Tag Archives: Kilkishen

Hikers in East Clare have been dealt a huge blow following the closure of the 12 O’Clock Hills Trails following a very significant forest fire on the Upper Hills on Thursday evening. Two residents were evacuated from their homes as a precaution on Thursday night after 8pm. This popular walking and hiking amenity is now closed until Monday due to health and safety concerns after claims the forest fires may have been started maliciously or as a result of carelessness. It is expected the 12 O’Clock Hills committee may make a further announcement pending an inspection on Friday night. Firefighters from Shannon Fire Station, Killaloe Fire Station and a Limerick City Fire Station battled the blaze on Thursday evening. It is understood Shannon Fire Station was alerted about the fire at 5.3opm and Killaloe Fire Station was tasked at around 8.55pm. The overall response involved three fire applicances and three fire vans. Personnel included four firefighters and station officer from …

TRAFFIC calming and safety are to be boosted in Tulla and Kilkishen, following the approval of works by members of the Killaloe Municipal District.  Both projects have been eagerly anticipated by elected representatives and local communities alike. However, there was a qualified welcome for the work in Tulla, where one local representative said further work will be needed to fully address issues on the ground, especially in light of new housing developments on the Gort Road.  In Tulla, traffic calming will be carried out on the R462 Regional Road at Church Road and Ennis Road. The works were proposed by Councillor Joe Cooney and seconded by Councillor Pat Hayes. “I really welcome the fact that the issue at the primary school will be addressed,” Councillor Cooney said. “It will be now be safer for children, staff and parents. Great credit is due to Council for all of the efforts to-date. More does need to be done. no scheme is achieved …

HIGH speed connectivity, through a country-wide State-backed scheme is due to come on-stream in the Kilkishen area, according to the National Broadband Ireland (NBI) NBI is the company delivering what is described as “the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan (NBP) on behalf of the Government”. The company has announced that over 3,400 premises in Kilkishen and nearby townlands and villages will be able to order or pre-order broadband on their network “very shortly”. State Intervention Areas, where no other services is available, include 23,000 premises in total in Clare. NBI has promised to deliver minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second to homes, businesses, farms, and schools. “As the biggest investment in rural Ireland since rural electrification, County Clare will receive €89m of Government investment under the NBP,” a statement said. “NBI crews have made substantial progress in Clare and premises will soon go live in Kilkishen where 3,400 premises will be able to order …

THE cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District has described himself as “baffled” as to the raft of regulations on the installation of traffic calming ramps.  Councillor Alan O’Callaghan made his remarks as he called for ramps to be put in place as a safety measure for those using the school and playground in Kilkishen. In response to his motion, he was told that the installation of ramps at the location would have to meet the requirements of the Road Traffic Act (1994) and involve a public consultation process.  The Fianna Fáil member thanked Senior Executive Engineer (SEE) Derek Troy the “huge work” already done at school in Kilkishen. “Speeding is still cropping up all the time,” Councillor O’Callaghan insisted. “I’m only here since 2014, but I feel that since then, only one speed ramp has been put in. I think there’s a feeling that we’re going to try everything bar a ramp. There are ramps in Newmarket, Sixmilebridge, Shannon, and …

TO MARK National Heritage Week, and in particular to thank the Heritage Council for part funding the restoration of a number of sites, the 12 O’Clock Hills project committee are organising a walk with a heritage theme on Saturday, August 13.  The meeting point is the Belvoir carpark at 9.45am, for the walk which starts at 10am. The route will be mostly a flat walk along the Red Trail where most of the heritage sites are located. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone who would like to know the background history of the area and to learn about the people who lived here and their lifestyles around the early- to mid-1900’s. Because of the theme it will be a slow-paced walk (approximately two to three hours) where hopefully loads of questions will be asked and answered. During this walk, the committee hopes to bring life to a question that is often asked of walkers: “Did you pop in to …

CONTROVERSY around the issue of so-called ‘in-fill sites’ has led to an application by a young couple for a house in Kilkishen being rejected, twice over.  The application to build a one-off house at Teeronea was turned down by county planners last year. Following an inspection of the site, and consideration of national and local guidelines, An Bord Pleanála has now copperfastened that decision.  Both the Council and the appeals board found that the creation of an in-fill, or what the local authority described as “gap sites”, would be contrary to the County Development Plan 2017-2023.  An Bord Pleanála also stated that the couple had failed to satisfy the requirement to prove a local housing need. That was despite the fact that one of the applicants attended national school in Kilkishen.  Commenting on the general principle of in-fill sites, Councillor PJ Kelly, who highlighted the issue earlier this year, described the situation as “crazy and vexatious”. “An in-fill site is …

NUMEROUS severe storms recently forced some residents of homes with pyrite to go to extreme lengths to secure their properties. The harsh weather conditions have also prompted fears that the condition of some houses has deteriorated even further in recent days.  Storm Eunice brought a Red weather warning for Clare recently and was followed by even more severe conditions during Storm Franklin the following weekend. In Kilksihen, Danny Moloney whose home has tested positive for pyrite, said the situation has been very frightening for himself and the three generations of his family who share the house. Mr Moloney’s home, which has been assessed by an expert engineer and had expensive core testing done to prove the presence of pyrite, has severe external and internal cracks.  “Things got so bad, at one stage last weekend, with the high wind, rain and hail that I had to get foam to block the wind coming in around the frame of the patio door,” …

WORKS to prepare for the installation of high-speed broadband infrastructure are underway currently in a number of areas of East and South East Clare, National Broadband Ireland (NBI) has confirmed.  The organisation said that over 3,600 premises around Kilkishen have been surveyed to-date, with network designs completed to deliver the new Fibre to the Home (FTTH) network in the area. NBI crews have started initial works for the build in townlands including Kilkishen, Sixmilebridge, Latoon, Ballyhannon, Cloughlea, Bunratty, Shannon and Spancilhill.  These are described as ‘make ready’ works which will pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts, and include the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of subduct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed. In this county, there are 22,719 premises in the Intervention Area (IA). These include homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. This equates to 33% of all premises in the county. The investment in this county is an estimated …