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THE sense of community that exists throughout Clare has been lauded by the outgoing Clare Council chairman, P J Ryan. In his address to councillors at the authority’s annual general meeting on Friday, Councillor Ryan said serving the council as first citizen has been a “huge honour” over the past year. “I always wore the mayoral chain in the knowledge I represented everyone in this chamber as well as people of this county. “I attempted to attend as many events as possible across the county where I met many wonderful businesses and communities. From my engagement with people, I know the sense of community is one of our greatest attributes. “It has been an extraordinary 12 months here and abroad in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine.” He said it heartening that people in the community have worked so hard to provide help and support to those who need it most, which is something to …

FINE Gael TD, Joe Carey, has told the Dáil he believes the scale of the defective concrete blocks problem in this county may extend far beyond what has been documented to-date.  Speaking during the second stage debate last Thursday (June 30) on the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022, he said he expects many more homeowners to come forward now that Clare is included in the revised grant scheme.  “The Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) has identified 1,025 potentially impacted private homes, 17 private housing estates, five local authority housing estates and 11 large-scale public and private dwellings,” he said. “I strongly believe this is a conservative estimate and many more affected homeowners will come forward given that County Clare is now eligible for this scheme.” Deputy Carey, who first raised the issue of defective blocks in Clare homes in 2018, said that while many aspects of the new grant were welcome, concerns remained.  “The headline aspects of the …

WORK is ongoing on a new county development plan, which will have strict limits on the amount of houses that can be built in Clare, despite the burgeoning population. In the past six years the county’s population has increased by 7.2%, with the amount of housing units going up by just 4.2%. For the upcoming county development plan, which is set to cover the period 2023-2029, Clare is set to be restricted to just having 4,500 new houses. These will largely be in urban parts of the county and it is something that many of the councillors feel is far too restrictive. Councillor Pat Burke said that the new census figures weren’t considered before the restrictions were produced. “Under the county development plan, up to now anyway, there was no mention of taking these figures into consideration.” He said that the growth in population is only seen in certain areas of Clare. “It’s definitely not in the rural areas. Private …

A BIRTHDAY party organised by an Ennis granny for her one-year-old grandson “had got out of control” by the time Gardai called to the family home close to midnight, a court has heard. At Ennis District Court,  Inspector David Finnerty told Judge Alec Gabbett that around 40 people were in attendance at Kathleen McDonagh’s (49) home at 21 Childers Road, Ennis at 11.50pm on February 15 last year when Gardai called. The country was under Covid-19 Level 5 lockdown at the time when a ban on the staging of house parties was one of a range of restrictions in place aimed at halting the spread of the virus. Judge Gabbett said to solicitor for Ms McDonagh, Tara Godfrey “did the 40 people get Covid-19 is the question?” In response, Ms Godfrey said: “I have no idea on that Judge and I haven’t any information about any difficulty or outbreak arising out of this gathering at all.” Ms Godfrey pointed to a …

WITH the county’s population having grown by over 7% in the last six years and gone up 40% since 1991, it’s hardly surprising that the existing housing stock is under serious pressure. Clearly there continues to be great demand for housing in Clare, with house prices here now higher than during the Celtic Tiger years, and with renters in many cases paying over €1,000 a month for a house. Enda Galvin of Galvin Construction said that there is a high level of demand. “We are currently building in Crusheen, we’ve commenced 29 homes there and got planning for 42 more. “We’re also building in Tulla, we’re building 17 homes there and have planning in for a further 36. In the next month or two we’re hoping to open a site and build homes in Shannon. We’re finding it very busy and there is a big demand.” He said that at the moment there is a shortage of sites in the …

THE asking price sought for houses in Clare has more than doubled since the lowest point of the crash, the latest property price report from Daft.ie shows. Its research showed that the average price for a property advertised on daft.ie in the second quarter of the year was €241,191. This was an increase of 5.2% on the first quarter of the year and of 14.2% on the second quarter of last year, while it is an increase of 101.7% on the lowest point of the crash. An average one-bed apartment in Clare now costs €99,000, 22.7% higher than it was in the second quarter of 2021. A two-bedroom terraced house typically costs €121,000, up by just over 20% year on year. A three-bedroom semi-detached house now costs on average €168,000, up 17% year on year, while a four-bed bungalow now costs €309,000, up 10%. A five-bedroom detached house now costs on average €325,000, up by 14% since the second quarter …

Additional psychological services will need to be provided for Ukrainian students in Clare schools when the trauma of the illegal invasion of their country really sets in. That’s the view of new Ennistymon Community School principal, Orla Conway, who believes more back-up services will have to be made available to help schools cope with the devastating impact of the war. “It is like a bereavement for them at the moment. They are numb. When reality sets in autumn and we start heading in to winter the trauma will come then. “That is when we will really need to be ready for this in schools in September, October and November. That is why having strong pastoral care systems in schools is so important. “We are all traumatised from the war. Children in schools already have a level of trauma post Covid-19, they may have lost loved ones and the fear it may happen again. The Ennistymon Electoral Division has the highest …

UPGRADING water and waste water infrastructure and implementing a new County Development Plan have been prioritised by the new West Clare Municipal District (MD) chairman, Councillor Shane Talty. The Lahinch postmaster said these two issues have to be viewed against the backdrop of a national housing crisis and the dramatic 70% increase in Clare’s population since 2011. He recalled Councillor P J Kelly has stated the County Development Plan is an impediment to the sustainable growth of rural communities. “From the Burren to Loop Head, our young people are facing impossible obstacles trying to build their own homes with their own resources. “They are dealing with issues such as visual impact, scenic routes, national roads and other reasons to prevent homes being built in the area. “I believe we must do everything in our power between now and next spring to ensure the new plan becomes an enabler for development for all communities, urban and rural, big and small. “Often …