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West Clare

More lighting concerns in rural West Clare

FURTHER concerns have been raised in West Clare over the adequacy of street lighting in rural areas. At the March meeting of the Municipal District committee, the matter was brought up by Councillor Gabriel Keating who called for upgrade works in Knockerra Village. “There are a number of houses on the side road close to the church and there is not public lighting there whatsoever,” he said. “I would ask the authority to look at rectifying this situation as soon as possible.” A written reply from Alan Kennelly, Senior Executive Engineer (SEE) outlined that works are unlikely unless money becomes available to the authority. “Clare County Council does not have any plans to extend public lighting along the L-6168-0 – the side road up by the Church,” the response said. “If a funding source should become available then public lighting may be installed.” The response prompted Councillor Ian Lynch to ask officials to provide estimates on the cost of street …

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Call for boost to West Clare pier lighting

LIGHTING on piers in West Clare is critical to supporting what remains of the county’s fishing industry, a local councillor has said. At this month’s meeting of the Municipal District committee, Councillor Cillian Murphy described the issue as “close to his heart”. “As someone who was involved in the fishing industry, I know the importance of having proper services on our piers,” he said. “Fishing crews have started to gear back up and I’ve had contact in relation to both of the piers in Carrigaholt. But, equally, I’m making the call on behalf of fishermen using all of the district’s piers, lights must be operational on all of them. For the want of a few bulbs, we could be making these areas a lot safer. There was no light at all on either of the Carrigaholt piers at one stage. We have little enough left of our fishing industry at this stage and this would go some way toward supporting …

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Moves afoot to improve access to school bus transport

RESTRICTIONS on access to school bus transport in North Clare are causing hardship and inconvenience for many parents and students in the Corofin area, a recent meeting of local councillors was told. Councillor Joe Killeen, a former primary school principal and ex-president of the INTO, called on the West Clare Municipal District committee to contact the government on the matter and to ask them to redefine the catchment area for the secondary schools in Ennistymon. “Such a move”, he said, “would make pupils from Corofin eligible for school transport on a phased basis.” The Fianna Fáil member noted that, currently, the Department of Education provides subsidised school transport for post-primary pupils who live more than 4.8 kilometres away from the appropriate school. Because schools in Ennis are closer to those living in Corofin, students currently only have ‘concessionary’ status on school busses to Ennistymon. “We have had a huge increase in the primary school population,” Councillor Killeen noted. “Now, as …

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West Clare councillors demand clarity on population growth targets

ANGER has been expressed by West Clare councillors over national planning policies which they fear will stifle population growth. Tabling a joint motion at the recent municipal district meeting, Councillors Cillian Murphy, Ian Lynch, Shane Talty and Joe Garrihy sought details of population growth targets under the forthcoming County Development Plan. All voiced frustration at the reply, which was described as “a non-response”. “We’ve been briefed on now the new plan will have to tie in with the regional spatial strategy and so we’re now looking for clarity on the population allocation for West Clare,” Councillor Murphy said. “It’s kind of mind-boggling that any national policy would restrict any county’s ambition to develop. We are the district most likely to be affected if Ennis gets city status. That puts the development focus on the Limerick-Shannon-Ennis corridor. We have to question where we will get a chance to be ambitious for the growth of our area.” Councillor Lynch described as “a …

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Concerns continue over main arterial route to West Clare

A FIVE-YEAR programme to address the condition of one of West Clare’s main arterial routes has been called for, amid ongoing concerns at changes to speed limits on the N68. Reductions at a number of points on the road from Kilrush to Ennis were introduced in 2019, meaning there are 11 different speed zones on the route. At the West Clare Municipal District meeting last week, these concerns prompted a Kilrush-based councillor to consider voting against the Schedule of Municipal District Works. The programme was unveiled by Senior Engineer, John Leahy and described by Director of Services Leonard Cleary as “a very, very good result for West Clare”. There was a welcome, generally, for the fact that €34.5 million has been allocated for the county, but Councillor Ian Lynch said that the condition of the N68 from Kilrush to Ennis caused him to think twice before giving his backing to the schedule of works. The Independent councillor thanked Mr Leahy …

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Concerns raised over possible de-zoning of council land

THE risk that some lands owned by council could drop substantially in value, because of new national planning policies, has been flagged by a member of the West Clare Municipal District. Councillor Cillian Murphy told a meeting of the district committee that huge opportunity presented by the pandemic to bring people back to rural Clare could be lost if lands have to be zoned under the terms of the National Planning Framework (NPF), which will shape the forthcoming county development plan. The Fianna Fáil member asked the authority for details of all lands owned by the local authority and details of their zoning, whether residential, industrial or residential. “The impetus for this,” he explained, “is that we need to look at what lands the council owns in the context of the NPF. There is a huge drive from government to deliver affordable housing and a huge opportunity because of the pandemic, for people to live and work in rural Ireland.” …

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Virtual St Patrick’s Day celebrations planned for Kilrush

ST PATRICK’S Day festivities will go virtual this year in Kilrush, with the community determined to look ahead to brighter days, while celebrating the local parades tradition that is so dear to local hearts. A 12-strong committee involving business and community leaders has been working hard to ensure people still have the chance to celebrate, despite the Level 5 lockdown restrictions. Taking the theme of ‘Sending Grá’ to family and friends who are away from home on March 17, the virtual celebration aims to engage people of all ages. The streets and shops have been decorated in the town and organisers are inviting people of all ages to submit entries to art and photography competitions and to send in photos of vintage vehicles that would normally be getting polished and ready to take to the streets for the parade. There’s also a Jerusalema Challenge for family bubbles and socially-distanced groups. “The Kilrush St Patrick’s Day Parade has always been a …

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HSE pressed on primary care centre for West Clare town

THE HSE has confirmed a review has been commissioned into the provision of a new Primary Health Care Centre in Kilrush. Following a public announcement two years ago concerning this development, Councillor Cillian Murphy asked the HSE to provide information on the phase in the current process, a timeline for its completion and opening and an indicative list of proposed services and opening times Councillor Murphy asked at a recent HSE West Forum meeting whether services in the new health centre will be included that will reduce the amount of non-urgent calls the ambulance service usually deals with. The Fianna Fáil Councillor asked if a review of this project had actually started and when could he expect the completion of a report on the centre. He expressed concern that the HSE will make a decision on progressing the centre after the review as this could result in two possible outcomes: one, where the centre would not proceed or, two when …

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