Car Tourismo Banner
Home » Tag Archives: Whitegate

Tag Archives: Whitegate

Clare shop owner assaulted during early hours break-in

GARDAI are investigating a break-in to a shop and dwelling in an east Clare village in which the owner was assaulted. At 2am on Friday last, November 4, four males broke into a shop in Whitegate by forcing windows to the rear of the shop and gaining entry to the dwelling area. The male owner was assaulted during this break-in and received injuries. The intruders made their getaway in the owner’s car which was later recovered in Whitegate. This was a very traumatic incident for the owners of the shop. Gardaí in Killaloe are appealing to anyone who may have any information in relation to this incident to contact them at Killaloe Garda Station on 061 620540 or on the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

Read More »

Call for footpath provision in Quin

RESIDENTS in Quin have raised concerns over road safety for pedestrians on the Dromoland side of the village, a local councillor has said.  Councillor Pat Burke called on officials of the Killaloe Municipal District to look at the possibility of putting in a footpath on the Ballykilty/Dromoland side of Quin in the interests of safety. “An incident took place five or six weeks ago and it was not the first time there was a traffic accident,” he told the district meeting. “Residents want something done.” The Whitegate man welcomed an undertaking from Acting Senior Executive Engineer, Derek Troy to progress the matter. ‘The reply is welcome,” he said. “This is a road that is straight for a while and then there’s a series of bends. This is a classic example of where this kind of funding could and should be used.” District Cathaoirleach, Councillor Alan O’Callaghan seconded the motion. “This is timely, especially when you see the influx of development …

Read More »

Clare TD quizzes minister on Whitegate school transport issue

THE EDUCATION minister has said she will examine a situation whereby secondary school students in parts of North East Clare have missed out on public school transport for the current academic year. Minister Norma Foley was responding to Deputy Michael McNamara during a recent meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Education. The Scariff TD highlighted how post-primary students in the Whitegate area, who previously held concessionary tickets for transport to Scariff Community College (SCC), did not qualify for a school bus place this year, under the terms of the new school transport scheme unveiled in July. Deputy McNamara outlined how the criteria disqualified some students in the Whitegate area from securing a bus place to SCC, as it had marked Woodford in County Galway as their closest school. He described the road from Whitegate to Woodford, which was identified, by the Department, as the shortest route as little more than a “forest track” and “not fit for school buses”. He …

Read More »

GALLERY: Ennistymon v Whitegate U15C hurling final

The scoreline of 1-20 to 3-4 is a little misleading but there was no doubt about the merits of victory as Ennistymon cooly picked off the last eight points to finally cement a much-needed Under 15C crown over Whitegate in Clareabbey. Having laid the groundwork by only trailing by the minimum at half-time with the conditions to come, initially it didn’t quite pan out how Ennistymon would have wished for. Despite being on top, Ennistymon were duly pegged back by timely goals through Daragh Pearl and Whitegate talisman Jake Gibbons to ensure only a two point advantage for the North Clare side entering the final ten minutes. Indeed, it had to take a superb save from goalkeeper Liam Marrinan to somehow deny Gibbons once more and cling onto their advantage at 1-12 to 3-4. That stop proved inspirational as Ennistymon regrouped and got back on the frontfoot with successive points through Donncha O’Dwyer (3), Eoin Devanney (2), Eoin Byrne, Louis …

Read More »

Clare aid worker raising funds for Ukrainian refugees

A SAFE haven for those fleeing the trauma of war is what one Whitegate woman is hoping to create, using her own experience of working with refugees. Didi Driscoll worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the early ‘80s and has seen first-hand the trauma that war brings. “I’m not political,” she told The Champion, “but I know that war is terrible and it’s terrible especially for women and children. In the refugee camps in Somalia, we were delivering food to almost one million people. “The truck drivers would come along, shouting in Swahili and Somalia, telling us and all of the refugees to run away, and to keep running from the conflict. People fleeing Ukraine have no choice but to flee.” Her work in those refugee camps, for which the UNHCR won a Nobel Peace Prize, has given Didi unique insights, as has her aid work in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. She is now hoping …

Read More »

Rich tributes paid at funeral of talented young Clare hurler

A PROFOUND sense of grief spread across East Clare following the untimely death of Whitegate’s Michael ‘Mikey’ Hynes.  The 22-year-old was a past pupil of Scariff Community College and a fourth-year Business Studies student at the University of Limerick (UL). His funeral mass at St Flannan’s Church, Whitegate, last Sunday (April 10) afternoon attracted hundreds of mourners to pay their respects and to support Michael’s parents Declan and Annette; his sisters Katie, Alison and Corinna; and his grandmother Teresa Hynes. Councillor Pat Burke, a neighbour of the Hynes family, said the scenes witnessed in recent days were unprecedented. “The outpouring of grief and sympathy for Michael and his family is something we have never seen before,” he said. “I have never seen as many people line the streets of Whitegate for anything, ever. There were six or seven different guards of honour from the likes of the national school, to the senior hurlers, to classmates from UL. Despite the crowds, …

Read More »

Teamwork conserves Clare monastic site

HISTORIC church ruins at Clonrush, Whitegate, have been conserved thanks to an initiative between the local community, the council and the National Monuments Service. A socially distanced review of the works was facilitated in recent weeks between members of Whitegate Community Council and the local authority, at the 12th century monastic complex which is dedicated to St Colmán. Restoration works were carried out to safeguard the historic church ruins, which were at risk of collapse and had deteriorated in recent years. The main focus of the conservation works was the ruins of the stone church, but the site also contains many interesting remnants of its ecclesiastical past, including the monks’ house (Tig na mBráthar), original arched entrance gate and a little, stone-roofed oratory known as Poll Cholmáin (St Colmán’s Cave). The churchyard also contains many fine examples of carved memorials and ironwork from the 18th and 19th centuries. The works on the church and the archway gate were carried out …

Read More »

Housing director issues assurance on vacant social homes

THE council’s director of housing has issued an assurance that turning around vacant local authority housing is a top priority.  Anne Haugh made her comments following concerns raised by Councillor Pat Burke over two properties in Whitegate that have been vacant for up to 12 months. Councillor Burke told the November meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District that frustration over the delay in getting new tenants in, in the middle of a housing crisis, had prompted him to table the motion.  “We are all aware of the housing crisis,” he said. “It seems the process is so slow if a house can remain vacant for 12 months. I understand that there are energy retrofit schemes and that type of thing undertaken, but 12 months to leave a house vacant when we’re in a housing crisis drove me to put down the motion. This is not particularly anyone’s fault, but I’m wondering if the delay is down to funding or the …

Read More »