Tag Archives: clare county council

CLARE County Library have plenty to keep book lovers ‘appy’ this December. The library service has announced the development of an app to enhance visits to the library. You will soon be able to check in and check out your own books in the county’s Wi-Fi-enabled libraries, at De Valera Library, Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush, Scariff, Sixmilebridge, Ennistymon and Miltown Malbay. The app will also be able to check your own account, update your loans, search the catalogue, reserve books and e-resources. The Clare County Library app is free and available on the App Store and the Google Store. That’s not the only technological advancement being progressed by Clare County Library services. Dormant Account Funding grant aid is to be utilised to provide literacy software to Clare schools. Library staff have contacted over 100 primary schools in the county in the past number of weeks to offer Touch-type, Read and Spell (TTRS) licences to students. So far, Clare schools have requested …

WITH the country moving back to Level 3 restrictions and non-essential retailing re-opening from Tuesday the Christmas spirit has returned to Ennis with shoppers being urged to support local. Alongside free parking and pedestrianised streets, the return of the popular Ennis Street Radio bringing Yuletide cheer has been announced by the Ennis Municipal District in a bid to attract shoppers to the town centre. To promote Christmas and New Year shopping in Clare’s county town, free parking will be available in all public car parks in Ennis town every Monday to Saturday from 2pm to 6pm until Saturday, January 9 inclusive. Parking remains free of charge from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday, at the Cloister/GAA car park. Similar to previous years, for the Christmas period streets will be pedestrianised on Sundays this year between 1pm and 6pm, December 6, 13, 20, 27 and January 3. To add to the festive cheer, Ennis Street Radio will be on air from …

THE pupils of sixth class at Scoil na Mainistreach, Quin-Dangan, have outlined a highly ambitious vision for the future of their area, focusing on the need for better recreational amenities and road safety. In a submission the forthcoming County Development Plan for 2022-2028, the school has recommended a number of enhancements and upgrades from which the community of Quin, young and old, would benefit. The community centre, which is beside Quin’s world-famous abbey, has been earmarked by students as a potential tourism centre, “which not only could give information on the history of Quin and its wonderful structure, but also create employment through guided tours tying in with the famous Wild Atlantic Way”. Significantly, the 287 boys and girls of Scoil na Ministreach have also spotted the potential for a digital hub at the same location. “This particular site would also be ideal as a digital hub for our village which is centrally located and has the capacity to be …

THE founder of a group of up to 40 home owners, whose properties are crumbling because of defective building materials, has appealed to the government not to delay the extension of a support scheme to County Clare. The council has confirmed that it has sought the extension of the scheme and been contacted by the Department of Housing. The authority has made contact too, in recent days, with The Clare Pyrite/Mica Action Group. “Our situation has been raised by the council, TDs and senators, we’re so grateful for that support,” Dr Martina Cleary said. “It’s very important now that the process isn’t made overly complex. Several of our members are living in homes that are ready to fall and they’re afraid for their lives. Each winter that goes by, with the damp and the frost, the situation is getting worse and you can literally hear the blocks cracking. You can imagine the psychological stress. In Mayo and Donegal, where people …

A TULLA-based environmental and climate activist is hoping to “herald a new era for County Clare,” through an ambitious submission the County Development Plan (2022-2028), calling for ‘organic’ and chemical-free status for the area. Swiss national Cornelia Wahli is the driving force behind a number of high-profile initiatives including Operation De-Plastification and the Slim Your Bin Challenge. She has now asked the local authority to declare a the County Clare “organic, chemical-free and GMO-free”. Ms Wahli told the council she hopes that in 2050, at the age of 33, her granddaughter will “live in a county, in a country, on a planet that is still green and capable of supporting comfortable and enjoyable life”. In the submission, seen by The Champion, Ms Wahli said, “an organic, chemical-free and GMO-free County Clare is able to solve and combat a wealth of serious and damaging environmental threats, such as water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, species extinction, habitat loss and loss of …

Clare County Council is making significant progress delivering the Shannon River Crossing project, which will be on of the biggest infrastructural project in South-East Clare. The estimated cost of the project totals €69 million, which includes construction, land acquisition, design, supervision, risk, contingency and archaeology. It is expected the new Shannon River Crossing, Killaloe By-Pass and upgrade of the Ballina to Birdhill R494 regional road will take up to three years to construct and could start next summer if everything goes to plan. Out of 110 affected property owners, two homes were acquired under the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process, which will have to be demolished. One of these is in Clarisford while the other one is at the Ogonnelloe end of the scheme. The council concluded a deal with these two property owners at an early stage – one built a new dwelling in the locality and the other home owner has moved out of the area. In an …

CLARITY has once again been sought over the use of CCTV to convict those involved in illegal dumping, in light of concerns raised the Data Protection Commissioner about remotely-operated cameras. A question was tabled at the November meeting of the local authority by Councillor Alan O’Callaghan, asking whether or not footage could be used in prosecutions. The Fianna Fáil member noted that the issue had come up at the most recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC). He said he had been “taken aback” by the advice given there. “It seems that the Data Protection Commissioner has highlighted issues,” he said, “however, we all watch programs where Gardaí make appeals for dashcam footage. It’s very frustrating. We are trying to battle dumping and littering issues across Clare.” Councillor O’Callaghan noted that his party colleague Councillor Cillian Murphy had drawn his attention to an article reporting that 64 littering fines were issued in Tipperary thanks to the use of CCTV …

DETAILS of how and when the National Broadband Plan will be rolled out in rural Clare are to be made available, after representations on the issue by Councillor Pat Hayes. It follows a case, highlighted by the Fianna Fáil member where a Tulla resident tried a total of ten providers, but still could not secure a satisfactory service to enable her to work from home. The Caher native tabled a motion at the November meeting of the County Council calling on National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to outline its plans and to explain “how areas will be prioritised, [the] timescale of the project and how they plan to interact with other providers”. Councillor Hayes, who is Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District, told the meeting that everyone had come to learn the importance of good broadband connectivity during the pandemic. Joining the meeting remotely, along with four other members, Councillor Hayes noted that good coverage was now essential to the business …