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Call for Ennistymon Famine memorial refurbishment

MAYOR of Clare, Councillor Joe Arkins was requested to facilitate the refurbishment of a Famine memorial in Ennistymon during a recent visit to Chicago. Concerned about the tarnished state of the memorial, a number of Clare exiles in Chicago approached Councillor Arkins during his recent trip to Wisconsin in the US to represent the county at the Milwaukee Festival. Representations were also made to the mayor when he visited a similar structure in Gaelic Park, New York. An Gorta Mór Memorial was erected in memory of the victims of the Great Hunger and was dedicated in Ennistymon on August 20, 1995 – the 150th anniversary of the tragedy. It is located across from a deserted workhouse, where an estimated 20,000 Irish people died and a mass graveyard for children, who perished and were buried without coffins on the Lahinch Road between Ennistymon and Lahinch. The memorial was erected by a combined effort of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and …

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Decision day dawns for Kilrush Plan

THE  public consultation stage for proposed amendments to the Draft Kilrush Town and Environs Development Plan 2014-2020 will end on Tuesday, October 29 next after which the elected members of Kilrush Town Council will meet to adopt the blueprint. Once adopted at the end of 2013, the Plan will determine the future land-use needs of the town and surrounding area in terms of economic development, recreational and community requirements, as well as residential, transport and infrastructural needs. “The coming fortnight represents the final opportunity for the people of Kilrush and Cappagh to have their say in the preparation of the Development Plan,” commented Mayor of Kilrush Paul Moroney. “Obtaining input from the local community during the public consultation stage of the plan-making process is important to the final outcome of the Kilrush Development Plan.  This is the only Plan that deals directly with the future development of Kilrush Town and therefore, it is important that the people of the town …

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Shannon traffic figures released

THERE was some more good news for Shannon on Wednesday, when it emerged that the number of flight movements there in September were up be 5.5% compared to the same month last year. The two other State airports, Cork and Dublin, also saw increases, of 5.2% and 6.6% respectively. Interestingly, the average number of daily movements at Shannon was just behind the average at Cork, with the numbers being 60 and 62. Both are way behind Dublin, where the average daily figure was 498. September was the seventh month in a row that traffic at Dublin increased and Irish Aviation Authority CEO Eamonn Brennan said; “This sustained growth is very encouraging news for Dublin Airport and the wider economy. September was also a good month for Shannon, up 5.5% year on year. There is some way to go to catch up with previous levels during the peak years but 2013 is a step in the right direction.” Total flights in …

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Global award for Shannon

SHANNON Airport lost huge amounts of business for half a decade until 2013 when it started to reverse the trend and the successes it has recorded this year were acknowledged this week when it was highly commended at the World Routes Awards for airport marketing, held in Las Vegas. This was global recognition for the Clare airport and Shannon was highly commended in the Airport Under 4 Million Passengers Category, in recognition of the success of its marketing programme since splitting from the DAA. Shannon beat off stern competition from airports around the world to make the shortlist of five, with Darwin Internaional Airport, Kilimanjaro International Airport, Ekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport and Kyiv International Airport also included. Darwin was named the overall winner, but Shannon was highly commended and received the second highest amount of preferences in the voting. Kilimanjaro was also highly commended. No other airport in Ireland or Britain made the shortlist for any of the four awards, which …

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Clare Association NYC Celebrates 125th Anniversary

FORMER Clare hurling manager and RTE analyst, Ger Loughnane is to head state side again this year to act of Master of Ceremonies at the Clare Association’s 125th anniversary dinner. Since the County Clare P.B. & S. Association of New York City, Inc. was founded in 1888, the officers, members and friends have joined together each year to celebrate their Clare heritage and remind themselves of the purpose and goals of the association. This year’s ball, in celebration of the milestone in their history, will be held on Saturday, November 9 at Riverside Church in NYC. There will be a cocktail hour at 7pm followed by dinner and dancing to the music of the popular Cunningham Brothers Band. The function will also honour the 2013 ‘Claremen of the Year’, Kevin Grady and Tony Nolan. A native of Sixmilebridge, Kevin is a resident manager in Manhattan while Tony, a native of Kilkee, is president of Allcom Electric Inc. Association president Catherine …

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Dancing shoes on for annual festival

THE 25th All-Ireland Festival of Dancing takes place in Gort next week. The silver jubilee dancing championships and social dancing weekend will be held in the Lady Gregory Hotel from October 17 to 20. The weekend will feature music from PJ Murrihy, Patrick O’Sullivan, Tommy Flaherty and music for all the dancing championships will be provided by Michael Cleary and Breege Kelly from Donegal. According to organising chairman and founder member of the championships 25 years ago, James Lee from Gort, “Entries are well up on previous years. There are 80 children all under the age of 14 years entered in the old-time waltz and the jive this year.” “We start on the Thursday night with practice and social dancing, with refreshments served and the best of music by Tommy Flaherty and dancing from 8.30pm to 12 midnight. “Friday kicks off at 7.30pm with seven championships for residents of the hotel only, followed by social dancing from 10.30pm to 1am …

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Six Nations tournament marks 50th anniversary

SCARIFF Rugby Football Club marks a milestone this month and will hold a Six Nations Rugby Tournament, to celebrate its golden jubilee. Events take place from Friday, October 18 to Sunday, October 20. On Friday night, there will be a welcome event in the Mountshannon Hotel and on the Saturday, events get underway from 10am. Family-fun activities will be held at Craven’s Park and include a tractor pull and bouncing castle, while an underage rugby match takes place from 10am. This will be followed by the Six Nations Rugby Tournament. Joining Scariff RFC for the event are St Apollinaire, France; Promod, Italy and Kettering, Britain. Teams from Ennis and Portlaoise will also join the fold. Fr Brendan Quinlivan will attend to bless the field of play and a 50-year trophy will be the coveted prize for the winners. On the Sunday, visiting teams will get to see all East Clare has to offer and will be treated to a céilí …

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Two parties in running for Kilkee Dive Centre business

CLARE County Council is considering two expressions of interest in Kilkee Dive Centre, which local town councillors say is extremely expensive to operate. At Monday’s meeting of Kilkee Town Council, Town Mayor Paddy Collins asked for an update on the centre. Kilkee town manager Anne Haugh read a letter from Michael McNamara, corporate services of Clare County Council, where he outlined the latest situation. “Some months ago the council sought expressions of interest from parties interested in leasing the dive centre in Kilkee, consequent of a previous lease being terminated. Three parties expressed interest. Detailed submissions were subsequently received from two interested parties. These submissions are under consideration at the moment and before the end of the month, the council hopes to be in a position to select a preferred party,” the letter read. “This will give that party ample opportunity to have the facility up and running for 2014. The council are committed to ensure that the facility is …

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