Regional

THREE investors have expressed an interest in paying up to €2 million to purchase the Tinarana Estate on the outskirts of Ogonnelloe.Tom Crosse of GVM Auctioneers, Limerick, has revealed there has been a very good level of interest and ongoing viewings from potential investors for the house, which sits on 222 acres of land.Pressed about possible buyers who had made offers very close to the €2m guide price, Mr Crosse confirmed one of the three main bidders has local and international business interests. “The Tinarana Estate has a lot of development potential for someone to take it on as a major project and develop it over the years. It has an aura of magnificence and could be something really special,” he said.Clare County Council is supporting the principle of a major tourism development in the well-known Ogonnelloe estate, despite a ruling from An Bord Pleanála, which turned down a €100m project.One of the tourism objectives contained in the new Clare …

TWO national schools could be paying in the region of €120,000 for eight prefabricated classrooms, it emerged this week.Last summer, Clare Labour Deputy Michael McNamara announced the Department of Education had approved funding to construct three new classrooms at Meelick National School, which now has eight teachers and about 183 pupils.Education Minister Ruairí Quinn requested a detailed report on the state of conditions at the school following serious health and safety concerns raised by Deputy McNamara and Deputy Pat Breen.Earlier this year, funding was allocated to Parteen National School, where Councillor Cathal Crowe currently teaches, to cover the costs of building two new classrooms.  This good news came as part of a €34 million nationwide initiative to replace rented prefab classrooms with permanent structures. Parteen National School currently has five prefabs. While these classrooms are suitable for purpose, Councillor Crowe insists they are no substitute for solid-walled, permanent buildings.Councillor Crowe estimates the average rental cost of a standard 80m2 prefab …

ALTHOUGH St Joseph’s Secondary School, Tulla awaits the development of its new school, the facility has this year benefitted from an additional class, which will cater for the needs of six new students with special needs. St Joseph’s has an existing Asperger’s Syndrome Unit in the school but this school term a second class was established to cater for the growing need in the school’s catchment area. It is one of the few schools in the country to benefit from the establishment of a new classroom for students with special needs. School principal Margaret O’Brien outlined that students with Asperger’s syndrome have varying needs and this new facility will help best suit the needs of the individual students benefiting from it. “Some students with this classification would be high functioning and need more support. We also wanted to accommodate some senior students and that’s why we have a new senior unit this year. We would have had some students who …

THE inconvenience experienced by residents waiting for the completion of improvement works on a 750m stretch of road at Spancilhill, at a cost of €2.9 million, has been deemed “regrettable” by Clare County Council this week.  The comment was made in response to a motion tabled at an Ennis East Area Meeting on Monday by Councillor Sonny Scanlon, who asked when the Spancilhill Road would be completed and reopened. He said works were “causing a lot of anger and inconvenience” to residents in the locality.  Tom Tiernan, senior engineer Clare County Council, said “the inconvenience that has been caused is regrettable”. “A number of issues have combined to create this situation, drainage management complexities, rock removal, the gradual erosion in the number of available staff and the incapacity to replace them and so on. The objective at present is to restore two-way traffic in four to six weeks from now and to have completed the project by the end of …

CLARE County Council announced on Tuesday it will be proposing Kilrush as a host location for the 2013 National Famine Commemoration, which is due to take place in Munster.The National Famine Commemoration Day, an annual observance in Ireland commemorating the Great Famine, has been organised officially by the Government since 2009. The main commemoration event is held in a different place each year, rotating among the four provinces of Ireland.Events at the main venue usually include lectures, arts events and visits to places connected to the Famine. Local events also take place countrywide, while a minute’s silence is encouraged for schools and workplaces.Clare County Council last month invited local and community organisations, historical societies, local Famine Commemoration Committees, schools and other interested parties to propose a location in Clare to host this event in 2013. Submissions were received from Killaloe/Ballina, Tuamgraney/Scarriff and Kilrush and each was assessed by a specially appointed panel.“While Killaloe/Ballina and Tuamgraney/Scarriff were considered strong contenders by …

AT Tuesday’s September meeting of Kilrush Town Council, Councillor Tom Prendeville asked that the council make provision in their 2013 budget for the upgrading of local road signage, street nameplates and playground signs. Councillor Prendeville said it is difficult to establish the names of some streets. “A lot of our town signage needs to be refreshed. Some of our street nameplates are illegible. We are a heritage town and our road signs should indicate that. We are twinned with Plouzané and yet we fail to highlight that on the approach roads to the town. We should also have a sign pointing to the children’s playground in Cappa,” the Fianna Fáil town councillor commented. “We should have signs directing motorists to the ‘free parking’ facility at Place de Plouzané. Good effective signage will bring visitors into the town. We have many natural amenities such as Kilrush Wood, the Vandeleur Walled Garden, Inis Cathaigh and the Marina. We have good marketing programmes …

AN Ardrahan man was named the Galway Young Farmer of the Year recently but missed out on the national title at last week’s finals.Trevor Flynn was named Galway’s FBD Young Farmer of the Year but the overall winner was Dermot O’Connor, a dairy farmer from Shangollden, County Limerick, who took the top award at Macra na Feirme’s 2012 FBD Young Farmer of the Year.The announcement was made by Padraig Walshe, chair of the final adjudication panel, at an awards ceremony in Kinnity Castle, County Offaly.Twenty-seven contestants from all over Ireland took part in the 14th FBD Young Farmer of the Year final. The competition, run by Macra na Feirme in conjunction with the IFA, aims to recognise excellence in the agricultural industry and promote farming as a career with a bright future.Six overall finalists were interviewed by a judging panel chaired by Padraig Walshe, former president of Macra na Feirme, the IFA and COPA, with Dr Karina Pierce, lecturer in …

AS part of the National Culture Night on Friday, September 21, the Gort Heritage Group is hosting a Culture Night in Gort Library.The programme begins at 7pm and includes music from Paddy Jordan, Colie Moran, Charlie Harris, Martina Neilan and many more. Sr de Lourdes Fahy will speak about Gort’s social history and Brent Kelly will do a video show covering the built and natural heritage of the Gort area. It promises to be a very enjoyable night and admission is free.Kinvara will host a number of activities to mark Culture Night 2012.The day will begin with storytelling for children in the community centre from 3.15pm to 4pm, where the Dog and String Theatre Group will tell the story of The Selkie and the Fisherman with puppets and shadow animations.The courthouse will host the New Line Exhibition by Robert Ellis, a young Burren-based photographer, from 4pm to 6pm. The Culture Café and Culture Night opening takes place at 4.30pm with …