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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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Tubber National School received their fourth Green Flag last week, at a ceremony in the Radisson Hotel in Galway. The theme of the flag was travel. The children were very conscious that for every 1km journey in a car, 13 balloons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. To reduce the amount of CO2, the children decided to come to school in a more eco-friendly way. This included travelling by bicycle, by walking and by park and stride. Some children also came to school by carpooling with other families. With help from Roisin Ni Ghairbhith, An Taisce Green Schools officer for County Clare, the children used incentives such as a Golden Boot award, to encourage all the children in the school to take part. The school also received their 10th Discover Primary Science and Maths award this week. They are only one school of 16 in the country that have received 10 such awards. As part of this initiative, the …

THE Burren Smokehouse has landed a year-long contract to supply its trademark product at a world-famous department store in London. Burren Smoked Irish Wild Salmon, which is produced by the Burren Smokehouse, will be offered for sale at Harrod’s Food Hall in the latest commercial success for the Lisdoonvarna-based company. It already supplies its products overseas to KaDeWe Berlin, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason. The family-run company sources its wild salmon from commercial fisherman, Mick Murphy, on the River Nore in County Kilkenny, before smoking the fish in the Burren. Mr Murphy, accompanied by Burren Smokehouse owner, Birgitta Hedin-Curtin, this week landed the first commercially-caught wild salmon in Ireland this year, near the historic Kilkenny village of Inistioge. “Mick Murphy catches the wild salmon in the traditional way, with snap-netting and in traditional flat-bottomed fishing vessels called cots. Conditions have been difficult this year, due to weather conditions, and the catch is late coming. “However, that has made the first …

A KILLALOE primary school teacher is one of a group of friends who is supporting the Pink Ribbon Walk in memory of her late friend, Nora O’Regan. Large groups and hundreds of individuals from every walk of life are in the pink as summer approaches, preparing for the now famous Killaloe Pink Ribbon walk on Sunday, June 8, in aid of Action Breast Cancer, a programme of the Irish Cancer Society. Everyone has his or her own personal, or communal, reason for participating in this, the fifth 10k trek through the scenic countryside around Killaloe.However, few are more enthusiastic than a small band of walkers, known as Nora’s Pals – the friends of the late Nora O’Regan, who died in April 2012 from the disease. Cora Scanlan, from Killaloe, who now teaches at the Gaelscoil in Nenagh, started her primary teaching in the Convent school.  She recalled that Nora had been a great friend to her at the start of …