West Clare

Aine Kelly from Lissycasey has qualified as one of the top 75 contestants overall in the Doodle 4 Google Competition 2015. A fifth year student of St Michael’s Community College, Kilmihil, Aine is the only nominee across all categories from County Clare. The theme for this year’s competition is My Perfect Day. Aine’s doodle represents the following: “My perfect day would involve being surrounded by family and friends and I feel their importance in life is emphasised in my doodle. My drawing portrays my appreciation of family, while also illustrating the beauty of nature. This shows perfection lies in the simple things which are taken for granted”. Aine’s doodle is now online open to public vote. Everybody can vote by going onto Doodle 4 Google Ireland website http://www.google.ie/doodle4google/ and clicking on Group 5 where you will find Aine’s drawing. You simply click on her image and click vote for this doodle. Voting allows for everyone to cast at least one vote …

A POLISH man, found to be cultivating almost €165,000 worth of cannabis in the attic of a rented house in Kilkee, said he did it to help pay for his wedding. However, since being detected, his former fiancée has left him and he has spent a year in jail. Adam Wrobel (23) and his former fiancée, Jagoga Gajeuska (20), who were both living at an address at Lislanahan Lower, Kilkee, appeared before Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Friday last for their sentencing hearing. Wrobel pleaded guilty to cultivation, while Gajeuska pleaded guilty to allowing a premises to be used for cultivation on January 13, 2014. Garda Eoin Daly gave evidence that the owner of a property at Lislanahan Lower raised concerns about his property, after receiving a €640 electricity bill. The landlord said there were two Polish nationals living in the house and this had been arranged through a third party, who was also Polish. He told the gardaí that …

Minister for Education in Northern Ireland, John O Dowd is to address the INTO conference in Ennis in April, is has been confirmed. He will speak on Tuesday, April 7 following the address of the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan. The INTO general secretary, Sheila Nunan will respond to both ministers on behalf of approximately 850 delegates, representing 33,000 primary teachers in the south and 7,000 teachers in the north, at Treacys West County Hotel. The Conference will be addressed at its opening session on the previous day by INTO president, Sean McMahon from Mullagh and and Tom Healy, director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI). Tom has previously worked in the Economic and Social Research Institute, the Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the National Economic and Social Forum and the Department of Education and Skills.

TWO men in their twenties and two women in their thirties with Kilrush addresses appeared before Ennis District Court this afternoon charged with breaches of the Consumer Credit Act of 1995. The four were Diana Casey, 12 Wood Road, Kilrush; Patrick Casey, Beverley Hills View, Kilkee Road, Kilrush; Ann Marie O’Brien, 12 Sycamore Drive, Kilrush and James O’Brien, 28 Chapel Drive, Kilrush. All were remanded on bail until March 18, when they will appear before Ennis District Court once more. Similar conditions were imposed on all four in relation to bail. The defendants are required to sign on at Kilrush Garda Station on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. They are also required not to come within 100 metres of Kilrush Post Office between 8.30am and 1pm on Tuesday and Thursday, nor to have any contact with the complainants.  

Former Ennis Chamber CEO, Rita McInerney has confirmed her intention to seek a place on the Clare Fianna Fáil ticket to contest the next general election. Ms McInerney, who took a one-year sabbatical from her Ennis Chamber post to complete a masters in politics at University of Limerick, is looking forward to seeking the support of cumman members ahead of the Fianna Fáil Dáil Convention in Clare. The Doonbeg shop owner is facing stiff opposition from a number of candidates, after a Clare Champion survey revealed eight out of the 12 local Fianna Fáil county councillors expressed a preference for running three candidates at the next election. It is expected that Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, and the party’s national constituency committee will select Clare as one of the battlegrounds for a female candidate, in an effort to meet the national 30% gender quota requirement. Fianna Fáil Deputy Timmy Dooley said he will be putting his name forward for re-election …

A CONNEMARA builder will be sentenced in July for an assault on Clare traditional Irish musician, Noel Hill in a pub toilet seven years ago, which has left the victim with life-long injuries. Michael Folan, 55, from Teach Mór, Lettermullen, County Galway, had initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Hill, 56, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, at Tí Padraig Mairtín Beag in Leitir Mór, Connemara on St Stephen’s Day, 2008, when his trial opened before a jury at Galway Circuit Criminal Court last November. He changed his plea to guilty on the second day of the trial, after Mr Hill gave harrowing evidence of the injuries he sustained on the night to a stunned jury. Plastic surgeon, Patrick McCann had told the jury that Mr Hill’s left eye socket had been pushed back into his skull “like an egg in an eggcup” …

AN Bórd Pleanála has given the go ahead to plans that include the expansion of the museum at the West Clare Railway in Moyasta. Jackie Whelan, who is behind the establishment of the facility, said this week’s news is the culmination of a 16 year battle. “We got the news on Monday. Since we started looking for planning permission, including a road crossing and lights, it has taken 16 years to get this far,” he confirmed. “It means that we’re going building a new museum there now. It will be 180ft x 100ft. We have the largest fleet of railway antique vehicles in the country. It will on the other side of the road, towards Kilkee and Kilrush. We have full planning permission for a road crossing,” Mr Whelan added. The government closed the loss-making West Clare Railway in 1961. In 2010, An Bórd Pleanála rejected the expansion of the museum on grounds concerning road safety.

Fr Des Hillery, a native of Miltown Malbay, has been elected as Administrator of the Diocese of Killaloe. This follows the installation of Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly as Archbishop of Cashel and Emly on Sunday last, when the Diocese of Killaloe officially became vacant. At a meeting of the College of Consultors of the Diocese Fr Hillery, who is parish priest in Nenagh, was elected to his new post. A diocesan administrator has responsibility for administering the day-to-day affairs of the diocese while a new bishop is awaited. On Wednesday evening, Fr Hillery, a member of a well-known West Clare family, said, “I am privileged to accept this new role and hope to continue the good work of Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly and Bishop Willie Walsh in encouraging us to respond to the challenges of the Gospel. I hope to do all that I can to facilitate the continued implementation of the Pastoral Plan for the Diocese of Killaloe, which recognises our …