News

Are John Murray’s listeners the fittest radio devotees in Ireland? They are definitely the most active as hundreds of Murray’s RTE radio 1 listeners have joined the broadcaster on six pre-show walks since the morning show (9 to 10am) started last September.

CLARE Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen will  have to get permission from Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan to carry out reclamation and other works on his land on the banks of the Shannon under proposed restrictions protecting wintering birds on large tracts of land along the River Shannon and Fergus Estuary.Deputy Breen and Fine Gael  Councillor Oliver Garry are just two of the landowners along the estuarine habitat from Limerick City westwards as far as Doonaha in West Clare who have received a notice of intention to designate their land as a special protection area (SPA) for wintering birds.While consent for works can initially be obtained from the local National Parks and Wildlife ranger, works can only commence on the grant of Minister Deenihan’s consent.Clare IFA has expressed grave misgivings about the impact of the list of restrictions on farmers as a result of the proposed designation.Their concern is shared by Deputy Breen who has highlighted the anomaly that exists in …

AN emergency operation was “frustrated” on Tuesday when Coast Guard personnel answering a call found it difficult to gain access to Doolin Pier as a result of cars being “abandoned” en route.The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard clipped one car parked on the road in an effort to gain access to the pier to launch its new 9m Delta Super X Rib. Doolin Coast Guard was called out to assist the Inis Oírr Coast Guard team with an incident on the island where a Japanese tourist fell 6m from O’Brien’s Castle wall.“There was a lot of traffic in Doolin on Tuesday and cars were practically abandoned on the road with people in a rush to go on the ferries. One of the cars was tipped by the coast guard trailer and we have had to fill out an incident report in relation to it,” Mattie Shannon, officer in charge, Doolin Unit, Irish Coast Guard told The Clare Champion.At …

FRIDAY July 22, 2011, will be a day forever etched in the minds and hearts of the people of Norway as they learned of the horror attacks on the island summer camp of Utøya and of the bomb blast in central Oslo. For a young group of Norwegian musicians currently visiting East Clare on an exchange programme, there is a feeling of immense sorrow but also incredible pride in their country in the aftermath of this atrocity as they recall the day their world stood still.Lars Sivelspad Smaaberg (18), who lives outside of Oslo, said he will never forget when the news came through of the Oslo bombing and the subsequent shootings on the island of Utøya.“It was shocking. I was at work, I work as a waiter and everyone at work just stopped in front of the TV in the bar and stood still and were watching the television. No one was thinking about the customers or anything. They …

GARDAÍ have described the seizure of €40,000 worth of cannabis plants at a woodland area in Whitegate as “the largest find of growing cannabis in the area”. The find of 100 plants was made last week at the townland of Ballyhinch, near Cregg Cross and was part of an intelligence-led operation involving gardaí from Scariff and Killaloe. The haul is the second sizeable drug seizure in the county in a week following a €25,000 worth of cannabis resin found at a house in Ennis last Tuesday. Inspector John O’Sullivan of the Killaloe Garda District said the plants were discovered growing in a wooded area adjacent to a house in Ballyhinch, Whitegate. “The plants were reaching maturity and there was evidence some of them were partially harvested. They were obviously there for a good while and were being looked after as they need constant watering. It is the largest seizure in our area for some time,” Inspector O’Sullivan noted. Sergeant Joe …

TRANSPORT Minister Leo Varadkar has announced that the €3 air travel tax won’t be abolished until next year at least and he has been backed by his Clare colleagues in Government.Interestingly, Clare TD Timmy Dooley also backed that course of action although Ryanair have criticised it. In a statement, the Department of Transport said solid commitments from airlines on inbound routes and capacity could not be secured. It was also stated that a “significant proportion” of revenue taken from the €3 travel tax would be used to support inbound tourism. Labour party TD Michael McNamara said airlines need to give some commitments before they get the tax reduced. “Following calls from airlines, the Government agreed to abolish the travel tax as the airlines increased their routes but as we can see with Shannon Airport, this is not happening. Airlines need to realise that they have their part to play. “The Government announced yesterday that they have made a €8.5m co-operative …

CONFUSION over the precise location of Ballina was presented to the Irish Coast Guard last week when units from two stations, almost 200km apart, were mobilised after an emergency call was received. The alarm was raised after a caller reported that a man had jumped into the river at Ballina. It was not made clear whether this incident related to the River Shannon at Ballina in County Tipperary or the river Moy at Ballina in County Mayo. When attempts to contact the caller’s mobile phone failed, coast guard teams from Killaloe and Killala in County Mayo were mobilised. The story had a happy ending when it was confirmed that the man and his girlfriend, who had gone to his assistance, had made it safely to the slipway in Ballina, Tipperary none the worse for their experience.