Regional

A FORMER member of the production staff of The Clare Champion, Ennis man Paddy Brennan, has compiled a book depicting Clare, Ennis and its people through the generations.A Window in Time – Clare, Ennis and its People Framed Through the Generations includes many fantastic photos, including sports events, school children, street and entertainment scenes dating back many years, as well as genuine heartfelt accounts of local stories covering aspects of local life.Paddy retired from his role as production manager of the newspaper last year, having spent 49 years as an employee. He started work as a 16-year-old as a machine minder, later becoming a compositor, then a lino operator and moved on to the computers when that transition occurred. For the last 15 years of his years in the paper he was production manager. Paddy said he started to collect photographs more than 20 years ago. “I loved photography. I won a camera when I was 14 for running in …

BUSINESSES in Ennis reaped the benefits of up to 4,000 visitors in the county at the weekend due to the Sky Ride Etape Hibernian Cycle. Shannon Development has estimated that the event generated in the region of €1.5 million for local businesses, including eateries, hotels, bars and shops.CEO of Ennis Chamber, Rita McInerney, said the chamber is delighted with the success of the cycle and the benefits it brought to businesses, in its first year.“Town was certainly busy over the weekend, especially on Sunday in the Market area of Ennis. We will be carrying out a review of the event to determine the benefits to local business but I can say without a doubt that business was certainly up. Hotels and B&Bs had high occupancy rates. Of course, the Merriman Summer School was also in, which also attracted people to Ennis. There would have been up to 4,000 visitors here over the weekend due to the cycle and Shannon Development’s …

A SHANNON man became World Master’s Swimming Champion at 100m fly in Gothenburg earlier this month, in the 40-44 age group.He also took silver in the 50m fly and two eighth places in the 100m and 50m freestyle. All of these four times were national records for the age group. John Cunningham’s time of 58:55 in the 100m was just two hundredths of a second off his personal best (pb), which he set in 1990 when he was a member of the Irish team, while his time in the 50m was a new personal best.He is the son of Jean and Bert Cunningham  but now lives in Hertfordshire in the South of England, while he works as a programme manager with an investment bank.John said that he had been targeting the World Master’s Championships for some time. “I decided about two years ago that I’d be working towards them,” he said.He had drifted away from swimming, until he started taking …

SHANNON TV star Aisling O’Loughlin has said that she won’t be going to the gardaí in relation to a Facebook page, which urged people to support a campaign to have her removed from her position on TV3’s Xposé. “It seems to be gone now and once it’s gone, I don’t care about it. The main thing was to get it off the internet,” she told The Clare Champion.Ms O’Loughlin said she was disappointed that Facebook hadn’t moved quickly to remove the page, which she said showed a tacit endorsement of putting up hate-filled pages.She said she has her own Facebook account but will be deactivating it now. “I’m getting out of it, I’m closing it down. It was an experiment, I wanted to see why everyone was on it. Now I’ve done it and I realised that it’s really a bit of a waste of time. I have an email address and I don’t particularly want to share my pictures …

Plans for the development of a new arts centre on the shores of Lough Derg have been approved by North Tipperary County Council.McKeogh Brothers, who recently celebrated 150 years of business in their hardware and nearby foodstore in Ballina-Killaloe, have been given the green light to change the use of a vacant commercial unit at 2, Ballina Quay to an arts centre, including art, craft, dance, drama and gallery space.North Tipperary County Council attached three planning conditions that require the applicant to complete the development in accordance with drawings and documentation submitted with the application on June 4 last.The premises has to be closed between 9pm and 9am, unless otherwise agreed with the planning authority, while signage at the site has to be limited to a painted facia sign, which may be externally illuminated.According to planning documents submitted to the council by Limerick-based chartered architects Michael Barker and Company, there are no changes to the front façade of the existing …

A group of up to 50 cyclists will undertake a 70-mile charity cycle from Killaloe to Ennis this Saturday in support of a brave Killaloe toddler.Touched by the story of Jayden Conway, who has already survived major operations including open heart surgery, two Killaloe men, William Byrnes, 33, Millstream and Ben Murphy, 24, of St Flannan’s Road, decided to support ‘Jayden’s Journey’ by donating money from the cycle to Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, where he has spent months receiving various treatments.In fact, Jayden has spent more than one-third of his 20 months receiving different treatments for Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in Crumlin and the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.Last year, the Killaloe duo raised €4,375 for Aware to help people suffering from depression, when 25 cyclists completed the same round trip.This year, they are hoping to exceed this figure and, already, specially made sponsored t-shirts have raised €1,200.The cyclists will travel in convoy with a local Red …

A wind energy development co-operative in West Clare has received planning permission from Clare County Council to construct the largest community-owned wind farm development in Ireland.It is predicted that 300 jobs will be created during the construction stage of the project, which incorporates the company and 30 local farm families. Developers have said that the local community will be afforded first preference regarding construction work and full-time employment once the wind farm is up and running.West Clare Renewable Energy Ltd. (WCRE) plans to construct 28 3MW wind turbines on the western slopes of Mount Callan, a 391-metre high mountain, located between Ennis and Miltown Malbay. The company says the that the €200 million project will be capable of generating enough electricity to power every home and business in Clare, as well as meeting the Limerick – Clare Energy Agency’s 2010 targets for emissions reductions and renewable energy production. The scheme is predicted to reduce carbon emissions over its lifetime by …

ON Thursday Kilrush Farmers Market will mark their harvest celebration with a series of free musical and theatrical acts in front of Kilrush Town Hall, including a preview of Astrid Adler’s mime artists’ new show.“Kilrush Farmers Market is all about families and every week we offer tasty and fresh locally-grown vegetables; fresh, locally caught fish; freshly-baked bread, cakes and scones; hand-made chocolates; sizzling crepes, tasty gourmet treats, cheese, olives and artisan crafted gifts,” explained market controller, Kim Roberts. “The market regularly recruits new stall holders, who offer quality food and new craft ideas, bringing quality produce for the table and home to the heart of the town.  Some of the stallholders can take orders whilst others will do boxed or home deliveries,” she added. For more information on the market contact Hilary Gleeson at Clare Local Development Company 086 8235598 or 065 9056611.