated Activity Company to deliver the Maritime Training Centre in Kilrush. However it emerged at the meeting that such a company is already in place, having been established in 2018 as part of an application for funding, and an allocation of resources has been assigned for a business manager. The project has been awarded almost €3.5m in Rural Regeneration Development funding, with €700,000 match funding from the county council. Speaking afterwards Councillor Murphy said that it’s time the company became active and the over €5 million allocated in funding be used. “There is a necessity now for this to be taken off the shelf and activated. It is sitting there as a shell company but now it needs to be activated and directors taken on board. “There was an Enterprise Ireland grant of €1.7 million and somewhere in the order …

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Clare town has highest commercial vacancy rate in Munster

KILRUSH is the town in Munster with the highest rate of commercial buildings that are vacant. The town has had an issue with vacancies for some time and regularly features at the top of the periodic Geodirectory issued reports on vacancies. The most recent one showed that in the second quarter of the year there was a vacancy rate of 25.1% at Kilrush, the highest in Munster and the fourth highest in Ireland. However, on the positive side, the rate of vacancy in Kilrush was nearly 1% lower than at the same time in 2021. Jack Kelly, who has a well known business in the town, said that there has been a fairly good recovery since Covid-19 restrictions were raised. “I would say things are picking up, but Kilrush is always behind the curve on that, it is coming back, but slowly coming back. There have been a few extra units taken up around the town. “Has it changed much …

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€10m Ennis loan passed after heated exchanges

Reservations over funding ‘private company’ and possible neglect of other districts CLAIMS and counter claims were expressed by county councillors during heated exchanges before a controversial €10 million loan was approved for the Ennis 2040 Designated Activity Company (DAC) by a majority vote. Ennis 2040 Designated Activity Company (DAC) has been registered as a company to assist in identifying opportunities for development and employment in Ennis and making the town an attractive place to live and work. While councillors support investment for Ennis, several expressed grave reservations about the new funding mechanism proposed by the council executive at a meeting on Monday, and the lack of a similar package for rural Clare. The loan was passed by 23 votes to five, with Councillors Tony O’Brien, Gerry Flynn, Donna McGettigan, P J Kelly and Susan Crawford officially recording their opposition. Some of the remaining councillors who supported it – Pat Burke, Joe Killeen and Ian Lynch – did so reluctantly. Councillor …

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County-wide approach to addiction

AN outline of a county-wide approach to dealing with drugs and alcohol addiction was presented to members West Clare Municipal District. It came after Councillor Ian Lynch submitted a motion asking the director of service to “give an update on the multi-agency meeting in relation to addiction and what steps have been taken to help people in West Clare to deal with current addictions and prevent further addiction”. Monica Meehan, senior executive officer, rural development, stated in a written response, a meeting of all key agencies was convened by the Mid West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum to discuss interventions for post addiction services in West Clare and in particular pathways for long term recovery and engagement in the community. The organisations represented at the meeting included the Mid West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum, Bushy Park Treatment Centre, the Probation Service, Clare Local Development Company, An Garda Síochána, Bedford Row Clare, Ana Liffey Drugs Project Mid West, Clare Youth …

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Scattery Island wins EDEN award

Scattery Island has been honoured as the Irish winner of the 2017 EDEN (European Destination of Excellence) Award, recognising it as the destination in Ireland which has best used its local tangible cultural assets to grow visitor numbers. The EDEN award was officially presented today (Tuesday) by the Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin at a ceremony in the Vandeleur Walled Garden in Kilrush. This prestigious EDEN competition, which Fáilte Ireland manages in Ireland, is staged every two years in each EU country along a specific shared theme, is designed to encourage and promote a more sustainable form of tourism development and Scattery Island was one of three Irish destinations shortlisted under this year’s Tangible Cultural Destination theme. The two runner-up destinations were Ceide Coast, County Mayo and The Norman Way, County Wexford. Speaking at the ceremony Minister Griffin said, “The standard of finalists this year was exceptionally high. During the onsite assessments, Scattery Island, as well …

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Rural Clare’s future jeopardised by ‘dire broadband’

HUGE tracts of Clare are on the wrong side of the so-called ‘digital divide’ according to local politicians and business people, with concerns this is hampering economic development and will continue to do so for years to come. Research published this week by switcher.ie shows that there is an average download speed in Clare of 17.4 Megabits per second (Mbps). This is the 12th quickest of the 26 counties and while this is dramatically quicker than last-placed Longford (just 7.25Mbps), it is also way behind first-placed Dublin (44.85Mbps) and also some distance behind Waterford (27.9Mbps) and Kildare (27.36Mbps). The research also shows that Shannon, home to companies such as IT giant Intel, has an average download speed of 51.64 Mbps, the eighth quickest city or town in Ireland. While the figure in Shannon is almost three times quicker than the average for the county, there is no doubt that many rural areas are experiencing much slower speeds. Fianna Fáil TD …

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Lynch to stand in general election

INDEPENDENT Kilrush county councillor Ian Lynch has confirmed that he will be a candidate in the upcoming general election, which is expected to be held in late February. Ten candidates have now declared their intention to stand in the Clare constituency. Elected to Clare County Council in 2014, Councillor Lynch also served on Kilrush Town Council from 2009 to 2014, when he represented Fine Gael. However, he opted to stand as an independent candidate in the county council elections after Fine Gael selected Gabriel Keating, Oliver Garry and Marian McMahon Jones to represent the party in the West Clare Municipal District in May 2014. Councillor Lynch maintains that the interests of West Clare have not been sufficiently represented in Dáil Éireann and insists that he is the candidate to change that. “There has been huge support in West Clare for me to run. People have said to me that the West has not had representation, based in West Clare, since …

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No sporting chance for Kilrush

THE absence of the Kilrush Sports Complex from the list of 27 sport organisations or council facilities in Clare to receive a portion of the countywide €1.27 million Sports Capital Grants has sparked controversy. Local independent councillor, Ian Lynch claims that because Kilrush is a DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) area and in need of facilities for teenagers, the application should have been prioritised. The Clare County Council-operated Kilrush Sports Complex, which includes an AstroTurf pitch, was officially opened on April 9 of this year. Councillor Lynch says “a very comprehensive application” was submitted by the Kilrush Sports Complex management committee for critical funding. The biggest individual beneficiary from the Sports Capital Grants in Clare was the council-run Active Ennis Sports and Amenity Park in Lees Road, which has received €200,000 in funding. “I am extremely disappointed and angry. West Clare is crying out for facilities for our youth. This allocation of funding will see some areas develop, …

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