West Clare

THE region served by Shannon Airport does not have a hope of surviving without a viable airport, the Kilrush-based director of a foreign-direct-investment company told last Friday’s Kilrush Chamber dinner dance.Saint-Gobain operations director John Costelloe said he and some of his management are driving to Dublin every second week to get flights, which is an unsustainable way to do business when there is a viable international airport in the region.Addressing the local business people and two then Fine Gael TDs, Clare’s Pat Breen and guest speaker and former RTÉ correspondent George Lee, Costelloe stressed that “an M50-centric economy would not work for Ireland’s future”. However, he said, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics is operating well in Kilrush and has secured €600,000 investment for 2010, securing the plant’s future. Sales are down by 25% to €15 million but the plant is profitable, he said, unlike other plants around the world. Irish workers are not able to compete on a dollar-for-dollar basis with low-wage …

IT’S not easy to rattle Timmy Ryan. Last Friday, the day after his 100th birthday, Timmy’s great grandchildren did their best. Quiet as a mini horde of mice initially, it emerged that the trio were conspiring to blow a few party poppers, which made a fair din but they didn’t shake the man of the house. One of the Knockalough man’s favourite pastimes, along with cross-country running, was shooting wild game. So he’s not unused to the odd outbreak of noise.His actual birthday, last Thursday, brought a fair bit of excitement with it. The first thing Timmy had to do was collect 110 birthday cards from Seán Killeen when the postman called. Then his phone started to ring. President McAleese was at the other end of the line giving a buzz to congratulate Timmy. He also heard from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny. “He’s sending me a bottle of whiskey he said,” Timmy laughed, sitting in front of the fire …

IT’S not easy to rattle Timmy Ryan. Last Friday, the day after his 100th birthday, Timmy’s great grandchildren did their best. Quiet as a mini horde of mice initially, it emerged that the trio were conspiring to blow a few party poppers, which made a fair din but they didn’t shake the man of the house. One of the Knockalough man’s favourite pastimes, along with cross-country running, was shooting wild game. So he’s not unused to the odd outbreak of noise.His actual birthday, last Thursday, brought a fair bit of excitement with it. The first thing Timmy had to do was collect 110 birthday cards from Seán Killeen when the postman called. Then his phone started to ring. President McAleese was at the other end of the line giving a buzz to congratulate Timmy. He also heard from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny. “He’s sending me a bottle of whiskey he said,” Timmy laughed, sitting in front of the fire …

CLARE County Council has described the planned development of the Sweeney Memorial Library in Kilkee as at the “brief development stage”.The long-term plan is to redevelop the library into an enhanced library and theatre. “This stage is about formulating requirements, objectives and accommodation and working with ideas ahead of the formal appointment of a design team,” county librarian Helen Walsh explained in a written reply to Councillor Gabriel Keating at the January meeting of Kilrush area county councillors in Labasheeda. The completed building will consist of two floors, accessible through lifts. The theatre will incorporate proposed seating for 100 people and it will include a facility for showing films. Further consultations are to be sought from the public through the arts forum, arts@clarelibrary.ie, while postal submissions will also be accepted by the County Arts Office in Ennis. However the reply didn’t contain any information with regard to when the redevelopment work is likely to take place.

BUS Éireann will halve its service between Miltown Malbay and Ennis from Sunday, February 28.Currently, Bus Éireann operates two departures a day in each direction with an extra departure from Ennis on Fridays only. The change will result in one less departure each way.In a statement, Bus Éireann said that the implementation of changes to services with low customer support, under its cost recovery plan as recommended by the Labour Court, will start at the end of this month. Changes to conditions of employment and other cost reduction measures under the cost recovery plan have already begun.Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has warned that other Clare rural bus services could face the axe.“This news does not bode well for other towns and villages in County Clare. The reality is that while Bus Éireann passenger numbers have fallen by 10%, the first services to fall victim to the company’s cost-cutting measures are rural services,” he pointed out.

APPROXIMATELY 800 walkers and runners made the eight-mile journey, from Kilrush to Kilkee, last Sunday. The 12th annual West Clare Mini Marathon, which has raised more than €1 million towards cancer care since 1998, also attracted sizeable crowds on the route and a huge crowd at Kilkee, where the event culminated. The walkers left Regina House on the Cooraclare Road in Kilrush at 1pm, while the runners departed at 2pm. While the weather was excellent, the biting easterly breeze kept all participants fairly cool as they made their way west. All of the money raised will be put towards cancer care in the county, with significant funding again due to be made available to the palliative care units in Regina House and Ennistymon Community Hospital. Counselling, a taxi service for treatment to anywhere in the country and an office in Kilkee will also be funded from the proceeds. Some of the services will be available from the office, which is …

UP to 700 walkers and runners are expected to participate in the 12th West Clare Mini Marathon on Sunday. The walkers will depart from outside Regina House on the Cooraclare Road in Kilrush at 1pm, while the runners are due to leave at 2pm on the 10km run to Kilkee.However, committee chairman Willie McGrath has warned prospective walkers and runners that they must have registered and collected money to take part. “We’re making it clear that all participants have to have a sponsorship card. With your sponsorship card, you’re getting your number. You have to wear that number for insurance reasons. That means if you don’t have a number, you don’t have a sponsorship card,” he explained. To finish the run or walk, people will have to go through a cordoned-off area in the Square, Kilkee. If they don’t have their number on them, they won’t be allowed through. “For the first time, 200m from the finish line, we’re introducing …

Kilrush residents who dump rubbish at the recycling bottle bank in Place de Plouzané (Brew’s car park) were described as lazy and irresponsible at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of Kilrush Town Council.