West Clare

The Kilkee-based Loop Head Tourism group was one of 25 tourist destinations from across Europe presented with the title of ‘2010 European Destination of Excellence in Aquatic Tourism’ at an awards ceremony in Brussels on Monday.

REPRESENTATIVES of the Loop Head peninsula are going to Brussels on Monday to collect their award for European Destination of Excellence, which was won earlier this year.The delegates from West Clare, who will collect the award at the European Commission Charlemagne Building, are Ann Haugh of the Stella Maris Hotel and John Williams, secretary of Loop Head Tourism. Next Monday is designated European Tourism Day.While there, the delegates will have discussions on furthering the role of eco-tourism in the overall European economy. They are confident that some good can flow from these contacts at the highest level of European Tourism.The competition was run by the European Commission to promote lesser known tourist areas, which have a lot to offer the discerning tourist. To win the competition this year, Loop Head had to show commitment to social, cultural and environmental sustainability. Loop Head won on the quality of its aquatic tourism products, such as dolphin watching, sea fishing, water sports, quality …

WITH the support of the Kilrush Town Council’s 2010 Grant Scheme Assistance for Community Development Projects and in partnership with the Clare Youth Project based in the John Paul Estate in Kilrush, Raidió Corca Baiscinn has recently completed a six-module training course with five young budding radio DJs.The course involved taking a group of five girls aged between 14 and 16 through some basic radio production tutorials, which culminated in a half-hour magazine show produced, scripted and presented by the girls themselves. The tutorials took place in the resource centre in the John Paul Estate for two hours every Friday with their co-ordinators and Conan Brophy, the station’s volunteer trainer.The group began by talking about the kind of programmes they could make. Once the girls had decided they wanted a mix of interviews, chat and music, they set about following the steps required to gather the content. They covered interview technique, scripting, microphone technique, including mobile recorder use, and presenting. …

KILRUSH has been awarded a gold medal in Category D of the annual National Tidy Towns Competition. The award was announced by Environment Minister John Gormley in Dublin on Monday.Kilrush scored 300 points, which was an increase of two points on last year’s result, to beat off competition from all over Ireland and claim the accolade. The maximum total achievable is 400 points. The town first received its gold medal award in 2007 and since then has been gradually increasing its marks year on year.Category D is for towns of between 2,501 and 5,000 people.For the first time, St Senan’s Primary School in Kilrush also won a special schools award for the Mid-West region for their role in working with the local tidy towns committee.“Retaining the gold medal is a massive achievement for everybody involved, as at this level the competition gets more difficult,” Murt Collins, chairman of Kilrush Tidy Towns Committee said.He added that the award marks the culmination …

THE Clare Association of New York City will honour John Hogan (Kilmurry McMahon) and Monica O’Connor (Kildysart) at their 122nd annual ball on Saturday, October 16.

ON Sunday, September 26, the 90th anniversary of the Rineen Ambush will be marked with a programme of events in the locality. At 10.40am, the Irish Defence Forces will stage a guard of honour at St Mary’s Church in Moy, which will be inspected by Minister for Defence Tony Killeen at 10.55am.A mass of remembrance will then take place, followed by a gathering at Rineen Monument. The crowd will be addressed by the chairperson of the Rineen Ambush Commemoration Committee and by the minister. Flowers will also be laid, while The Rineen Ambush will be sung and the National Anthem played. This will be followed by a commemorative lunch in the Armada Hotel, which will host an exhibition of War of Independence memorabilia.On September 22, 1920, one of the most remarkable encounters of the War of Independence took place at Dromin Hill, Rineen. The purpose of the act was to get revenge for the murder of Martin Devitt, an Irish …

KILKEE town councillors have expressed anger and surprise that a planning application to erect a 20m high communications mast on the Kilrush Road in Kilkee was not made known to them.

ALTHOUGH the Kilkee beach bylaws came into force on June 1 last, town councillors have expressed their amazement that signs indicating that the bylaws are in place were only erected in late August, towards the end of the summer season.