West Clare

  CLARE County Council has confirmed that it has commissioned an external independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the depositing of asbestos-cement materials at a number of sites throughout West Clare. The council says it has informed the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) of its intention to remove the hazardous waste material from nine separate locations in the vicinity of Kilrush and Kilkee. A specialist asbestos consultant has been engaged by the council to advise the authority on the removal of the materials. West Clare county councillors have been informed about the process while the council has confirmed it will be liasing with members of the public living in the vicinity of the affected sites about the remedial works that are due to take place. “Clare County Council’s environment section received a complaint from a member of the public last June regarding a number of areas where asbestos waste materials were deposited. The council has since identified nine sites where …

By Peter  O’Connell CLARE County Council is investigating claims that there are at least nine asbestos dumps in the Kilrush and Kilkee areas of West Clare. The asbestos waste was dumped on both public and private lands and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed on Wednesday that it has been contacted on the issue. The matter was raised by Councillor PJ Kelly at Monday’s Kilrush Electoral Area meeting. He later told The Clare Champion that he had discovered that it would cost up to €2.9m to pay for the clean up operation. The council maintains, however, that the figure involved cannot be determined at this stage, as cost associated with carrying out these works “are as yet undetermined”. In a statement on Wednesday evening, Clare County Council said, “All of the asbestos material investigated to date consists of broken pieces of asbestos cement water main. It is considered that all of this material originated on Clare County Council water services …

MINISTER of State for Touirsm Michael Ring is in County Clare this Tuesday for a number of engagements. At noon he will perform the official opening of the new extension to the Burren Outdoor Centre, at Turlough, Bellharbour. Following this he will meeet the board of directors Lisdoonvarna Failte to dicusss tourism in the North Clare area. Finally, he will travel to West Clare to visit the rebranded Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg to be briefed on development plans. Minister Ring will be accompanied by Clare Fine Gael Oireachtas members.

By Peter O’Connell FARMERS affected by coastal flooding in Farrihy , which straddles the border between Kilkee and Doonbeg, have had to hire a private contractor to help save 300 acres of land extensively flooded in the January and February flooding. “The farmers have taken it on themselves because their land was getting worse and worse. Every time the tide comes in three feet of their land is removed. It is reaching the stage now where it’s going to reach the bog area of the land,” Coastal Erosion Group PRO Tommy Comerford said. “The flooding has just absolutely destroyed the whole place. What they have done is they have got their own private machine in. They’re doing it out of their own pocket to try and protect the piece of land that’s getting damaged. Doonbeg regards this as a real emergency,” he added. Mr Comerford has revealed that a land and householder in Farrihy, Gearóid Greene, has had to spend …

By Dan Danaher A WEST  Clare public patient is becoming increasingly fearful he will suffer a heart attack before  his “crazy” seven month wait for an angiogram at University College Hospital, Galway (UHG) elapses. John Collins, Cross, who can’t work for medical reasons and can’t afford private medical insurance, is worried about his health, after  an abnormality was detected after a stress test in the hospital on August 14, 2013. According to Mr Collins, he was told he needed an angiogram and would get one within four or five months to make sure he was ok medically. University College Hospital, Galway hadn’t responded to a number of Clare Champion queries at the time of press. Mr Collins has got a verbal commitment from UHG that he will get an angiogram on March 12 next. Still waiting to get written confirmation of his appointment in an official letter, despite a number of requests, he described the delay as “crazy” and “disgraceful”. He …

by Peter O’Connell THE Trump Organisation will employ 400 people at its newly acquired resort and golf club in Doonbeg, according to Donald J Trump. Claiming prospective windfarms would “absolutely destroy tourism” in West Clare, the billionaire developer, in a extensive interview with The Clare Champion, also said the company intends investing “many, many millions” in the Clare facility, which his company purchased for a reported €15 million. The deal was formally signed on Tuesday. “It was just confirmed and the money has been sent,” Mr Trump, who is chairman and president of The Trump Organisation, said on Tuesday evening. “I would say we’re going to employ 400 people in total. It’s a lot of jobs,” he revealed, speaking from the US. Mr Trump Snr, who will visit Doonbeg in about five weeks, said it was too early to say what the exact investment in the Trump International Golf Links Ireland would be. However, he said the investment would be …

KILRUSH RNLI was put on standby for a short period this Monday following a report that an aircraft was experiencing difficulties on its approach to Shannon Airport. The volunteer lifeboat crew was contacted by Valentia Coast Guard at 11.50am and made aware that the plane, described as an air to air refueller, was experiencing engine trouble as it made its way across the Atlantic. John Lamb, Kilrush RNLI Lifeboat operations manager requested the station’s volunteer crew to launch and remain on standby. Within minutes, crew members were geared up and the lifeboat was launched. Valentia Coast Guard was informed and the crew remained on the water awaiting instructions. At 12.35pm, the plane made a safe landing at Shannon Airport. The Coast Guard requested the lifeboat and the crew to stand down. Speaking following the call out, Kilrush RNLI helm, Pauline Dunleavy said, “Thankfully, the aircraft was able to make a safe landing this afternoon. It is at times like these …

By Peter O’Connell ONE of Clare’s best-known GAA supporters passed away recently. Kevin Stapleton, who was 92, was born in Limerick and reared in Kilkee but lived and worked for 46 years in England. Resident in Ennis since his return to Ireland in 1989, he was a regular at Clare hurling and football games. He was also a colourful contributor to The Clare Champion letters page. In an interview with The Clare Champion in October 2012, Kevin recalled growing up in West Clare. “I was born in Limerick but I was in Kilkee at nine weeks old. My mother died at birth, so I never saw her,” he recounted sadly. Kevin and his twin brother, Thomas, were reared by their grandmother, Bridget Stapleton, whom they treated as their mother. She was a woman with straightforward convictions, as evidenced by Kevin’s name change around the time of his confirmation. It turns out his name was not actually Kevin. “When I was christened, …