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CLARE County Council has this evening passed a budget for 2023. The Council’s spending will increase by €13.3 million next year, up to €151.9 million, but an increase in commercial rates has been avoided. An extra €1.9 million is going to be spent on energy next year, reflecting very high levels of inflation in the market. The Council’s head of Finance Noeleen Fitzgerald said that things are increasingly challenging and discipline will be required next year. “It was one year that it was very difficult to get a balanced budget, but I feel that the hard work will start now,” she warned. In his address to the members, Council Chief Executive Pat Dowling said that climate change, inflation, war and the legacy of the pandemic are posing a huge amount of challenges. He said that the Council has to be responsible in its budgeting. “We must not simply balance figures that are not based on reality.” Mr Dowling said that …

ENNIS Players are going on tour. Due to popular demand and having performed a completely sold out Supper-theatre run in The Old Ground Hotel, Ennis Players have announced a very special performance of ‘One-Acts on Tour’ in North Clare this weekend. The Players will perform two one-act plays in Hotel Doolin on Sunday, November 27. Speaking about the event, Mary Curley, Chairperson, said, “We in Ennis Players are delighted with the return of our very popular one-act season, as we have missed our audiences for the past two years, and look forward to welcoming the people of Clare and further afield to our performances.” The Players will take to the stage performing Elysium Nevada by Barry McKinley and Trapped by Barry Woods. Set in a retirement village in the sweltering Nevada desert, Elysium Nevada by Barry McKinley tells of two residents reflections on life, youth and how they got there. They are joined by a mysteriously silent woman whose presence adds …

Michael O’Connor reports on the Under 14 Division three football final which saw Doonbeg prevail over Corofin on a score of 2-6 to 1-5 One of the last finals of the Bord na nOg peil calendar took place recently as Doonbeg took on Mid Clare side Corofin in the Under 14 division 3 final played in Cooraclare before a sizable attendance. Conditions on the day were far from conducive for football at underage level yet both sides gave spectators a contest worthy of a higher grade such was the effort on show. Corofin were the better side in the opening half and worked hard in their rearguard to repel the potential of the Doonbeg forwards who had shown up well in earlier rounds of the title race. Tommy Barry struck a vital goal early on for Corofin but the red and whites failed to build on this early promise and added just four more scores in the opening half as …

SPIRALLING energy prices are providing an electric shock to Clare County Council after costs almost trebled from €2.5 million to about €6 million over the past year. Outlining his Draft Budget 2023, Chief Executive, Pat Dowling has revealed there has been a 250% increase in electricity, fuel and gas up to a level of almost €6 million compared to €2.5 million in 2021. This dramatic increase will only be partially covered by the government who will provide €1.9 million, leaving the council with a considerable shortfall. Mr Dowling also confirmed a further provision of €0.45 million for a combination of energy savings, stabilisation of the market and or additional government supports has been budgeted for. However, this is not confirmed and if the actual energy pricing materialises as forecast, without these additional supports, this will result in a deficit in the income budget for 2023. The chief executive admitted it has been necessary to reduce expenditure in some areas with …

A COMMEMORATIVE plaque to the late Pat Liddy, acknowledging a lifetime of work for Cois na hAbhna and Comhaltas will be unveiled in Cois na hAbhna this Friday by Dr Labhrás Ó Murchú Ard Stiúrthóir Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Pat Passed away on Monday, December 21 2020 in the middle of the Covid pandemic and, although his funeral mass at Clooney Church could only be attended by close family members, many made the journey from all over the country to line the roadside in a fitting Guard of Honour to a man whose parting gift to all of us was the legacy of a living tradition that is Cois na hAbhna. From the time he became a member of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in the 1960s Pat was very active. He set up a number of branches throughout County Clare, but it was in set dancing that his true passion could be found. Along with his wife Nora, he ran the hugely …

SHANNON Airport Group and the ESB are to team up on the development of a hydrogen fuel project that it is hoped will play a key part in decarbonising the aviation sector. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed to explore the development of what is called a “hydrogen lighthouse project”, in the area surrounding the airport. Hydrogen procured from renewable energy is set to be key to the decarbonisation of the aviation sector – either via Liquid Hydrogen or Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Lighthouse projects demonstrate the use of hydrogen in sectors such as heavy goods and long-distance transport, aviation, shipping and power generation. This kind of work offers a blueprint for a net zero integrated energy system in the future. The project will have the aim of exploring the development of a sustainable green hydrogen plant at Shannon, Speaking this week at a Hydrogen Ireland Conference in Dublin, Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine said, “Innovation has always been …

AN INDEPENDENT Clare TD has pledged to seek clarity on the trade relationship between Ireland and Britain, after joining a prestigious political grouping on the Good Friday Agreement.  Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne was appointed this week to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.  She joins the panel of nine TDs and seven senators to tackle matters including reconciliation, legacy issues, North-South co-operation, and Brexit and outreach. The Independent TD will be working alongside three members of her former party, Sinn Féin, as well as another ex-member of that party, Peadar Tóbín of Aontú. Clare’s other Independent TD, Deputy Michael McNamara was a member of the committee from September 2020 to October 2022.  On her appointment to the committee, Deputy Wynne described the trade relationship between Ireland and Britain as “incredibly significant” to Clare’s farming and business communities. She vowed to work to get answers to their questions on the future of trade, and to work …

THERE was a poignant moment long distance swimmer Rosie Foley at an awards’ ceremony when she received one of her latest “Triple Crown” awards. Padraic Casey passed away swimming across the English Channel in 2013 and his widow Riana presented Rosie with an award in his honour. The 2022 Padraic Casey Munster Swimmer of the Year award was presented at the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association Awards on Saturday evening. “I met his wife for the first time on Saturday and she presented me with the award, which was a poignant moment,” said Rosie. “Padraic is gone but he is not forgotten in swimming circles. I was very proud to get this award because Padraic was a fantastic person. I never met him, but I met loads of his friends that swam with him so I was honoured to get this award,” she said. She was also presented with a Certificate of Recognition in honour of completing the Triple Crown …