North Clare

THIS Saturday sees a special fundraising event for St John’s Community Hall, Ballyvaughan. Gone to the Dogs is an evening of greyhound racing, featuring many local dogs, at the Greyhound Stadium in Galway.

AS August gives way to September, the annual Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival kicks off and thousands of hopeful singletons will be making their way to North Clare.

LAST year, more than 150 adventure racers took part in the inaugural two-day Caveman Race at Aillwee Cave. The demanding event consisted of two mountain running and two mountain biking stages, which saw participants race through the actual caves’ tunnels. The fast growing event, now in its second year, will take place over the weekend of October 13-14.

The Cliffs of Moher has been rated one of the nation’s favourite heritage sites, according to new research. Clare’s main tourist and visitor attraction has been given the thumbs up by members of the public in a survey conducted by Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland to mark National Heritage Week 2012. Scoring as the second-highest rated heritage site with 9% of the vote, it narrowly lost out to Newgrange in Meath.The Cliffs of Moher attracted 809,474 visitors last year and provisional figures for the first six months of this year suggest a slight increase of about 2%, which is considered a very good performance in the teeth of the economic recession.Representing public attitudes to heritage landmarks, the third annual National Heritage Survey also considered County Clare one of the counties richest in heritage, securing 14% of the vote.Furthermore, of the sites on the UNESCO tentative list for world heritage status, The Burren (23%) narrowly lost out to the early medieval sites of …

Clare County Council has defended its decision to carry out works at Cregg Beach near Lahinch following the very significant deposition of stone as a result of tidal activity over winter and stormy periods.There has been a mixed reaction from a local public representative and the community council to efforts by the county council to improve access for the general public at Cregg Beach, which is not a local authority-run amenity.The issue first arose at a recent Ennistymon Electoral Area meeting where Councillor Bill Slattery proposed the council should divert the water coming from the Moy River to its original position at Cregg Beach to allow access for the public onto the beach.Area engineer, Steve Lahiffe, recognised the recreational and amenity value of Cregg Beach to the local community and pledged that, funding permitting, he would endeavour to carry out the requested works. “Cregg Beach is a popular recreation area for the general public. From time to time, a combination …

A NORTH Clare councillor has cried foul over the Department of the Environment’s decision to exclude the Doolin and Ballyvaughan sewerage schemes from its major capital investment programme. This is despite the fact that wastewater from Ballyvaughan village goes into Ballyvaughan Bay untreated.Councillor Joe Arkins believes the Department of the Environment should take another look at the two schemes.

ON a wet day in September 1949, Sr Margaret Mary Jordan was among the Sisters of Mercy to welcome the very first pupils to the newly opened Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna.

LAHINCH man Pat Conway will complete his 40th Liscannor Bay swim this weekend. This is the 10th year that he has raised funds for the Burren Chernobyl Project (BCP) and to date he has brought in about €50,000 for the North Clare charity.Cormac McCarthy of BCP explains the importance of Pat’s contribution.“This would be one of our top fundraising events each year. The difference this makes is phenomenal over in Belarus. While we still make the shipments of clothes and toys, the money we raise in Ireland and spend over there is really important. We get huge bang for our buck by spending it over there so Pat’s fundraising is extremely important. We are hugely grateful to all our fundraisers but Pat’s would represent one of the major fundraisers we have each year,” he explained.A direct swim from the prom in Lahinch to Liscannor across the bay is approximately 2km but Pat takes a slightly more circuitous route.“No one has …