News

CYCLISTS who were taking part in the 24th annual West Clare Cycling Club-organised Kilrush to Loop Head cycle, pedalled into a problem when they dismounted for a brief stop at Loop Head Lighthouse last Sunday.

REGULATIONS banning smoky coal in parts of the county have been updated to prohibit the burning of the fuel by householders.

A new lobby group has expressed concern about the lack of female politicians in the county.

PJ Murphy knows that he is the last person anybody in Kilmaley will want to ring any time soon. They definitely won’t want to be the main reason behind the phone call. It’s not that the Tralee man and part owner of the Kilmaley Inn isn’t personable or approachable. It’s just that next week he will open his new funeral home for business. Living and married with three children in Barefield, PJ has worked and trained in the undertaking industry. Noticing that there wasn’t an active undertaker operating in Kilmaley, he has decided to go for it.

NEXT week is very special for the regional and local newspaper industry in Ireland. Local Newspaper Week ’12 celebrates the important role local papers have in shaping our country.

They are thinking – and hoping – at the top levels of the Labour Party that one of the most loyal members of the party, Róisín Shortall is already last week’s news.

The resignation of Róisín Shorthall from her junior ministerial position at the Department of Health has shed light on a number of areas that bear examination. Firstly, it has revealed an ideological nosedive to the right of the political spectrum on the part of the Labour Party and, secondly, the power imbalance that exists between the coalition parties.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Phil Hogan is coming under renewed fire in Clare this week over his decision to withhold €243,631 in funding from Clare County Council, as a result of what his department perceives as a poor collection rate for the controversial €100 Household Charge.