Tag Archives: clare county council

  THE closure of the tourism office in Killaloe two years ago has been criticised as a “hugely detrimental” move against the promotion of East Clare and the town. Councillor Tony O’Brien highlighted the impact of closure during a questions and answer session with Shannon Heritage managing director, Niall O’Callaghan at a recent Killaloe Municipal District meeting. The Fianna Fáil Councillor recalled the operation of this tourism office was very beneficial particularly for tourists who came off the Dublin to Limerick motorway a few miles from Ballina. “The closure of this tourism office was hugely detrimental and a backward step. I would ask Shannon Heritage to consider re-opening this tourism office because it is a very necessary and vital piece of infrastructure for this part of the county,” he said Mr O’Callaghan said it was very important to clarify the role of Shannon Heritage, which operates as a commercial semi-state and this is very different to the role they previously …

NOELEEN Moran, who polled more than 4,000 first preference votes as a Sinn Féin candidate in the last general election, will be aiming to win a seat on Clare County Council in next year’s local elections. At a recent election convention in Lisdoonvarna, Ms Moran was selected to run in the new North Clare Constituency. Noeleen, from Ballyvaughan, narrowly missed out on a seat in the West Clare area in the 2014 local elections. She also ran for Sinn Féin in the 2016 general election and the strong showing copper-fastened her position as one of the party’s key figures in the county. “There are a number of important issues that need to be addressed for the people in North Clare, among them housing, health, decline of rural services; we face big challenges in terms of investing in upgrading our public infrastructure, as well as addressing environmental and traffic management issues,” she said Ms Moran said it is important to address …

Construction work on a new Multi-Service Innovation Centre located in the heart of Ennistymon will commence on Monday. Clare County Council has signed a contract with Jada Projects Ltd for the development which involves the conversion of an existing building, located on Parliament Street. The Multi-Service Innovation Centre comprises hotdesks with business broadband, incubation units for small businesses, meeting rooms, training rooms and full audio visual facilities. The first floor of the shared services building will be occupied by North-West Clare Family Resource Centre. Mol an Óige Steiner National School is also an existing tenant within the building complex. The local authority facility is scheduled to open in September 2019.

ALMOST €5 million has been allocated to four projects that will have a significant effect on job creation and social development initiatives in Clare over the coming years, according to Fine Gael TD Joe Carey. Deputy Carey, who is Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development, said he was delighted that Clare had secured the biggest share of the €29 million that was made available to 21 projects under the Government’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund. €1,759,226 has been allocated for the development of the Clare Maritime Economic Zone at Cahercon on the Shannon Estuary to re-purpose an existing site to provide maritime and cruise liner related training as well as serving as a testing ground for renewable technologies. Stating that the development of the Clare Maritime Economic Zone would tap in to the county’s tradition of marine-related enterprise, Deputy Carey said that it would include the development of classrooms and training facilities for the cruise liner industry, …

CLARE Fianna Fáil General Election candidate, Rita McInerney, has said that both central and local government must give serious consideration to placing restrictions on out of town shopping centres in an effort to protect our small towns and villages. Ms McInerney was commenting after a new report, Rejuvenating Ireland’s Small Town Centres: Meeting the Challenge, published by Chartered Surveyors Ireland, called for restrictions on out of town shopping centres, in addition to the full scale roll out of high speed broadband, and the establishment of Towns Partnerships to deliver a united voice on behalf of towns. “This is a very welcome and timely report, and one which I wholeheartedly support. For far too long, the retail centres of our towns have been decimated by the growth of out of town retail and shopping centres. The effect is clear for all to see – pulling shoppers away from small independent retailers in our towns’ centres to large, retailers on the outskirts …

FOLLOWING a Status Orange Weather Warning from Met Éireann, Clare County Council is warning the public in Clare to avoid exposed coastal locations on Wednesday due to forecasted stormy conditions. Severe south to southwest winds associated with Storm Diana will be strongest from 9am to 2pm and will gust between 110 and 130 km/h at coasts. High seas along the Clare coastline, including the Shannon Estuary, will bring a risk of coastal flooding. Clare County Council has indicated that any coastal areas which have previously flooded are at risk and people in such situations are advised to take appropriate precautions. Meanwhile, the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience will be closed to visitors on Wednesday from 9am to 2pm due to the weather warning. Visit www.winterready.ie for more information on preparing for storms and other inclement weather.

CHAMBERS Ireland has named Clare County Council Local Authority of the Year 2018 at its 15th annual Excellence in Local Government Awards. The awards, which were presented at a ceremony in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Dublin on Thursday night, aim to acknowledge and encourage best practice and constructive initiatives by local authorities. Clare County Council was also named overall winner in three award categories, having been nominated in 11 out of 16 categories. The winning council initiatives were Friars Walk Coach Park Ennis (Outstanding initiative through the Municipal Districts), Community Mobilisation Unit: Rural and Community Development Officer (Best Practice in Citizen Engagement) and The Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark (Sustainable Environment). “During the past two years, Clare County Council has developed and commenced implementation across all Directorates of an ambitious and wide ranging programme of investment and development that will benefit our county. All of the Clare initiatives nominated for an Excellence in Local Government Award …

SANTA Claus is coming to town and will join Mayor of Ennis Municipal District, Clare Colleran Molloy, for the switching on of the Christmas lights and the launch of ‘Christmas in Ennis’ in O’Connell Square from 4pm to 5.30pm on Friday. Santa will arrive by fire engine for the event, which will also feature a 40 foot Christmas tree, children’s entertainment, carol singing, hot chocolate and face painting. A post-box, crafted by the Ennis Men’s Shed, will be situated in the square giving children the opportunity to post their Santa letters. In conjunction with the switch-on of the Christmas Lights, Ennis Lions Club will launch their Remembrance Tree Project in aid of Cahercalla Hospice at 5pm. Minor traffic diversions will be in place in the square from 3pm on Friday. The Christmas in Ennis programme, which is hosted Clare County Council and supported by the Ennis Chamber, will feature the “Christmas Express” train operating through the town from Wednesday December …