North Clare

FOLLOWING  weeks of speculation, Ministers Leo Varadkar and Brendan Howlin signed the contract for the M17/M18 Gort to Tuam motorway this week.The €550 million project is a public-private partnership, which will see the M18 extended 57km beyond Gort.  Work is to begin on the motorway from Gort to Tuam in the coming weeks. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin signed a contract with consortium Direct Route, which includes Roadbridge, John Sisk, Lagan, three large Irish civil engineering firms, and Strabag of Austria. The project will create up to 450 jobs and, according to the Government, will “boost local economies in the West and ease congestion”. The jobs are expected to be created during the construction and post-construction phases. “This is further evidence of the Government’s commitment to improving transport infrastructure outside of the Greater Dublin Area,” Minister Varadkar said. Minister Howlin said, “I am very pleased we have achieved …

COROFIN will attempt to break two Guinness World Record this weekend. The first attempt takes place on Saturday when the village will attempt to hold the largest gathering of beards and moustaches. The current record was set in the US in 2011 when 462 beards amd moustaches gathered in Newport, New Hampshire in the United States. Ballymoe in County Galway made a valiant attempt as part of last year’s Gathering, but fell short with 287. Corofin’s second record attempt will be for longest beard chain, which was set in Germany by 20 men whose chain measured 62.5 feet. Guinness World Records are not taken on lightly. The publication has strict requirements to prove a record-breaker. Emer Brosnan, one of the Festival of Finn organisers, explains that following the criteria can be stressful. “For an event like ours – the largest gathering – we have to have a confined space to put our ‘beards and staches’. Among other things, we have …

INTERNATIONALLY- renowned speakers, including journalist, Robert Fisk and former Libyan Minister for Health, Dr Fatima Hamroush will participate in this weekend’s Burren Law School. The theme for the event is “Twenty-First Century Justice?” The inaugural Burren Law School in May 1994, was the first event to take place at the newly-established Burren College of Art, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Other speakers for this weekend’s school include European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly; Professor Richard Susskind of Oxford University; Judge Nicholas Kearns, President of the High Court; Liam Herrick of the Irish Penal Reform Trust; Pat Leahy of the Sunday Business Post; Professor Donnchadh Ó Corráin; Donal Ryan, Booker nominated author of ‘The Spinning Heart’ (2013) and ‘The Thing about December’; Kenneth W Nicholls, ex-UCC historian and author of ‘Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages.’ Financial Services Ombudsman Bill Prasifka and Dr. Mary Rogan, chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, will also be speaking. The directors of …

A woman has died in a house fire in North Clare. GARDAÍ, ambulance services and three units from Ennistymon fire brigade attended the scene at Derrynavaha, Craggagh, Ballyvaughan after 7pm last night. The woman, whose name is yet to be officially released, is understood to have been in her 50s. She was alone in the house at the time of the incident. The fire brigade were called to the scene at 7.15pm and arrived half an hour later, by which time the woman had been removed from the house. Fire and ambulance personnel attempted to resuscitate the woman but she was subsequently pronounced dead. According to Clare’s Chief Fire Officer, Adrian Kelly, structural damage in the building impeded efforts to bring the fire under control. Gardaí in Ennistymon are investigating the fire, however it is not being treated as suspicious.

By Carol Byrne BOSTON milliner Margaret O’Connor was awarded the title of Millinery Designer of the Year at the prestigious Irish Fashion Innovation Awards, held in Galway last Thursday. The judges at the event were Eddie Shanahan, chairperson at the council of Irish Fashion Designers; Deidre McQuillan, Irish Times fashion journalist; and Patricia McCrossan, managing director of Golden Egg Productions. This was the fifth annual Irish Fashion Innovation Awards and it was held in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Galway. This was the first time the North Clare milliner has been involved in this awards show and she said she was really surprised to have won the award. She said the shock set in when the room went from being calm and reserved to people going “mad” with excitement for her. Joined at the event by family and friends, Margaret said she couldn’t believe it. “I’ve never won anything like that in my life. I’m so delighted. I didn’t think …

By Owen Ryan FIVE teenage members of North Clare’s No Name Club, will, together with the club’s chairperson, climb Kilimanjaro in August, in association with the Kilimanjaro Achievers. The teens taking part are Dominic Talty, Declan Burke, Aisling Talty, Naomi Harvey and Rachel Harvey, while the club chairperson is Edel Harvey. As well as physically preparing for the climb, they are also raising funds for the charity in Tanzania. Each year, the Kilimanjaro Achievers focus on two charitable projects within the country and this year they are raising funds to expand an orphanage’s school in Cheti and to sponsor some children at the orphanage. As part of the trip the No Name Club group will visit Cheti and help out for a few days at the school, gaining first hand experience of volunteering with a charity abroad. The No Name Club is a youth club specifically designed for teenagers from the ages of 15, which aims to cater for the gap between …

MINISTER for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin was in Doolin on Tuesday to visit the location of the proposed €6m pier project. His visit coincided with the signing by Clare County Council of a contract with L&M Keating, the successful tenderer for the construction of the new pier. Construction work will begin in the coming days and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Mayor of Clare, Joe Arkins, said, “The project has been long sought after by ferry operators, fishermen and tourists,who use the pier. The completed pier will be used mainly to facilitate ferry activity between North Clare and the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher during the tourist season, while the existing pier will be available to accommodate other activities – both leisure based and otherwise. The new pier will ensure that Doolin is accessible in all tidal conditions, which will be of particular benefit to Doolin Search and Rescue as well …

By Owen Ryan FUNDING for roadworks in Clare has been almost halved over the last six years and maintaining the county’s infrastructure is now “a real case of loaves and fishes”, this week’s meeting of the County Council heard. Senior engineer Tom Tiernan presented the council’s roadworks programme to Monday’s meeting, which was held in Killaloe, in honour of the Brian Ború Millennium Celebrations. He told the meeting the total allocation for 2014 is a massive 46.8% less than the figure for six years previously. “2008 was the last year of the so-called Celtic Tiger and, since then, things have been on the slide, basically.” The 2014 allocation is down by just over 6%, to €16.8million, from €17.9m in 2013. In the introduction to the programme, it was stated weather conditions have only added to the problems created by the declining funds. “It is now six years since the last roadworks programme, which reflected the characteristics of the boom period, …