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83% Reduction in Clare Road Deaths since 2007

ROAD deaths in Clare have seen an 83% reduction since 2007. This places Clare in the top five counties in terms of the reduction in road deaths. The first year-on-year increase in the number of fatalities since 2005 came in 2013 and has been revealed in a recently published report by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). The publication looks at the number of road deaths in each county in Ireland, from 2007 to 2013, which placed County Clare in the top five safest counties, with the fewest number of fatalities. The report, entitled 2007 To 2013 Road Traffic Deaths by User Type and County, highlights the reductions in road fatalities in Clare between 2007 and 2013. However, while this statistic is a step in the right direction, tragically, since 2007, 23 drivers, three motorcyclists, two cyclists and eight pedestrians have been killed on roads in the county. Commenting on the report, Clare’s Chief Superintendent, John Kerin, said while the statistics …

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Limerick Hospital opens Children’s School Ark

Clare children who are seriously ill and require long stays at University Hospital Limerick can now be educated in state-of-the-art facilities on the hospital campus. Dr Liam Carroll, founding member and former chair of the Children’s Ark School Board of Management, and five-year-old, Jayden Conway Wood officially opened the new purpose built Children’s Ark School. The school provides multi-denominational primary and secondary level education for students attending University Hospital Limerick. This new facility comprises a large classroom for primary students, a second classroom for secondary students, toilets, office space and an outdoor learning area. The Department of Education and Skills has approved the installation of 100MB fibre broadband to enable access to the most up to date technology to support the education of the students. Managed by a board of management, its two teachers, Mary Carr and Margaret McCarthy are members of HOPE, the organisation for hospital teachers in Europe. Speaking at the opening, Ann Doherty, CEO, UL Hospitals, said …

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San Francisco Rosie with Beagh roots

A Californian with strong South Galway roots took to the stage at the regional finals of the 2014 Rose of Tralee at the weekend. Supporters from South Galway and North Clare travelled to Portlaoise to support Rosie Keehan, the San Francisco Rose, who was one of 60 young women vying for just 23 positions in the August finals in Tralee. Roses representing 29 counties in Ireland, 13 regions in the USA, Melbourne, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, Canada, Luxembourg, Germany, Scotland and seven major cities in England, all took part in the regional festival. Rosie is a University of San Francisco graduate, having obtained a BA in Arts Management and Art History. As part of that, she spent six months in Ireland, studying Arts and Celtic Studies at UCD. “My Irish heritage stems from my father, Vincent Keehan, who hails from Shanaglish in South Galway, where I have visited every summer since I was a baby,” explained Rosie, who attributes …

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Burren water springing up in Aran Islands

Caves under North Clare and South Galway could extend 30 miles under Galway Bay and reach the Aran Islands, researchers have discovered. Rain falling in the Burren and filtering through the limestone appears to be then travelling in underground rivers to the coast and under Galway Bay, before emerging in springs on Inishmaan, and in the bay itself, according to work by a group from NUI Galway. Geologists have found large networks of underground rivers hidden under the seabed and, while the current research project is wrapping up, additional funding would enable them to identify targets in the subsurface that could be drilled out and water abstracted from them to supply the Aran Islands. “I would never suggest there is an unending supply of water you could hit there, but there is good potential for hitting a water resource that might augment the water that falls on Inishmaan, or that might help with dealing with water supply on the smaller …

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Horse trading on Council positions continues

BROAD power sharing of positions of responsibility on Clare County Council between the various political groupings will almost certainly continue over the next five years, although a final agreement has yet to be reached. Talks on how positions, including those of mayor and deputy mayor, are to be allocated began on Tuesday of last week and were continuing on Wednesday evening, with another meeting slated for Thursday morning. It is hoped an agreement will have been reached by the time the new council holds its first meeting this Friday afternoon. Following the local elections, Fianna Fáil has 12 seats, Fine Gael eight, Independents seven and Sinn Féin one. For the purposes of the negotiations, two representatives from Fine Gael, two from Fianna Fáil and two representing Independents/Sinn Féin are in discussions. Wednesday was the ninth time they met. It is understood one of the main stumbling blocks is due to Fine Gael and Independents/Sinn Féin having the same amount of …

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English kicks off Leaving Cert for Clare students

MORE than 2,800 Clare students began their State exams on Wednesday. Nearly 1,400 students; 664 female and 729 male, were registered to sit their Leaving Cert in centres across Clare beginning this week. A further 67 students, 31 female and 36 male were expected to sit the Leaving Cert Applied here. The Leaving Cert began with English Paper 1 followed by Home Economics, Scientific and Social studies in the afternoon. For the Junior Cert, English and Communications was taken in the morning followed by Social Education in the afternoon. Just over 1,400 young people were registered for the Junior Cert exams in Clare, consisting of 714 girls and 687 boys. In total 60,698 young people are sitting the Junior Cert this week, while 54,933 were doing the Leaving Cert along with 3,042 taking the Leaving Cert Applied exams. The Leaving Cert Higher Level Paper 1 lasted three hours and included texts on bank robbery, pop music and video games as …

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Coole celebrations for Yeats’ 149th

To celebrate the 149th anniversary of WB Yeats’ birth, the Lady Gregory Yeats Trail group and Coole Music are holding an evening of poetry, song, anecdote, harp and traditional music in Loughrea. Words and music from the West: poetry by WB Yeats and music by Turlough O’Carolan will be performed by Tale of the Gael. At the event, which will take place in Loughrea Library this Saturday, art work of Jack B, Lilly, and Lolly Yeats will be on display and a short talk will be given on the Loughrea-Yeats connection. The programme combines the works of 18th century Irish composer of harp music Turlough O’ Carolan and poet WB Yeats in a way that reveals similarities in the lives of both. The musical group Tale of the Gael, has an international reputation for setting some of Ireland’s most beautiful music into historic context, and has represented Ireland abroad on several occasions, most recently at European Culture Week Strasbourg in …

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No white smoke for Mayor of Clare

Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins

A negotiating team representing the political parties and independents on the new 28-member Clare County Council will meet for the eighth time this Wednesday evening to try to broker an agreement on the rotation of  the Mayor of Clare position. The situation must be resolved in this for the annual general meeting of the council on this Friday afternoon. In the past, the post of Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council was retained within the majority party but for the past decade or so, the position [now mayor] has rotated among parties and independents. The outgoing mayor, Joe Arkins lost his seat in the recent local elections, an outcome that was due in no small measure to the redrawing of the electoral areas. It is understood that Fianna Fáil will have two terms  and at the crux of the matter is how to strike a balance of sharing the role of mayor between the seven independent, joined with the one Sinn Féin councillor, …

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