News

SECURING a new maritime festival on the Shannon Estuary would generate a multi-million tourism economic windfall for West Clare and the entire county, according to Councillor PJ Kelly.

The Mayor of Clare has opened a book of condolences in memory of those killed in last week’s attacks in Oslo and has called on the people of Clare to show their solidarity with the citizens of Norway.

SHANNON Airport has “priced itself out of existence” according to Michael O’Leary.

EDITORIAL

THE Open Fair project, developed in Clare in 1992, will have its national relaunch in Ennis on Sunday, August 28.

Child protection guidelines and policies in the Killaloe Diocese will be subjected to rigorous scrutiny when a national church body conducts a comprehensive inquiry later this year, Bishop Kieran O’Reilly has revealed. The body, which oversees the implementation of the guidelines in all dioceses, has conducted one audit in addition to reviews carried out by the HSE. Bishop O’Reilly expects this will be carried out in the Killaloe Diocese in the autumn, once dates are agreed between the two parties.The audit will involve all aspects of child protection, including identifying child protection training personnel in the diocese, what advisory board is in place, who the members are, the handling of previous child abuse cases and procedures for making material concerning child abuse allegations available to the statutory authorities.In an exclusive interview, Bishop O’Reilly confirmed he would welcome any Government or non-government agency conducting an independent inquiry into how child abuse allegations and protection were being conducted in the Killaloe Diocese.He …

A production company working on a €50 million film starring Gérard Depardieu is looking for as many as 200 Clare men to join the British, Roman and Norman armies this summer.The North Clare landscape will form the backdrop for scenes in the fourth of the Asterix & Obelix series, God Save Brittania. Water scenes were filmed off the Maltese coast, indoor scenes were filmed in Hungary and all the movie’s exterior shots are being filmed in Ireland.“The production companies opted for Clare because of the unique landscape and the Burren. It is the pieces of the Burren between Doolin and Fanore that are really something quite unique. They loved it and the karst landscape here. Except for the road going through it, which gives us access, the landscape hasn’t changed in hundreds of years,” Manus Hingerty, locations manager on the project, told The Clare Champion.Filming, which takes place in early September, will see 150 cast and crew members descend on …