LITERATURE lovers will flock to North Clare on the last weekend in August as Ennistymon once again becomes a Book Town.  For the eleventh year, the bustling town will become a reader’s paradise, with book shops popping up in vacant premises and taking over the Courthouse Gallery and Teach Cheoil.  On offer at stalls and shops will be new, used and antiquarian books, fiction and nonfiction, for all age groups, including rare County Clare items, GAA histories, children’s books, and literary and light reads.  “This year, our challenge has been to find empty shop units and that’s a great testament to how Ennistymon has flourished in recent years,” said organising committee member, Jon Heddon. “Over the years, we’ve had seven or eight units annually that we would have used. Now, those premises have come back into use and it’s just great to see that. “We will still be able to accommodate all of our regular booksellers, from all over Ireland, …

THE WORK of the legendary David Attenborough has inspired a new visual art exhibition that will open in Kinvara on Friday, September 2 at the Courthouse.  Entitled, ‘In the Beginning’, the show is a selection of artwork by former Chairperson of Kinvara Area Visual Arts (KAVA), Pam Fleming. The colourful exhibition is accompanied by a collection of poetry by local authors. “The inspiration for this show owes gratitude to that champion of the natural world, Sir David Attenborough,” Pam said. “Watching his very early TV shows, set in Madagascar, as a child instilled an appreciation of the animal kingdom in me and many others who watched spellbound. The title of the exhibition ‘In the Beginning’ refers to the bible and the giving therein to humankind, domination over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and over all the wild animals on the earth.” Pam added that she has been very conscious of the biodiversity crisis in producing …

PROPOSALS for another major private housing development in Tulla are being considered by Clare County Council. After an original application was invalidated, Wiskin Property Developments lodged a fresh application last week to build 60 homes at Loughaun South. The company is seeking permission for 15 detached houses; 36 semi-detached houses and nine terraced houses. Two vehicular entrances were also to be provided at the site, which is just over 3 hectares. According to the planning application form, 40 of the proposed homes will be three-bed. Six will be two-bed units and 14 will have four bedrooms. Parking would be provided by the creation of 140 spaces at the development. A letter submitted with the application outlines that the Part V element of the project has been agreed, in principle, with Clare County Council. The Ennis-based developers have described the site as a greenfield one currently used as agricultural land, around 387m from the centre of Tulla. It is bounded to …

A LEADING podcaster has paid tribute to the work of two Dutch natives who have been running an organic nursery outside Bodyke for more than two decades.  Gert and Elisabeth Stam are qualified horticulturalists who now run Caherhurley Nursery. Their unique enterprise, which is part of an organic farm on the slopes of Sliabh Bernagh, was visited recently by award-winning agricultural journalist Hannah Quinn-Mulligan for her podcast ‘Organic Matters’. The weekly show for the Irish Organic Association has generated huge interest in recent years and features all aspects of organic farming and growing.  The couple, who ran a Dutch garden that catered for 25,000 visitors a year, left the Netherlands more than twenty years ago to come to East Clare, and they shared their vision with Hannah and her listeners.  They explained that when Elisabeth sold an Arabian horse to a Limerick native, it gave the couple an opportunity to visit Ireland and to radically change their lifestyles. They bought …

SOMETIMES raw and always authentic, John Kelly’s photographs capture Clare in all its glorious, local detail.  His pictures have a universal quality too. They celebrate humanity in all its forms and colours. They bear witness to moments and events that are truly extraordinary. They also find the magic in ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. From the intense stare of a rain-soaked Davy Fitzgerald, grappling with a defeat to Tipperary; to the serene faces of pilgrims at St Brigid’s Well in Liscannor, John Kelly’s interest lies in revealing what is going on beneath the surface.  A multi-award winner, John has been honoured many times by his peers. He has been personally singled out for praise by some of the greats of photojournalism including the UK’s Martin Parr and, most recently, by acclaimed portrait photographer, Peter Adams. As part of the Australian’s 40-year mission to track down some of the world’s best photographers, Peter came to Ireland to interview John …

AN URGENT warning has been issued to Clare’s business community following a sharp spike in cyber attacks targeting small to medium enterprises. Cyber security expert Edel Mee, who is based in Clarecastle, backed a recent appeal sent by The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) to the Small Firms Association (SFA). Both the NCSC and GNCCB warned of “a trend of small and medium-sized businesses being increasingly targeted by ransomware groups”. Ransomware attacks are just one of the multiple types of cyber crime directed at business and other organisations. They involve sending malware, mainly by email, which encrypts the user’s data. The cyber criminals then demand a ransom to unlock the system. While high profile cases involving the Health Service Executive (HSE) and other large organisations have received significant media attention, Edel said they are happening regularly to smaller enterprises. “IT security on a network is like your immune system,” she said. “If …

A WARNING has been issued about the impact of long Covid on the health system, with new figures suggesting that over 30,000 people in the Midwestern region are impacted.  Medical experts have outlined that up to 200 symptoms are linked to the condition, which persist from between three months and two years of contracting Covid-19.  Data compiled by Independent TD Denis Naughten suggest that 8,368 people in Clare have long Covid, with chronic symptoms that including brain fog, cognitive issues, exhaustion, sleeplessness, and other psychological and physical difficulties. The figures are based on an analysis of data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), showing that there had been 41,055 positive PCR tests taken in this county, up to August 10.  The long Covid estimate for County Limerick is 14,317; while for Tipperary, it is 10,511.  Deputy Naughten has provided the first analysis and county-by-county breakdown of the 336,451 adults nationally who are likely to be suffering from long Covid …

THOSE with learning challenges are invited to an open day in Ennis next week to find out more about training and development opportunities.  Clare training provider, National Learning Network (NLN), part of a national organisation that has supported more than 2,400 people into employment since 2017, is opening its doors to the public on Wednesday, August 24.    The NLN, based in Ennis, is a progressive leader in the delivery of personalised education, training, and development opportunities for people with disabilities or people requiring additional supports throughout Irish communities. The certified training courses, which offer nationally recognised qualifications including QQI, ECDL, and City and Guilds, have impacted significantly on the progression of people with a disability and/or health conditions into employment and have seen some participants land jobs in companies such as Facebook, eir, Ryanair, Mr. Price and across the hospitality and tourism industry. People attending NLN include those claiming any form of disability benefit, those recovering from an accident …