West Clare

ACROSS the May Bank Holiday weekend, Kilkee had no coast guard service available in the event of an emergency. A source has told The Clare Champion that the limited service the Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard had been providing was further down-graded, following a recent training incident. It has also been claimed that the current coast guard crew have not recently passed an Operational Readiness Assessment (ORA) in more than two years. The Clare Champion contacted the Department of Transport on Wednesday for a comment on the claims, but it had not responded at the time of going to press. “The coast guard will say that they have a boat. We all know they have a boat but they don’t have a crew. Every time they need to go in the water, they need to bring an instructor down from Maritime SAR to even get on the water to do the training. There are about six people who …

SÍLE Callinan lived a very full life and central to that was her love of football. The Cree girl sadly passed away on March 17 this year, aged just 26, having suffered a collapsed lung, brought on by Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Her death left her family and fiancé devastated. Síle was the youngest of Paddy and Mary Callinan’s three daughters and engaged to Micheál Talty, Quilty. She was a primary school teacher and worked as a resource teacher in Cree, Cooraclare and Kilrush, while Síle also taught at Labasheeda National School for a year. While her sister Anne-Marie and Micheál are certain that the last thing Síle would want is a fuss, they are leading the organisation of a 12-team seven-a-side ladies’ football tournament in Cooraclare on Saturday, October 7. “My dad has a big interest in football and the three of us played. Síle started at corner-back and she was moved up to the forwards but she didn’t hold …

UNTIL she joined a meet and train group in Kilrush 22 years ago, Maura Falsey never envisaged taking up running as a pastime.

THIRTY-NINE years after sitting their Leaving Certificate at the Convent of Mercy in Kilrush, the class of 1974 will reunite on Saturday night in Tubridy’s, Doonbeg.

THE Killimer 49ers are not members of an American football team, as the group’s name suggests. In fact, they are those who started attending Burrane, Killimer and Knockerra National Schools in 1949.

MINISTER of State for Public Service Reform and the Office of Public Works, Brian Hayes, visited Scattery Island last Friday.

ORGANISERS of the Kilrush Traditional Music Festival, which was held last weekend, say they were very happy with the attendance from competitors and the general public.

AT the end of August, the contribution of the Salesian sisters to education in Kildysart and Clare will be marked in the Shannonside village.