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FINALISTS will be unveiled on Friday July 22 in a national competition, in which The Burren and Lough Derg are in the running, for the title of Best Place to Holiday in Ireland. The two Clare locations – both of which enjoy international renown for their natural beauty and tourist attractions – were unveiled, earlier this month, on The Irish Times list of ‘20 Best Places to Holiday in Ireland 2022’. The locations were nominated by close to 1,200 people from across the 32 counties. The Burren which was one of seven regions to be selected, received six nominations, while Lough Derg, received three. Clare will, of course, have to share Lough Derg’s success with counties Galway and Tipperary, both of which border the lake. The competition is being run in association with Fáilte Ireland, and last took place in 2012. On that occasion, Loop Head Peninsula emerged as the eventual winner. This year, each of the nominated locations was …

FATIGUE and tired limbs failed to dampen the sense of achievement at the Belvoir carpark of the 12 O’Clock Hills last weekend, as hikers and walkers returned from a hugely successful Great East Clare Hill Challenge.  Up to 130 hikers and 15 guides participated, in ideal weather conditions, in the 30km hike, which they completed in eight to nine hours. There were no medals for anyone competing, just the great feeling of accomplishment on completion. This strenuous hike had an early start at 8am from Two Mile Gate, Killaloe. From there, hikers made their way, in stunning July sunshine, to the summit of Moylussa at a height of 532m, the highest peak in Clare. Then, they followed a boggy track along Sliabh Bearna to Cragnamurragh the second highest mountain in the county. After a short break, hikers continued past the Enchanted Lake and then made their descent to link to the East Clare Way and into the village of Broadford …

IT is anticipated that the new Ennis Primary Care Centre will be operational in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a progress update provided by the HSE. Deputy Michael McNamara recently asked the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly when the Ennis Primary Healthcare Centre at Station Road Ennis will be fully operational. The Sonas Medical Centre, which is being operated by Dr Conor Fanning is currently operating out of the new Primary Care Centre. A variety of services will be provided from the new Primary Care Centre when it becomes fully operational. They include public health nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, psychology, speech and language therapy, ophthalmology, audiology, podiatry, lymphoedema, dental, chronic diseases management, integrated care programme for older persons, community diagnostics and TUSLA. Deputy McNamara also asked Minister Donnelly the status of the recruitment of specialist roles at the proposed chronic disease management hub and when will the hub become fully operational. Mid-West Community Healthcare has been funded …

THE Soccer Sisters, a social soccer club in Ennis, came out in force for Rape Crisis Midwest recently. The club organised a Charity Soccer Blitz featuring several teams from across County Clare raising €5,000. The club, which has a large membership of women, is a relatively newly established soccer team and community is at the heart of the club. The teams took part in a Round Robin type tournament at the astro turf at Planet Entertainment, Ennis, last Saturday week, July 2. It was very much a family affair with children, parents and partners joining in to support the players, to hand out food and refreshments and to present the prizes. The winning team was Bunratty Cratloe with Bridge Celtic FC in second position and the hosts Soccer Sisters finishing third. Laura Thompson of Soccer Sister explained, “Fifty-seven fantastic women took part on the day, 46 matches over six hours. I would like to thank the coaches, referees and volunteers …

THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare has increased by 17% in June compared to May. Statistics for last month show that there were 4,587 people signing on in Clare, compared to 3,899 in May.  In Ennis there were 2,303 on the live register, up by 289 on May. In Ennistymon there were 923, up from 658 in May. Kilrush saw an increase from 649 to 723, while Tulla went from 578 to 638. The numbers signing on in Clare were 383 higher than June of last year, but the Pandemic Unemployment was still in existence at that stage. Clare has received a substantial number of refugees since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and some of these may have been included in the figures. Commenting on the national figures, Morgan O’Donnell, statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said: “The unadjusted Live Register total for June 2022 was 186,819. When seasonal effects are considered, the seasonally …

THE beautiful land and seascapes of south Galway provide the inspiration for an exhibition of paintings at the old Courthouse in Kinvara running this week. KAVA (Kinvara & Area Visual Artists) is presenting a solo exhibition of Mavis Gormally’s paintings entitled, Path to Home, that will be available to view up to Sunday, July 24. Mavis is showing over 40 paintings depicting the idyllic landscapes, heritage sites and seascape scenes of Gort, Kinvara, and the surrounding area. Among her subjects Mavis has captured Thor Ballylee, The Gort River Walk, Coole Park, and the Pier in Kinvara. Since before moving from NYC to Ireland in 2003, Mavis has shared her knowledge and love for art. A fine artist and painting tutor, Mavis enjoys sharing her passion for art through teaching painting in the locality. She currently tutors pre-teens, teenagers, and adults in her home studio as well as clients of the Gort Cancer Support Centre in Holly Blue House.  The artist …

PLANS for the development of a new dedicated economic crime unit in Clare are still on track, a local Garda chief has revealed. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Chief Superintendent of the Clare Garda Division, Seán Colleran, confirmed economic crime is currently being investigated by the Detective Unit. However, Superintendent Colleran said gardai are planning the establishment of an economic crime unit and as part of their continued focus on economic crime and fraud. This new task force was mooted after an increase in fraud crimes in the county in the last quarter of 2021. “We don’t have the new economic crime unit formally established yet, it is part of the crime unit. This is something we are looking at, which is resource dependent. This is something we want to achieve, but this doesn’t mean we are not investigating economic crime now,” said the Chief Superintendent. “To have a specific economic crime unit within the overall crime unit, …

Ennis Track athlete Dean Casey has been selected to represent Ireland at the World U20 Athletics Championships next month. Casey is one of eight athletes chosen to represent his country with the prodigious talent set to compete in the 5,000m event in Colombia. The selection is a huge fillip for Ennis Track and his coach Pat Hogan. Dean’s father Ger is also involved in coaching within the club while his mother Maureen is PRO of Ennis Track. Dean has enjoyed a stellar year so far as he helped his club become Junior men’s champions at the ECCC Cross Country Championships in February. He finished first in this race with his brother Dylan securing second spot as Ennis Track shocked Europe with a brilliant team display. Although he is more comfortable running the 5,000m, Dean obliterated the Irish 10,000m record in May. The talented athlete ran a time of 28.57.34 at the Highgate Harriers Night of 10,000m PBs Meet. Brilliant race …