Breaking News

AT the monthly meeting of Clare County Council the local authority endorsed proposals from the Independent Post Masters Group, which would see community banking rolled out across the An Post network of post offices. Fianna Fáil’s PJ Kelly sought the backing of the members, saying that community banking in post offices has already been rolled out in other countries. “I’m not saying that the post office of yesterday or the post office of today should be the post office of tomorrow. No. The future post office will have to be a totally different item. It will have to be a community post office integrated with other services. “In recent times we’ve seen post offices in big shops and so on and so forth, a wonderful solution, but this goes further. It references something that is a success in other countries, community banking, in Germany and in New Zealand.” He said that under the community banking model in other countries, people …

THE population of Clare has increased by 40% in a generation, preliminary figures from Census 2022 have revealed. Figures published from this year’s census found that Clare’s 2022 population is 127,419, up by 7.2% on 2016. It is slightly less than the 7.6% increase in population for the Republic as a whole, but represents a substantial increase from the census of 1991, one generation ago. That year, Clare’s population was just 90,918, which was a slight drop from the previous census, but every one held since has seen an increase. Clare now has an extra 36,517 living within its borders than it did then, an increase of 40%.  The increased population has been reflected in a number of capacity issues seen in the county in recent years, with health services, schools and housing struggling to keep up with the pressure from the rise in residents. Since the last census in the 2016 the population has gone up by 8,602. There …

Jet ski operators, who drive at excessive speed on Lough Derg, are putting the lives of swimmers at risk, Killaloe Coast Guard has warned. Killaloe Coast Guard was tasked to assist local gardai deal with jet skis being operated at dangerous speeds near Killaloe Bridge on Monday and Tuesday. A number of vessels were requested to return to the relevant slipways and the owners were spoken to by Gardai. A Coast Guard spokesman told The Clare Champion that some jet ski operators were driving at speed of up to 60 kilometres an hour near Killaloe Bridge in a speed limit area of about five kilometres. He said some jet skis were doing “doughnuts”, which is akin to doing a handbrake turn on the water, which in turn creates a backwash that causes issues for boats being knocked against jetties, and for swimmers. During periods of hot weather, he said large numbers of young teenagers are congregating and swimmers dive off …

THE decline in commercial activity on the Main Street in Killaloe has been lamented by the man whose business it has been, for the past 10 years, to keep it looking its best. John Tuohy of Millstream, Killaloe, recently retired as local authority street cleaner, has fond memories of meeting business people and shoppers while at his work keeping the picturesque town clean and tidy. However, he was saddened by the relocation of Killaloe Post Office from Main Street to Convent Hill and the closure of several businesses on the street. “A lot of the shops on the street like butchers are gone. Jimmy Whelan’s shop in Church Street also closed. Keith Wood had a lovely restaurant and café for a while before it closed. “It is sad to see the Main Street now, it is practically derelict, you don’t meet people on it. I loved meeting people. Brendan Grace used to drive down the street, let down his car …

AN estimated €5m concession contract to operate four restaurant, cafe and bar outlets is being put up for grabs at Shannon Airport. The airport is in recovery mode following the lifting of Covid-19 air travel restrictions and the new tender is projecting passenger numbers to increase more than three fold this year to 1.33m. According to the tender, the airport is projecting to return to 77pc of 2019 pre-Covid passenger numbers and the 1.33m passenger estimate follows 379,935 passengers at Shannon during the pandemic-hit 2021. The tender states: “SAA’s business strategy, which initially focused on stabilization during Covid, is now firmly in  recovery and rebuilding. SAA is committed to maximising all opportunities to build back stronger.” The new contract is due to commence in November of this year and continue for five years with a further option of a two-year extension. The Shannon Group is inviting tenders to operate a landside restaurant and bar currently trading as JJ Ruddles; an …

Futureproof Clare was among the 20 groups that participated in a national protest this Tuesday to try to stop planning approval for more rock-blasting at the bauxite refining site at Rusal Aughinish Alumina plant in Co Limerick. The groups who have come together in protest at Rusal’s proposed move include Futureproof Clare, Friends of the Irish Environment, Slí Eile, and the Cappagh Farmers Support Group, whose founder Pat Geoghegan has long campaigned against the facility. Tim Hannon of Futureproof Clare said the group is “extremely determined” to stop the blasting from going ahead at the plant. He was speaking at a press event in Dublin on Tuesday to discuss a planning application by Aughinish Alumina to expand its disposal site for the ‘red mud’ created as a by-product from the bauxite refining process. Mr Hannon told the event at the Teachers Club in Dublin, which heard from academic experts regarding the potential pollutant effects of bauxite refineries, that the Aughinish …

A SERIOUS issue for a number of members of Clare County Council regarding the upcoming county development plan is the fact it contains allocations for growth. There are concerns that these are going to stymie development in rural Clare, just as remote working becomes commonplace, and this week Councillor PJ Kelly said that certain areas could be totally left behind. “I asked could we get specific about what will Kilrush get, what will Kilkee get and I was told no, it’ll be the total area. That means if you have a big demand in one corner the whole quota of the allocation could be used up in a term much shorter than the six years. “Suppose we allocate X to west Clare over six years, but there’s a big demand and it’s used up in three years. That means we can’t grant any further planning permissions,” he said. The veteran Fianna Fáil councillor said that he had listened to some …

TWO Clare TDs have tackled the Finance Minister over the impending departure of two major banks from the Irish market.  Both Ulster Bank and KBC Bank are to close Irish operations, prompting concerns for tens of thousands of customers, especially those who are older and less likely to be able to avail of online switching services. Addressing Minister Paschal Donohoe, Deputy Michael McNamara accused the Department of Finance of facilitating an “emerging duopoly” in the banking sector.  “A local businessman said to me recently they [the banks] will do what they want and I had to correct him and say they are already doing what they want,” the Independent TD told a Dáil debate on policy and legislation. “In theory, we have supervision from the Central Bank, but in reality those two banks have been allowed to do what they want, and it will hurt rural economies. It is already hurting them. The supervision from the Central Bank is supposed …