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Clare County Council is making significant progress delivering the Shannon River Crossing project, which will be on of the biggest infrastructural project in South-East Clare. The estimated cost of the project totals €69 million, which includes construction, land acquisition, design, supervision, risk, contingency and archaeology. It is expected the new Shannon River Crossing, Killaloe By-Pass and upgrade of the Ballina to Birdhill R494 regional road will take up to three years to construct and could start next summer if everything goes to plan. Out of 110 affected property owners, two homes were acquired under the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process, which will have to be demolished. One of these is in Clarisford while the other one is at the Ogonnelloe end of the scheme. The council concluded a deal with these two property owners at an early stage – one built a new dwelling in the locality and the other home owner has moved out of the area. In an …

CLARITY has once again been sought over the use of CCTV to convict those involved in illegal dumping, in light of concerns raised the Data Protection Commissioner about remotely-operated cameras. A question was tabled at the November meeting of the local authority by Councillor Alan O’Callaghan, asking whether or not footage could be used in prosecutions. The Fianna Fáil member noted that the issue had come up at the most recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC). He said he had been “taken aback” by the advice given there. “It seems that the Data Protection Commissioner has highlighted issues,” he said, “however, we all watch programs where Gardaí make appeals for dashcam footage. It’s very frustrating. We are trying to battle dumping and littering issues across Clare.” Councillor O’Callaghan noted that his party colleague Councillor Cillian Murphy had drawn his attention to an article reporting that 64 littering fines were issued in Tipperary thanks to the use of CCTV …

THE new €19.5 million 60-bed block modular unit to tackle overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) will be fully operational almost two months after a recent predicted timeframe given by a government minister. Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler stated in the Seanad recently “from a construction perspective, the new ward block should be ready to be operational by Monday, November 9”. However, it has now been confirmed the long-awaited modular unit will come on stream in three distinct phases, starting with 20 beds next Monday and will not be fully operational until January. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has told Deputy Cathal Crowe a new 20-bed ward, which is part of the 60-bed unit will open next Monday, this will be followed by a further 20 in December and the final 20 will be up and running in January. “A state-of-the-art facility will be in place at UHL now, and the timing couldn’t be better …

A PARTEEN woman, whose home has been seriously damaged by the presence of a defective building material, has made an emotional appear for others affected to go public about their situation. Geraldine Kennedy is one of more than 35 members of the recently-formed Clare Pyrite/Mica Action Group. The group is calling for home owners in this county to be allowed into a scheme to address the issue of defective concrete blocks in Donegal and Mayo. The grandmother of ten has already spent thousands of Euro on tests to prove that her home has 95% pyrite. She later spent €6,000 to have a chimney taken down, after fears it might fall. During a meeting over Zoom with Senator Timmy Dooley, Mrs Kennedy urged others to go public to highlight the extent of the distress the issue is causing. “I would encourage people to get in touch with the media,” she said. “We have already gotten local and national publicity. It’s not …

A GOVERNMENT minister has pledged that the construction of a new €1.3 million flood relief scheme on the outskirts of Clonlara will ensure scenes of flooded homes will “become a thing of the past”. Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan, has welcomed the approval of planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for the proposed flood relief scheme in Springfield, Clonlara. The scheme will involve the construction of a flood protection embankment, land raising, penstock / sluice, pump station and associated works at the townland and surrounding areas of Springfield. The project will protect 18 residential properties and will cost in the region of €1.3 million to build. “I think everybody who has followed coverage of flooding events over the past few years will recall the scenes of flooded homes and distressed residents trying to deal with the aftermath of significant flooding in Springfield/Clonlara. “Now that An Bord Pleanála has approved planning permission for …

PROGRESS with a greenway project for South and East Clare has prompted optimism that the development will have a transformative effect on tourism in the region, in the near future. Deputy Michael McNamara has learned that Waterways Ireland, who secured €140,000 last July, is to go to tender for a feasibility study and preliminary design works next week. Contractors for the study and design on the 41km route, which will start from the existing greenway to the University of Limerick (UL), crossing the River Shannon over the Black Bridge and following the old Errina Canal to O’Brien’s Bridge and onwards to Scariff, are expected to be appointed before Christmas. “Both reports should be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2021,” the Independent TD told The Champion. “Because so much of the land along the route is in the ownership of the ESB, I would hope that issues that are affecting the development of greenways in Kerry and …

DETAILS of how and when the National Broadband Plan will be rolled out in rural Clare are to be made available, after representations on the issue by Councillor Pat Hayes. It follows a case, highlighted by the Fianna Fáil member where a Tulla resident tried a total of ten providers, but still could not secure a satisfactory service to enable her to work from home. The Caher native tabled a motion at the November meeting of the County Council calling on National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to outline its plans and to explain “how areas will be prioritised, [the] timescale of the project and how they plan to interact with other providers”. Councillor Hayes, who is Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District, told the meeting that everyone had come to learn the importance of good broadband connectivity during the pandemic. Joining the meeting remotely, along with four other members, Councillor Hayes noted that good coverage was now essential to the business …

THE number of dogs being surrendered to the pound has dropped by half in Clare over the last five years, new figures show. However, there were more dogs abandoned in this county in 2019 than almost every other. Only Tipperary saw a higher number of surrendered dogs last year. The number of dogs being put down, meanwhile, has seen a 12-fold drop in this county since 2015, largely down to greater cooperation between the dog control authorities and rescue organisations. Data released by the Department of Rural and Community Development show that a total of 182 dogs were voluntarily handed over the to the pound in Clare last year. The only county with a higher rate of surrenders, Tipperary, had 191 dogs given over to the pound in 2019. While still higher than the national average, the number of surrenders has been steadily decreasing in the last five years and is down from 393 in 2015. “The figures are still …