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Special collections will take place at all masses across County Clare at the weekend, as part of a national appeal to help people caught up in the current food crisis in east Africa. Trócaire executive director Éamonn Meehan, from Kilmaley, has urged people to get behind the appeal and support the agency’s efforts to save lives in the affected areas. 25 million people in east Africa are facing starvation in the coming months and millions could die unless they receive immediate assistance. Severe drought, driven by climate change, is currently affecting Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia and this has resulted in failed harvests and the widespread death of livestock. The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for a national church collection to support Trócaire’s work in the region. “With the failure of successive rains and a prolonged drought having taken hold of the region, just surviving has now become the main challenge facing the people of east Africa,” Éamons …

Clare could become the first county in Ireland to generate electricity from solar energy following the granting of planning permission to Terra Solar to develop and operate the company’s second solar farm in Firgrove, Sixmilebridge. Construction on the Terra project is expected to commence mid next year, creating 60 jobs during the 12 week build. The Irish company also received planning permission earlier this year for another solar farm located in Ballymorris near Cratloe. Both solar farms are similar in size and between them will generate enough electricity from the sun to power nearly 2,500 homes in the county. Solar power is regarded as one of the cleanest sources of energy and has minimal impact on the environment as it does not emit pollution during production or consumption. The farms will remove nearly 3,600 tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere, helping Clare County Council in its work towards meeting the national target of generating 40% of energy used from …

Clare County Council’s €250,000 annual grant to the Glór should not become a financial “crutch to lean on” over the coming years, a local councillor has warned. The comment was made as councillors agreed to extend the five-year lease for the use of the building to 15 years, for a nominal sum of €1, at a meeting this week. Acknowledging the provision of an annual subsidy of €250,000 is an “ongoing cost”, chief executive officer Pat Dowling said the authority is looking at ways to make the facility more economically sustainable. He added that the authority would also be examining governance issues. While Glór plays an important role in the cultural life of Clare, Mr Dowling stressed it is vital that the council ensure the facility is sustainable. He explained the lease is being extended to allow the facility, which has been in operation since 2001, to draw down extra funding. Councillor Gerry Flynn said he was aware that Glór …

Clare senior hurling coach Donal Óg Cusack has distanced himself from a “letter of support” he had written, which was then submitted by a company to try to secure planning permission for an unauthorised sports facility in South-East Clare. The Clare Champion can exclusively reveal that Mr Cusack was not asked for his consent for the inclusion of a recommendation letter to support a retention planning application that was submitted to Clare County Council. Up to 100 residents have criticised the use of this unauthorised facility by Clare GAA in a comprehensive objection submitted to the council. A petition, signed by 102 residents opposing the planning retention, was sent to the local authority. Gillogue Residents’ Association (GRA) chairperson, Jim Upton, stated in a letter to the council, “We are sure community groups, the GAA and Donal Óg Cusack would be delighted to endorse an authorised development in a unique vast indoor facility, available nowhere else in the county”. Clare senior …

The Government must protect jobs in the Mid-West from the worst impacts of Brexit, Ennis Councillor Johnny Flynn has stressed. “The UK withdrawal from Europe places Irish jobs at risk; we have already seen due to the fall in value of sterling that there is a significant drop in tourists from UK. With tourism responsible for one of seven jobs in Clare I am concerned of the impact that that any plans to increase the VAT rate from 9% on tourism spend might have in Ennis and Clare.” Clare and Ennis was very badly affected by the economic collapse in 2008 with huge increase in people signing on due to job losses. By 2012 there were 10,493 people unemployed in Clare, that figure is now 6075. The number of people signing on the Live Register in Ennis district alone has dropped by 2028 from 5859 to 3389 since 2012, Mr Flynn has learned.This news comes as the CSO revealed the …

The Cabinet has today (Tuesday) agreed to bring forward proposals to target repeat sexual offenders, which would broadly reflect that proposed by Minister of State Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran in his Bill – the Criminal Justice (Commission of Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2017. Cabinet also approved Justice Minister Charles Flanagan’s proposals to amend the gender anomaly with respect to incest. Both issues will be contained in a Government Bill, which Minister Flanagan will seek Cabinet approval for in the autumn. Speaking following the Government meeting, Minister Flanagan said, “The major provisions with regard to the establishment of minimum mandatory sentences for repeat sexual offenders are based on the work of Minister of State Moran and I would like to acknowledge his commitment and dedication in working with my department to develop these proposals. “There are already provisions in place under the Criminal Justice Act 2007 to allow for minimum sentences to be imposed for certain repeat offenders and these new proposals …

The national student grant awarding body, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), is urging students who have yet to submit their applications for student grant funding for the 2017/18 academic year to do so now. The deadline for applications is this Thursday, July 13. Graham Doyle, head of communications & customer service with SUSI, said, “The processing of grant applications is once again running pretty smoothly. We are expecting to receive around 105,000 applications for the 2017/18 academic year. We have received 80,000 applications to-date and I would urge students to apply before the deadline to ensure that their applications receive priority”. The national awarding authority has already awarded grants to more than 41,000 students for 2017/18, including 10,500 new students. Mr Doyle said, “Leaving Certificate students should not wait until they receive their Leaving Certificate results and CAO offers late in August before applying to SUSI. They should put down their first choice of course on their SUSI application forms …

Property Industry Ireland (PII), the Ibec group for businesses working in the property sector, has said the house price statistics released today (Tuesday) by the CSO show the need to urgently increase the supply of housing. PII director, Dr David Duffy stated, “The lack of housing supply has been highlighted for a number of years. While there is some debate about which measure of housing supply to use, the supply of new homes coming onto the market remains well below the estimated annual average demand of 25,000 to 30,000 units, and this does not include any pent-up demand. “Policy makers and industry must continue to work together to identify how the supply of new homes can be increased across all regions of the country.”