Tag Archives: clare county council

A Part 8 process for the development of a 13-house scheme in Feakle has been unanimously approved by the members of Clare County Council. The new scheme is being developed as part of the Rebuilding Ireland Programme and is the first social housing development in Feakle since 1973. The development, which comprises a mix of three and two-bed houses to cater for the needs of the area, has gone through extensive public and department consultation and includes a new pedestrian way linking the main street to the school and playground. Councillor Tom McNamara, Mayor of Clare, said, “The design, accessibility and usability of previous social housing developments in County Clare have been of the highest standard and I am sure these schemes will be welcomed by applicants on the Council’s waiting list for social housing.” Councillor Gerry Flynn, Chair of the Social Development SPC, commented, “2018 is the year for moving projects into construction stage. This is a positive step …

PLANS for a development on the site of Our Lady’s Hospital, expected to generate hundreds of jobs, have been given a new lease of life. JJ Enterprises Limited is applying to Clare County Council to extend previously granted planning permission for the development of a healthcare facility at the historic site on the Gort Road. Permission had been granted to Duesbury Limited back in 2013 for the development, subject to 23 conditions. The application to extend that permission has been lodged with Clare County Council and was at the pre-validation stage at the time of going to press. The initial plans include the construction of a four-storey healthcare facility over the basement building, linked to the existing protected structure. It is proposed to provide a full range of medical and related services, including 97 in-patient beds, 30 recovery cubicles, consultants’ suites, administration, office accommodation, pharmacy shop, catering facilities, crèche, energy centre, plant rooms and all ancillary accommodation. The development will …

John Burke, mountaineer and founder of the charity Elevate, has been named Grand Marshal of this year’s Ennis St Patrick’s Day parade. Mayor of Ennis Councillor Paul Murphy today said that John is receiving the honour in recognition of his efforts to bring wellness programmes to young people in Clare, as well as his achievement of becoming the first Clare person to summit Mount Everest in 2017. John will join Mayor Murphy in leading the parade in a horse-drawn carriage, which will be followed by approximately 50 groups representing the many aspects of life in Ennis and County Clare. Mayor Murphy commented, “During my term as Mayor, I have committed to promoting positive mental health initiatives and individuals and groups who are working in the area. John through his own remarkable personal achievements and through Elevate is playing a key part in ensuring that the most vulnerable in society are protected and supported. That is why I am delighted he …

The death occurred last night (Wednesday) of Mr Colm Wiley of Bodyke, former Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council. A popular figure in his parish and throughout the county, Mr Wiley was a Fianna Fáil representative on the council for 30 years. Some years back, he was honoured at a special function in Mountshannon attended by the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen. During his time as a member of Clare County Council, he held a number of positions, including as chairman of the council itself from 1994 to 1995. During his time in the council, Mr Wiley he saw 16 councillors pass on the chain of office and worked with five county managers. He started out with Fianna Fáil while working in Dublin in 1959, where he attended meetings at the party’s Dublin South Central branch at a time when the then Taoiseach Seán Lemass was also a member. Mr Wiley went to England for work before returning to Ennis to contest …

A HOMELESS mother-of-two says she is at breaking point over the stress of having to move from hotels to bed and breakfast accommodation in recent weeks. Last July, the woman, who has an 18-month-old son and a 16-year-old daughter, who is in the care of a relative until she gets a house, got an initial four-week termination notice from a house in South-East Clare. Following another two-week notice to quit the property, which involved receiving a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) from the council, she was officially declared homeless on August 31. The woman, who does not wish to be named, has asked the council to allocate a house for her and her son as quickly as possible on humanitarian grounds. Since the receipt of the notice, she told The Clare Champion she has been forced to move with her baby son between the Auburn Lodge Hotel, Treacy’s West County and various bed and breakfasts. Having spent the last three weeks …

DEBTS owed to Clare County Council exceeded €28 million last September. This represents about 25% of the council’s expenditure of €110m for the next 12 months. The figure has prompted a call from Councillor Michael Hillery for Government to give more statutory powers to local authorities, to pursue people of good financial means who will not pay. For those who cannot afford to pay a bill upfront, Councillor Hillery noted at a council meeting on Monday, that the authority will work with debtors to discharge what they owe over a longer period of time. However, he believes the authority should be given powers akin to the Revenue Commissioners to legally pursue those who have money but refuse to pay. Describing the outstanding €17.4m rates bill as “worrying”, he hopes it will decline by the end of the year with the upturn in the economy. The debt includes €17.466m in outstanding commercial rates, €6.837m in development contributions, €1.806m in housing loans …

Apart for minor flooding in some costal areas and a power outage at Spanish Point, County Clare escaped lightly from Storm Eleanor, which swept the country last evening and late into the night. Clare County Council staff members were out early today (Wednesday) to clear debris from roads and deal with some fallen trees. Today, stormy conditions followed on the back of Eleanor. High tides, driven by strong gusting winds, made for dramatic scenes along many headlands, harbours and beaches. Again the council’s senior engineer Tom Tiernan asked members of the public to exercise care around piers and resort car parks.

As storm Eleanor battered the West Clare coastline this afternoon (Tuesday), Clare Champion photographer John Kelly visited a few locations to capture images of its power. Standing at a distance, John described how waves “as high as a two-storey house” were crashing over the harbour wall at picturesque Liscannor. The  waves were also crashing high above the prom and seawall  at Lahinch, with water gushing through the alleyways and onto the Main Street. It was the same scenario at inlets, beach resorts and small harbours south of Lahich and north of Liscannor. Earlier in the day, Clare County Council warned  members of the public to avoid exposed coastal locations from this evening (Tuesday) through to tomorrow morning (Wednesday) due to forecast stormy conditions. The storm, named Eleanor under the Met Éireann / UK Met Office storm naming system,is moving in off the Atlantic and will move across the country this evening. Southwest to west winds of mean speeds 65 to …