WHEN President Michael D Higgins delivers his address to the National Famine Commemoration in Kilrush on Sunday, he will do so on a pristinely refurbished Frances Street.

  Patricia Dubois Zanini, wife of Italian Ambassador Maurizio Zanini, will visit her ancestral home on Sunday for the National Famine Commemoration in Kilrush. Approximately 43 ambassadors are expected in the West Clare town for the commemoration, which will also be attended by President Michael D Higgins. Patricia Dubois Zanini visited Kilrush twice in 2012. Along with her sister she visited their ancestral Bulger and Scanlan family graves. They paid their respects at the family plot where those buried include three children of Daniel Scanlan Bulger, who died in infancy in 1867, 1872 and 1874; John Bulger (died 1836) and Mary Bulger née Scanlan (died 1864), probably Daniel’s parents; and Daniel Scanlan and Ellen Scanlan née Kelly (both died 1830), probably Mary’s parents and thus the great-great-great-great-great-grandparents of the younger visitors. Patricia Zanini’s great-grandmother, Anne Bulger, was born in 1875 in Kilrush, where her father, Daniel Scanlan Bulger, ran a loan office and other businesses in Moore Street. The Bulger …

THE contentious new Pregnancy Bill doesn’t introduce abortion and doesn’t involve any changes in the legislation, according to Deputy Pat Breen.

HE was “killed with kindness”. These were the poignant words spoken at a meeting of Ennis Town Council after the discovery of the body of homeless man Josef Pavelka in a laneway at the weekend shocked the town of Ennis.

Water-quality levels in all bathing areas in Clare are good, except in the popular Ballyalla Lake on the outskirts of Ennis, the Environmental Protection Agency has found.

THE Clare branch of the Irish Kidney Association, along with the Limerick and Tipperary branches, were relieved to hear that planning permission has been granted for the long-awaited dialysis unit on the grounds of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle.

More than 100 jobs are to be lost around Ireland due to the closure of 20 Xtra-Vision stores. However, both of the outlets in Clare (one in the Market in Ennis and one in SkyCourt, Shannon) are to survive. Between them, the two Clare stores employ 15 people.

GAA stars Lar Corbett and Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper were in Shannon over the Bank Holiday Weekend for the launch of the airport’s summer season.