Tag Archives: clare

CLARECASTLE Tidy Towns have swept away the competition and cleaned up in a national contest. The local voluntary group have been named overall winners in the National Tidy Towns Photography Competition 2020. The winning photograph was taken by Christy Leyden, chairperson of Clarecastle Tidy Towns and depicted a wall mural by local artist Niamh Hickey in Haggart View, Creggaunahilla which forms part of a biodiversity project. The message of the mural, and the photograph is, “Never underestimate the power of a planted seed”. Judges in the competition found that the picture said a lot about the spirit of Tidy Towns, in building community pride and displaying the various talents we have in our community The bio-diversity project started in the spring of 2019 when at a Clarecastle Tidy Towns meeting the poor state of the plot fronting a wall in the housing estate was discussed and a pollinator friendly bed was suggested. A bedding plan was prepared with an emphasis …

AS the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 in Clare slumps to the lowest in the country, a local Dáil deputy has asked the government to consider using antigen testing to help curtail the spread of the virus during Christmas. A few months ago, the 14-day incidence rate of the virus in Clare was the fourth highest in the country. However, now the incidence has dropped from 32 per 100,000 on November 30 to 23.6%, which is the lowest in the country. This is in sharp contrast to Limerick, which now has the sixth highest incidence rate of 128% while the rate in Tipperary is now far greater than Clare at 70%, just below the national average of 84.7%. According to figures produced by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, there were 28 new cases of Covid-19 in Clare, 251 in Limerick and 112 in Tipperary from December 1 to December 14. On December 13, Limerick’s total number of cases stood at 3,021 …

A 97 year old bachelor farmer who attended the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival for 72 years has passed away without finding his soul mate. Mick Bourke from County Tipperary began attending the festival in 1946 when he was 23 years old and never missed a year until his health began to fade a few years ago. His death caused by pneumonia was announced last week. “Mick was well known and loved by many in Lisdoonvarna and messages of sympathy have been pouring in all week to us, via social media. People are speaking of his warmth, his sense of fun and his razor-sharp dancing skills. He was a legend in Lisdoonvarna and he never gave up hope of finding love in over 70 years, attending”, said Julie Carr, Marketing Manager of Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival. Back in 2016, a party was organised for Mick at the Spa Wells in the village, where he was presented with a cake by Matchmaker Willie Daly. …

THE hardwork and dedication of people who are working to make Ennis look its best has been honoured by the local Tidy Towns group. Ennis Tidy Towns annual Local Awards recently took place, with awards presented to residents for their voluntary efforts in keeping the town tidy. The usual awards night could not be held due to Covid-19, however Tidy Towns committee members visited the award winners to present them with their prizes. Cormac McCarthy, chairman of Ennis Tidy Towns said, “Even though our local awards night could not take place this year, we had the wonderful job to go around to each of our category winners with Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council Mary Howard and present them with their awards in the winning gardens, green areas, approach roads and shrines. “In a year that shook us all to the core it was a lovely way to end 2020. A huge congratulations to all our entrants.” Along with the overall …

CLARE engineer Micheál (Mick) Ryan, who died tragically in a plane crash in Ethiopia last year, has been posthumously named the Humanitarian of the Year by the Irish Red Cross. The Lahinch man was named as the winner of the award at Wednesday’s virtual Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards, with his wife, Naoise Ryan, accepting the award on his behalf. Mick, who lost his life in an Ethopian Airlines flight last year, had dedicated his life to humanitarian work overseas. During his career, Mick worked tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable people in remote parts of the world had access to food and were protected from flooding and other disasters. Speaking of the win, Naoise said, “This award means so much to us and my only regret is that Mick isn’t here to accept it himself, I know he would be so humbled by it. To me it’s recognition of the person that he was, he was a humanitarian in every …

CLARE Gardaí have seized four cars and arrested one man on suspicion of drug driving as part of Operation Curb. Gardaí from the Divisional Roads Policing Unit carried out the operation on December 12. The purpose of Operation Curb is to detect and educate road users in relation to road safety and the dangers of modifying cars over the legal limit. Each car was seized under either Section 20 of the Road Traffic Act or Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act. A Garda public service vehicle inspector (PSV) examined the cars. The cars were seized to check if they had been modified in such a way that they posed a danger to themselves and other road users. Ten car in total were examined by the PSV inspector, four of which were found to be dangerously defective. One car, which has recently failed its NCT more than once, was found to have a major defect with its steering rod whilst …

A RESOURCE pack for professionals working with children and families, ahead of what is expected to be a particularly difficult Christmas for people affected by domestic abuse has been developed by a network of agencies including An Garda Síochana, Tusla, community support services, legal services and health service providers in County Clare. The Domestic Abuse Resource Pack has been undertaken jointly by The Clare Local Area Network Opposing Violence Against Women (CLAN)* and Tusla Clare Prevention Partnership and Family Support (Clare PPFS) and is supported by Safe Ireland. The network group decided to be proactive ahead of what is expected to be a very difficult time for many families, by launching an interactive, one-stop-shop, of relevant information and supports for those subjected to domestic abuse, their families and the professionals on the frontline supporting them.  This specially designed interactive document and information booklet will be available on the Clare Haven Services website not just at Christmas, but will remain active as …

LOOP Head Lighthouse is to play a key role in a moment of national solidarity this month. Photographs of front-line workers are to be beamed onto the Clare lighthouse in tribute to their tireless work during the Covid-19 pandemic. The images were taken by photographer Jeanette Lowe and are one of six projection instalments across the country which will be illuminated in the days leading up to the winter solstice. The art installations will form part of a nationwide multi-platform event Shine Your Light, or Lonraigh Do Sholas. The event will also feature a live TV broadcast on RTÉ One featuring Clare’s Sharon Shannon, and a radio special on RTÉ Radio 1. Funded by Creative Ireland, the Shine Your Light installations by Irish artists will be visible around the country from December 17 to 20 and will bring artworks from the Illuminations online gallery to epic and dramatic locations including Loop Head, bringing light, hope and colour to towns and …