East Clare

CHRISTMAS comes but once a year but in the lakeside community of Flagmount, young people get to celebrate it twice, as each year they create from scratch their own Christmas dinner, complete with turkey, Brussels sprouts and carols. The Lough Graney Youth Club members, from the ages of 12 to 20, design the three-course menu and prepare starters, cook a turkey and bake desserts for up to 25 people. As team leaders, Rebecca Smyth from Killanena, Louise O’Connell from Flagmount and Ella MacNamara from Caher, explain, this is the one time of the year when the whole group comes together. “We’ve been doing this for six or seven years, since we all went into secondary school,” Louise said. “It’s nice we all make the food together and we all have different parts we look after. Some people will be on the apple crumble and some people will be on the turkey and then we all come together to eat it …

Cnoc na Gaoithe in Tulla is to hold a monster Christmas fundraiser next Saturday December 8 to support a dance and music exchange to France next year.  The event, which takes place at Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis at 8.30pm sharp, expects to draw a large crowd.  The proceeds raised on the night will be used to fund 15 musicians and dancers from Cnoc na Gaoithe who will travel to the South of France in the New Year. The exchange programme already saw a group of French musicians come to Tulla in July 2018. The programme has facilitated not only an exchange of music and culture but has also developed ties between both groups.  Booking details can be obtained from Cnoc na Gaoithe, Tulla Post Office and Tulla Pharmacy.  All are welcome to attend.

Eoghan Moloney HEIDI Talbot has toured the world with ultra-popular musicians, including all-female group Cherish The Ladies – renowned worldwide for their Celtic sound – and she is very excited to perform at Feakle’s 31st International Festival of Traditional Irish Music next week. Heidi will perform alongside her husband, John McCusker, an award-winning multi-instrumentalist; much-acclaimed musician Breanndán Ó Beaglaíoch and renowned guitarist Paul Meehan. Heidi said, “We’re really looking forward to our visit to Feakle. We’re coming to the end of a 50-date run of gigs. Myself and John started in May, touring all around Ireland in a tour organised by Network Ireland, with Breanndán and Paul, and then continuing as a duo all over the UK and finishing in gorgeous Feakle. We saved the best for last.” Even though they have been touring since May, Heidi says that the group are still a bundle of energy, “ I feel very lucky that I get to play music for my …

IMPROVEMENT works and safety measures are to be considered and put in place to slow down traffic at Kilkishen National School, after a petition was submitted to members of the Killaloe Municipal District. Councillor Alan O’Callaghan called on Clare County Council to carry out works at the school to slow traffic, in the interest of the health and safety of children. At last week’s meeting of the municipal district, a petition with approximately 80 signatures was handed in on behalf of locals who were confirming these concerns. Responding, Hugh McGrath, senior executive engineer, said, “It is accepted that there are safety concerns at this location relating to traffic in the vicinity of the school. We are to carry out improvement works to the road surface at this location in the coming months.” In advance of the works, Mr McGrath said the local authority will give consideration to any measures that may improve road safety at this location in consultation with …

THE lack of housing and employment have emerged as key issues to safeguard the future viability of rural shops in East Clare. O’Meara’s grocery and agri-business supplier is the only retail outlet in Flagmont village, operating out of the same premises since 1897. It was all started by John O’Meara. His great grandson, Thomas O’Meara, has been managing the shop since 2010, with valuable assistance from his mother, Annette. It provides a valuable service to people in East Clare from 9am to 8pm, six days a week and 9am to 1pm on Sunday. The key to its success is it provides, in the words of Thomas, a “bit of everything”, grocery, fuel, convenience goods and a large variety of agricultural supplies. The long hours in a rural shop mean it is very much a “vocation” for this family-run business. Asked if there is a magic wand solution to keep rural shops alive, Thomas says there is no quick-fix solution, but …

TRACTORS are expected to line the roads of East Clare this Sunday as the annual Killanena tractor run takes place. Departing from Canny’s Bar, Killanena at 12.30pm with registration from 11.30am modern and vintage tractors are welcome. The tractor run was initially the brainchild of a very small group of people in the parish, as a way of raising funds for a worthwhile cause. Organiser Martin Canny said, “This is our third run with the last two raising very substantial amounts for the relevant causes. What began as an idea to try and give a little back has developed into a huge event”. This year the run is in aid of the Clare Crusaders Children’s Clinic. The Clare Crusaders Children’s Clinic provides free therapy and specialist treatment to over 500 children with special needs in County Clare. They are a self financing service located in Barefield, Ennis. The Clinic receives no state funding what so ever and depend on the generosity of the people in the communities to raise over €250,000 per annum to provide the current level of therapy for children. The Clinic was opened in 2007 thanks to the dedication and hard work of a group of parents to overcome the lack of publicly available treatment for children with  with mixed disabilities including Down Syndrome Autism, and Cerebral Palsy. It was a community response to the lack of access to services that children with disabilities need in order to meet their potential. “Please come and support this charity. Everyone is welcome to what promises to be a fantastic day with refreshments and entertainment afterwards. Your support is greatly appreciated,” Martin concluded. More information is available by contacting Canny’s Bar.

EAST Clare has benefited from a number of new developments this past year, with working beginning on a new social housing scheme in Feakle, Tulla has a new car park at Cnoc na Gaoithe, and that facility is also set to benefit from further development arising from the announcement of funding. Work began on a new Clare County Council social housing development comprising 13 homes in Feakle this year. Funded by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government under the Rebuilding Ireland Programme, the scheme is the first social housing development in Feakle since 1973. The development, when finished will consist of a mix of two-bed and three-bed units in a range of single and two storey houses, has gone through extensive public and department consultation and includes a new pedestrian way linking the main street to the school and playground. The project is being delivered by Custy Construction Ltd and will see the addition of a link between the Main Street, playground and …

BECKMAN Coulter, based in Lismeehan, O’Callaghan’s Mills is to create 70 jobs over the next two to three years as it just announced expansion plans today. Beckman Coulter develops, manufactures and markets products that simplify, automate and innovate complex biomedical testing and has revealed it is expanding the company’s development and manufacturing facility at Lismeehan. The project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland. The company’s 9,700 sq. metre site at Lismeehan in County Clare is a strategic site for the global Beckman Coulter Diagnostics business, with 330 people working there. Work carried out currently on the site includes the development, manufacture and support of reagents (mixtures for use in chemical analysis) for clinical chemistry, immunochemistry and haematology product lines. The expansion will provide capacity for two new product streams at the Clare site, and will also provide for the ongoing growth of the current product streams. The new expansion will add an additional 6,700sq. meters to the …