Tag Archives: clare county council

A NEW service for supporting Clare businesses has become operational in Ennis this week with hopes high that it will “harness innovation, grow businesses and create jobs locally.” The new Clare Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is based at Clare County Council’s headquarters, Áras Contae an Chláir and represents a major restructuring of state support for businesses which was previously delivered by county and city enterprise boards. Combining the resources of the Clare County Enterprise Board and Clare County Council’s business support unit, the Clare LEO is one of 31 LEOs around Ireland that is tasked with delivering services and support to businesses within a framework set by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and overseen by Enterprise Ireland. Mayor of Clare Councillor Joe Arkins said the Clare LEO will act as a “first-stop-shop” for small businesses throughout the county. He added, “I look forward to the newly operational LEO playing a leading role in stimulating enterprise development in Clare. …

CLARE County Council and Ennis Town Council in conjunction with a road resurfacing contractor will be carrying out essential road resurfacing and repair works at a number of locations around Ennis Town on this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and again between Tuesday, April 22 and Friday, April 25. Works take place at Mill Road Bridge Pedestrian Crossing on Tuesday April 15; the junction of Cloughleigh Road / Lahinch Road on Wednesday April 16; the junction of Rossanore Housing Estate and Marian Avenue on Thursday April 17; at Lower Abbey Street between Club Bridge and Abbey Street Car Park on Tuesday April 22 and Wednesday, April 23; Upper O’Connell Street between Barrack Street and Carmody Street on Thursday April 24; and the junction of Ballymacahill Road and Tulla Road on Friday April 25. Works will take place between 8am and 6pm. Traffic management control measures will be in place and will include lane closures and the use of temporary traffic lights …

CLARE County Council has reversed its initial decision not to open Loop Head lighthouse, on a daily basis, until the June Bank Holiday weekend. The lighthouse will now open on Saturday and will remain open daily (10am to 6pm) until the end of September. In last weeks Clare Champion Kilbaha businessman Bernie Keating said that the lighthouse should open “every day from the month of May,” as he felt visitor numbers warranted it. In 2013 the lighthouse opened on St Patrick’s Day. Clare County Council manages the lighthouse in conjunction with the Commissioners of Irish Lights. It is one of two Signature Discovery Points in Clare along the route of the recently launched Wild Atlantic Way and attracted 19,000 visitors during the six-month opening period in 2013. The figure represents an increase of 2,000 on the same period in 2012. “The public opening of Loop Head lighthouse will provide a significant boost to the local tourism sector and the economy, …

By Owen Ryan CLARE County Council has confirmed it is investigating claims that asbestos has been improperly disposed of at a handful of locations in parts of the Shannon Electoral Area. This follows revelations some weeks ago that asbestos had been dumped at a number of locations around West Clare. In a statement issued this week, the council confirmed that it is looking into complaints in the Shannon area, but that no asbestos has been found to date. “One additional site with intact pipes which need to be removed has been identified at Clonmoney Reservoir near Shannon. A complaint regarding three additional sites in the general Shannon area is still being investigated. No asbestos material has been located at these sites yet,” the statement read. Clare County Council has also said that clean up work is progressing in West Clare. “Of the nine sites phase one works on four sites are substantially complete, it is expected that the phase one …

KILKEE businessman Johnny Redmond has reacted angrily to Councillor Gabriel Keating’s suggestion that business in the town remains unaffected by the yet to be repaired damage to the seawall and parts of the Strand Line. Kilkee was extensively damaged during Storm Darwin last February. The road in front of his business is remains impassable. “The Strand Bistro and Restaurant is currently located at what I would call Ground Zero. Left and right of me the roads are completely closed. I have absolutely no passing trade or won’t have passing trade for the whole summer,” Johnny Redmond said on Wednesday. However Councillor Keating said that he feels the damage in Kilkee is not affecting business. “It’s not going to affect the business of Kilkee in my book or the people of Kilkee,” he maintained. “Gabriel Keating has some cheek to say that it’s not going to affect business in the town. How would he know about the impact of this on …

LOCAL authorities in Clare will receive a further financial allocation under the Community Involvement Scheme which will pave the way for works on the county’s regional and local road network. Environment Minister Leo Varadkar confirmed in the Dáil that he is allocating an additional €4.5 million to the CIS, on top of the €2.3 million previously allocated in 2013. Clare Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy has welcomed the additional funding. “I am delighted that Clare roads are to receive funding from the Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) again this year. CIS funding totalling €550,000 allowed for 26 road works projects in Clare in 2013 covering over 17 kilometres of road. This was the third highest number of completed projects in the country. “This scheme was designed to fund works on local roads which would usually only be considered for funding towards the end of a council’s road programme, after more heavily trafficked routes had been worked on. ”It is crucial that …

A report commissioned by the Doonbeg Coastal Erosion Group has estimated that it will cost €5.31m to carry out the necessary repair work in storm damaged areas in Doonmore (€1.7m) Farrihy (€1.85m) and Cloghaunincy (€1.76m), all of which lie within the west Clare parish. The report was carried out by Fergal Coughlan BE CEng MIEI and has been submitted to Clare County Council outlining the damage caused by the early year storms. The report said that proposed works in Doonmore, where the road surface and a number of houses were badly damaged, will involve the construction of a wall along Killard Road and also the construction of stone revetment to the sea side of same at an approximate cost of  €750,000. Other work deemed necessary in Doonmore is the strengthening of the banks of the Doonbeg River and edge of Killard Road with earth embankments at an estimated cost of €180,000. “These works would also involve the construction of a …

THREE of Ennis’ longest-serving public representatives will not be contesting this May’s local elections. Councillors Tommy Brennan, Peter Considine and Mary Coote Ryan are retiring from politics. Independent Councillor Brennan, a member of Ennis Town Council for 35 years and Clare County Council for 29 years, said he made the decision to bow out as a result of changes to local government. “Our function as councillors has been taken away and it’s pointless. It has completely changed. It started in about 2001 with Better Local Government and then the recent changes by Minister Hogan. It leaves the council with no function whatsoever,” he stated. He said the decision not to stand was not made lightly, particularly given the high level of support from the public over the years. “The people of Ennis have given me great support over the last 30 years and I thank them for that. I look forward to retiring and, if I can be of any …