West Clare

A WEST Clare councillor has made a passionate plea for the region’s roads to receive a slice of the exchequer surplus of €5 billion.  Strong growth in tax revenue and an end to many Covid supports resulted in an exchequer swing of €12.4 billion at the end of last year from the €7.4 billion deficit recorded in 2021. Given the windfall, Councillor Ian Lynch has written to Ministers Eamon Ryan and Micheál McGrath highlighting the dire state of roads in the West Clare Municipal District. The Independent member made the case for an injection of €50 million for Clare County Council for road improvements, focusing on vital surface dressing and strengthening improvements.  In correspondence seen by The Champion, the Kilrush man told the Ministers for Transport and Public Expenditure said: “Decades of underinvestment in rural roads no longer allows for these finances to be tucked away for a rainy day the investment in rural roads must be made now. I …

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,” …

KILMURRY Ibrickane Development Project CLG has been granted planning permission for a multi-purpose community development including a hall, gym, cafe, viewing area, enterprise space and car park at Pháirc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty. An architectural design statement which accompanied the application said, “Beyond the actual architectural and functional qualities of the building, the structure creates a balance and establishes a dialogue with the coastal location. The application noted that the paritcular area in the centre of the village was lacking a heart “and a space symbolically constituting the centre for all activities, a place to meet, talk and have fun”. They said the key idea was that the space can be used flexibly for community activities of various kinds giveing examples of meetings, conferences, entertainment, sports and group learning events. The structure, they wrote, is intended to meet the needs of the local and neighburing communities, surrounding schools as well as the local GAA club. “The proposed design creates a …

A RETIRED school principal and wife of the last lighthouse keeper at Loop Head Lighthouse has described her time living at the edge of the ocean as “heaven”. Located at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary with its origins dating back to the 1670s, the lighthouse was first opened to visitors in 2011 and has since become one of West Clare’s most popular attractions. The lighthouse also is one of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland and is one of two “Signature Discovery Points”, as identified by Failte Ireland, in County Clare along the route of the Wild Atlantic Way. Kitty Garvey, who attended the recent reopening of Loop Head Lighthouse for the first time since 2019, is thrilled with the major investment that has provided running water, refurbished buildings and a proper access road to this popular visitor attraction. Following her retirement from St Cuan’s National School, Kilbaha, she taught in various schools throughout the county on a part-time basis …

THE natural beauty of Loop Head and its rich biodiversity will be showcased this weekend through a wide range of activities. Wild Loop Head’s Nature Weekend 2022 will take place on June 18 and 19 and draws on a number of diverse attractions on the peninsula. It is supported by the efforts of Loop Head Peninsula Together, Purecamping, Carsten Krieger Photographer and Author and sponsored by Wild Atlantic Hemp and Hemp4Soil. On June 18, the day will begin at 10am with a walk and talk hosted by Cormac McGinley of Cormac’s Coast, observing the Loop Head bird colonies such as fulmars, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and choughs. Tickets are €25. McGinley has degrees in zoology and marine biology, and is an expert on all coastal wildlife, running tours and talks around the Cliffs of Moher all year round. This will be followed by a talk by Mary Kate Bolger of Dolphinwatch Carrigaholt at 2pm at Halla Eoin Kilbaha, while Kilkee Sub-Aqua …

THE partner of Clare independent TD, Violet Anne Wynne has lost most of his teeth from severe epileptic seizures in the past. That is according to solicitor for John Montaine (40), Patrick Moylan who told a court that Mr Montaine has been seizure free for the past six years arising from him taking a cannabis derivative, THC oil. At Kilrush District Court, Judge Mary Larkin imposed a fine of €100 after Mr Montaine pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of cannabis at the family home at Pella Road, Kilrush, on February 11 last year. Judge Larkin also imposed a third driving ban on Mr Montaine after his third conviction for driving with no insurance. Sergeant Louis Moloney told the court that Mr Montaine has 16 previous convictions and they include two for driving with no insurance dating from June 2014 when Mr Montaine was banned from driving for two years and in 2012 when he received a one-year driving ban. …

A WEST Clare patient was directed to seek GP out-of-hours treatment outside their own catchment area, a local councillor has claimed. Speaking at a recent HSE West Forum meeting, Councillor Cillian Murphy said he was contacted by a person in West Clare who stated they were directed to other centres in Ennis, Limerick or Nenagh instead of Kilrush. “If you want to shut a service in an area, the easiest thing to do is to refer people onto another service in a different area. This reduces your client base for the service in the area.” He said it is not good enough to expect people in West Clare to drive to Miltown for an out-of-hours GP service when the Kilrush centre is not operational. He proposed there should be some way of improving this service for West Clare patients. Speaking to the Clare Champion, he said it takes longer to travel from Kildysart to Miltown than it is to go …

AT LEAST three pubs in Lahinch are not allowing stag parties any more, Bill Slattery claimed at this week’s meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee.  Just days away from the June Bank Holiday weekend he said he was pleading that a couple of Gardai be provided to Lahinch for the hours between 7pm and 3am on Bank Holiday weekends over the summer. “People are afraid to drive through the area at that hour,” he claimed. Mr Slattery said that at the moment Ennistymon Garda Station is closed at night time and if there is anti-social behaviour, Gardai have to bring those involved to Kilrush.  Speaking afterwards Mr Slattery said that many young visitors to Lahinch have been noticeably wilder since restrictions ended, and there has been an absence of Gardai at nigh time. “Since the restrictions were lifted there seems to be a different mindset among the stag parties that are coming into Lahinch, they’re coming in large groups …