West Clare

Building on the success of their recent traditional currach project, Seol Sionna, a group that has grown out of the Kilkee-based West Clare Currach Club, is preparing to reintroduce classic wooden sailing boats to the Shannon Estuary. They are seeking people who are interested in becoming involved in the project. The training programme will be led by local shipwright Steve Morris.The Seol Sionna project is an ambitious training project to build, a 24ft wooden sailing boat, evoking the small-to-medium class Shannon hooker that once sailed in the estuary. It is to be built for sail training purposes. The project draws on the extensive boat-building, boat-handling skills and local knowledge inherent in Seol Sionna membership. The project will be guided by expert advice in relation to Department of the Marine guidelines in boat design and safety.“Along with currach building, we have been digging out old boats from the mud in Poulnasherry and recording local stories regarding boats and sailing on the …

KILRUSH Tidy Towns Committee chairman Murt Collins has expressed dissatisfaction at the weekend rubbish issue in Kilrush.  

KILRUSH Community School will host a special meeting of Kilrush Town Council this Thursday morning at 9.30am.

Kilkee Chamber president Johnny Redmond is hopeful that a meeting of business and community groups held in the town last Friday, might kick-start a number of West Clare-based tourism and businesses initiatives.Amongst the groups present were Kilrush Chamber, represented by their president Mark Reidy; Doonbeg Development; individual business people including Patrick Bourke, Rebecca Brew and Luke Aston, various community groups and local county councillors Patrick Keane, Gabriel Keating and Christy Curtin. Mr Redmond believes exploiting West Clare’s tourism potential could save the region’s economy, which has been badly hit by the recession. “If we can direct the tourists back to Loop Head, it will be good for everybody. We have nothing else back here at the moment and as far as I’m concerned, West Clare is dying on its feet. With the downturn in the economy, there’s no jobs back here,” he stated. “I’m a publican in Kilkee and I can see that there’s no people around and that business …

Fine Gael deputy spokesperson on foreign affairs, Pat Breen has suggested in the Dáil that Kilrush would make an ideal location for the establishment of a research facility to develop renewable energy sources, particularly as Moneypoint ESB power station is due to close in 2025.The Clare TD made his point during a Fine Gael private members motion, which urged the Government to devise an emergency strategy for the allocation of energy resources in the event of a serious disruption of oil or gas supplies.“We have a rich abundance of natural resources in the Shannon area and estuary, including wind, wave, tidal and solar resources. Algae harvesting can also be done off the coast. CO2 could be filtered through the algae and seaweed, as it is very good for the seaweed. The seaweed could then be used as a biofuel,” he said.“Deputy Simon Coveney visited Moneypoint last year and saw for himself the environmental retrofit project being completed there by the …

Kilrush will host one of three Tri3 Triathlon Series events to be held in Ireland this year. It is expected to attract hundreds of participants and spectators to the town on Saturday, September 4, which should be a huge boost to the West Clare economy. The event will also support a nominated charity in the West Clare area.

One of West Clare’s best-known postmen has retired after 43 years of delivering the post in Labasheeda. PJ O’Halloran retired two weeks ago after a lifetime of service to his area.

KILKEE was in a very poor condition last weekend, Monday night’s meeting of Clare County Council heard.