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2,800 Clare students facing exams

As around 2,800 Clare students began the first of the main Leaving Cert, Leaving Cert Applied and Junior Cert examinations this morning (Wednesday), the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) has issued a reminder about its annual blog. “The exam blog goes live on Wednesday and students from across the country will be blogging throughout the exams, letting us know how they’re finding the exam process, and what they think of the exams themselves,” said ISSU president, Craig Mc Hugh “Students in Ireland should take care to relax over the next few weeks and avoid cramming, the most important thing is for them to present what they’ve learned over the course of their studies, not in the night before. As a fifth year student myself, I can only begin to imagine the feelings among exam students, but I’d like to urge all candidates to relax and realise that they are only human and can only do their best,” he said. ISSU …

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Five Clare restaurants compete for All-Ireland recognition

FIVE Clare restaurants celebrated their success at the Munster Regional Irish Restaurant Awards and will now go on to represent their county for the national titles at the All-Ireland Irish Restaurant Awards 2014. The Best Restaurant in Clare is Gallagher’s Seafood Restaurant; Best Chef in Clare David Hurley of The Dining Room at Gregan’s Castle Hotel; Best Hotel Restaurant in Clare The Dining Room at Gregans Castle Hotel; Best Casual Dining in Clare L’Arco Italian Restaurant, Best Gastro Pub in ClareVaughan’s Anchor Inn, Best Wine Experience in Clare Earl of Thomond @ Dromoland Castle Hotel and Best Customer Service in Clare Earl of Thomond @ Dromoland Castle Hotel. The All-Ireland Irish Restaurant Awards 2014 will take place next Monday in Dublin.. The night will see an expected crowd of up to 800 restaurant owners, staff and industry experts to gather to celebrate their work. “In their sixth year now, the Irish Restaurant Awards continue to go from strength to strength. …

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Frank O’Meara is new Mayor of Tuamgraney

TUAMGRANEY’s community weekend attracted record numbers to the East Clare village this past bank holiday weekend, as the festival elected a new mayor, and celebrated the life and times of Brian Ború. After a hotly contested election campaign the new Mayor of Tuamgraney was announced as Frank O’Meara, representing Hassett’s Bar. A first time candidate, Frank beat off competition from Michael Daly representing Teach Uí Bhrian, Mary Hogan representing East Clare Equestrian Centre, and Louise Carey representing Ryans Fuels. With 2,200 votes cast across the whole weekend, it came down to 49 votes separating the mayor from his nearest rival, Louise Carey. The new mayor was announced at an event on Sunday night and the chain of office was presented to Frank O’Meara, by Councillor Joe Cooney, who knows a few things about poll topping, on Sunday night to a gathering of approximately 700 people in the Marquee at Hassetts. Frank’s first official duty as Mayor was on Monday when …

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Proposal for major Shannon housing development

AN application has been submitted to Clare County Council seeking an extension of planning permission for a significant residential development at Tullyvarraga in Shannon. The application has been made by Jim Woods Building Contractor Ltd who is seeking an extension of planning granted in 2009 for the construction of 33 houses. The houses would consist of two blocks of five town houses, two blocks of four town houses, one block of three town houses, four blocks of semi-detached houses and five detached houses. There would also be one four-storey apartment block, with 38 apartments included. Of these 27 would be two beds, three would be one bed, four would be three beds and there are also be four two bed penthouses. It is also proposed that parking for 55 cars would be included for the apartment block. The application for an extension of planning permission claims that there is local demand for housing once again. “The site is serviced and …

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Biodiversity event in Tuamgraney

CELT, the Centre for Environmental Living and Training is running three events as part of Biodiversity Week, which is focused on recording and identifying mosses, lichens and liverworts. On Wednesday they will hold a Raheen Oakwood event with students from the ALFA project, Active Learning for Adolescents, which is based in Tuamgraney. The surveying is being held to raise awareness of this microscopic world, which is part of our biodiversity. “Native woodlands are the richest land based habitat for biodiversity, Irelands authentic landscape is Western Atlantic temperate rainforest dominated by Oakwood, this habitat is rich in bryophytes and epiphytes (mosses, lichens, ferns, liverworts) due to the high moisture content and unique adaptability of the Oak woods through time,” Andrew St Ledger, native woodland specialist and CELT biodiversity co-ordinator outlined. The event involves recording mosses, lichens and liverworts in Irish oak woods, with separate identification sessions using a microscope as well as manuals the results will be compiled and then shared …

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Clare tourism to benefit as Shannon’s services grow

CLARE is set to reap the benefits from Shannon Airport’s enhanced 2014 summer season schedule, with research on passenger destinations from last year illustrating the airport’s influence on visitor numbers to the county. Shannon Airport has nine new services this year on European destinations – Ryanair with Munich, Paris, Faro, Warsaw, Krakow, Nice, Poitiers, Berlin, Fuerteventura and Aer Lingus Regional with Bristol – alone, many with very strong markets for inbound tourism. Critically also, following the growth of transatlantic services last year, US frequencies have also dramatically increased this year, bringing greater numbers again of US tourists, who on average spend 60% more than any others, into Clare. The last two weeks alone saw the resumption of United Airline’s Chicago service (daily from June), which on the back of its success last summer will have 88% additional capacity this year.  The past fortnight also saw Delta Airlines back with its daily JFK New York service, US Airways return with its …

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Hair erasing experience for Kilmihil students

ELEVEN St Michael’s Community College, Kilmihil, fifth-year LCVP pupils, guided by their LCVP teacher, Claire Davoren, recently decided to organise a Shave Or Dye event in their school to raise awareness and funds for the Donal Walsh Livelife Foundation. Forty-eight students took part in the Shave Or Dye. Earlier this month, Elma Walsh, mother of Donal, visited St Michael’s Community College to be presented with a cheque for €1,400. She spoke to the students about the work the foundation does, trying to improve hospice care for teenagers. The fun started in January, when students brainstormed various ideas and, through a group discussion, decided on the Shave Or Dye fundraiser. “Jobs were allocated to all members and a time schedule was agreed on. Every week, we checked our progress against our plan and, if someone was finding it difficult to complete their task, as a group, we discussed other options to help them achieve their aim. “It was a team effort …

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New principal for St. Caimin’s

ST Caimin’s Community School Shannon will have a new principal from the start of September, with Claire Knight taking over from John Cleary. Ms Knight has been at St Caimin’s since 1985, has taught PE and maths and served as deputy principal for the last five years, a role she enjoyed. “I learned an awful lot from the experience and I enjoyed working with the students, their parents and the teachers.” Of her new position, she says, “We’re in a very good place now to bring people forward with all the changes that are coming in education. The central theme for us is our mission statement that we have an environment that is structured and that students feel cared for and safe.” She has seen huge changes in the school over the course of her lengthy career. “We started off that first year with 112 students, then we brought them in one year at a time. It was initially built …

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