Gort

Galway man Conor Madden moved to Kinvara seven years ago, where he is now turning his love of sport into a business opportunity.The sailing and cycling enthusiast, along with two friends Andrew Deakin and Eoin Ryan, set up an outdoor experience company, which this week holds its first sprint triathlon, Tri the Burren. The set-up at Dolmen Events is unusual, with Conor living in South Galway, Bunratty man Andrew living in Limerick and Eoin based in Dublin. “The key thing we do is a weekly Skype call. Everything is on email and we use technology very well. We have common drives where we store files. It was a bit of a challenge initially but when you get into the pattern of using all those technologies then it gets easier. We all meet up then a couple of times a month at various things,” explains Conor. After studying at home, where he was an accomplished whitewater kayaker, Conor spent five years …

Last year’s budget affected programmes run through Family Resource Centres nationwide. Gort FRC’s co-ordinatorAnnie Rozario spoke to The Clare Champion about what it is achieving against the tide of cuts.

CELEBRATED author Jennifer Johnston will provide the opening address at this year’s Lady Gregory Autumn Gathering, it was revealed this week.

THE loss of the Blue Flag at a beach in South Galway could have major repercussions for companies in the area according to local business people. Kinvara’s Traught beach is one of six beaches nationally to lose its Blue Flag status, it was announced this week.The beach was the only coastal area in South Galway to have a Blue Flag. Galway has only six Blue Flags in total, including two in the city. The ones in the county represent just four out of the 22 bathing areas under Galway County Council.A number of local people expressed their disappointment that the beach, which has been consistently classed as having a good water quality by the EPA, has now lost its Blue Flag status.The EPA describes Traught as “a gentle sloping sandy beach which is shallow for quite a distance and makes for a great family day out with the kids. It is a rural beach close to the Burren and located …

  WHILE the vuvuzela may be the sound of World Cup 2010, four years ago in Gort, sports enthusiasts were more likely to hear the samba drum echo through the town as Brazil progressed through the finals of the competition. Of course, 2006 was different. Construction was booming. House prices were rising. The numbers of people employed in the State reached over two million for the first time in the country’s history and four out of 10 Gort residents were not Irish. That year, Brazil was knocked out in the quarter-finals, a fate its football fans hope to avoid this time round.Gort resident and Brazilian woman Rosa DeSilva doesn’t call herself a football fan but hasn’t stopped her showing her support for her fellow countrymen and it won’t stop her watching her team take on the world in South Africa. “I have a big flag, which I am putting up,” she tells The Clare Champion.For her country’s opening clash on …

AFTER years of lobbying, Gort now has a bus shelter in the town’s Square. The shelter is located on the left-hand side of the road going north, which means it facilitates people travelling in the direction of Galway. “Unfortunately, due to the layout of the footpaths on the opposite side, it was not possible at this time to have a second shelter erected for people travelling south,” said Galway County Councillor Gerry Finnerty. “I will continue to monitor the situation and hope in the future that one can be included. I will also continue to lobby for erection of one on the Ennis Road, where there is huge demand. The Ardrahan Bus Shelter will be erected without delay as Galway County Council granted planning permission for it earlier this year,” he concluded.  

A South Galway farmers’ market received national recognition at last weekend’s Bloom festival in Dublin.

Entrants are being sought for this year’s Golden Mile of Galway competition, the countryside equivalent of the Tidy Towns competition.