South Clare

SPECIAL passes to facilitate the movement of otters and other mammals will be built following the construction of the new Shannon River Crossing linking Ballina and Killaloe, consulting engineers have confirmed.

A SEASON’S best wasn’t enough to book a place in the Paralympic 400m freestyle final for a 19-year-old Killaloe swimmer on Friday last.

South East Clare’s Paralympians, the only two Clare people to represent Ireland at the London games are gearing up to show the world what they can do.

ALMOST €210,000 has been raised for Action Breast Cancer over a three-year period, thanks to a successful annual charity walk in Killaloe.

TRANSPORT Minister Leo Varadkar may be asked to intervene to facilitate the release of submissions concerning the controversial proposed €120 million Northern Distributor Road linking South-East Clare with Limerick City.Clare County Council has defended its decision to turn down a request from the Northern Distributor Road Concerned Residents’ Association (NDRCRA) to view submissions for the new distributor road, which has already been the subject of a public demonstration in Parteen earlier this year.  The lobby group, opposing to the proposed route, is considering making an official request to Minister Varadkar to view some of the submissions after he previously requested the council to release an edited version of the Constraints Report Study about the project.It is understood that over 400 submissions have already been received by the county council, which illustrates the huge level of interest and concern the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor has generated among residents in Parteen, Clonlara and Athlunkard. Members of the group visited Clare County Council …

EXCITEMENT is building in Killaloe as a local swimmer makes his final preparations for the  Paralympics, which start on August 29.Jonathan McGrath, who trains six days a week, recently participated in a special training camp in Portugal before he heads to Paralympic village in London this Friday.Speaking to The Clare Champion recently, 19-year-old Jonathan said he is looking forward to participating in the 400m freestyle event.“It is a dream come true to participate in the Paralympics.“Training is going very well and I feel way better than I did before previous world and European competitions. I know a few of the Irish swimmers who are competing in the Olympics so I can ask them what the pool is like,” he said.Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Alan Kelly has extended best wishes to all the Mid-Western athletes on the Irish team, as they begin their journey to the Paralympic Games in London.  Besides Jonathan, James McCarthy (Limerick) competes …

MEMORIES of dancing at various crossroads in South-East Clare came flooding back for locals who commemorated the death of a Cratloe native, who lost his life on the ill-fated RMS Titanic 100 years ago.

LANDOWNERS and householders in Killaloe and Ballina, who are affected by a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to facilitate a new bridge crossing and roads costing over €40.6 million, will be given an opportunity to outline their concerns at an oral hearing.