Tag Archives: Cillian Murphy

Public compliance ‘undoubtedly saved lives’ CLARE all but closed down on Tuesday afternoon as Storm Barra saw a red alert imposed across the county. Schools across Clare were shut on both Tuesday and Wednesday, while thousands of people, especially in the North and West of the county, were without power for a period of time. While there were a number of trees down, the level of damage wasn’t as severe as many had feared, and certainly didn’t rival Storms Christine and Darwin, which wreaked havoc in 2014. However, Chief Fire Officer with Clare County Council Adrian Kelly said that the precautions taken by the public had been crucial in preventing loss of life. “The widespread compliance with the ‘stay at home’ Status Red alert in Clare alert undoubtedly saved lives given the extent of fallen trees and flying debris around the county. The closing of schools and businesses, together with the safety messaging both locally and nationally greatly helped to …

‘Shocking decision’ undermining the Government’s credibility, warns councillor THE decision to delay the reopening of indoor dining and drinking has been met with some exasperation in Clare this week, with Fianna Fáil Councillor Cillian Murphy warning that the Government has lost credibiilty in the eyes of the public. “I think it’s a shocking decision, I’m extremely disappointed with the Government, I’m extremely disappointed with my own party,” the Kilkee representative said on Wednesday. The decision to delay reopening was announced on Tuesday, with plans for a vaccine pass set to follow. It came after NPHET issued warnings to Government of a potential fourth wave, with a huge number of cases of the Delta variant and as many as 2,170 deaths within three months, under a worst case scenario. However, despite the advice from NPHET, Councillor Murphy said he does not accept the right move is being made, particularly with the vaccination programme having gone as far as it has. “Maybe …

LATEST figures show that there are 7,513 Clare people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. The figure has increased marginally over the last week, but is significantly lower than the peak number of 14,600 receiving it in early May. Across the country there are now 352,000 people in receipt of the PUP, a number that has increased by over 145,000 since the start of October. The pandemic is wreaking destruction on the domestic economy in particular, and has shut down the county’s hospitality sector, which is particularly important in the west of Clare. Kilkee-based Councillor Cillian Murphy said this week that his home town is very quiet. “There’s nowhere open, nowhere open. There’s probably two places in Kilkee to get coffee, just on a takeaway basis. “When you have a big reliance on seasonal tourism that’s what can happen. At this time of year you’d have weekend trade, Monday to Thursday would be harmless enough especially in the run up to …

IT is perhaps the busiest year yet for staycations, and around west and north Clare there is far more ‘wild camping’ than seen previously. So called wild camping happens when visitors base themselves away from designated facilities, and Ennistymon Municipal District Councillor Shane Talty said 2020 has seen a huge rise in it. “It’s a feature at the moment and there seems to be a huge increase in it, particularly in the north of the county, in Fanore, Craggagh, along by the shore there. There’s some of it going on at weekends in Liscannor, around the pier and out around Clahane, there’s more of it around Lahinch. “It’s far more noticeable than ever before, accommodation is literally booked out, I think people are making a decision that they’re still going to travel and stay if they can at all. The handiest option when accommodation is booked out, or maybe people are priced out, is a tent.” Unfortunately some of those …

A CALL has been made for future tourism projects for West Clare to be “Covid-proofed,” so that their viability doesn’t depend solely on large numbers of international visitors. Tabling a motion at the last meeting of the West Clare Municipal District, Councillor Cillian Murphy asked that the council would undertake “a strategic review of its current Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF) applications” to ensure the most appropriate ons were being pursued. The Fianna Fáil member said the move was needed “in light of the changed global circumstances, due to Covid-19, especially with regard to tourism”. “There is a huge issue now around diversifying projects like the Loop Head Lighthouse and the Vandeleur Gardens,” he said. “Those projects were designed to capitalise on the type of tourism we don’t have at the moment. They’re locked on a path to outcomes they will now struggle to achieve and nobody could have foreseen this.’ Asking for details of projects currently being assessed, Councillor …

THE Clare Champion has learned that Kilkee businessman and tourism consultant, Cillian Murphy, will stand for Fianna Fáil in West Clare in the local elections on May 24. The tourism consultant will join sitting councillors, PJ Kelly (Lissycasey) and Bill Chambers (Cooraclare) on the Fianna Fáil ticket. Twenty eight elected members sit on Clare County Council, representing four electoral areas across the county.

KILKEE-based tourism consultant and former chairperson of Loop Head Tourism, Cillian Murphy, has expressed “shock and disappointment” at news this week of Clare County Council’s plans to build a €1.34 million coach park at the Cliffs of Moher. “It completely reinforces our position as the pre-eminent drive-through tourism destination. It is utterly short-sighted and ties the area into a long-term policy. All over the world, tourism destinations are trying to manage capacity issues, yet Clare is bucking the trend and delivering facilities that will encourage further management issues,” he claimed. “I suggest that this money could deliver most, if not all, of a greenway between Kilrush and Kilkee, a development that would deliver social, economic and environmental benefits across the wider West Clare area. Instead, we have yet another development that facilitates external operators, in effect, paid for by Clare rates payers. “Did the councillors vote this through? What is the justification of doing this, what problem is it resolving, …

Clare is being “poorly served” by the tourism industry, according to Kilkee-based business man and tourism consultant Cillian Murphy, while he believes the county should strive to attract fewer tourists but more bed nights. Mr Murphy has also suggested that the county is not benefiting sufficiently from the more than one million annual visitors to the Cliffs of Moher, with thousands of tourists arriving on a tour bus and then leaving after their visit without spending a bob. The former chairman of Loop Head Tourism believes Clare should not try to increase visitor numbers but should seek to provide more accommodation options across the county. “We do not necessarily need to attract more visitors. The marketing of Clare has been exceptional and has delivered ever-increasing numbers of visitors over the past 20 years. Our problem is we are not reaping the rewards in terms of the local economic benefits in our rural and coastal economies, such as local job opportunities. …