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AN award-winning Great Dane was one of the star attractions at the official launch of one of the major social events in South-East Clare. Charlie the Great Dane helped to launch the 24th annual South-East Clare Show in Bridgetown, with his three-year-old owner and best friend, Brianna Lync,h and her mother, Arabella Scanlan. This amazing dog, who captured the hearts of the country when The Clare Champion highlighted his uncanny ability to detect Brianna’s epileptic seizures up to 20 minutes before each episode, was coolness personified with all the hustle and bustle at the show launch. Charlie has already been honoured by the Irish Great Dane Club for his amazing sixth sense and also received a Great Paws Award for his services, which will be featured on RTÉ again in the coming weeks. With a total prize fund of €20,000 and more than 2,500 equestrian, cattle and horticultural entries expected, the 2014 show will draw thousands of people to watch …

ONE of Kilmihil’s best-known business families, Mangans, are hoping to entice entrepreneurs living abroad to return home and create jobs, by placing a 15,000 sq ft depot in the village at their disposal and free of charge. The building, located in the centre of the West Clare village, also has access to a 15,000 square foot yard. The warehouse served as the headquarters of the family business until Mangan Brothers transferred their headquarters to Ennis in 1972. At one point, approximately 40 people were employed at the plant, including seven of the Kilmihil panel that reached the 1968 county football final. In early February, the Mangan family handed the building over to Clare County Council and to the Kilmihil community and are now highlighting the fact that the facility is available for free. The company was founded by Martin Mangan 82 years ago. They were bought out by BWG Food Group in 2008. In a renewed effort to promote their …

CALLS were made to have the recruitment embargo on the employment of local authority workers lifted at a meeting of Clare County Council. Councillor Christy Curtin raised a motion calling for an update on staffing and budgetary matters arising from the newly established Municipal District Offices and Local Enterprise Office and Service Centre. Meanwhile, Councillor PJ Ryan asked the council to request the relevant minister to lift the embargo on the employment of local authority workers. Councillor Curtin asked for a time-frame for alignment of road engineering areas with municipal district areas and the implications for delivery of the road and allied infrastructural services. According to Eddie Power senior executive officer at the Human Resources Department of the council, the realignment of the five roads engineering areas to four roads engineering areas to coincide with the new Municipal Districts of Shannon, Ennis, West Clare and Killaloe has been completed. “An adjustment at operational level to the functional areas of SGSS’s …

Born with a heart condition, a young Ballyea woman has spent the past 16 years travelling to Crumlin Children’s Hospital. This year, after having what she hopes will be her final heart surgery, Lauren Coote decided to raise money for the heart centre at the hospital, in recognition of the care she received there. Lauren has just completed her Junior Certificate at Coláiste Muire in Ennis. Before her exams, she and her classmates in C3 organised a no-uniform day and raised €1,335, which she delivered at a recent check-up in the hospital. “We held the no-uniform day in the last week before school ended. We involved the school because we wanted to raise as much money as possible. I brought the idea to the principal and then all the class helped out, counting the money and letting people know about it,” Lauren outlined. “The reason we did this is because I have been going to Crumlin all my life since …

A NUMBER of councillors expressed anger at problems in the water supply around Sixmilebridge and Cratloe, at this week’s Shannon Municipal District meeting. Councillor John Crowe put forward motions asking that the Cappa/Rossmanagher Group Water Scheme and the Castlecrine Group Water Scheme both be taken over by Irish Water. Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Crowe asked that the council and Irish Water devise a plan to improve water pressure to the Wood Road in Cratloe. Regarding the Cappa/Rossmanagher scheme, Councillor John Crowe said that people on it have only got “a trickle of water for the last three or four weeks and they have no place to go to try and get this rectified.” He claimed it is “an absolute disgrace” that issues with group water schemes can’t be sorted out. Illustrating the problem with water pressure, he said that people have left water running into a kettle for over three hours without filling it. Independent PJ Ryan said that on …

ENTERPRISE Ireland figures for 2013 show that the Mid-West was the agency’s worst performing region and client companies delivered a net gain of just one additional job in the Banner County. While much has been made of Ireland’s prospering export sector, the figures show the benefits are not being seen in Clare to the extent they are in some other parts of the country. County Councillor James Breen has reacted by claiming Clare is becoming a “poor relation” in terms of jobs and that the county’s Oireachtas members are not delivering. Enterprise Ireland is the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. It published its annual report and accounts on Thursday of last week, which showed 2013 results as the best performance in over a decade in terms of net job creation. The report showed a net increase in full-time employment of 3,620 across its six regions. While each one showed some level …

RHONA Lucas laughs when she is asked to describe herself. She lives with 147 cats, five dogs, three donkeys and a posse of nine visiting foxes in Cloonlaheen East, not far from Mullagh. With the odd exception, she knows the name of most of her cats, who reside in the An Cat Dubh Sanctuary in the tranquil surrounds of her relatively new abode. [doptg id=”33″]“My view is that eccentricity is interesting,” Rhona replied, when asked was she perhaps slightly odd. “If we were all the same, it would be very boring. If you met me I clearly am not mad. I just believe that animals deserve to be treated with respect,” she explained. Intriguingly, Rhona also gets on with people, as her former Galway-based vet attests. “They always said that they loved working with me because I clearly liked people as well. A lot of people in the welfare business sadly don’t like people. They’re much better with animals and …

Plans for two crematoriums in County Clare have gone up in smoke after separate votes by public representatives this week. Clare County Council blocked plans for the development of a crematorium outside Ennis after voting against changing the zoning of the area at Kildysart Road, Ballaghfadda at a meeting on Friday morning. The site of the proposed development was in an area zoned for housing but the council’s planning department recommended permission be granted for the crematorium, subject to a vote by elected members about changing the land designation. In order for the permission to be issued, 21 councillors would have had to vote in favour of a material contravention of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan. In the end just 11 voted in favour of it with 15 against. There was significant opposition to the proposed chapel, crematorium and cemetery from funeral directors and undertakers across Clare. On Monday last councillors voted against disposing a site with planning permission …