Local efforts to promote and protect plants and wildlife in West Clare have been given a huge boost with a local sand dunes conservation group receiving its first grant funding for its biodiversity work. Seafield Conservation Forum €5,000 grant is to support the future development of its community biodiversity action plan, according to Caroline Egan, Co-Moderator of the Forum. The voluntary association is dedicated to addressing coastal erosion, and to the restoration and conservation of Seafield’s sand dunes. It plans to work with experts, the local community and land-owners to implement actions which not only respond to the biodiversity emergency but will also provide a template to help protect the sand dunes at Seafield as a natural resource for all people. Welcoming the recognition of the forum’s work, Ms Egan said: “Seafield Sand Dunes has been a haven for bird life and an abundance of nature for millennia. Given the biodiversity and climate crisis that threatens unique sand dune habitats, …

The first industry endorsed marine mammal observer (MMO) training programme which aims to train young professionals who are seeking fulfilling careers in marine ecology and sustainable energy has been completed by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB). Five applicants who took part in industry-approved training courses recently successfully completed the course and it is hoped these professionals will be key components in the delivery of offshore wind projects over the coming decade. Ireland has a unique capability for such delivery given its prime location which will enable the country to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. Support for the programme was provided by the Kilrush-based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) along with the Marine Mammal Observer Association, and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. Participants in the initiative took part in MMO training provided by IWDG and spent two nights onboard the research vessel, Celtic Mist at Kilrush followed by a half-day at sea. Qualified MMOs …

Ennis councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) has made the surprise announcement he is to leave the political arena and will not contest the local election in June. “Coming up to an election, all politicians have to consider their position and with the election looming I had to consider it, and decided to give other candidates an opportunity.” He contacted his fellow councillors to tell them his decision over the weekend. And now he has made the announcement, many members of the public have thanked him for his service over the last after 20 years. “It is all about the constituents rather than the politicians really,” he said. Councillor Flynn has been interested in, and involved with environmental issues over his tenure at Clare County Council, and said there is “satisfaction” in leaving after the recent Clare Climate Action Plan 2024 – 2029 was adopted. “I am delighted with the final plan,” he said highlighting that the work done over the last …

Clare Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign Clare (IPSC) is organising another opportunity to catch a free screening of the film GAZA, this time at the Miltown Malbay Community Centre on Tuesday, March 5 at 8pm. The film which was released in 2019, was directed and produced by two Irish men, Andrew McConnell and Garry Keane. GAZA describes the unique world, rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us an inspiring portrait of a people, living with hope and leading meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict between 2014 and 2018. The award–winning film has real value as a compassionate human document, showing ordinary people who courageously have to keep going, somehow, in what then seemed like the grimmest of conditions, in a world where there is a “wall between the people of Gaza and life itself”. The directors bring us a revealing film showing the common frustration at living an abnormal life, under siege. You will meet, amongst others, a young …

Ennis businesses and their representative groups say only one public consultation has been held so far by Ennis 2040 DAC and the Clare County Council. And there is a general opinion amongst business owners that, as one retailer put it, there has been no “meaningful” public consultation. At the recent drop-in events organised by Ennis 2040 DAC/ The Council displays advised the public that “extensive” consultation has taken place. Proprietors of Ennis Bookshop, Feargal Dúlaing and Dervilla Evans told The Clare Champion they first became aware of the project in early 2023 when Ennis Chamber organised a meeting at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis where a representative of Ennis 2040 DAC and the Council set out their vision for the proposed developments with the aid of a brochure and slides. “To suggest that an extensive consultation took place or continues to take place is inaccurate and very misrepresentative. All through 2023, we met members of the public – business …

CULTÚRLANN Sweeney in Kilkee plays host to the renowned BBC 2 Folk Singer of the Year, Ríoghnach Connolly, next week. Fresh from a recent performance on the Tommy Tiernan Show with guitarist Stuart McCallum, the Armagh woman is looking forward to their upcoming Kilkee concert on Monday, February 19. Ríoghnach, who is signed to internationally renowned musician Peter Gabriel’s Real World record label, is on a short Irish tour with McCallum before they tour Britain and Scandinavia for a few months. The duo is known as The Breath, and Ríoghnach is also lead singer with the Afro Celt Sound System. She is also nominated for Best Original Folk Song this year at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards for her collaborative single ‘Not Your fight’ with The Henry Girls. Speaking to The Clare Champion, she is modest about the BBC2 award. “As far as I think I broke the whole competition – it hasn’t happened since. I am still dining …

Gardaí have arrested one person following the seizure of a quantity of drugs, cash and designer goods in Ennis. Gardaí in Ennis arrested a motorist last Saturday afternoon after he failed to stop when instructed. During a follow-up operation which included searches under warrant of a residential property in Ennis, suspected cocaine and cannabis to the value of approximately €15,500 were seized. A sum of cash and a quantity of designer goods were also confiscated. The drugs have been sent for forensic analysis and investigations into the matter are ongoing. The arrested individual who is a male in his 20s, was subsequently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda Station in County Clare. He has since been released without charge, and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A Kilkee mother living in New Zealand whose ten-year-old son is severely cognitively impaired following a flu infection, has appealed to the community in County Clare for financial help to bring him home from rehab. Laura Devine-Giles’ ten-year-old son, Tadhg has inflammation in his brain, a condition known as encephalitis following an influenza A infection late last September. At the time, he was rushed to ICU and then the children’s ward at Christchurch Hospital before being transferred to Auckland in November. Prior to becoming ill, Tadhg was a very chatty boy who loved playing rugby, singing in a choir and doing all the normal activities a child does in New Zealand. He was also the captain of his school’s kapa haka team. An intelligent boy, he is a self-described “maths genius” and even has his own YouTube channel. Today, Tadhg no longer speaks and is cognitively impaired. The brain injury he suffered has left him with memory loss, psychosis, catatonic …