News

FURTHER national protests on the defective concrete blocks issue are likely, after the Department of Housing indicated it is unlikely to increase the level of redress available to homeowners. A position paper drawn up as part of a review of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme also warned that any extension of the scheme to Clare, and other counties, will require very serious consideration. At the end of last month, the County Council submitted detailed evidence to support a call for the extension of the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme to Clare. The authority also backed calls for an extension of redress levels from 90 to 100%. In its position paper, the Department of Housing has confirmed that Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Sligo are seeking access to the scheme. It added that any changes that contribute to the further rise in the project costs of the programme – which could potentially have an upper ceiling of €2.5billion – would need detailed …

THE possible negative impact of the deferral the new County Development Plan (2022-2028) for seven months has been played down by the councillor who proposed the move. Councillor Cillian Murphy, who tabled the motion to invoke a new law that takes account of the impact of Covid-19, said that the net delay will be just three months. He added that the deferral is an opportunity to final alternatives to national policies that many fear will do irrevocable damage to rural areas. Last week, the deferral secured unanimous support, with some concerns raised about the potential impact on the county town, which will see both its Local Area Plan (LAP) and Ennis 2040 strategy deferred. “Because the Forward Planning team had actually started the County Development Plan process early, what we’re looking at, in real terms, is a delay of around three months,” Councillor Murphy told The Champion. “I respect the concerns of Ennis members but I don’t believe this will …

ONE Clare primary school is to be included in a national pilot project to look at how small rural educational facilities can be saved. The two-year programme, which has been unveiled by Minister for Education Norma Foley, will see Tubber National School operate as part of a ‘cluster’ with four other schools around the Gort area, and located in County Galway. Despite representations on behalf of a number of small Clare schools, including Clooney NS, the pilot – which will begin in the new school term – will involve a total of 24 schools in Galway, Donegal, Wicklow, Waterford and Kerry. The scheme, which has been developed by a working group of school management bodies and teachers’ unions with the Department of Education, will include strategies to share teaching and certain ‘common activities’, including special needs education. The role of ICT in linking the cluster schools will also be examined. Each cluster, comprised of three to five schools, will are tasked …

A CLARE lottery player who won €500,000 on a scratch card has admitted they didn’t realise at first just how much they won. “When I first scratched off the panels, I thought that I had won €5,000 which I was absolutely delighted with,” the winner admitted. “And then I looked at it again and thought it was €50,000. It wasn’t until I looked at it for a third time shortly after that I realized it was €500,000. “I was in total shock and probably sat there looking at the scratch card in disbelief for about five minutes.” The winner is going to think carefully about what to do before making any big plans. “I won’t be rushing out to spend it just yet. I am going to take my time and plan what we should do – I never expected to win an amount like this so as you can imagine, I’m still taking the news in. It’s all quite …

GARDAI in Ennis are appealing for witnesses following a burglary that occurred in the county town last week. Overnight between August 3 and 4, Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, between the hours of 8pm and 7am an apartment was broken into in Parnell St Apartments. Entry was gained by a communal door which was forced. Once inside the culprits made their way to a particular apartment which was unoccupied at the time. They gained entry by force. Some small items were stolen from the scene, most notably a Black Puma sports bag containing gents clothing. If anyone was in the area of Parnell Street, Ennis, Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, on the dates in question and saw anything suspicious or may have information which may assist Gardaì in this investigation, they are asked to contact Ennis Garda Station on 065 – 6948100.

GARDAI in Clare seized a quantity of drugs following a raid of a house in west Clare at the weekend. Uniformed Gardaì in Kilrush searched a house under warrant at Knock, Kilrush on Saturday, August 7. Cannabis herb drugs to the value of €5000 were discovered. A person has been identified and an investigation is ongoing in relation to the sale and supply of drugs.

ENNIS has been described as “a ship without a captain” in terms of its development, due to the ongoing lack of an updated Local Area Plan (LAP). It follows the decision by county councillors to defer the County Development Plan (2022-2028) for seven months. The move has implications for the creation of the Ennis LAP, a process that started in 2015, but which was paused pending the finalisation of the county-wide plan. It also delays placing the Ennis 2040 plan on a statutory footing. Prominent Clare-based chartered building surveyor, Fergus Merriman voiced frustration saying he believes opportunities are being lost. “An Ennis LAP would be a field-by-field plan with clarity about acceptable development,” he said. “Ennis 2040 is a welcome long-term plan, but we cannot lose sight of day-to-day development. In the absence of a local plan, the risks are too high for many developers.” Mr Merriman noted that the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) wrote to the council …

GORT native Dr James Mahon has become one of the first doctors of mobile journalism after passing his examinations as a guest of Queens University Belfast in June, writes Conor Clohessy. The broadcast journalist, author and lecturer conducted field research with newsrooms of STV (Scotland), NDTV (India), CBS, WDEF and News 12 (USA) and Lemen Bleu (Switzerland) as part of a pioneering study between 2018 and 2019. James was looking into how digital technology is changing broadcasting around the world and found that in many situations these innovations in the workplace were cutting costs for the companies but also having an adverse effect on the older employees. James explained: “I found that this is an economic thing. You can argue that audiences want mobile content, livestreaming and social media content, of course they do. But you can also argue that it saves newsrooms hundreds of thousands of pounds.” While cost-cutting in most industries causes a stunt in innovation, James found …