West Clare

DESPITE concerns expressed by a local resident and the HSE, Clare County Council has given planning permission for a manufacturing facility, which will employ around six people at Lacken, Kilmihil.

CLARE County Council is investigating odours in Miltown Malbay believed to be related to the local sewerage scheme.

BALLYNACALLY’S Geraldine Kelly has recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia with the international children’s charity, Plan Ireland.While in East Africa, Geraldine witnessed first hand the impact emergency relief provided by the organisation is having on those affected by the current food crisis in the region.Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa region in general, came into focus earlier this year when there was widespread media coverage of the urgent food crisis and drought that took hold of the region. Plan Ireland is an international children’s charity with a substantial long-term presence in Ethiopia.Geraldine, who is director of the business consultancy Xi Ventures, has been a board member of Plan Ireland since 2008 and was keen to visit the region to see the work being done, especially in the areas of education, food security, energy projects and microfinance.“Plan Ireland has been working on the ground in Ethiopia since 1974, so we are firmly established there and our support of women and …

ONE of Kilrush’s most famous streets reopened for business on Saturday, following significant road works carried out over the last seven weeks. However, Moore Street and nearby Steward Street only reopened to traffic at 4.30pm on Tuesday.To mark the event on Saturday, a street party was held in Moore Street, bringing together current and former residents. The street, which was home to 125 businesses in the 1840s, has since become dilapidated, with only a handful of businesses remaining open. The poor state of the road, which was the responsibility of the NRA, also hindered the possibility of reinvigorating the street.Local town councillors have been campaigning for several years to upgrade the street. At this month’s meeting of Kilrush Town Council, members suggested that the street should be supported in its efforts to rejuvenate.Although businesses experienced a slow down while the street was closed to vehicular access, Councillor Marian McMahon Jones, who is a business person on the street, said the …

Kilrush town manager Nora Kaye has described initial talks with Leader regarding the possibility of seeking funding to further develop the Vandeleur Walled Gardens in Kilrush as “very receptive and very encouraging”. The Leader Rural Development Programme’s main aim is to strengthen the rural economy and improve the quality of life in rural areas.

Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly, will join with the parishioners of Lisdeen church in Kilkee on Sunday to dedicate a newly installed stained glass window to St Flannan, patron of the Killaloe Diocese.

A street party to mark the culmination of road works on Moore Street has been postponed until Saturday, December 17. It had been planned to hold the party this Saturday but delays in completing the work has put the party on hold. However, Kilrush town councillor and Moore Street businessperson Marian McMahon Jones has told The Clare Champion that business people understand the firm working on the road are doing their utmost to get the job done as soon as possible. “They have run into one or two unforeseen delays but they have overcome them as quickly as possible. Business people do appreciate the fact they are working as quickly as they can. Come hail, rain or snow they are continuing to work. On a daily basis you can see huge progress being made,” the Fine Gael town councillor commented. “The street party is going ahead on Saturday week so we’re hopeful the road will be completed by then,” she …

As part of their Action Project 2011, second-year CSPE pupils at Kilrush Community School chose the Brothers of Charity in an effort to raise awareness of people with disabilities. In concentrating on the Brothers of Charity, which has a Kilrush office in Hector Street, the CSPE pupils found that the service provides individual support, ongoing reviews, support in helping people to establish their own home and help in developing social lives and interests. The pupils found people who avail of the Brothers of Charity sometimes have self-esteem issues and can find themselves isolated, sometimes due to transport or communication issues. “These people who are legally adults are not allowed to do a lot of things that other people are,” the pupils said in their report.“This is why we picked this charity so as to help raise awareness of people with disabilities,” the report added. The pupils found that some who avail of the adults concerned are not allowed to have …