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SHOP owners are being urged by Clare gardaí to be “very careful” when asked for change of money and not to be distracted. This follows a recent theft which left a North Clare shop at a loss of €150. Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks explains, “On August 29 two males entered a shop in north Clare. One male paid for items bought and the second male looked for change of four €50 notes. “The young shop assistant handed over the €10 notes and the other male used sleight of hand to remove some of the notes from the bundle. “The other male then handed back the €10 notes and looked for the original four €50 notes back. The shop assistant started to count the €10 when one of the men took it from him and took more notes out of the bundle and another shop assistant gave the 50s back. “The two men left the shop, and the shop …

GREEN Senator Róisín Garvey has called on Clare County Council to “do better” in terms of using funds allocated for cycling and walking infrastructure. The Inagh woman highlighted figures released by the National Transport Authority (NTA) showing that 81.3% of funds allocated to Clare under the Active Travel Fund were not spent last year. “In Clare our local authority was allocated €5,986,000 for walking and cycling projects in the Clare County for the year 2021,” Senator Garvey, Green Party Spokesperson for Rural Development and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said. “However, according to figures released by the NTA, only €1,113,509 of this was spent. We need to do better for our community. It is understandable that the significant increase in funding since 2019 requires increased capacity, and there have been many additional challenges for our local authority during Covid. However, funding has also been provided for a new Travel Officer role, dedicated to local walking and cycling projects and we need …

Deputy Cathal Crowe returned €800 out of a €1,000 political donation from a Cratloe party supporter after he was advised by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPOC) it exceeded the maximum amount that can be given in cash. Daniel Lehane, Cratloe, sent a cash donation worth €1,000 to Deputy Crowe on January 26, 2021. Deputy Crowe was the only Clare Oireachtas member who declared a political donation above €600 from one source. Deputies Joe Carey, Michael McNamara, Violet-Anne Wynne made no political donations declarations for the period January 1 to December 31, 2021, according to the publication of a new report from SIPOC. Senators Martin Conway, Timmy Dooley and Roisín Garvey also made no political declarations to SIPOC for last year. Under the Electoral Act 1997, as amended, public representatives may not accept donations in any year of more than €200 in cash, and not more than €1,000 in total value from a single source. They must disclose any …

Senior Football Championship Round 3 Group 1 Éire Óg v Corofin at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 6.30pm With three quarter-final places on offer from Group 1, most eyes will be fixated on the other group tie in Ennistymon as a St Breckan’s victory would automatically see Corofin join Éire Óg in the quarter-finals regardless of the result between these neighbours. The thing is that the defending champions still require something out of this game in order to confirm top spot and fundamentally will be determined to maintain their perfect title defence thus far. Corofin arguably require a result more though as first and foremost, they can’t simply depend on their North Clare brethren to do them a favour and essentially require a positive result following contrasting performances so far. Off the back of a lacklustre display against St Breckan’s, expect Corofin to throw everything at the Ennis side on the welcome return to Cusack Park. However, with Éire Óg seeking …

Ambassador of India, Mr Akhilesh Mishra and his wife Reeti are currently enjoying a tour of County Clare. The Indian envoy has been in the county since this Wednesday and will depart on Friday, September 2. The couple visited the Cliffs of Moher Experience this Thursday September 1 and met Geraldine Enright Director of Cliffs of Moher, who presented them with a gift from a local supplier to the the Craft and Gift store, Irish Slate Craft Lahinch, depicting a picture of the Cliffs on local slate. They enjoyed meeting the team and hearing the buskers sing and play traditional Irish music, they were particularly interested in the sustainable tourism measures that the Cliffs are involved in. Cliffs of Moher had the Indian flag at full mast for the day that was in it.

AS PART of the PIMA Fest in Ennis, there will be another opportunity to take part in an exciting audio project. ‘Sounding Ennis’, is a generative sound installation by artists Kerry Hagan and Nicholas Ward which will be displayed in Glór for PIMA! Fest on October 15 and 16.  There is an open call to anyone who would like to take part and submissions need to be made by September 5. To take part in ‘Sounding Ennis’ record the sounds around you and submit them to be included in the sound artwork. Record interesting moments in your life and submit them to be include in the sound artwork. Recordings can be of anything in your life – sounds of your kitchen; sounds from your commute; something from a sports event or playground; your grandmother telling a story; sounds from your daily walk; anything you find interesting. Getting involved is free, fun, takes a couple of minutes of your time. The …

A CELEBRATION of the wealth of original music being performed by Clare artists is set to take place in Ennis this Friday. Originality Clare is hosting a feast for music fans in The Sanctuary from 9pm on Friday featuring three local acts. There is no cover charge for the gig with Ronan Summerly of Originality Clare explaining the aim of the event is to create awareness of the many talented performers of original compositions in the county. Taking to the stage at the gig will be Clare bands Scoth, APE and Apprentices Daughter. Ronan has been playing music in the live scene for almost 30 years in various formats and he tells us he “has always seen the need for more of a boost for musicians performing original music over bands performing known songs who are more commercially viable”. The idea for Originality Clare began over many conversations Ronan has had with musicians who write and perform original music. “A …

Plans have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála for the single largest ever private housing scheme for Ennis. Availing of the Government’s ‘fast track’ planning system for large housing developments, one of the country’s largest house building firms, Glenveagh Homes has lodged plans for the €65-million 289-home scheme direct to An Bord Pleanala. The Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme is made up of 125 three-bed townhouses, 74 3/4-bed semi-detached homes, 66 two-bed townhouses, 12 two-bed duplex and 12 one-bed maisonettes. The scheme – which comes with 488 car-parking spaces – will also provide a 60 place creche. The site with an address at Ballymacaula, Drumbiggle, Keelty, Circular Road fronts into the Ennis bypass link road between the roundabout near Ennis Golf Club and the roundabout on the N85 Lahinch Road. The 11.32 hectare site – which has a net developable area of 8.9 hectares – is located adjacent to Ennis golf club. As part of the purchase agreement for the …