Tag Archives: clare county council

THE Labour Party and Sinn Féin have added further candidates to the upcoming local elections. The Labour Party have decided to run a second candidate, Dermot Hayes, in Ennis area. Seamus Ryan was already selected by the party. According to the party, they have been getting a positive response on the canvas and believe there is a good opportunity for two candidates to be elected to Clare County Council. Dermot Hayes comes from Kells, Corofin from a family of 13 children. He attended Ennis Community College and, as a mature student, studied Community Development in Galway and Maynooth Universities. He has lived in Ennis since 1974, is married to Marian and they have two teenage daughters. He worked in Belvedere Carpets, Studio Eyewear and Interton Electronics and more recently in a number of community and voluntary organisations, including The Disabled People of Clare, Clare Supported Employment and People With Disabilities in Ireland. Dermot has been unemployed on three occasions and …

THE children of Clarecastle came together last weekend to prepare the ground for the new playground in the heart of the village. They agreed that many hands make light work and that they would do what they could to get things moving in advance of the big machinery arriving on-site on Monday. It has been a long road but Clarecastle Community Development Ltd (CCDL) is delighted to see the physical work on the Clarecastle community playground commence at last. “There were a number of unforeseen problems with the project, which caused major delays,” said Marie Clare Gorman, spokeswoman for CCDL, “but with the support of Clare County Council, Leader and the local community, we have overcome the difficulties and a playground is in sight.” The playground is expected to be completed and in full use in June, just in time for the school summer holidays. Most of the finance required from the community has been raised and it is hoped …

The Residents Association of Aughanteeroe Estate on the Gort Road in Ennis have been making tree-mendous efforts to ensure the area is looking good. The association has just completed an extensive tree planting programme, designed to give a greener look to the estate. Over the past few weekends, members of the Residents Association have been busy planting saplings of native Mountain Ash and Flowering Cherry which were supplied by Coillte through the Environment Section of Clare County Council. Secretary of the Residents Association, Róisín Browne, said that they were indebted to both Coillte and The County Council for making the trees available. “They will help to make the estate more attractive visually and highlight the green areas” she said. She paid special tribute to Brendan Moroney of Clare County Council Environment for his help and advice for the planting programme, which is hoped to be continued in the years to come. The planting was done against the backdrop of recent …

A TOILET block on the prom in Lahinch, which was sold for €400,000, could be bought back by Clare County Council if a local representative has his way. Plans have been in place for some time for a new toilet block on the lower prom, but these stalled as the local authority waited for funding from Fáilte Ireland. Now, in light of recent flooding, Councillor Bill Slattery has asked that the council consider buying back the old toilet block, which was located on higher ground, rather than flushing money down the toilet on a new block in an area badly flooded in January and February storms. Seaworld in Lahinch has opened up its toilets for public use but Councillor Slattery described them “totally inadequate” for the numbers of people requiring them. He requested that new public toilets and shower facilities be provided “as a matter of urgency”. He suggested that funds raised from car parking and traffic fines in the resort town, …

A Kilkee couple will require medical screening for the next 20 years, following the discovery of potentially dangerous brown asbestos near their home, at one of the nine unauthorised dump sites in West Clare. Former Kilkee town councillor, PJ Linnane, has confirmed  that one of the country’s top lung specialists, Dr Joe Commiskey, has recommended testing for him and his wife for at least two decades. The retired councillor, who hasn’t allowed his grandchildren to visit his house since June 2013 amid fears of contamination from a landfill site near the decommissioned Lislanaghan reservoir, also believes his neighbours will also need to be screened. His home is just off the Kilkee to Doonbeg road, which is part of the Wild Atlantic Way route. Clare County Council has confirmed it has commissioned an “external independent investigation” into the circumstances surrounding the depositing of asbestos-cement materials at a number of sites throughout West Clare. The Clare Champion understands this could involve a …

Owen Ryan SHANNON Development has applied for planning permission to demolish buildings of over 8,000 square metres in size. In the application to Clare County County Council, it has sought planning for the demolition of existing light industrial and office buildings of approximately 8,050 square metres and permission to clear the site at Block C, Shannon Free Zone. The size of the site is 1.33 hectares and a decision on the application is due by May 1. Asked about the plans for the future of the site, Shannon Development said, “The work we are carrying out at Shannon Free Zone are part of our strategy to position this area of the zone for redevelopment, with a view to developing this site in the future.” Many of the buildings at the Free Zone are relatively old at this stage and have fallen into some disrepair. Also this week, Shannon Airport Authority have applied for planning permission for the demolition of five …

A DECISION by Clare County Council to refuse planning permission for a takeaway at 1 Main Street, Lahinch, has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. A letter sent to An Bord Pleanála on behalf of Tom Battersby, the appellant, said that he “is very aware of the significance of this prominent corner site in the physical streetscape of Lahinch and does not wish to detract from this significance in any way whatsoever. In this context, therefore, my client does not wish to introduce any type of business operation that would impact negatively on this or any part of Lahinch town.” It also stated that “a ‘takeaway’, in this particular instance, does not equate with the common or more usual definition of a takeaway facility. Typically, a ‘takeaway’ refers to a fast food facility for the sale of foodstuffs of a deep-fry variety or similar, for consumption off the premises and which are sold in paper/cardboard, cartons or the like. Generally, …

  CLARE County Council has confirmed that it has commissioned an external independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the depositing of asbestos-cement materials at a number of sites throughout West Clare. The council says it has informed the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) of its intention to remove the hazardous waste material from nine separate locations in the vicinity of Kilrush and Kilkee. A specialist asbestos consultant has been engaged by the council to advise the authority on the removal of the materials. West Clare county councillors have been informed about the process while the council has confirmed it will be liasing with members of the public living in the vicinity of the affected sites about the remedial works that are due to take place. “Clare County Council’s environment section received a complaint from a member of the public last June regarding a number of areas where asbestos waste materials were deposited. The council has since identified nine sites where …