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West Clare was awake with the colour and spectacle of the Miltown Malbay St Patrick’s Day Parade. Photographs by John Kelly

The crowds returned to the streets of Ennis today to welcome the 2022 St Patrick’s Day Parade. Photographs by Natasha Barton

Photographs by John Kelly

FOUR Clare students are among a record number to have been awarded Entrance Exhibition Awards from Trinity College Dublin. The awards go to the students accepted into the first year of a full-time undergraduate degree programme who achieve the highest points among Trinity entrants from their secondary school, above a minimum of 500 CAO points (or equivalent). The Clare recipients are: Lily Price from Colaiste Muire; Hugh Grogan, St Anne’s Community College; Ixim Dagge Hernandez, Ennistymon Vocational School and Nuoxi Zhang, St Flannan’s College. Many former awardees have gone on to make a significant contribution to the economic, cultural, and political life of Ireland and beyond. Past Exhibitioners include Tánaiste and former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. Of the 2021 entrants to Trinity, 686 students qualified for an award, up from 527 in 2020. The students come from a record 497 different schools, 458 schools on the island of Ireland (up from 438 in 2020) and 39 schools from overseas (up from …

THE people of Clare are being reminded that the closing date is nearing for submissions to the Draft County Development Plan. The deadline for making submissions closes on Monday, March 28 at 4pm, writes Jessica Quinn. The Draft Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 was placed on public display by Clare County Council in December, while a series of nine public consultation events took place during January and February. Once adopted, the County Development Plan will set out the overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of County Clare over a six-year period. This St Patrick’s Day, March 17, planning staff will provide an information stand at the Ennis St Patrick’s Day parade, which will offer information on the Draft County Development Plan and where planning staff will be available to speak with. According to Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Councillor PJ Ryan, “The public consultation process presents members of the public with a valuable opportunity to have their …

180 players and supporters were present at the Hotel Woodstock on Friday evening for the dinner dance social held by the Banner GAA club, reports Michael O’Connor. On the night they were celebrating huge progress on and off the field. MC for the night Liam Reilly welcomed one and all to the event in which Junior B hurling championship medals from 2020, Junior A football championship medals from 2021, U-21C hurling medals from 2021 and several league titles that were won also saw medal presentations. The 2021 minor B football title winning squad will receive their medals soon. The various guests of honour present included vice-chairperson of Clare GAA Michael O’Connor, former Clare senior hurling manager Donal Moloney and current Clare senior football manager Colm Collins. All spoke about the huge strides that have been successfully implemented in recent years and the youthful vigour that exists within the club. Mention was made of so many others who had worked over …

ST Patrick’s Day parade celebrations return to the Banner County this week for the first time since 2019. People all over the county, from the young to the young at heart, will be donning their green, white and gold to join in the festivities on Thursday. Large crowds are expected to attend parades throughout Clare after Covid-19 halted the annual commemoration of our national holiday in recent years. In Fanore celebrations got off to an early start with their parade taking place last Sunday. Organisers hailed it a “huge success” with a few small showers not dampening the spirits of those who came out on the day. The Ennis St Patrick’s Day Parade starting at 11am on Thursday will be the county’s biggest event with colourful floats, dance groups and musicians just some of the things to enjoy. The theme of this year’s Ennis parade is ‘Coming Together’ with Mayor of Ennis Councillor Ann Norton saying she cannot wait to …

THOUSANDS of students from all over Clare, Limerick and Tipperary took part in an event hosted by the Junior Health Sciences Academy, which sought to inspire thousands of students to seek a career in healthcare for themselves. The two-day virtual Junior Health Sciences Academy Early Careers showcase, one of the year’s biggest events of its kind, was open to students throughout Ireland, and recorded a big attendance of students from the region. Hosted by the Health Sciences Academy (HSA), together with Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and Limerick Education Centre, the webinar gave students valuable information about the educational courses and careers that are open to them in healthcare in the Mid West region. The Health Sciences Academy is a partnership between the University of Limerick, UL Hospitals Group and HSE Mid West Community Healthcare. The three partners in HSA share the aim of improving health and wellbeing for the people of the Midwest. The Junior Health Sciences …