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North Clare

€1.5m hit to North Clare as Doolin Folk Festival cancelled

THE Doolin Folk Festival, which had been due to take place on September 18-19, has been cancelled for the second year in a row, writes Owen Ryan. Donal Minihane of Hotel Doolin said that it was too risky not to make the call now. “It’s a big investment and it’s too much of a risk to be holding out and holding out. There’s a roadmap coming at the end of August from the Department, but we don’t know what’s in it. There’s too much risk involved. “To be fair to the ticket holders, the artists, the crews and everyone involved, we had to let them know.” He said it would have been very positive for Doolin and its surrounds given the number of tickets sold each year. “It’s a huge amount of bed nights for the area. There would have been 1,200 tickets and it sells out every year. All of those people have to sleep somewhere, eat somewhere and …

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Ennistymon’s Poet Laureate revealed

AS Ennistymon prepares to take part in the nationwide Poetry Town initiative next month, its new Poet Laureate was revealed today. Poetry Ireland, in conjunction with Clare County Council Arts Office, has appointed Grace Wells as the Poet Laureate for the town. An award-winning eco-poet, author, re-wilder, and yoga teacher, Grace says she was looking forward to celebrating the town’s “dynamic sense of place”. She added: “I love living in Ennistymon and am so proud to be invited to be the town’s Laureate. As an eco-poet navigating the griefs of environmental collapse, it’s so helpful to belong to a community where people are genuinely working to halt Ireland’s biodiversity loss, and actively creating initiatives to help the country become carbon-neutral. “Poetry can support these transitions. Ennistymon already has rich literary roots, it’s both the birthplace of Brian Merriman, and the home of Salmon Press, so I’m hoping to fuse some of these creative energies together, and really celebrate the town’s …

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North Clare school selected for ‘clusters’ pilot project

ONE Clare primary school is to be included in a national pilot project to look at how small rural educational facilities can be saved. The two-year programme, which has been unveiled by Minister for Education Norma Foley, will see Tubber National School operate as part of a ‘cluster’ with four other schools around the Gort area, and located in County Galway. Despite representations on behalf of a number of small Clare schools, including Clooney NS, the pilot – which will begin in the new school term – will involve a total of 24 schools in Galway, Donegal, Wicklow, Waterford and Kerry. The scheme, which has been developed by a working group of school management bodies and teachers’ unions with the Department of Education, will include strategies to share teaching and certain ‘common activities’, including special needs education. The role of ICT in linking the cluster schools will also be examined. Each cluster, comprised of three to five schools, will are tasked …

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North Clare community invited to contribute to school mural

A COMMUNITY mural will be painted during the summer months on an exterior wall of New Quay National School. The mural will be dedicated to the people working and living around Bellharbour and New Quay and created by professional artist Richard Hearns who is living in the area. Some funding has been offered by Clare County Council’s Community Support Scheme which will help the artist to purchase the necessary supplies. The concept of the design is based on ‘GROWTH’. There are many aspects within this concept -whether it be the growth of a child through school years mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. There is also the growth of nature and natural phenomena which Richard also plans to incorporate into the design. An oil painting will be created by Richard to begin the process and then in collaboration with a mural artist they will follow this design and produce the mural at the school. New Quay Community Development Group is inviting …

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Clare man in dock on animal neglect charges

A MAN has appeared in court charged in connection with the alleged discovery of animal “carcasses” on his land in Fanore, writes Ronan Judge. Ivan O’Driscoll (47), with an address at Fanore More, Fanore, appeared before Ennis District Court this week charged with 10 alleged offences contrary to the Animal and Health and Welfare Act 2013. Five of the charges are contrary to section 12 of the Act and allege Mr O’Driscoll did neglect or was reckless regarding the health and welfare of animals. The other five charges are contrary to section 11 of the Act and allege Mr O’Driscoll failed in his duty to protect the welfare of protected animals in his possession. Two of the charges allege offences were committed on dates between October 1, 2019, and April 2, 2020. The remaining eight charges concern alleged incidents on April 1, 2020, and April 9, 2020. All of the charges relate to alleged offences at lands in Derreen West, …

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Clare student hits right note with music award design

A CLARE student and her Cavan team-mate struck the right note with their design for a new trophy that will be awarded to music artists with a number one single or album, on the IRMA Official Chart. Ballyvaughan native Katie O’Brien and Kate McKenna, students at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) won the contest run in partnership between their college and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). Katie, 21, hails from Ballyvaughan and previously attended Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna before taking up a place on the Bachelor of Science Product Design degree course in NCAD. She said that the pair – who are classmates – had previously worked together on several other projects, and were delighted when they got the news. “The trophy design was based on the ask from Universal (Music Ireland) that it would be simplistic as well as symbolising being the best in music. “It does mean a lot to win this …

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Clare gardener ‘sow’ happy to reap rewards of work

FANORE gardener Carl Wright has certainly reaped what he has sowed with his hard work at Caher Bridge Garden seeing him named among Ireland’s Garden Heroes. Carl, who is originally from Devon and moved to Clare in the 1990s, appeared on the new RTÉ One show Ireland’s Garden Heroes last Thursday, wowing the judges with his creative use of space and winning the show. Speaking to The Clare Champion Carl told us he is delighted with the win, adding that he was “quite surprised” when judge Ingrid Swan turned up to give him the good news. “They managed to cover their tracks pretty well. They said they were coming to do a bit of filming that hadn’t gone right last time, so we just assumed that’s what they were doing and then they turned up and surprised us”. He hadn’t seen the show, or the other gardens he was up against, until Thursday night. “I didn’t know what the other …

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Clare Green resigns from County Council seat

THE Green Party’s Susan Crawford has tendered her resignation from Clare County Council, effective from August 31. Ms Crawford, who lives in Miltown, represented the Green Party in the Ennistymon Municipal District. She was co-opted onto the Council after Róisín Garvey, who won the seat in the 2019 local elections, became a senator. However, she has now announced her decision to resign, less than a year on, and the Green Party will nominate another representative. Efforts to contact Councillor Crawford this week proved unsuccessful. Speaking about her departure, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council PJ Ryan said she will be a significant loss. “The first thing I’d have to say is that I’m disappointed we are losing someone of the calibre of Dr Susan Crawford. When she became a member of Clare County Council she was someone who was very well thought of in her local community and being a professional person I felt she was an advantage to the Council.” …

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