Regional

FLAGMOUNT woman and recent garda graduate, Nora Brady was presented with the Commissioner’s Medal last Friday at the Garda College in Templemore for her outstanding academic achievement while studying for the force.

OVER the past month, third-year pupils at Scariff Community College have been busy raising almost €800 in aid of the Niall Mellon Township Trust.

ENNIS gardaí and the Clare Fire Service are asking people to be exercise caution in their Hallowe’en activities this coming weekend.In recent weeks, members of the Ennis Community Police have been visiting primary and secondary schools throughout the town informing pupils on the dangers and laws surrounding bonfires and the use of fireworks, firebangers and other Hallowe’en firecrackers.The scheme was run by the local community garda in conjunction with the Clare Fire Service as part of the Operation Tombola, the national campaign that aims at clamping down on bonfires and the use of fireworks at Hallowe’en. Ennis town community garda Deirdre O’Doherty said that all involved were very happy with how the school’s programme went in the lead-up to the school mid-term break.“The aim of the programme was to increase awareness of the dangers associated with bonfires, fireworks and firebangers at Hallowe’en. We want everyone to have fun at Hallowe’en, but we are encouraging all involved to be careful, to …

Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny, Aer Arann chairman Pádraig Ó Ceidigh and FAI technical director Packie Bonner will join tourism interests from across Ireland at the National Tourism Conference, details of which were announced this week.

OVER €2 million has been invested in the provision of a variety of community facilities at the West Clare Resource Centre in Miltown Malbay since 1993, Mayor of Clare, Christy Curtin has revealed.Councillor Curtin believes the success of the resource centre supports the retention of Clare Vocational Education Committee, considering all the support the VEC provided the local committee since its inception.Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has proposed that Clare VEC should amalgamate with North Tipperary VEC as part of a controversial reorganisation of the whole VEC sector.However, this amalgamation is being opposed by Councillor Curtin, who stressed that Clare is well served by Clare VEC in its current form and warned that local initiatives such as the resource centre could suffer in any new unit involving two counties.He invited Minister O’Keeffe to visit the resource centre to see what could be achieved when Clare VEC, Clare County Council and other bodies worked in co-operation with a local group.“I believe we …

THE affordable housing scheme at the back of Cluain Airne has been thrown into disarray as Clare County Council has terminated its contract with Paddy Burke Builders for the construction of the first phase.It’s another debacle in a project that has caused a huge amount of local controversy and anger since it was first mooted, some years ago.While there has been no work at the site for some time, at a recent meeting of Shannon Town Council, town manager Bernadette Kinsella said that things were on course, although the deadline for the builders had been extended.In a report to the October meeting of the Town Council, she stated, “There have been delays in the completion of this contract arising from a number of factors, including the poor weather conditions last winter, the requirement to extinguish rights of way and general issues associated with the economic downturn. The council is cognisant of the impact of these issues on contract delivery and …

PLANS are afoot to commemorate a piece of East Clare’s history as the 90th anniversary of the Glenwood Ambush approaches. The ambush took place at Belvoir Kilkishen on January 20, 1921 and so with the passing of 90 years, local man Patsy Neville is organising an event that will see a suitable plaque erected at the site, which is near one of the entrance gates to Glenwood House. It is understood that Patsy’s uncle was present at the ambush and it is hoped that more will be learned about the volunteers that participated in this historic event. The Kilkishen man is proposing to include the names of all the 37 volunteers, who played a part in the ambush and the names of the eight Black and Tans or RIC men who either died or escaped on that fateful day on the plaque. To progress this forward by the January 20 deadline, a meeting is scheduled for Donnellan’s Hall, Kilkishen on …

Ennis Town Council has launched an illustrated guide to key historic sites in the county capital.The bilingual guide forms part of the Historic Towns Initiative, which is part-funded by Fáilte Ireland under the National Development Plan. The concept is developed around the interpretation of Ennis’ heritage and facilitates visitors to the town through a range of tourist signage, including orientation, interpretative and information boards, along a designated historic route. Historic sites featured in the new guide include The Fair Green, Ennis Friary, CBS Monastery, Ennis Union Workhouse, Clonroad Quay, the Courthouse, Cusack Park, Steele’s Terrace, and the site of O’Brien’s Castle. Visitors using the Ennis town trail can enjoy a short and longer route, which will both start and finish at Clare Museum in the town centre.Launching the guide recently, Mayor of Ennis Tommy Brennan said, “Of the 32 historic trails developed throughout the country, the Ennis trail is by far the most comprehensive thanks to the wealth of history …