Regional

AFTER many years as a youth worker serving Shannon, Thomas O’Hara is moving into the world of academia. Thomas, who worked with Clare Youth Service in Shannon from 2006 to 2008, and again from 2011 until this year is taking up a position with TUS in Limerick (formerly Limerick Institute of Technology). Speaking to the Champion, he said he had really enjoyed working with the young people of the town, and found the level of community spirit in Shannon to be very strong. “The people there, the sense of community is absolutely amazing. Once people find out you are doing anything in the area they’re very quick to support it, I’ve found, and that was always an advantage to me in working with young people.” “It was a great way of showing young people how community supports itself, how to get involved in your community. “Sometimes that’s one of the key things for young people; where do I fit into …

A DOOLIN musician has blended music, poetry, storytelling and the breathtaking visual beauty of the Burren landscape to create what has been described as a “love letter to Clare”. Towards the end of the new 30-minute movie “Always a Journey Never a Destination” A Clare Footprint” Oliver O’Connell delivers a key message – “In Clare, music is not what we do: music is what we are.” Instead of opting to showcase well-known tourist areas such as Bunratty Castle, the 73-year-old father-of-three filmed lesser known but beautiful parts of the Burren, which are skilfully interwoven in his own life journey story with music, poetry and his own distinctive prose. The North Clare accordion player is thrilled with the reaction to his “legacy to Clare”. “I wanted to do something that wasn’t done before and I know I got in this movie from the reaction of people who matter,” he said. Accomplished Limerick singer, fiddler and composer, Niamh Dunne, who is a …

DAMIAN O’Rourke has organised a number of live performances at the Swive Stage in Shannon Town Centre. “We had the first one on September 7, the next one will be on the 21st and it’s every second Wednesday until October 19,” said Damian.  He said it is following on from the Wings festival, which was held in the summer. “We had a good reaction to that and this ties in with Phase 4 of the Live Local Performance Scheme  from the County Council. Instead of doing one big event I thought it’d be nice to have a continual thing, where people can come mid-week and look forward to the next one.” There will be a diversity of performers, he added. “The first night we had two acts, the next three events we will have three performers per night. There will be a nice mix of poetry, music, storytelling, tunes, songs and stuff. There will be an array of performers that …

THERE were 27 camper vans parked on the green at Carrigaholt one morning during the summer, along with a number of tents. With this in mind, at last week’s meeting of West and North Clare, members of Clare County Council, Councillor Gabriel Keating called for toilet facilities, similar to those provided in Doolin car park, to be installed there. He said that at the moment Carrigaholt is “ticking all the boxes” for the provision of a wastewater treatment plant, but he said installing portable toilets in the interim would be very positive. In a written reply to his motion, Senior Executive Engineer Alan Kenneally acknowledged that the area is becoming increasingly popular with visitors. “While Carrigaholt may not have the visitor numbers of Doolin, the village is becoming increasingly popular with tourists, helped by its location on the Wild Atlantic Way and its Green Coast beach.” However, he said that there are a number of difficulties with putting in place …

A FOOTPATH or not a footpath, that is the question in Kilmihil. A meeting of North and West Clare councillors last week heard a motion from Cillian Murphy calling for the installation of a footpath along the Main Street of the village, from the entrance to the People’s Park to beyond the HSE centre in the village In a written reply, however, senior executive engineer Alan Kennelly said that there actually is a footpath in place, though he acknowledged there were “issues” with it. “There is a footpath in place on the southern side of Main Street Kilmihil, between the People’s Park and the HSE health centre. “The footpath lacks definition in places as there are several accesses crossing, and houses / premises are of differing set back distances. “There is also an ESB pole right in the middle of one narrow section of the footpath – which impedes access.” Councillor Murphy said that the “critical words” in the reply …

DISABLED parking spaces are regularly being “abused” according to Ennis community activist and member of the Clare Leader Forum Dermot Hayes. He was speaking as concerns were raised about a “shortage in availability” of disabled parking in Ennis at a recent meeting of councillors by Councillor Paul Murphy. There are a total of 78 disabled car parking spaces in the Ennis Municipal District urban area including four spaces due to be constructed later this year at Lower Market Street and the Friary Car Park the local authority has confirmed. Mr Hayes believes that greater enforcement is needed against those who misuse disabled parking, while also calling for more parking to be put in place suitable for the needs of people with disabilities. “People are abusing car parking for people with disabilities, it’s a regular occurrence all over the county and all over Ireland. “We fought hard and campaigned a long time for disability parking and the excuses of ‘I’m just …

ILLEGAL drugs, with an estimated value of €50,000, were seized with the assistance of detector dog Harley at Shannon Airport. Revenue officers, seized approximately 2.5kgs of herbal cannabis at the airport as part of routine operations. The drugs were discovered in a parcel that originated in the United States and were destined for an address in County Galway. Investigations are ongoing. This seizure is part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.