ENNIS councillors have voiced concerns over plans for the largest ever private housing scheme in the county capital, with fears it could lead to “social problems”. Glenveagh Homes has lodged plans for a €65-million 289-home scheme at Ballymacaula direct to An Bord Pleanala under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme. However, at this week’s meeting of the Ennis Municipal District councillors highlighted a number of concerns about the plans, including that the density of the development is too high. The meeting was told that the council’s planning department is preparing a report for An Bord Pleanala on the proposal, and that councillors views were being sought. If given the green light the development will include 125 three-bed townhouses, 74 3/4-bed semi-detached homes, 66 two-bed townhouses, 12 two-bed duplex and 12 one-bed maisonettes. There are also plans for a 60 place creche and 488 car parking spaces. Speaking at the meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, Councillor Pat Daly acknowledged that …

MOVES are underway by a “global leader” to create a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in Ennis with an employment boost of up to 100 jobs predicted. While the Council has not revealed the name of the company involved, it is understood that Vitalograph is behind the proposal. Liam Conneally, director of economic development with Clare County Council has described the plans as “exciting”. In order to bring the plans to fruition, the council are set to sell a building at the Ballymaley Business Park on the Gort Road for €1.2 million to the company. The sale of the property is to be brought before a full meeting of Clare County Council next week for approval. Ennis Municipal District councillors already voiced their support for the plans at their monthly meeting. The building at Block B in the Ballymaley Business Park had been acquired by the council in 2020 for the development of touchdown space for Foreign Direct Investment and the development …

FIVE decades of bringing music to the communities of Doora-Barefield will be celebrated this Friday with a very special event. The 50th anniversary of the local branch of Comhaltas will be commemorated with a concert featuring some of the branch’s well known members. Also, a book recalling the history of the Doora – Barefield branch will be launched at Fahy Hall, Roslevan to mark the momentous anniversary. National President of Comhaltas Eamon O hAirgain will be in attendance on the night. Mary O’Halloran, who was one of the founding members of the branch and is still involved to this day, told The Champion they are expecting the anniversary celebrations to be a good night with plenty of music to enjoy. She added that the committee members have been working hard to prepare for the event and are looking forward to sharing some memories of the branch through the years, while also looking ahead to its future. As well as current members of …

AN eight-year-old girl who was found with serious injuries at a home just outside of Clarecastle last week is no longer in a critical condition and is now “out of danger” in hospital, gardaí have confirmed. The youngster and her 46-year-old mother who had come to Clare from Ukraine were brought to University Hospital Limerick on Tuesday morning. The mother, who was found unconscious at the scene, is still under medical care but she is making a good recovery. The girl, who it is understood suffered a large number of stab wounds, was transferred last week from Limerick to a hospital in Dublin where she had been in a critical condition. A spokesperson for the gardaí confirmed to The Clare Champion this Wednesday that the girl’s condition is no longer critical. “She is still in hospital and she is out of danger,” he said. The mother and daughter had been living at a house in which a number of other …

IN a first for Ireland, Ennis is to host a brand new festival this month celebrating the ‘Fantastic’ genre of film including horror, fantasy and Sci-Fi. Just in time for Hallowe’en the Ennis International Fantastic Film Festival (EIFF) will take place on the weekend of October 28 to 30 with host of events planned and high profile special guests from the world of Fantastic film making. Amongst the star names attached to the launch festival are Ennis natives and film industry luminaries, actress Simone Kirby, who stars in the upcoming third and final season of HBO/BBC adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel ‘His Dark Materials’, and award-winning screenwriter/actor Mark O’Halloran – both of whom are jurors on EIFF’s inaugural awards panel. The ‘Fantastic’ genre has seen a huge rise in popularity in the dynamic Film Festival scene in north America over the past decade, a trend now being echoed across Europe. Ennis is proud to be the first location in …

CLASSICAL duo John O’Conor and Ailbhe McDonagh join forces to bring an intimate evening of cello and piano music to Ennis this week. World renowned Beethoven specialist O’Conor and Irish cello soloist Ailbhe McDonagh celebrated Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year in 2021 by recording a double album of his complete sonatas for cello and piano. And this Thursday, October 6, they will bring their nationwide tour showcasing their partnership to glór. On the night they will be performing sonatas by Beethoven and some shorter works by Faurè, Chopin and McDonagh herself including the world premiere of Valentia composed specially for this tour. O’Conor has been gathering wonderful reviews for his masterly playing for over 40 years with the Chicago Tribune saying, “He represents a vanishing tradition that favours inner expression and atmosphere over showmanship and bravura”. He studied in his native Dublin, in Vienna with Dieter Weber, and was tutored by the legendary Wilhelm Kempff. His unanimous First Prize at the …

SHE stared intently at the mobile phone clutched in her hand before the Zoom call burst onto her screen. Answering the call, she was met with a face not seen in 50 years, and as they caught up on decades lost, the tears flowed. This emotional reunion of friends was made possible through the voluntary efforts of those involved with the Mná Ag Gaire Women’s Shed in Ennis, a place to meet, share skills and combat loneliness for all women. Helping women develop digital skills is just one of the many activities which have been ongoing at the women’s shed in the Tracklands Business Park. Recalling the moment two best friends were brought back together, founder member Hilary Tonge says, “We’ve had a lot of women want to learn digital skills, particularly during Covid, they realised they were isolated because they couldn’t get on their phones. “A lady came into to us and all she wanted to do was to …

A CLARE man who was among thousands of passengers stranded after an IT problem saw Aer Lingus cancel 51 flights earlier this month has praised an Ennis Travel Counsellor for his help in getting him home. Michael Lorrigan from Quilty had traveled to Bulgaria and was due to return to Ireland on September 10. However, it was only on arrival at Bourgas Airport that he became aware of what he describes as “the Aer Lingus fiasco”. The disruption was caused by what Aer Lingus said was a “major incident” with their network provider which meant its cloud-based systems enabling check-in, boarding and website were unavailable. Michael describes the scene at the airport as “chaos” with people, including families with young children, arriving to discover their flights had been cancelled. Fortunately Michael had a place to stay while he tried to organise a way home. The next morning he contacted well-known Ennis travel counsellor Gearoid Mannion, through whose company he booked …