News

CLARE County Council has granted an extension of planning permission for the construction of a windfarm with 11 turbines, access roads, cabling and a substation compound at Glenmore, Bollynamweel, Sorrel island in West Clare. The planning report stated the development had been delayed, due to circumstances beyond the control of the applicant, Clare Winds Ltd. The report says, “A cover letter, as submitted by McCarthy Keville O’Sullivan Planning Consultants, states that further works at this site have been restricted due to the delay in the required improvements to the local transmission networks, including the extension of the Eirgrid Booltiagh Substation, which has a scheduled completion of 2016. “The letter from McCarthy Keville O’Sullivan Planning Consultants goes on to state that further works on-site have been restricted, due to the delay in the required improvements to the local transmission networks, including the extension of the Eirgrid Booltiagh substation and the applicant has progressed the project in so far as is possible.” …

TWENTY-eight people have never been squashed into a classic Mini before but an attempt will be made to smash the old World Record of 27 in Ennis this Sunday afternoon. The Clare Classic and Vintage Association, along with the Bald Eagles group, are looking to force an update to the Guinness Book of Records. It is one of several events happening at Liam Cleary’s Kia Dealers on the Kilrush Road, from 11.30am on Sunday. The first event will be a re-run of a 1901 race in Ennis, which formed part of that year’s Great Motor Tour of Ireland. It will start at around 11.30am. Second off will be the World Record attempt, at around 3pm. Organiser, Peadar White said there are strict guidelines about how the would-be record holders must proceed. “It’s a 1960s Mini and the rules are very strict. Everyone has to be over five feet tall and over 16 years of age. We have to provide a …

ALL-IRELAND-winning Clare captain, Pat Donnellan  will be the most recent representative from the county invited to take part in fundraiser for Pieta House. For the first time in the history of the GAA, all 100 surviving All-Ireland-winning captains in hurling and football have been invited to come together in a unique event in aid Pieta House. Nearly 70 have already confirmed that they will attend what is to be the greatest ever gathering of GAA legends from all over Ireland, going all the way back to the Meath captain of 1949, Brian Smith. They will all take part in the final leg of 100k Steps for Cormac, a remarkable three-day fundraising walk throughout County Galway, taking place from August 28 to August 30. It’s being organised in memory of Cormac Connolly, nephew of Joe Connolly, the All Ireland-winning Galway hurling captain of 1980. Cormac died of an inoperable brain tumour three years ago, at the young age of 24. Knowing …

THE husband of a Doolin woman who passed away from ovarian cancer earlier this year will lead an entourage of over 200 Harley-Davidson motorcyclists from around the world through the Burren this weekend. Harley-Davidson owners from across Ireland, the UK and the United States will descend on the North Clare village of Doolin this Friday for the Doolin Harley Fest 2014 which continues through until Sunday. The festival is being held in aid of the Marie Clancy McDonagh Foundation, set up by the family and friends of local woman Marie Clancy McDonagh who died in May from ovarian cancer at the age of 38. Marie’s husband James and his two brothers, Mark and John as well as local man Jimmy Boyle are motorcycle enthusiasts and have partnered with Hotel Doolin to organise the festival, which they hope will become an annual event. Doolin Harley Fest 2014 will feature a charity ride through the Burren, a bike parade in Doolin, a …

ORGANISERS of last weekend’s Kilrush Traditional Music and Set Dancing Festival are baffled at the removal of promotional signs prior to the annual event, which attracted hundreds of overseas visitors to the town.m Kilrush Comhaltas committee members have searched around the town but, as yet, have not found their signs. Bizarrely they feel their best hope of becoming reacquainted with their signs is if the culprits erect them in the aftermath of the festival. “We’re expecting they probably will put them up now, once the festival is over. That was done before one year. They took down the signs two weeks before the festival and then put them back up when everything was over,” a bemused festival secretary, Anne Hayes, revealed. Organisers initially thought that either Kilrush Tidy Towns or Clare County Council may have taken down their signs but it has emerged that this is not the case. “We have permission from the county council in Ennis. Murt Collins …

Blood Bike Mid West will be holding a recruitment drive in the South Court Hotel, Limerick, from 11am to 3pm this Saturday. Since being established in October 2012, Blood Bike Mid West has made an invaluable contribution in the provision of transport of medical requisites in the region and beyond. The bikers are kept busy doing runs for urgently needed blood, blood products, patient records, drugs, breast milk for premature and ill babies and other medical requirements between hospitals, blood transfusion banks and the human milk bank. Blood Bikers now operate a regular rota at weekends at the University Maternity Hospital Limerick, transporting documentation and records to and from the hospital and regularly riding to Athlone to collect urgently needed breast milk for premature babies. The vital contribution of Blood Bikers in getting milk quickly to premature babies has been acknowledged by milk bank manager, Ann Mc Crea. “This service has made a huge difference to the way the milk …

WATER restrictions for approximately 1,500 Kildysart, Cranny and Coolmeen residents will extend to at least 18 days, a statement issued from Clare County Council on Wednesday has revealed. The restrictions were put in place on July 29 by the Health Service Executive (HSE), in conjunction with Irish Water and Clare County Council. They advised that water provided by the Kildysart Public Water Supply was not suitable for drinking until further notice. The precautionary measure was introduced due to water discolouration caused by increased manganese levels in the supply. In their most recent statement, Clare County Council said the restriction will remain in place until the end of this week and that more information will be made available on Friday. “The water restrictions will remain in place until Friday at least when a scheduled meeting between the HSE, Irish Water and Clare County Council will take place to discuss the results of water quality tests carried out in recent days. A …

The Central Applications Office (CAO) has launched a useful online resource for CAO applicants who are anxiously awaiting round one offers on Monday next. The four minute video titled, A guide to the CAO Offer and Acceptance process, can be viewed on the CAO website www.cao.ie. The online video talks applicants through the Offer and Acceptance process and aims to answer some common questions that arise at this time of the year. Speaking about the video guide, CAO communications officer, Eileen Keleghan, encouraged applicants to share this resource via social media in order to help classmates and friends understand what to expect during the CAO offer season. She said, “This guide summarises the offer and acceptance process explaining in detail the many different ways that applicants are informed about an offer and also what happens if they have not received an offer. “We hope that people will share this free resource in order to ensure that applicants avoid some of …