News

ST JOSEPH’S Secondary School has been recognised for a project designed to raise awareness of mental health supports and resources.  The Tulla school was Highly Commended in the Young Social Innovators (YSI) Ireland Mental Health Awards, supported by the Health Service Executive (HSE). Students were praised for their I-CAN project, entitled Make Our World Healthier. The project was developed in response to a perceived lack of accessible resources to help young people manage their mental health throughout the pandemic.  The students wanted to provide young people with a physical tool that they could use to combat stress and anxiety. They developed the innovative I-CAN – a tin containing advice, activities and information resources for young people to help them cope in tough times. In the future, the team plans to make I-CANs available to other schools in the area and hopefully on a national scale. This year’s YSI programme saw participation from 6,123 Irish teenagers from 209 schools and organisations …

CLARECASTLE’S Men’s Shed certainly took a punt when it came to their latest project, the results of which they quite literally launched this week. On Wednesday the members of the shed set a 20 foot punt boat out on the water at Clarecastle Quay having lovingly built the vessel over the last couple of months. A complete photographic record of the construction of the boat has been kept by the  Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group. With Eric Shaw of the group saying, “This will be an important archival record”. The Clarecastle Men’s Shed were commissioned to build the punt boat, with a boat of this design not been built in Clarecastle since the 1960s. It is believed the late Tommy Considine was probably the last man to build a punt boat in Clarecastle and two of his boats still survive. One was donated to the Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group in 2018. The Men’s Shed were delighted to get …

ENNIS is thriving as the social and cultural hub of County Clare and the retail offer in the town centre is robust, a Clare County Council survey has claimed. The Council’s Planning Department conducted an Ennis Town Centre Retail Health Check in September 2021 surveying the ground floor use of units in Ennis town centre. The results of the Health Check were compared with the results from previous years, to allow for comparisons to be drawn and patterns to be identified. The findings from the Ennis Town Centre Retail Health Check 2021 illustrate that retail and retail services account for 35% of the total ground floor use of buildings within the town centre, and leisure services such as restaurants, public houses and gyms encompass 12% of the ground floor usage in Ennis. These findings indicate that Ennis is thriving as the commercial, social and cultural hub of the county. Financial and business services are also well established in the town, accounting for 7.3% of the ground floor usage …

AN ENERGY Master plan for Clooney/Spancilhill Community Development will be launched this Wednesday, May 25.  In association with Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) and Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA), the event is an opportunity for community members to hear details of the plan and find out about how homes can be upgraded to be warmer and more energy efficient.  The plan will be launched by Senior Executive Officer for the Killaloe Municipal District, Morgan Lahiffe and Cathaoirleach, Councillor Joe Cooney, at the information evening, which will run from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Clooney National School. The evening will provide details of a range of home energy grants and how to apply. There will also be a Q&A session with experts from TEA and information on the renewable energy options available to the local community. Specific information will be available to home and business owners, farmers and transport providers.  This Clooney/Spancilhill Community Energy Master Plan has been developed to enable the community …

HOUSING planned for Tulla will create 42 construction jobs and bring an investment of around €3.75 million to the East Clare town, if given the green light. The assertion was made by Woodhaven Developments which is looking to build 36 new homes on a greenfield site, close to Glebe House, on Church Road. The company, which has already secured permission for 17 houses and a commercial centre nearby, on the site of the former St Joseph’s Secondary School, told planners the development will help to meet housing need in Tulla. The site is just over 1.5 hectares and the housing density proposed equates to 23 homes per hectare. Woodhaven has noted that, on sites like this, the guidelines would recommend a range of 30 to 50 units per hectare. The company has argued that the location of the site on the edge of town, inside the speed limit, means a lower-density estate should be allowed. The application has also warned …

A GENERAL scheme for the new Bill to revise the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme is to be considered by Government in the next fortnight.  The Department of Housing told The Champion that “work on the formulation of the General Scheme for the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme is ongoing”, but refused to be drawn on the issue of Pre-Legislative Scrutiny. The potential absence of this consultative phase in drafting the legislation, is a matter of major concern for the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) and advocates around Ireland.  In a letter to Clare’s Oireachtas members, the CPAG said that to “under no circumstances can we accept a situation where Pre-Legislative Scrutiny would not be carried out on the new Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme”. The group has reiterated concerns over aspects of the new scheme, including the damage threshold; access to an independent engineer and testing; and the focus on remediation options other than demolition.  “It is …

THE 38-year old daughter of a EuroMillions winner is set to receive an automatic driving ban over an incident in Ballina last year. This follows solicitor for Kevanne McNamara, Daragh Hassett telling Ennis District Court on Tuesday that his client is to enter a plea of guilty to a single count of dangerous driving. A conviction for dangerous driving will result in a mandatory driving ban for Ms McNamara of Ard Coillte, Ballina, Co Tipperary as a judge has no discretion in the matter and must impose a ban. Kevanne McNamara’s family connection to Dolores McNamara, who won a then record €115 million EuroMillions jackpot in August 2005, was not referred to in court. In total, Ms McNamara is facing charges concerning four driving-related alleged offences that include two counts of dangerous driving from one day in July last year. The four charges include a charge of Ms McNamara driving her 11-C registered car under the influence of an intoxicant …

THE Shannon College of Hotel Management has an economic impact of over €5 million per annum, its head Dr Phillip J Smyth told a meeting of Shannon Municipal District councillors on Tuesday. The meeting was held at the College and at its outset the members heard a presentation from Dr Smyth, which was somewhat disrupted because of a cyber attack on NUI Galway, of which the college is a part. Dr Smyth said that it is now quite difficult to get housing for its approximately 400 students. “The biggest problem we have is accommodation,” he said. Dr Smyth said that a mail shot is going out throughout the Municipal District, looking for expressions of interest in housing students. Explaining some of the college’s history, he said that when it was being established by Dr Brendan O’Regan, approaches were made to Government for funding. However Dr Smyth said the Government’s position was that “there were not jobs for 12 trained hotel …