Regional

Substantial funding needs to be secured to help restore Ballyalla Lake as a bathing amenity for Ennis and its surrounding areas, according to local town councillors.Concern about the rapid deterioration in the water quality of Ballalla Lake, which was once “a jewel in the crown” was expressed by councillors at an Ennis Town Council meeting on Wednesday.Leading the calls, Councillor Brian Meaney requested an explanation from Clare County Council why bathing waters in Ballyalla didn’t meet standards.Councillor Meaney called for a more proactive approach to improve water quality to facilitate the lake’s restoration as a bathing amenity for people in the town.He noted that the percentage of total coliforms and faecal coliforms higher than accepted guidelines had increased from 29% to 100% and from 7% to 37% respectively from 2005 to 2010.He was supported by Councillor Johnny Flynn, who recalled the lake was once a major asset for the town and proposed that money should be set aside for the …

THE co-existence of wealth and poverty in South Galway towns like Portumna during the famine years will be examined as part of an interesting new social history project.The Irish Workhouse Centre in Portumna wants to preserve the workhouse’s stories and retell them to visitors. South-East Galway Irish Rural Development manager, Ursula Marmion is hoping to provide visitors to the centre with a history of the Irish workhouse on July 1 next.Known as paupers or inmates, they were the residents of the workhouse; a part of Irish history that has left memories of dire poverty.“They used to call them blackberry men because they ate the blackberries off the bushes. They were also known as knights of the road or itinerant workers,” explains Ms Marmion.The concept of developing a workhouse centre explaining the history of Irish workhouses seemed outlandish initially.“At the beginning I think they [local community] thought we were all a bit mad,” says Ms Marmion.However, the community has rallied around …

CLARE Farm Heritage Tours has unveiled its summer programme, which includes tours for all ages alongside daily farm tours to eight unique farms in the Burren region. The programme begins on June 25 with a historical talk and walk at Cassidy’s Pub and Restaurant, Carron, in the heart of the Burren, followed by farm walks near Lahinch in July, a gardening in the Burren experience in August and finishing in September with stories of Maura Rua who lived at Lemenagh Castle.The farm tours are both educational and fun, allowing visitors to hear about the landscape of the Burren direct from the people who live and work in the area. The tours are led by individual landowners, who share their wealth of knowledge about local history and archaeology, landscape heritage, geology, and farming practices (both old and new), as well as innumerable anecdotes and tales about the Burren and its people. “With eight farms in our co-op, we have plenty variety …

A MONUMENT etched with the faces of two members of the IRA’s East Clare Brigade who were killed in Meelick 90 years ago will be unveiled at a special ceremony on Sunday, June 26.Michael Gleeson and Christopher McCarthy were buried in the Republican plot in Meelick churchyard near Patrick White, who was shot by a British sentry at Spike Island Prison, Cork, in June 1921.The special commemorative events will start with mass in Meelick Church at 12 noon, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony near the graves of the men.Once this is completed, parishioners will be invited to drive about one a half miles away to Woodcock Hill where a relative of the deceased men will participate in the joint unveiling ceremony for the new monument. Details of the relatives who will unveil the monument haven’t been finalised yet.Meelick Ambush Commemoration Committee member, Johnny White, insists the commemoration will be a non-political parish event.The committee is also planning to organise a …

AN Eye for the Music is the title of the Breandán Breathnach memorial lecture by Tony Kearns at the 39th annual Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, which opens on Saturday, July 2.Tony has been photographing events and people at the Willie Clancy festival for two decades and he is in a unique position to offer some interesting perspectives on the social and personal interactions between musicians and photographers during the 20th century, from the more formalised encounters of the early decades to the casual presentations of later years.While he will be using examples from his own extensive stock of material, including some already published in his book Music and Light/Ceol & Solas 2008, Tony will also be illustrating his talk with examples of rare photos of influential Clare musicians from the ’20s and ’30s, as well as material from the Liam McNulty collection.Liam McNulty took most of the photos at the Willie Clancy Week in the 1970s when, with Breandán Breathnach, …

Ennis Town Council had  €1.7 million in uncollected commercial rates on December 31, 2009, according to the latest annual statement produced by the local authority.While town manager Ger Dollard expects that most of these outstanding rates bills will be collected, he admitted the amount of overdue rates was a matter of concern for the authority.Mr Dollard told councillors at a local authority meeting on Wednesday the council couldn’t provide services for people in the town unless it collected this money.The town authority’s accounts also showed there was €5.896m in total due for collection in 2010 after €1.065m was carried forward at the start of the year before deductions. The total amount collected at December 31, 2010 was €4.142m, the amount of irrecoverable rates was €528,930 while the total amount as a percentage of total for collection was 70%.While the council was offering traders deferred payments and other payment methods to make it easier to pay rates, Councillor Peter Considine warned …

A KILRUSH man has once again expressed his annoyance at the poor state of the Church of Ireland graveyard in Grace Street in the town.Last September, The Clare Champion highlighted the dishevelled state of the historic graveyard. While the church has been refurbished and since 2007 is the responsibility of Kilrush Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, hundreds of the graves at the back of the church were unkempt, while a number of vaults were wide open and could be accessed without undue difficulty. The graveyard was also completely overgrown and the knee-high grass had not been cut since June 2010.Last year Kilrush man, Tommy Scully, who has tried to upkeep the graveyard for several years along with Seán Danaher, spoke of his frustration. He expressed the hope at the time that the graveyard would be cleaned up and maintained and that a caretaker should be employed to do this.However, nothing has changed and Mr Scully contacted The Clare Champion last week to …

SEAN McLoughlin has been selected as Fine Gael’s successor to Tony Mulcahy on Clare County Council. A successful candidate for Shannon Town Council at the last two local elections, Mr McLoughlin defeated Marinella Raftery at last Thursday’s selection convention in Bunratty.There were 77 votes cast on the night but members of the party’s national executive carried out the count and did not reveal the breakdown of the votes.Speaking to The Clare Champion this week, Councillor McLoughlin said that with a Shannon councillor having departed, he felt it was a good time to stand. “It’s something that I would have thought about over the years but when Tony was there I had no business going. When he moved on, some people would have said I was the natural successor but Fine Gael is good and fair and there was a contest,”He said that he intends to keep his cab licence at Shannon Airport but will be mostly concentrating on county council …