Regional

CLARE Marts has already sold Ennistymon Mart to discount supermarket, Aldi for a price tag believed to be in the region of €1.5m, despite strong opposition from the local IFA committee and local traders. Members of Ennistymon IFA staged a protest before a Clare Marts Board meeting in Ennis on Tuesday night, but the Clare Champion has learned Clare Marts is proceeding with the controversial deal. Clare Marts would not confirm the identity of the buyer or any of the terms and conditions, which it considers as “commercially sensitive information”. However, it is understood that the mart has been sold to Aldi subject to planning permission, which could take a number of years to secure. Aldi has also declined to comment on the deal. It is also expected that any planning application lodged by Aldi to Clare County Council will be vigorously opposed by some local traders and residents in the North Clare town. Fifteen sales have been held in …

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has requested the Government to issue a “letter of comfort” to Clare County Council to provide reassurance that funding will be available for necessary repairs following the disastrous storms. The Labour deputy said the scale of destruction on the Clare coast and in the Shannon Estuary was underlined at Monday’s meeting of the local authority when members were told that the total estimate for repairs now stands at €36.8m. “Clare County Council has already spent €720,000 in temporary repairs and the need for further considerable expenditure is urgent. The council has spent this money without receiving any letter from the Government stating that the local authority will be reimbursed. County manager, Tom Coughlan has pointed out that further spending without written authorisation raises the issue of good corporate governance. Clearly the Council is caught between a rock and a hard place. “The scale of what has happened on the Clare coast is truly shocking and there …

THE railway line between Limerick and Ennis will remain closed for six weeks, and potentially longer, due to flooding on the line at Ballycar. Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail advised on Tuesday that instead bus transfers will operate between Limerick and Ennis, also serving Sixmilebridge, for the duration of the closure. Buses will depart all stations at the scheduled train time. Train services will, however, continue to operate as normal between Ennis and Galway. The line has flooded following a significant increase in water levels at Ballycar Lough due to the recent sustained heavy rainfall, and the slow draining nature of the karst landscape in the area. Should the recent rainfall patterns persist, this will extend significantly the duration of the closure of the rail line. according to Iarnród Éireann. Iarnród Éireann raised the track level by 60 centimetres at Ballycar in 2003 to mitigate against the effects of flooding. However, the current flood levels are at least 50 centimetres over …

RESIDENTS in Kilbaha are angry that the main access road to the Loop Head village has been cut off. An 80 metre stretch of the road has been badly damaged in the recent storms and floods. The Kilrush Area Office of Clare County Council closed the road on Saturday morning February 1 in the immediate aftermath of Storm Bridget. The council said this was “to safeguard the wellbeing of the general public and motorists.” Bollards were put in place to provide pedestrian access along the seafront. An alternative route has been put in place to provide access to the Loop Head Peninsula west of Kilbaha. The road in Kilbaha was extensively damaged by Storms Christine and Bridget. “On Saturday evening it appears a member of the local community removed concrete bollards that had been put in place by the council. The council this morning once again closed off the road in the interests of public safety,” a county council statement issued on Monday …

THE Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience website has been shortlisted for another major digital award just weeks after finishing as a runner-up in the eircom Golden Spider Awards. www.cliffsofmoher.ie has been shortlisted for the Samsung Digital Media Awards ‘Best in Travel & Tourism’ category, the winner of which will be announced on February 21. The Cliffs of Moher website was launched in July 2013 having undergone a revamp that introduced a number of new features, including of an interactive guide to the visitor attraction and 360 degree panoramic views of the Cliffs and Visitor Centre. “The website is designed to have a high visual appeal with full screen background images and exciting video and 360 degree image content bringing the site alive. It can be viewed on mobile devices including smartphone and iPad. Visitors planning their trip have use of an interactive map with suggested walking routes and can even book their tickets online at a discounted price. The website …

IN 2011 Killanena woman Anna Moroney grabbed the bull by the horns and joined Weight Watchers to try to and do something about her weight. The 24-year-old teacher was then 21 and weighed 26 stone 25 pounds. Her decision to lose weight was arrived upon following an incident on a night out. “I was working at the time in New Look in Galway and I was out, enjoying myself and having a ball. My friends were chatting with a few guys and one of the guys pulled me aside and said to me ‘what are you doing to yourself?’ “I would have got comments before about being overweight and being a whale, hideous comments, some really horrific ones but they would always have bounced off and wouldn’t have any impact. But this guy, he was a total stranger, just got me in the gut and got me thinking, what am I doing with myself? He said ‘you seem lovely, you …

THERE were 51 sales of residential properties in Shannon last year, according to the Residential Property Price Register. According to figures, full market value was not paid for 20 of these, including a number of units at the affordable housing development in Glaise na Rinne. In total, just shy of €5million (€4,981,035.75) was spent on residential property in the town. The most expensive property was at An Rosan Óir, for which €320,000 was paid. This was 16 times more than the least expensive amount, which was €20,000 paid for a unit at Ryewood House, Ballycasey Court. Thirty-seven of the 63 properties were sold for less than €100,000. Four properties were sold in January, five in February, two in March, three in April, eight in May, four in June, six in July, three in August, none in September, six in October, two in November and eight in December.

By Peter O’Connell A landmark building in Kilmihil has been handed over to Clare County Council and the local community. It is now up to the local authority and the Kilmihil community to come up with ideas to best utilise the former Mangan’s building, which is located in the centre of the West Clare village. Mangan’s moved from Kilmihil to Ennis in 1972. At one point, approximately 40 people were employed at the West Clare plant, with seven of the Kilmihil panel that reached the 1968 county final employed there. Company director Terence Mangan said he is hopeful the building will be used to generate local employment but that it can be used for whatever purpose is deemed fit.  “That’s not our decision. That’s up to the community and up to the council in terms of how they structure whatever they do. We’ve offered it to the community and to the council. Obviously, there will have to be some money …