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West Clare

PJ Murrihy for Kilkee concert

AWARD-winning and much loved singer-songwriter, PJ Murrihy will be in concert in Kilkee this Saturday night.  The eagerly-anticipated event, which features Séamus Shannon, follows on from a very successful appearance by PJ at the Ploughing Championships. In the wake of the pandemic, fans from all over Ireland lined up to see the Mullagh man live in Ratheniska, and Clare followers will welcome the chance to see him at 8pm, at Cultúrlann Sweeney.  A veteran of the Irish music scene, PJ first came to prominence  in the late ‘80s, with a song called ‘Pat Murphy’s Meadow’. The hugely popular ballad was originally a poem, written by JM Devine in the 1930s. He has since had many successes with his songs including ‘Life in the Auld Dog Yet’, ‘Soldier On’, and ‘Drawing Little Men in the Ashes’. To date, songs written by PJ have been recorded by a number of prominent artists including, Big Tom, Daniel O’Donnell, Foster and Allen, Michael English, …

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Call made to restore Kilrush’s French connection

CALLS are being made to revitalise the inks between West Clare and North Western France, on the 40th anniversary of the Kilrush-Plouzané twinning initiative.  Councillor Ian Lynch proposed that the local authority would reinvigorate the long-standing connection with the Britanny town, which shares historical links to St Senan. The Independent member outlined to the recent meeting of the West Clare Municipal District (WCMD) that the twinning had been established in 1982, under Kilrush Town Council’s auspices. Links between the two towns had been unearthed in the late 1970s by a Breton historian who was looking into the history of Plouzané. The settlement, close to the major French city of Brest, looked at the origin of the name ‘Plouzané’, which means ‘church of Zane’. He then established that Zane was the Irish monk, Senan, whose home was Scattery Island. St Senan established churches in Cornwall and Brittany  “As this would be the 40-year anniversary, now is the right time to reinvigorate the twinning,” …

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Toilet facilities for Clare village no simple matter says Council

THERE were 27 camper vans parked on the green at Carrigaholt one morning during the summer, along with a number of tents. With this in mind, at last week’s meeting of West and North Clare, members of Clare County Council, Councillor Gabriel Keating called for toilet facilities, similar to those provided in Doolin car park, to be installed there. He said that at the moment Carrigaholt is “ticking all the boxes” for the provision of a wastewater treatment plant, but he said installing portable toilets in the interim would be very positive. In a written reply to his motion, Senior Executive Engineer Alan Kenneally acknowledged that the area is becoming increasingly popular with visitors. “While Carrigaholt may not have the visitor numbers of Doolin, the village is becoming increasingly popular with tourists, helped by its location on the Wild Atlantic Way and its Green Coast beach.” However, he said that there are a number of difficulties with putting in place …

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A footpath or not a footpath? That is the question

A FOOTPATH or not a footpath, that is the question in Kilmihil. A meeting of North and West Clare councillors last week heard a motion from Cillian Murphy calling for the installation of a footpath along the Main Street of the village, from the entrance to the People’s Park to beyond the HSE centre in the village In a written reply, however, senior executive engineer Alan Kennelly said that there actually is a footpath in place, though he acknowledged there were “issues” with it. “There is a footpath in place on the southern side of Main Street Kilmihil, between the People’s Park and the HSE health centre. “The footpath lacks definition in places as there are several accesses crossing, and houses / premises are of differing set back distances. “There is also an ESB pole right in the middle of one narrow section of the footpath – which impedes access.” Councillor Murphy said that the “critical words” in the reply …

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Man impersonates garda to con woman out of cash

Gardai in Kilrush are investigating a burglary in which a man impersonated a garda to con a woman out of her money. The incident occurred between 6pm and 7pm last Saturday, September 3, in Cooraclare. The homeowner reported a male knocked on her door, informed her that he was a Garda and that he was there to check that her money was secure. The man then entered the house and the homeowner handed over two purses with a quantity of her cash inside; the man then left the scene. There was no damage to any property and the homeowner was not assaulted or threatened. The culprit is described as being approximately 60 years of age, wearing a face mask and denim jeans. If anybody was in the area at the time or has any information about this incident they can contact Kilrush Garda Station on 065-9080550 or indeed any Garda station.

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Permission denied for telecommunications mast on Loop Head

PLANNING permission has been refused for a 30-metre high telecommunications structure on Loop Head due to visual impact. An application had been made by Vantage Towers Ltd for the mast with antannae, dishes and associated telecommunications equipment at Moyarta East, Carrigaholt. The proposed site is 260 metres west of the R468 regional road and 1.56km from the R487 regional road, which is a designated scenic route to the north west. The mast was to be sited in a locally elevated position in a relatively low landscape and views would be available towards the site from the south and south west on the local road network. This last point especially mitigated against the granting of planning permission as the planner’s report stated, “Having regard to the locally elevated nature of the site, the open nature of the receiving landscape and the height of the structure as proposed, views would be available towards the tower from multiple vantage points to the north, …

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West Clare caravan park proposal denied planning permission

GOLD Star Homes 3 Limited has been refused permission for the development of a caravan park at Dough Kilkee. There had been a number of objections to the proposal, while permission was refused on a number of grounds, including one that the road network was inadequate. “The road network that serves as the access to the site from Circular Road is deficient in terms of its capacity, its horizontal alighment, surfacing and pedestrian provision in order to accommodate the volume and composition of vehicular and pedestrian traffic associated with the development. “In addition the proposed layout and boundary treatments would restrict visiiblity at the proposed access points and the existing adjacent access points to the east and west of the site.” The site is zoned for low density residential development and the Chief Executive’s report stated that “the proposed development is not in accordance with the onsite objective as it does not constitute an appropriate consolidation of the structure of …

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Clare town has highest commercial vacancy rate in Munster

KILRUSH is the town in Munster with the highest rate of commercial buildings that are vacant. The town has had an issue with vacancies for some time and regularly features at the top of the periodic Geodirectory issued reports on vacancies. The most recent one showed that in the second quarter of the year there was a vacancy rate of 25.1% at Kilrush, the highest in Munster and the fourth highest in Ireland. However, on the positive side, the rate of vacancy in Kilrush was nearly 1% lower than at the same time in 2021. Jack Kelly, who has a well known business in the town, said that there has been a fairly good recovery since Covid-19 restrictions were raised. “I would say things are picking up, but Kilrush is always behind the curve on that, it is coming back, but slowly coming back. There have been a few extra units taken up around the town. “Has it changed much …

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