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The groundwork has been laid for a major restoration of the Ballymacraven River in North Clare, which was devastated by pollution last year. The Restore Ballymacraven River Association hosted a public meeting in Ennistymon last Friday, and outlined their plans for the river for this year, and into the future. The river, which is a tributary of the Inagh River, was the site of a significant water pollution event in May of last year, with thousands of fish and other wildlife being killed. Earlier this year, Uisce Éireann were fined €10,000 for the incident, which threatens the viability of the river’s population of Atlantic salmon and eels among other species. Local community group, the Restore Ballymacraven River Association, now plans to help restore the waterway, starting with the area around The Glen in Ennistymon. The first step is to remove a large number of invasive trees from the river bank and replace them with thousands of native trees. This will …

Miss Ireland, Barefield’s Dr Ivanna McMahon is captivating audiences at the Miss World final in New Delhi, India this week. Her performance on the harp secured her a top 10 placement for talent, ensuring her a spot to perform at the esteemed Miss World ball this weekend. With her display of talent, Ivanna is poised to make a lasting impression before the final selection of Miss World on Saturday night.  Ivanna also placed as a finalist in the public speaking challenge this week and stood out as one of the most highly educated and articulate contestants this year.  The 29 year old was crowned Miss Ireland 2022 and now finally she will get her moment on the world stage and represent Ireland at Miss World.  The competition was due to take place in 2023 but was postponed as a knock on effect of the pandemic.   Ivanna has already been spotted as a contender for the world crown by international …

Gardaí will prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions after three people were arrested in connection with a road traffic collision in East Clare on Tuesday. A man and two male juveniles have since been released without charge. They had been detained following the collision at Newline, Killaloe which left a woman and two children requiring treatment in hospital. It’s understood the three males fled the scene after the collision. The crash occurred at around 11.30am on the R463 Killaloe to Limerick road at Newline close to Shantraud Woods in an area where roadworks are currently being carried out. It’s understood that a car attempted to overtake a truck and collided almost head-on with an oncoming vehicle carrying French tourists. Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Killaloe station responded to the incident along with Gardaí and National Ambulance Service paramedics. A woman and two children were transported to University Hospital Limerick. There injuries are reported …

International Women’s Day will be celebrated around the world tomorrow, March 8. Ahead of this event, The Clare Champion profiles two Clare women who have been making waves in the world of politics, feminism and environmental activism in recent years. In February of 2020, Violet-Anne Wynne (Ind) became just the forth woman in history to be elected to Dáil Éireann. She followed in the footsteps of Brigid Hogan-O’Higgins (FG), who was elected in the Clare-South Galway Constituency in 1969, Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG), who was first elected in 1981 and Síle de Valera (FF) who was first elected in the Clare constituency in 1987. Bridget Ginnity, meanwhile has been working in Clare communities for years. After spending years promoting women’s participation in science, she has turned her attention to the environment where she is active across a number of important issues. Ahead of International women’s day, Violet-Anne looks back on a busy four years in Dáil Éireann. “I feel pride that …

A NEW book by Mary Immaculate College academic and Kilshanny resident, Dr Sarah O’Brien, tells the stories of Irish immigrants in post-Famine America. Of Memory and the Misplaced draws from 30 memoirs written between 1900 and 1970 and shows the prevalence of intimate and taboo themes in ordinary immigrants’ writing, such as domestic violence, same-sex love and famine-induced trauma. Combining literary and historical theory, Of Memory and the Misplaced highlights voices that have traditionally been silenced and offers a rare and unexplored collection of primary source autobiographical texts to better understand the experiences of Irish immigrants in the United States. “In the early twentieth century, memoir-writing was a craze in the US. It became fashionable for older people to write down their life stories,” she said. “Luckily, some of the memoirs written by Irish emigrants during this era survived. They offer a rare glimpse into the remembering mind of those who left after the Famine. “The memoirs I write about …

THE Grand Marshall of this year’s Ennis St Patrick’s Day parade will be two time Grammy award nominee, Ennis’ very own Maura O’Connell. Clare County Council are extending a warm welcome to all to gather in Ennis to celebrate our national holiday on Sunday, March 17. Maura, of ‘Tumbleweed’, ‘De Dannan’ and ‘A Woman’s Heart’ fame, released her first solo album ‘Maura O’Connell’ in the early 1980s which was an eclectic mix of genres. Moving to Nashville in 1986 Maura went on to have a very successful career in the US releasing albums with Jerry Douglas and Béla Fleck and sharing the stage with many top artists such as Dolly Parton, John Prine, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, John Oates, Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt. Joining this year’s parade will be a delegation from Ennis’ twinning town in Germany, Langenfeld. The Mayor of Langenfeld Frank Schneider and members of the city administration and twinning committee will participate in the …

A FORMER Direct Provision resident is once again throwing her hat in the ring for a chance to become a member of Clare County Council. Nigerian born Amanda Major has lived in Clare for 20 years and became an Irish citizen in 2015. She confirmed this week she will be running in this year’s Ennis Municipal District local elections as an Independent candidate. In 2019 she unsuccessfully campaigned for a seat on the council as an Independent gaining 200 first preference votes. And in 2022 she was among four local Fianna Fáil candidates vying for a seat on the local authority left vacant after former Ennis councillor Mark Nestor announced he was leaving politics to join the priesthood. Announcing her candidacy this week she said she made the decision “due to the urgent need for change and the crucial role that voting plays in shaping the future of our community.” She said, “In recent years, we have witnessed significant challenges …

It has been a long and exciting road for Lahinch twins Julie and Branwen Kavanagh on their way to Altarwise. The duo, who make music under the name Twin Headed Wolf, began creating their debut album way back in 2013, and after more than a decade of off-and-on recording, mastering and remastering, Altarwise will meet the world this week. This is an album like none you are likely he hear this year. The songs are much more than individual, musical expressions. The Lahinch singer-songwriters have crafted a world for every song to inhabit, with textures and characters unique to that particular place and time. “This album got lost in time a bit. We started recording it back in Clare with Simon O’Reilly, we had so many mad things that we wanted to include in the album. We wanted [to record] wheelbarrows in doors and old pianos and things like that, so it took a long time to get the sound …