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AT Monday’s Kilkee Town Council meeting Clare ISPCA Dog Warden, Frankie Coote, said an average of 100 dogs are dumped annually in the area from Kilkee to Carrigaholt. He addressed the meeting on a range of dog related issues. The dogs are then brought to the pound in Ennis and are either given to new owners or are put down. “Around 100 dogs a year are picked up from Kilkee to Carrigaholt,” he told the meeting, where he also addressed dealing with dogs roaming Kilkee beach and defecating in the town. “The biggest problem on a beach or a promenade is people not cleaning up after their dogs,” Mr Coote said. “At the moment we have a serious problem with dogs doing their thing on the paths,” Councillor Brian Keane confirmed.  “It’s very much happening year round. Children cycle through it on the footpaths and the next thing it’s all over the town,” Councillor Lily Marrinan Sullivan stated. Town mayor …

WHILE the Banner County has experienced a population boom in the last number of years, the county’s capital town of Ennis has seen a decline, according to official figures released for the 2011 Census. According to Ennis’ Mayor, Michael Guilfoyle, the growing numbers of people forced to emigrate has played a major part in the town’s changing population. “Emigration has taken its toll on the town. Emigration to places such as Australia and Canada is a major contributory factor in the amount of people who no longer live in Ennis. “I’m quite amazed that nobody has got any figures to show what is happening out there but, from my own experience, it is something that is having a major effect. Of the 24 players signed to Turnpike Rovers seven have left us in the last two and a half years,” he said.“Also when the last census was done Ennis would have been home to many asylum seekers who we welcomed …

According to the Census 2011, there are more than 2,000 vacant houses in the West Clare parishes of Kilkee (including the Kilfearagh electoral division), Kilrush town and Doonbeg.Kilkee tops the vacant house list with 1,189 empty dwellings in the town. This figure represents a 71% vacancy rate. The total housing stock in Kilkee is 1,674. The housing figure is an aggregate of all vacant houses, flats and holiday homes in the town. The figures however exclude houses where residents were temporarily absent on census night last year. Kilfearagh, which is also in the Kilkee parish has a total of 213 empty dwellings from a total housing stock of 376. This means that the vacant housing rate in Kilfearagh is 56.6%. Meanwhile, there are 462 vacant houses in the Kilrush town from a stock of 1,459, while Doonbeg village has 199 vacant houses from a total of 1,144. Commenting on the Kilkee figures, Kilkee Chamber secretary, John Williams, who is in …

Aside from the county towns, the villages of Sixmilebridge and Newmarket are the two most densely populated urban areas in Clare.Sixmilebridge has experienced a population explosion in the past decade with the population having almost doubled, up from 1,754 in 2002 to a current figure of 2,604. That equates to a 48.5% increase with females outnumbering males by a little under 1%.Kilmurry, which is also part of the parish of Sixmilebridge, has also seen an increase with the latest figures indicating an 11.9% rise in the population from 666 in 2006 to 745 in 2011.In the late 1990s the village’s new sewerage scheme came on stream and that facility, coupled with the Celtic Tiger era, precipitated a building boom. Sixmilebridge is now home to 22 separate housing estates and has mushroomed because of its close proximity to major centres of employment such as Limerick, Shannon and Ennis.While the population of Newmarket is down by almost one tenth in the last …

The census has found that Quin has seen the largest increase in population in Clare since 2002, with an increase of 70.5% from 853 residents to 1,454. The 2011 census has also shown that the village’s population continues to grow as it saw a rise of 38.7 % on the 2006 figures, increasing by 406 people from the 2006 census that recorded 1,048.Other areas that saw a rise in population since 2006 were Coolreagh, up from 152 to 231, a percentage change of 52%. The Newgrove area went from 221 to 293 in five years representing a population percentage change of 32.6%, while the Boherglass area jumped by 31.7% from 218 to 287. While certain areas are seeing an increase in population there have been a number of decreases in other parts of East Clare, most notably in the Spancilhill area which had the highest decrease in East Clare. According to the Census 2011 there has been a drop of …

CSO figures showing an increasing population in one of Clare’s most scenic areas have been refuted by local councillors. Liscannor to the Cliffs of Moher, via Hags Head, saw the biggest surge in population in North Clare between 2006 and 2011.The population has grown by nearly one third, according to the latest CSO figures. Liscannor saw its population jump to 374 from 282, an increase of 32.6% or 92 people. According to Census 2011, neighbouring Ballysteen had a population of 363, a rise of 31.1% or 86 people from the 2006 figure of 277. Liscannor also saw a building boom during the five years up to last year with more vacant houses than occupied ones. According to Census 2011, the area had a unit vacancy rate of 56.2%, the third highest in the county. Its housing stock stood at 356 last year and 200 of these homes were deemed vacant.More than half the housing units in Ballysteen (52%) were vacant, …

THE population of Clenagh, the electoral division that includes Shannon Town, had a population of 10,058 on census night last year.This represented an increase of 2.7%, or 263 on Census 2006. It is also up by 1,002 or 11.1% on the 2002 census. The population density came to 361.77 people/km2.Females were in a slight majority, with 5,056 (50.3%) compared to 5,002 males (49.7%).There were 3,771 permanent private household units, an increase of 9.6% on the 3,441 recorded in 2006. There were also 394 vacant units. In Drumline, the population stood at 852, an increase of 852 on the 741 recorded in 2006. It also reversed the trend seen in the last census, as there was actually a drop in population between 2002 and 2006.The area’s population density was 61.56 people/km2. The male population were in the minority, with 409 males making up 48%. There was a female population of 443 or 52%.The number of permanent private households stood at 274, …

The population surge in South-East Clare has prompted a call for Environment Minister Phil Hogan to retain the number of county councillors representing constituents in this densely populated district.Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald insists Minister Hogan must take into account the findings of Census 2011, which confirms population increases ranging from 9% in some areas to 54%.The Labour Councillor warned that any attempts by the minister to introduce another changes, in the electoral area boundaries could result in councillors being forced to represent even more constituents if the current number of local representatives are not retained.“Any new proposals under plans for the reform of Local Government must take into account Census 2011,” he said.Official statistics released by the Census reveal the population of the Cappavilla Electoral Division near the Clare campus of the University of Limerick jumped by 54% from 674 in 2006 to 1,038.The next highest population hike was in Killaloe where it went up from 1,587 in 2006 to 1,826 …