Regional

THOUSANDS of singletons from all over Ireland and far beyond will throng Lisdoonvarna as the Matchmaking Festival returns this September. While live music will ring out from bars and venues around the village, organisers have said that live music events at the Marquee and Pavilion theatre will not be going ahead this year, due to rising operational costs. The festival goes back to the 19th Century and third generation matchmaker Willie Daly, who has made over 3,000 matches over the last 50 years, said that this year’s festival will be one of a kind, with huge pent-up demand out there among singletons.  “Love has been kind of put on hold, a lot of people have been starved for love really, due to Covid and restricted movement. This year there is great enthusiasm with people to get out there and make up for the lost years. “There were a number of lost years and at certain ages it’s serious enough. It’ll …

AN Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will officially open the Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) in Shannon Free Zone on Friday.  Mr Varadkar will be given a tour of the facility and see some of the new products that are being developed. The facility is for the development of things such as driverless cars, air taxis and drones to deliver life saving organs or drugs, as well as the air traffic technology to manage them – including ‘on the ground’ traffic, and other life-changing ‘the future is now’ technologies for use in Ireland and internationally.   Some of these will be on display at the official opening including a self-parking car and the latest Tesla which guests can test drive. Funded by Enterprise Ireland and industry partners, the unique FMCI campus at Shannon has world class facilities for aerospace and automotive research and development, including a recently opened Advanced Air Mobility Hub.  The commercially-viable facility supports a range of parties and enterprises, from …

TEMPERATURES soared to 28 degrees Celsius on Sunday as hundreds of local and visiting revellers enjoyed a wide variety of family fun during the concluding day of the annual Féile Brian Ború. Organisers were blessed with some of the hottest days along the banks of Lough Derg compared to the corresponding days in recent years. This ensured there was a huge influx of day trippers to Killaloe and Ballina last weekend for various water and land based activities for all the family. One of the highlights of the festival was the Féile Fireworks display over the lake on Saturday night. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as the fireworks exploded spectacularly in red, orange, green and blue fireballs, bringing gasps from the crowd who lined up along Killaloe Bridge and at various vantage points in the two twin communities. It costs in the region of €12,000 to run the festival every year and Arlene White said the organising committee …

CLARE GAA has been successful in its goal of turning the Cloister car park in Ennis’ town centre into a permanent parking facility. Clare County Council has given the green light to an application for planning permission to a change of use of the site on Lower Abbey Street. Prior to this the location had permission to provide spaces for vehicles only before and after GAA matches and authorised events at Cusack Park. The granting of planning permission paves the way for the site to be used as a commercial car park for both long term and short term parking for members of the public. Local authority planners in assessing the application acknowledged the development of car parking “would be welcome” in the area, helping free up spaces in other parts of the town centre. The site lies within the Ennis town centre Architectural Conservation area and within the immediate vicinity of a number of protected structures including Ennis Friary …

THE final presentation of the Ennistymon Enhancement Strategy took place at a public event in the town on Tuesday evening. “There were a lot of positive comments and some other comments that we need to take on board. I think we satisfied more people and we’ll explore some things a bit further,” said Ennistymon Town Team member Maude Hogan this Wednesday. “The crowd might have been a little bit smaller than previously, but then people are on holidays and some might feel they’ve seen it already. We’re putting up the presentation boards in the Library for ten days or so,” she added. Ms Hogan said a lot of effort has gone into getting the views of locals and now there is a vision for the future of Ennistymon. “It’s good to almost be at the end of the road and we now have a blueprint for the future. We’ve had a lot of consultations, in-depth ones, open public meetings in …

A PROPOSAL to develop housing in Lahinch has been refused planning permission due to inadequate sewage treatment. The local authority stated the development would be “premature” due to a deficiency in sewerage facilities locally and “result in a risk of pollution and would be prejudicial to public health”. John Talty Construction Ltd had applied to Clare County Council for planning permission to construct a development of eight houses, comprising six detached and two semi-detached homes. The proposal included all associated site development works, wastewater pre-treatment and connections to public services at Cill Stuifin, School Road, Attycristora, Lahinch. However in refusing permission Clare County Council stated the proposal would be “premature by reference to the existing deficiency in the provision of sewerage facilities in Lahinch and the period within which this constraint may reasonably be expected to cease”. The planning authority’s decision continued, “It is further considered that the proposed development of eight houses to be served by means of an …

THE man who has led a fundraising swim that has raised tens of thousands of euros for local charities is set to hang up his goggles. This August, Lahinch native Pat Conway will lead the 50th annual fundraising Lahinch to Liscannor Swim and after that will call it a day. Pat started this swim way back in 1972 and has organised, fundraised and swam it for the past 49 years. This year’s crossing, taking place on August 7, will be his 50th swim and final year swimming across the bay. Pat is a well known member of the local community and fondly known by friends and family as The Whale acknowledging his love of the water and swimming accomplishments going back decades. Pat started the Liscannor Swim as a fundraiser for the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital. From here, his efforts (and stamina) increased and he started training to swim the English Channel. His training consisted of swimming over and back …

THE country’s most successful soccer club, Shamrock Rovers is a Dublin institution. However, when the club had an away tie in the first qualification round of the Champions League this week, the Hoops ended up flying from Shannon rather than from the capital, even though it is 188km further from their ground than Dublin Airport. The club spent over €100,000 on chartering a flight to Malta for their second leg tie against Hibernians, but so congested was Dublin Airport that they couldn’t fly from there and had to go to Shannon instead. While it was unfortunate from the club’s point of view, it was yet more positive marketing for Shannon at a time when Dublin Airport is struggling to cope with the numbers using the airport, which is helping make the case that Irish aviation is far too centralised. Shannon Airport tweeted pictures of the Rovers squad at the airport and after wishing them well added, “It’s easier, faster and …