News

An Irish company with Clare and South Galway interests will co-develop the 105-megawatt Cloosh Valley Wind Project in Connemara, it was announced this week.The publicly traded Finavera Renewables also made it known that it has sold a majority interest in grid connection for Ireland’s largest onshore wind project to Scottish and Southern Energy for €8.4 million. Finavera Renewables revealed that it has signed an agreement with SSE Renewables (Ireland) Limited, a division of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), to sell a majority interest in its wholly owned Gate 3 grid connection from Eirgrid, which will be paid in stages.Finavera also signed a co-development agreement with SSE and Coillte, to jointly develop the Cloosh Valley project south of Oughterard in Galway.The Cloosh Valley Wind Project has nameplate capacity of up to 105MW and has received a Gate 3 Node Assignment from Eirgrid. The wind resource at the project is among the strongest in Europe. The project capacity would exceed all current …

THE finishing touches were being made to preparations for the ordination of the new Bishop, Fr Kieran O’Reilly, in Ennis Cathedral on Sunday afternoon.For months, a committee of organisers have overseen preparations for the occasion, with much of the work being handled by the team at Ennis Parish Office. The fruits of that work will be evident on Sunday, when thousands fill the Cathedral to celebrate at the ordination of Bishop O’Reilly. The 58-year-old Bishop Elect is a native of Cork City. He is the eldest of five children of Seán and Teresa O’Reilly. He was educated at primary level at the Presentation Brothers in Turners Cross, Cork and at secondary school level at Coláiste Chríost Rí. He joined the society of African Missions in Wilton, Cork in 1970. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth in 1974 followed by a Bachelor of Divinity in 1977 and a Diploma in Mission Studies in 1978. He …

SHANNON Development is to further pursue the potential of activity tourism products, arising from the first of five annual Sky Ride Etape Hibernia Cycles, held in the county last Sunday.

THE owner of an Ennis bakery is currently getting the advice of retail mastermind, Feargal Quinn, to progress her business.Caroline Gardiner from the Tulla Road is the owner of Carrie’s Cakes in Salthouse Lane. She was contacted by the production company, Amino Television some months ago to see if she was interested in being included in Senator Quinn’s RTÉ Retail Therapy series, where the hugely successful businessman helps businesses to improve what they offer customers.In the series, Senator Quinn works with six independent shops to help them battle the economic downturn and remain relevant in a cut-throat and over-crowded market. As the founder of the Superquinn chain of supermarkets in the 1960s, he has built the business up into one of Ireland’s most popular and respected brands. Ms Gardiner said that she felt being involved in the programme was a great opportunity.“I only opened the shop in March, so it’s still a very young business. I’ll take advice from wherever …

THE Burren was this week identified as the most important habitat in Britain and Ireland for a very rare species of bee.A new population of the rare great yellow bumblebee, a species threatened with extinction in Ireland, was found in the Burren last month. Also found were previously unknown colonies of both the shrill carder bee and the red shanked carder bee, two other very rare species of bee.“These new populations are very significant as they confirm that the Burren is one of the principal sites for bumblebee conservation in Ireland,” said Dr Una Fitzpatrick, ecologist with the National Biodiversity Data Centre.According to Dr Fitzpatrick, the shrill carder bee colonies make the Burren “by far the most important location for that species within Ireland and Britain”.The discoveries were made as part of a weekend-long BeeBlitz in the Burren last month.Dr Fitzpatrick organised the BeeBlitz, which took place during the weekend of July 23 to 25, to survey for bumblebees currently …

A RARE hen harrier, uniquely identified with a coloured tag on either wing, has returned home to the Slieve Aughtys in North-East Clare, and, after pairing with a local male, has reared two young chicks.“This is good news for the local hen harrier population in Clare,” hen harrier expert Barry O’Donoghue said. He captured photos of the young mother performing spectacular aerial food passes to her young chicks. “It is not only good news because she reared two young female chicks but because she has returned back to the mountain range on which she was born, which will help towards keeping the population there alive,” he said.The hen harrier has swapped allegiances in terms of counties; born on the Galway side of the Aughtys, she has moved just 10km from where she was born to breed on the Clare side. She has been seen on many occasions in her first two winters around Lough Corrib in Galway, after being tagged …

I HAVE always admired Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness for their success and patience in bringing the IRA with them on the democratic road to peace. Now I am beginning to wonder.They were never, of course, going to be able to convince all the IRA to give up their bombs and their guns. But I did believe that after 30 years of hardship and suffering, killing and dying, that only a tiny minority of Republicans would want to continue the struggle when peace and power-sharing were within their grasp.But a tiny minority can do a lot of damage as we saw in Belfast and Armagh in recent weeks. And Adams and McGuinness are powerless in the face of violence from dissident Republicans.They can plead with them and appeal to them to stop wasting their own lives as well as the lives of their neighbours and their friends.But it is all to no avail. Some people will never learn.It took Adams …

In Charlotte Square Gardens in Edinburgh, enclosed behind the ornate spiked fence, stands a temporary complex of white tents. These tents are joined by a series of covered wooden walkways that surround the grassy centre of the garden where a monument to Prince Albert stands.It was unveiled in 1876 by Queen Victoria. The temporary modern construct that surrounds it has appeared in the last two weeks and is the home of the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival. From August 14 and until August 30, noted names from the world of literature and thought have been speaking, reading, arguing and discussing their own works and the world in general.For those seeking debate and intellectual stimulation, it is the equivalent of Willy Wonka’s factory for the chocolate lover. It was there last week that I went with my parents, who were over for a welcome visit, to see a debate on the topic of the Big Society and what it will look …