Regional

THE loss of the Blue Flag at a beach in South Galway could have major repercussions for companies in the area according to local business people. Kinvara’s Traught beach is one of six beaches nationally to lose its Blue Flag status, it was announced this week.The beach was the only coastal area in South Galway to have a Blue Flag. Galway has only six Blue Flags in total, including two in the city. The ones in the county represent just four out of the 22 bathing areas under Galway County Council.A number of local people expressed their disappointment that the beach, which has been consistently classed as having a good water quality by the EPA, has now lost its Blue Flag status.The EPA describes Traught as “a gentle sloping sandy beach which is shallow for quite a distance and makes for a great family day out with the kids. It is a rural beach close to the Burren and located …

DESPITE the disquiet last week with motions of no confidence and a prospective vote of confidence tabled in the Dáil, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen was welcomed with “a vote of thanks” by Shannon Development CEO, Vincent Cunnane at an event in Scariff last Friday.Although the newspapers carried headlines announcing Labour as the biggest party in the State and showed support for Cowen plummet to just 21%, the Taoiseach appeared unfazed on Friday. The nation’s political leader seemed unperturbed by the political unrest brewing back in Dublin, which has developed and taken many twists and turns over the past week, as he offered warm greetings, smiles and shared jokes with the people of East Clare during his visit.Indeed, the low level of support for the Taoiseach was not evident in Scariff as Mr Cowen was rushed by people eager to shake his hand and he courteously obliged when locals asked for a snapshot with, as they saw it, Ireland’s top man …

  ST Flannan’s National School in Inagh is setting itself apart in terms of educational facilities for children in the county with autism spectrum disorder.On Friday, staff and pupils celebrated the opening of a multi-room extension doubling the size of the school building and augmenting the space and facilities available to all its pupils.According to school principal Anne Quinn, the changes at the school and the additions to its specialist unit, Suaimhneas are hugely important for the educational development of all the children who attend it.“The extension means that teachers have the space and facilities to carry out the various therapies and programmes required and because it is part of the school, mainstreaming is very accessible. Some of the children are integrated into the mainstream classes for certain subjects based on their ability. The unit is an integral part of the school. It is not something isolated or separate,” she explains.The first primary school in Inagh was located in the …

KILRUSH town councillors have urged the council executive to set realistic prices for perspective buyers of council houses in the town. At last Thursday’s June meeting of the town council, Councillor Liam O’Looney said that people feel part of a community if they own rather than rent their house. “The council should set a realistic market value. Tenants have more ownership when they buy a house,” Councillor O’Looney said. “In the last two housing estates that we’ve built, take-up has been very, very poor,” he suggested. However, Kilrush town clerk John Corry said that the local authority do seek an independent valuation for houses and that purchasers are entitled to appeal the price set up the council. He explained that Kilrush Town Council already has a Tenant Purchase Agreement in place, although councillors felt that the prices set under this scheme were prohibitive. “We’re going nowhere, as we are, with the scheme at the moment,” Councillor O’Looney claimed. Councillor Tom …

BUSINESSES and tourism-related enterprises in Killaloe and Ballina are looking forward to a major spin-off from the eagerly-anticipated 18th annual Féile Brian Ború Festival.An action-packed programme of events for all the family from Tuesday, June 29 to Sunday, July 4 is expected to attract thousands of day-trippers and tourists to the shores of Lough Derg.Festival chairman, John Grimes said the committee is confident the new attractions included in this year’s line-up will generate a lot of extra business for local pubs, restaurants and bed and breakfasts.Mr Grimes told The Clare Champion there has been a tremendous response from local businesses, who have put their shoulder to the wheel behind the festival.Top of the bill is the arrival of one of the Ireland’s most successful ballad groups, The High Kings, who will conclude the weekend with a performance in the Lakeside Hotel on July 4.People are advised to book early for the show as a lot of people who turned up …

THIS weekend will see a North Clare man begin an attempt to scale Africa’s highest mountain.Rose of Tralee co-ordinator and former escort of the year, Ciarán O’Connell from Corofin will next week be battling the elements as he begins his ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro in Eastern Africa.Ciarán leaves on Thursday with a group of 13 previous roses and escorts, to climb the 5,895 metres or nearly 20,000 feet to the top of the volcanic Tanzanian mountain.“The real reason we are putting in all this effort, training, time and hardship with the possibility of death on the mountain is to raise vital funds for the Voluntary Service Overseas or VSO charity, which is a very worthy cause,” said Ciarán.Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is an international development charity that works through experienced volunteers living and working alongside local partners. It is the largest independent volunteer-sending organisation in the world.“I have been involved in the Rose of Tralee for a number of years …

  WHILE the vuvuzela may be the sound of World Cup 2010, four years ago in Gort, sports enthusiasts were more likely to hear the samba drum echo through the town as Brazil progressed through the finals of the competition. Of course, 2006 was different. Construction was booming. House prices were rising. The numbers of people employed in the State reached over two million for the first time in the country’s history and four out of 10 Gort residents were not Irish. That year, Brazil was knocked out in the quarter-finals, a fate its football fans hope to avoid this time round.Gort resident and Brazilian woman Rosa DeSilva doesn’t call herself a football fan but hasn’t stopped her showing her support for her fellow countrymen and it won’t stop her watching her team take on the world in South Africa. “I have a big flag, which I am putting up,” she tells The Clare Champion.For her country’s opening clash on …

SHANNON is in danger of developing a “tatty image” because graffiti artists are defacing public property around the town.That’s the view of Councillor Patricia McCarthy who supported a call at this month’s electoral area meeting to enlist the help of the gardaí in trying to arrest the practice and to get those responsible to desist.Accepting that the artists display a level of creativity in their work, Councillor McCarthy suggested that they could be better employed imparting their talents to young children in a more appropriate environment. “Because of their clear style, it should be possible to identify those who are responsible. Perhaps this is an issue we can address at the Joint Policy Committee meeting,” she said.Councillor Gerry Flynn, who raised the issue, asked the council to remove the graffiti on the building to the rear of a house at Drumgeely Avenue where, he said,  “it is causing a lot of distress to older people living in the area”.“There is …