UNSCRUPULOUS landlords in Clare are charging prostitutes exorbitant rent for apartments in order for them to turn a blind eye to their activities, gardaí have confirmed.Up to 10 prostitutes are operating from apartments and hotels in Clare in a given week, The Clare Champion can reveal, prompting calls for a change in legislation to criminalise the users to decrease demand.The Clare Champion found eight prostitutes advertising their services in Clare in one day on a single website. When these women were contacted, it was found that three were available at the time they were contacted, two were offering services from an apartment, while the third was offering services from a hotel. Prices per half-hour varied from €70 to €100.Gardaí in the county have acknowledged that between six and eight women are offering sex for sale in Clare, predominantly from apartments and that “unscrupulous landlords” are charging exorbitant amounts of money in rent for them “to turn a blind eye”.Gardaí accept …

THE Shannon Regional Fisheries Board is to investigate claims made by a windfarm company that both Clare County Council’s wastewater treatment facilities and farmers are inadvertently polluting the Doonbeg River.A local lobby group has raised concerns that farmers could be subjected to heavy fines and the loss of direct payments, such as the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS), if the allegations are verified by the investigation.A Shannon Regional Fisheries Board spokesman confirmed the authority would be investigating the alleged pollution of the Doonbeg River, which has been brought to its attention by Clare Coastal Wind Power Limited, in response to a further information request from An Bord Pleanála.Regardless of what pollution may be occurring in the Doonbeg River, the spokesman stressed the company would have to ensure its development complied with all regulations. The company has lodged a planning application to An Bord Pleanála to develop a €100 million, 45-turbine windfarm with a hub height of 85m and a rotor …

A SENIOR garda has expressed concern about thefts of “life-saving equipment” from boats in North Clare.There have been three break-ins in Ballyvaughan harbour since the beginning of this year but one local fisherman says the problem has been going on for much longer.Patrick Mullins, a commercial fisherman, has had electronic equipment taken from his vessel and has even lost valuable catch to burglars over the past three years.“There have been a spate of break-ins,” he told The Clare Champion. “Between the boat and the harbour itself, this is going on about two or three years. The boat has been broken into twice and I have had property on the pier damaged and robbed two or three times as well,” he added.Mr Mullins is not the only one to have this experience.“Other boats that are moored here over the winter; ferries, yachts, pleasure boats and sailing boats, have been broken into as well and vandalised in the harbour,” he explained.“It is …

WEST Clare has a long established link with set dancing and traditional music. However, tastes appear to have diversified somewhat in recent weeks, with St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point hosting an impromptu outbreak of the latest craze.The dance originated in New York and has become an internet phenomenon, with various takes on the dance, which involves generally uncoordinated, sustained and rather hectic movement, attracting more than 700 million views within just one month.However, not everybody was amused by the arrival of The Harlem Shake at the West Clare school.The Department of Education has confirmed that a parent contacted them, with a complaint, following the display in a school classroom. “Yes, the department was contacted by a parent and that parent was advised to use the complaints procedures that exist,” a spokesperson told The Clare Champion on Wednesday.“The parent was advised to contact the school board of management and was advised that there is a complaints procedure in place,” …

A massive search mounted along the Shannon Estuary on Tuesday afternoon was eventually stood down, with RNLI personnel believing that what eyewitness described as a “red flare” or “fireball” was in all likelihood a meteorite.The incident was one of two with  the first launch at 12.15pm and the second at 9.27pm. Both crews quickly assembled and set off to the locations along the river outlined by the Valentia Coast Guard. On the first call, they kept their search from Querrin Point to Cappa village. The information that was relayed was that people on the coast saw what looked like a small aircraft, which, when approaching turned into what seemed to be a ball of flame. At that time the same sightings were reported in the Shannon region. Shannon helicopter crews from the Kilkee and Mallow Coastguard who, at that time were involved with another incident in Ballybunion, crossed the waters and joined in the search. After two-and-a-half hours, the first …

Clare farmers are still in the dark about the exact level of direct payments that will be introduced over the coming years once the CAP reform negotiations are fully completed.Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has described as a watershed moment the agreement by European agriculture ministers of a council position on the reform of the CAP. Following marathon talks in Brussels, ministers accepted a package of proposals on Tuesday evening tabled by the Irish presidency and successfully concluded what is known as a general approach on the CAP reform package. The agreement allows the negotiation process to move to the final trilogue stage of the negotiations, where the Irish presidency will represent the council in discussions with the European Parliament and with the commission. The successful completion of the council’s deliberations means the Irish presidency’s target of an inter-institutional political agreement by the end of June remains very much on target.Clare farming representatives have outlined different approaches to the reform of …

A number of West Clare area county councillors met with representatives of Dublin-based consulting engineering firm NJ O’Gorman and Associates Ltd in Kilrush earlier this month to discuss plans to develop an intercontinental container trans-shipment hub port next to the ESB Moneypoint power station. David Kelly and Joe O’Gorman represented the company at the meeting in the Vandeleur Walled Garden Centre in Kilrush Wood. However, the identity of the main firm behind the proposal, which could create more than 200 full-time jobs and 300 during the construction phase, was not revealed. “We assume it’s an Asian company,” Councillor Oliver Garry, who attended the meeting, told The Clare Champion. It is envisaged that there would be two kilometres of jetty and sufficient room for 55,000 containers.“They have done a survey of all the other deep water areas in Ireland and Britain. Even on the Shannon Estuary, they have looked at other sites that were proposed for this type of venture. They …

Clare Senator Martin Conway believes a change in the country’s prostitution legislation is necessary to criminalise the buyers with a view to reducing the demand.The senator, who is also seriously concerned about the level of prostitution operating in Clare, sits on the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, which is currently reviewing prostitution legislation.As a member of this committee, Senator Conway has heard some shocking submissions and what he has learned of prostitution in his own county has disturbed him greatly, leading him to the firm belief that a change in legislation is required.The senator said he is well aware of “prostitution going on in Clare”, where he says there is anything up to 10 prostitutes available for sex in the county in any given week. In recent months, gardaí successfully prosecuted two women operating from an Ennis location under prostitution legislation. Both women, who were Romanian nationals, received a 10-week prison sentence at a sitting of Kilrush District …