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Tag Archives: west clare

Famous sherpas visit West Clare

THE world’s most prolific climbers are currently in Ireland speaking about their death-defying experiences in the Himalayas. Nepalese heroes Mingma Sherpa and Pasang Sherpa have travelled here to speak about their efforts to rebuild the renowned Rolwaling valley area since the devastating earthquake struck on April 25, 2015. They adressed an enthusiastic gathering at the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point on Saturday night last. The community have been working tirelessly to rebuild their village and their livelihoods and they are hoping to promote tourism in Nepal through Ascent Himalayas, Nepal Tourism Board and the Nepal Ireland Society. Tourism is the key back bone of Nepal’s economy and is a much needed source of foreign currencies, especially in the aftermath of the unprecedented natural disaster that crumbled the country’s economy and shattered the livelihoods of those living in the mountains. Climbing is currently changing dramatically in Nepal, with many sherpas setting up their own companies instead of working for western-based ones. …

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North and West Clare hit by flooding

WHILE flooding has been reported to have receded somewhat in parts of North and West Clare this Saturday morning, severe overnight flooding was reported in Miltown Malbay, Liscannor, Mullagh, Quilty and Lisdeen near Kilkee. Many other roads, while passable, were in a dangerous condition, including the Kilrush – Kildysart road, R473. Fire service units from Ennistymon were called to a severe incident of flooding in Miltown Malbay, on the Lahinch Road and Church Road, where up to 20 houses were affected. Nearby manhole covers had burst due to the incessant rainfall. Meanwhile two people were helped to safety from a car on the road between Liscannor village and the Cliffs on Moher on Friday night. Ennistymon fire service also attended that incident when the car became stranded as the road flooded. Fire service units also attended a flooding incident in Mullagh, while several instances of cars being caught in floods, throughout West Clare, have emerged. An Orange rainfall alert had …

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Students’ flight from West Clare

UP to 80% of students educated at Kilrush Community School have no option but to leave West Clare, due to the absence of employment opportunities. That’s according to principal, Rock Kirwan, who is starting his 24th year at the 38-teacher school, which has a current enrolment of 430 pupils. “I would suspect that you are talking between 20% and 30%,” he replied, when asked how many of his past pupils live and work in the region. “That would be an interesting piece of research for some budding sociologist to take up in college, as to what is happening in rural areas. Most see that their futures lie elsewhere and not in the local area. Most are aware of that, particularly those that go on to third level, as most do. If you take what’s being called the recovery in the Irish economy, it’s being fed out of two or three major urban centres. I don’t see that that has filtered …

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West Clare windfarm faces High Court challenge

NEW windfarm developments in Clare may be blown off course by High Court challenges, after a group of West Clare residents became the first local opposition group to secure leave for a Judicial Review to overturn planning approval for a local windfarm. High Court Judge Marie Bake has granted members of the Coore/Shanaway Residents Group, represented by Kathleen Connelly, leave to seek a judicial teview of An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant planning permission for four 85m wind turbines in the Miltown Malbay area, on 10 grounds. The successful application for a Judicial Review was taken by resident Kathleen Connelly, the respondent was An Bord Pleanála, while the notice parties were Clare County Council and McMahon Finn Wind Acquisitions Limited. A spokesman for An Bord Pleanála said the board received the legal papers on Tuesday and has begun work on its response but it is only at the initial stages as yet. Efforts by The Clare Champion to obtain a …

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Clare storm damage funding ready for use – Minister Harris

Government funding for storm damage repairs in Clare has been allocated and is ready for use, according to Simon Harris, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works. He has outlined the position regarding Government funding for storm damage repairs for Clare County Council and in particular recent reports about Clohaninchy. This immediately follows a meeting between department officials and their council counterparts on this Thursday. The minister said said the discussions would progress matters and lead to a meeting with local residents in September. Minister Harris said, “I note with concern that recent reports suggest that funding to carry out repairs following the devastating storms in early 2014 has not been allocated and that my Office has not been in contact with the local authorities concerned to outline the assistance available to them. “The position is clear:following the storms the Government allocated a total of up to €16.8m for storm damage repairs to Clare County Council …

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€23m for Clare wave power project

ESB WestWave, a Clare project developing Ireland’s wave energy potential, has been awarded €23 million by the EU. This innovative project will develop the first wave energy project in Ireland by 2018, generating an initial five megawatts off the west coast of Clare. It will provide the equivalent to the electricity consumption of households in nearby Kilrush and Kilkee of clean renewable electricity from the plentiful wave energy resource available off the west coast. John McSweeney, head of Innovation, ESB said Ireland’s oceans have the potential to provide large quantities of indigenous, renewable energy and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels. “Demonstration projects like ESB WestWave are critical if we are to realise the ultimate aim of progressing to larger commercial scale projects and a low carbon future. The funding award is a huge boost to the ESB Westwave project and to Ocean Energy development in Ireland and Europe.” The funding will be used to demonstrate technologies that will subsequently help …

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West Clare demands one-third share of budget

THE first chairman of the new West Clare Municipal Authority is seeking at least 33% of Clare County Council’s budget to be spent in the west and north of the county. Councillor PJ Kelly was elected chairman of the body at last Friday’s AGM, attended by all eight of the recently elected county councillors, who serve in the enlarged West Clare constituency. The meeting also decided to restrict to six the number of the public who can attend the bi-monthly meetings, while senior engineer, Cyril Feeney, acknowledged the council is facing challenges in adequately staffing the district, which stretches from Loop Head to Ballyvaughan. Councillor Kelly produced figures which he said proved Clare County Council collected millions of euro in rates from West Clare. “The county council takes in €36.2m in rates. Ennis takes in €5.4m and Kilrush €0.7m. That comes to a grand county-wide figure of approximately €42m. One establishment in West Clare, ESB Moneypoint, pays €13m. That is …

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Clare’ silver surfers take up IT challenge

The search in on to find Clare’s top Silver Surfers.  This follows the launch  by Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte  of the 2014 Google Silver Surfer Awards with Age Action, in Dublin on Tuesday. Google and Age Action are asking people across Clare to nominate a friend, neighbour or relative, who has embraced technology and made it part of their daily life. Be it connecting with loved ones on the other side of the world, arranging travel plans or using it to pay the bills, more and more of the over 50s in Ireland are taking to the online world and Google and Age Action want to highlight their achievements. Previous winners from Clare include 96-year-old, Catherine Talty from Clounlaheen in West Clare. She was the winner of the Golden IT Award in 2012. After several visits from a local history group, Cuimhneamh an Chláir(CAC) who would record Catherine’s stories about times gone by, Catherine suggested …

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