Tag Archives: clare county council

For the fourth year in succession, the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience has exceeded the one million mark for visitors within a calendar year. The world-famous visitor attraction reached the figure on Friday last, August 11, exactly 11 days ahead of the date the figure was reached in 2016 and exactly 10 weeks earlier than when the milestone was first reached in 2014. The North Clare visitor attraction is now on track to exceed its record visitor total of 1,427,166 people in 2016. The Clare County Council owned attraction has undergone substantial investment in product and facilities in recent years while its position as a Signature Point along the 2,500km Wild Atlantic Way has contributed to its growing popularity. While welcoming the continuing increase in popularity of the attraction, the Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience says measures continue to be put in place to accommodate the increase in numbers sustainably. “These significant visitor numbers are fantastic for …

AS Kilkee approaches its busiest time of the year, a swimming ban has yet again been imposed on the An Taisce Blue Flag beach. This closure is due to sewage entering the water on Wednesday, which followed an electrical fault at the pumping station. Swimming was prohibited for five months from mid-December 2016 to mid-May, following the failure of an operational safety device at the pumping station during a period of heavy rainfall shortly before Christmas, which resulted in sewage entering the water. On Wednesday afternoon, Irish Water issued an apology for the latest fault with the pumping station and said that the swimming ban would be in place for a number of days. “Due to operational electrical issues at Kilkee pump station earlier this morning, this caused the pumps to be out of service for a number of hours. This has led to a discharge of wastewater to the Victoria stream in Kilkee for a period of time. “The …

Clare County Council’s €250,000 annual grant to the Glór should not become a financial “crutch to lean on” over the coming years, a local councillor has warned. The comment was made as councillors agreed to extend the five-year lease for the use of the building to 15 years, for a nominal sum of €1, at a meeting this week. Acknowledging the provision of an annual subsidy of €250,000 is an “ongoing cost”, chief executive officer Pat Dowling said the authority is looking at ways to make the facility more economically sustainable. He added that the authority would also be examining governance issues. While Glór plays an important role in the cultural life of Clare, Mr Dowling stressed it is vital that the council ensure the facility is sustainable. He explained the lease is being extended to allow the facility, which has been in operation since 2001, to draw down extra funding. Councillor Gerry Flynn said he was aware that Glór …

The Office of Public Works is to provide capital funding for flood protection measures for Springfield Clonlara and has also approved the preferred measures subject to a number of conditions. “The OPW has confirmed that the proposed CFRAM measure for Springfield, Clonlara may now be progressed by Clare County Council. The funding of the project costs will not fall under the Minor Works heading, but the work will be funded instead as a capital project under the OPW capital works programme. This is very welcome news,” said Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market & Data Protection Pat Breen. “The favoured solution will now require more detailed project-level assessment and design before it can be confirmed as technically, economically and environmentally viable and suitable for progression through planning. In this regard, approval is being given in the first instance to bring the project forward with the undertaking of this necessary project-level assessment. “Once the project is confirmed to …

Thousands of GAA fans travelling to Saturday’s All-Ireland Football qualifier in Cusack Park and Sunday’s Munster minor and senior Hurling Finals between Clare and Cork in Semple Stadium have been given a special ‘drive safely’ message. “We want people to drive safely this weekend. There will be a huge volume of traffic on the roads for the games, and we urge people to take care and to ensure that their trip to these great sporting occasions do not end in tragedy,” said Barry Keating, road safety officer, Clare County Council. He added, “We want all road users to change their behaviours and make these changes part of their lives in the future, which will save lives and reduce serious injuries on our roads. We are advising people to keep a safe distance between them and the car in front them and asking drivers not to use of the mobile phones while driving.” Distracted driving is one of the common causes …

Chinese Ambassador to Ireland,  H.E. Dr. Yue Xiaoyong declared his intention to return to Clare for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann again this August, accompanied by many of his fellow countrymen and women. During this week’s visit to Clare for a meeting with representatives of Clare County Council, facilitated by the Minister for Employment, Trade, Business, EU Digital Single Market & Data Protection Pat Breen, the ambassador outlined the potential of furthering relationships between Clare and China. County Clare is already twinned with the south western Chinese province of Yunnan, while a formal link between the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark and the Stone Forest Geopark (Shilin Geopark) in Yunnan also exists. Accompanied by Consul General Xu Erwen of the Chinese New Zealand Consulate and Minister Breen, the ambassador also took time to visit the Cliffs of Moher following his trip to Ennis. “Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong is particularly aware of what Clare can offer Chinese tourists and is to the …

The Minister of State with responsibility for Employment, Trade, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection Pat Breen said the Department of Housing has approved support capital funding of €45,600 for the purchase of six apartments in Ennis. “The €45,000, which is 10 per cent of the cost of the Loreto Apartments in Ennis, will be provided to the Approved Housing Body (AHB) – CHI, by Clare County Council to secure their purchase for social housing. The funding will then be reimbursed to the council by the Department,” said Minister Breen. “This Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) funding is capital support provided to AHBs, by local authorities, to assist with the financing of the construction or acquisition of units that will be provided for social housing use,” said the Clare minister of state. CALF is a loan facility that can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the project, where the units will be provided under …

PLANS for a new €10 million 50-unit housing development at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, have effectively been put on hold, following concerns about a number of planning and design issues. Clare County Council has requested John Walsh, c/o Roy O’Shea, 20 Lower Hartstonge Street, Limerick, to submit revised plans for the development, which comprises of 10 detached, 24 semi-detached and 16 apartment units and ancillary works for a site at Tullyvarraga. The planning authority expressed concerns that the house type mix has not sufficiently been informed by the 2017-2023 Clare County Development Plan. The authority believes there is an over-provision of three-bed semi-detached dwellings and that greater consideration should be given to incorporating some single-storey dwellings. It proposed that the siting of unit number one, relative to the existing property, should be revised by relocating same closer to the second unit and by relocating the turning area closer to the eastern boundary. The authority expressed concerns about the siting of units number …