West Clare

COORACLARE man, Martin Donnelly has become only the third person from outside the Newry and Mourne area to be civically recognised by the Newry and Mourne District Council.At the recent civic reception in his honour, Mayor of Newry and Mourne, Charlie Casey, paid tribute toMartin “for his promotion of Newry and Mourne locally, nationally and internationally all, it must be said, done in a quiet and committed way”.“A renowned sporting journalist in an article about him declared, ‘Martin should be declared the patron saint of sports promotion. Everything the jovial Clare man lends his assistance to seems to turn to gold’ and when you look at his input and support for sports such as Gaelic games, football, hurling, camogie, ladies’ football, boxing, cycling and handball, you can see why this was written.“Former world champion, Bernard Dunne; like current Clare hurling manager, Davy Fitzgerald; cyclist Sean Kelly; former soccer player, Niall Quinn;Armagh’s Joe Kernan and Down’s Graham Clarke, are just a …

THE public toilet in Kilkee town square cost Clare County Council €31,647 (excluding VAT) in 2011. The convenience realised just €956.55, with a total of 3,826 using the facility last year. This resulted in a loss of €30,690.45 on the superloo.At this week’s February meeting of Kilkee Town Council, members expressed shock at how expensive it is to operate the public toilet, which Clare County Council leased for 20 years in 1998.“This sum covers the lease cost on the facility, as well as a comprehensive operations and maintenance arrangement,” Clare County Council explained in a written reply to Councillor Claire Haugh’s motion of enquiry on Monday.The agreement in place with JC Deceaux Limited requires that 12 months notice be given of any termination of the agreement.“If there is more than three years to run on the contract, a payment of 25% of the rent amount, that would be payable from termination date to the end of contract period, applies. If …

THE Clare Youth Service-run Kilrush hip-hop group will compete in the Youth Work Ireland variety show Clare heats of The Youth Factor on Saturday. Kilfenora Youth Club is hosting this year’s event.Participants from youth clubs and projects affiliated to the Clare Youth Service from all over Clare will take part in the event under the categories of dance, song, music and performance, with the winning acts from each event going through to represent the county at the national finals to be held later in the year.The Kilrush group has represented Clare for three years-in a-row at the national event, coming in third place in 2009 and runners-up the past two years. The group is hoping to reach the finals again this year.The young group comprises six girls, aged between 14 and 18, all hailing from the John Paul Estate, Kilrush and the wider West Clare community. The core members of the group have been dancing together for five years under …

THERE is little prospect of any progress on three long-awaited West Clare sewerage schemes. That was the message given to local councillors at the January Kilrush Electoral Area meeting, which was held last week. Councillor Pat Keane sought an update on schemes for Carrigaholt, Cooraclare and Labasheeda but, in a written reply, engineer Cyril Feeney didn’t hold out much hope of any imminent improvement.“The area councillors will be aware that much work was done on these three schemes within the 2006-09 Water Services Investment Programme (WSIP). At the time the 2006-09 WSIP ended, Cooraclare was almost ready to go to tender, Carrigaholt was at an advanced stage of planning and Labasheeda had a large amount of planning work done.“However under the new priorities of the 2010-12 WSIP, none of the three was approved for inclusion in the new programme. Clare County Council recommended the Carrigaholt scheme to the DECLG in the 2011 annual review of the WSIP, based on a …

MAINTAINING levels of funding for coastal works is important despite financial constraints, it was claimed at the January meeting of Kilrush Area councillors.Kilkee councillor Pat Keane put forward a motion asking for an outline of what coastal works are required to protect roads in the Kilrush Electoral Area.In a written response, engineer Cyril Feeney stated, “Clare County Council make an annual submission to the Office of Public Works under the Coastal Minor Flood and Erosion Mitigation Programme. The OPW provide funding to address localised coastal-related flood and erosion risk problems. “The works to be funded would be carried out under local authority powers and ongoing maintenance of the completed works will be the responsibility of the county council.“In recent years, works have been carried out in Kilbaha, Ross Bay, Effernan, Ballycorick and a project is currently at the design stage for Cloghauninchy, Quilty. The schemes vary in their designs and are dependant on the coastal environment that they are situated …

  AN innovative all-terrain wheelchair will now be available free to the general public at Spanish Point beach. The Hippocampe got its first taste of saltwater this week when Maureen O’Leary of Shyan, Kilmihil gave it a trial run, accompanied by Mister Miltown, Martin Quinn and a number of people from the locality.The specialised wheelchair, which will make a visit to the beach a far more enjoyable experience for the elderly or people with disabilities, was purchased from the proceeds of the Mister Miltown competition held in December. It has cost €2,000, which includes the provision of signage.Also known as the Mobi Chair, the wheelchair has been donated to the Brothers of Charity and it will be stored year-round in The Armada Hotel. “They are the correct people for the job as Pat Lillis and his crew brought the first wheelchair of its type in Ireland to Kilkee,” said Marie Killeen, a member of the Mister Miltown organising committee. “Through …

A Shop Front Assistance Fund, aimed at helping to further improve the appearance of Moore Street in Kilrush, is to be launched in the near future. The street re-opened before Christmas following extensive road maintenance work. Kilrush town manager Nora Kaye told last Thursday’s meeting of the town council that she had held a meeting with Shannon Development and agreement had been reached on the establishment of the fund, which could be used by successful applicants to help fit out a new or existing business. “A scheme will be drafted and the Chamber of Commerce will be invited to participate as well,” Ms Kaye explained. Councillor Marian McMahon Jones asked to see the proposal on paper and suggested the council talk with business people and vacant building owners in Moore Street. She also told the meeting that a Kilrush-based accountant has offered six months’ free advice to new businesses on the street. Councillor Liam O’Looney asked that the scheme be …

Kilrush town councillors have urged owners of buildings in the town to reduce their rent if business in the town is to improve. At last week’s monthly town council meeting, Mayor of Kilrush, Ian Lynch, said the town had changed significantly in recent times and that the council “needs to revive it”. Councillor Liam O’Looney said the town council needed to market the fact that Kilrush has 30 minutes of free parking daily and free parking in the town until 10.30am every day. However, Councillor Paul Moroney underlined the need for reduced rent in Kilrush. “The owners of the premises need to be realistic with rents. We need to get the word out there that if business is to be done in Kilrush, we’ll be right behind it,” he said. However, Councillor Marian ­McMahon Jones assured the meeting that ­local building owners and business people will drop their rental demands. On a similar theme, Kilrush town clerk John Corry revealed …