Regional

THE stretch of road from Mullagh to Miltown is to be fully restored after pipe-laying works are finished. The news was relayed to Deputy Michael McNamara who said Clare County Council and Irish Water are committed to the works. Irish Water’s main civil engineering contractors have recently excavated the Mullagh Cross to Mack’s Cross road to accommodate the laying of a replacement watermain. “The replacement watermain will replace a section of main that had become extremely problematic in recent years and will hopefully bring a reliable supply of water to Miltown and several other areas en route,” explained Deputy McNamara. The Independent TD acknowledged the issues caused for road users during the upgrade, but stressed that those are short term. “While the inconvenience to road users at present is regrettable, it is also temporary,” he noted. “In response to my representation on behalf of the people of Mullagh and Miltown Malbay, the Road Section of Clare County Council says residents …

Kevin Corbett spoke with members of the Burren Sub Aqua Club about their fantastic experience with Clare’s famous dolphin Dusty on a dive off Miltown. See our video below TEN days on from their magical underwater encounter with one of Clare’s most famous marine residents, Jennifer and Jessica Smith are understandably still buzzing. The sisters, from Sixmilebridge, found themselves on RTE news last week after their interaction with Dusty the Dolphin was filmed while on a dive off Miltown Malbay with Burren Sub Aqua Club. Escaping the exam pressure that May typically brings, Jennifer, in her first year of mechanical engineering in Galway, and Jessica, a Leaving Cert student in St Caimin’s, Shannon, took to the pristine waters for a bit of relaxation with dad Finbar and other members of the club. Then, quite literally out of the blue, who should appear but Dusty the Dolphin. Jessica told The Champion, “We’ve only ever seen her once prior to this, the …

A SENIOR Clare County Council official has said that the local authority expects there to be an oral hearing into plans for Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon. At Tuesday’s meeting of West Clare Municipal District, Senior Engineer Sean Lenihan said, “We published the CPO last June, submissions were to be received by An Bord Pleanála in September, there were 12 or 13 submissions all of which are receiving the required attention both from ourselves and the Board. “We are getting ready for an oral hearing, we imagine there will be an oral hearing, but that’s subject to the Board’s decision. They have alluded to the fact that there will most likely be one, but they haven’t actually given us a date.” He said they had thought there would have been progress by this stage, but it should come within three months. “We were hoping to have news by the end of April, which was last Friday, but what we got from …

AN Ennis hair and beauty salon expects to see 200 people in its first week back trading following a relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions across the country. Monday saw the return of hairdressers and other personal services, alongside other measures including the phased reopening of retail and the resumption of religious services in churches. Bridget Haren Hair and Beauty Salon on Woodquay opened at 9.30am on Monday to welcome its first clients in months, with staff on site since 8am busily preparing to ensure everything was in place. Perspex screens, mask wearing and sanitiser is the new normal when it comes to getting a hair-cut. Bridget told The Champion, “It’s going great so far, there’s a good buzz and everybody is really happy and delighted that Ennis is opening back up again. “It’s great for everybody and next week we’ll have the retailers joining us in bringing a lot more atmosphere to the town. “Everything is by appointments only and we …

THE vaccination centre at the Radisson Blu Hotel will relocate to Limerick Racecourse in the coming weeks, UL Hospital Group has confirmed. This will affect a sizable number of people in the east and south east of county Clare in line for the vaccine in the coming weeks. With the opening up of hospitality services and the scaling up of the vaccination programme, plans are now being put in place to open a new vaccination centre at Limerick Racecourse on a phased basis during June. Having reviewed the anticipated vaccine supply availability for the coming months and the infrastructural requirements needed, the Limerick Racecourse facility has been identified as having the capability to provide that capacity. The relocation of the vaccination centre from the Radission Blu Hotel to Limerick Racecourse coincides with the resumption of hospitality services in line with the Government’s reopening plan. From an overall Mid-West perspective, the vaccination centres at Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis, and the …

THE sister of an Ennis teenager who tragically died in a drowning accident has described as “amazing” the response to a fundraising effort for Water Safety Ireland in memory of her brother. Danielle Kenneally’s brother Jack was just 15 when he and his friend Shay Moloney lost their lives after getting into difficulty swimming in a disused quarry. She decided to raise funds for WSI and create water safety awareness through her new business as she wanted to do “anything to save another family going through what we went through.” Danielle and her best friend Chantell Keane co-founded home fragrance business Wix and Wax last year, and this month they have decided to donate all profits from a specially created ‘Daisy snap-bar’ to WSI in memory of Jack. “I wanted to do something in his memory, and we have a bit of platform with the business to promote awareness of water safety. Now that we have the nice weather there will …

THE artist involved in a controversial public sculpture commission for Ennistymon has insisted there is nothing malevolent about his proposed Púca, and that it has real potential to attract and engage visitors, writes Fiona McGarry. Aidan Harte told The Champion that despite the Council’s decision to pause the project in response to public objections, he is hopeful that people will come to appreciate the design of the 2m high artwork. Mr Harte, who has studied sculpture in Florence in Italy, has told Clare County Council he is fully prepared to visit Ennistymon to engage with local people. “We can’t railroad or ignore people’s views,” he said. “This piece certainly isn’t disrespectful. Art is a matter of taste and I can understand that people don’t want art they don’t like, but this is an impressive piece when you see it in the flesh. “I think people will come to appreciate the craft that is involved. I’m more than willing to come …

THE developers of a windfarm in South East Clare have made updated information available in response to public queries over the potential impact on health and property prices. RWE Renewables Ireland Limited, which describes itself as one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, said it is half-way through an eight-week pre-planning consultation process and keen to engage with the community living close to the 320-hectare site which is 6km south west of Killaloe and 1.5km north of Bridgetown. The German company also said that, to date, the exact locations of the eight proposed turbines in the Fahybeg Windfarm have not been pinned down and that studies to determine these are underway. “So far we have been contacted by residents by phone, text and by email and some residents have asked to meet with us in person,” said a letter issued by the company. We have managed to meet them in their gardens over the last couple of weeks, taking …