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CLARE County Council has declared plans for the construction of a permanent family home for Deputy Cathal Crowe are withdrawn after he opted not to respond to a Further Information Request from the planning authority. In its request for Further Information, Clare County Council considered the information submitted in the planning application for a private dwelling house, detached garage, wastewater treatment system and associated site works at Heathmount, Cratloe for Maeve Fehilly and Cathal Crowe is insufficient to make a complete planning assessment of the proposal. The applicant was requested to submit a site layout plan with a slope of 1:8 or less as per the EPA guidelines and was advised it may be necessary to carry out revised percolation tests and a trial hole evaluation. With regard to the proposed water supply, it is noted the application form states that there will be a new connection to a private well. However, the site characterisation form indicates a connection to …

RATES and their impact on small and family-run businesses were in the spotlight at the January meeting of the local authority with Clare’s newest county councillor called for their reform.  Tabling his first motion since being coopted to the local authority, Councillor Tom O’Callaghan called on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to amend the Valuation Act to ensure rates are based on the profits a business makes, rather than the size of its premises. He urged that this be done before the revaluation process, currently being conducted, becomes effective from January of next year.  “I believe very strongly our focus needs to be on protecting the viability of the small to medium family-run business, through County Clare, especially in the heart of our towns and our rural villages,” he told the chamber. “Any support, reduce costs is needed and very much appreciated.” The Ennis district member outlined the spiralling costs of credit for small businesses and highlighted …

Refugee and migrant rights organisation Doras has expressed grave concern about moving more than 80 international protection applicants into tents in Knockalisheen, Meelick. As sub zero temperatures returned in Clare, Irish Refugee Council chief executive officer, Nick Henderson said it is a matter of real concern that refugees find themselves back in this position in Ireland, which is one of the richest countries in the EU. Notwithstanding the accommodation challenges, he said that placing refugees in tents is not acceptable. “This is disappointing, given Minister O’Gorman’s assurances in December that tented accommodation would cease to operate,” said Doras CEO John Lannon. “Less than four weeks later they’re back in operation. As a result, it’s very difficult to be optimistic about the government’s response to the need to provide stable and safe accommodation for refugees.” “We’ve seen the tents. They’re cold and damp. People have to go outside to get to the toilets. They certainly don’t meet people’s basic needs. And …

WITH the 25th West Clare Mini Marathon set for January 29 in Kilkee, Willie and Mary McGrath, the driving force behind its main beneficiary, reflected on how the event has developed since humble beginnings in 1999. That year’s event, organised by the McGraths and others saw fewer than 25 people take part, bringing in £7,394 for the West Clare Cancer Centre. “It was trial and error to see would a mini marathon in West Clare work on the last Sunday in January, which is maybe not the best time of the year!” Willie laughs.  On the night of January 31, 1999, no one was expecting the fundraiser to still be going in 2023, but Willie said the first mini marathon had been a success and people wanted it to happen again. “From the first event, on that Sunday evening it looked as if it might go somewhere. The feedback was beginning. People were asking why runners? Why not accommodate walkers …

A HUB for artists and a welcome for visitors and the local community alike is on offer on Corofin’s Main Street, thanks to the opening of a gourmet café and gallery.  Morning Dew is the realisation of a long-held dream for Nadaa Hyder and Nolan Crampsie, who upped sticks from their Toronto home to open the business in the former Inchiquin Inn. The couple, and their business partner and close friend Jack Campbell who inherited the Inchiquinn in 2019, also live over their new business. Instinctively, they have revived the old Irish urban tradition of ‘living over the shop’ – something which has been widely advocated as a way of breathing new life into rural towns. “We have a personal joy in revitalising the Campbell family premises and bringing new life to the historic building – with Kenny’s Drinking Emporium stained glass window an artistic reminder of that history,” said Nadaa.  It is no coincidence that the couple came to …

GROWTH is on the cards for the village of O’Callaghan’s Mills now that planning permission has been granted for a development of three homes at Iragh.  Clare County Council gave the green light for the development, on a site of just over half an acre, subject to 20 conditions. After assessing the plans and seeking Further Information (FI) on certain aspects, the local authority found the plans to be acceptable, given the zoning of the land, which is earmarked for “low density residential and mixed use”.  Among the 20 conditions attached to planning permission is the requirement that the homes may only be sold to individual purchasers and not a corporate entity. This is in order “to ensure an adequate choice and supply of housing, including affordable housing, in the common good”. Before construction begins, East Clare Construction must submit a lighting plan for the site. It must also revise plans so that pedestrian circulation is possible around each of …

A BRIEFING on the impact that new planning laws might have on the powers of local authority members is to be organised, the head of the Council has said.  Mr Pat Dowling was responding, at the January meeting of the authority, to concerns voiced by Councillor Cillian Murphy. The Loop Head man raised the topic of the Planning and Development Act, which was signed into law last month. He noted correspondence from Cork County Council members who have forwarded their concerns to Minister Darragh O’Brien and to associations representing councillors. They said that the law will “limit local Councillors’ powers” and that a ten-year proposed life span for county development plans is “far too long”.  Addressing Clare County Council, Councillor Murphy asked for a briefing on how the new legislation will impact local authority members. “It is only a notice of motion that was passed by the council in Cork, but if there is something there and if it is …

FURTHER uncertainty has arisen over the timeframe for access for Clare’s homeowners to the defective blocks grant scheme. While the Minister for Housing announced last June that Clare and Limerick would be included in the revised grant scheme, there is uncertainly currently as to whether Darragh O’Brien has signed the required order. While it had been hoped that pyrite homeowners in Clare would be able to apply for the grant early this year. doubt has been cast on that timeframe. “Our understanding is that Clare is not actually included in the scheme until the Ministerial Order has been signed,” Dr Martina Cleary of Clare Pyrite Action Group(CPAG) said. “We have only just learned of this after becoming aware of media queries to the minister over the status of this order. “To date, these media queries haven’t been responded to. This is really concerning because there is potentially another major delay now for homeowners in Clare and in Limerick. We have …