Tag Archives: kilkee

It is hoped a much needed flood relief scheme for Kilkee will alleviate overflow from the Victoria Stream and help protect 134 properties including 118 homes. The scheme, which is now at the planning stage is the first of two planned schemes for the town, and work is separately continuing on design for a scheme to manage the risk from coastal flooding in the town. The Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Kieran O’Donnell (FG) announced this week that his office has given the approval to Clare County Council to submit a planning application for the Kilkee scheme. The design consists of the construction of new flood defence walls, embankments, box culverts and open channels along the Victoria Stream and Well Stream, combined with a channel diversion and the creation of flood water storage areas along the Victoria Scheme. The scheme is the outcome of detailed engineering analysis, environmental assessments and engagement with the …

A 32-year-old mountaineer from West Clare who recently completed a gruelling climb of Mont Blanc in the Alps has cautioned it is not a feat to be attempted without previous climbing experience. PJ Byrne from Kilkee summited Western Europe’s highest mountain, 4,500 metres, just weeks after he climbed Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, 5,900metres. Climbing mountains was not always in the plan for the Clare man. Living in Bahrain, he generally keeps fit by playing Gaelic football with his local GAA club, the Arabian Celts and doing mixed martial arts (MMA) training. He had not previously climbed mountains but always up for a challenge, when he heard his friend Nadeem Kunwar was planning to climb Mt Kilimanjaro followed by Mont Blanc, he decided to get a piece of the action too and jumped right in. Unaccustomed to climbing however, Mont Blanc would prove to be a technically challenging climb for PJ. “Mont Blanc is more strenuous physically – it is …

Kilkee councillor and candidate, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) has said it is “all to play for” in filling the last seat in the Kilrush local electoral area at today’s election count. It is looking like he, Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) and Alan Troy (FF) will be battling it out for the fifth and final seat. However, Cllr Murphy has questioned the accuracy of yesterday’s tallies, which is offering him a degree of hope. “We know the tallies are a little bit all over the shop. I was speaking to Cllr Pat Burke yesterday and his vote was out by 100 from the tallies so there is a big discrepancy with the tallies now. “If you look at the tallies for the Kilrush electoral area effectively you have got me, Gabriel Keating and Alan Troy in the hunt for the last seat and that is me being an adult about what I am seeing but now the tallies are suspect…” The …

A lifelong friendship with Irish actor and singer, Richard Harris, is featured in a new book written by well-known Kilkee fisherman, lifeguard, diver, restaurant operator, and Marine Rescue Centre founder, Manuel Di Lucia. The 83 year old has published a new book about his action-packed life living in the West Clare popular seaside resort. Entitled “You Will Only Live Once”, it will be launched in Sheils’ Showrooms, Ennis on June 14 at 5.30pm. The proceeds of the book will be divided between the RNIL, Kilrush and West Clare Cancer Centre in Kilkee. His thirty years of fishing experience proved very useful when Mr Di Lucia and his wife, Doris, opened a seafood restaurant in 1973 in a premises owned by film star and friend, Richard Harris, which the couple were looking after at the time. “Richard Harris came one day to see us with a friend. We made lunch for him with lobsters, crayfish and crabs. He said that is …

THE Kilkee based West Clare Cancer Centre has started a new chapter by opening the doors on its renovated Corry Street drop-in centre. The McGrath family, who run the charity, hosted an open day event at their cottage base on Friday of last week, and welcomed members of the public in to explore the new state-of-the-art centre and learn more about the treatments and supportive services offered there. Co-founder of the charity, Mary McGrath told The Clare Champion she and her family hope they are a community for people who are undergoing treatment for cancer. “From the start, we are here for anybody that is anxious about anything really. They can make contact with the centre, and we will give them the information as to what we know is available to them,” she said. “The whole of West Clare is now using this service which wasn’t always there. The reason we are getting the support we are getting is because …

Sinn Féin have announced they are fielding a West Clare candidate to contest the local election for the Kilrush local electoral area with the party revealing Dawn Bennett from Kilkee as their chosen candidate. Ms Bennett, who owns CocoLemon hairdressers in Kilrush, becomes the fifth Sinn Féin candidate in the county for the upcoming June elections. She said she first became interested in politics from listening to what party leader, Mary Lou McDonald had to say. “She was offering common sense solutions and was so down to earth. Mary Lou and Sinn Féin are for the people and I love to help people whenever I can, so it was the right party for me. I’m a carer myself so I know how difficult it is to get access to the services people need,” she explained. Originally from Limerick, Ms Bennett moved to West Clare five years ago where she has made home. “It’s a beautiful place to raise a family, …

NEW Zealand boy who made an appeal through The Clare Champion for help in bringing her son home from rehab, has thanked the community in County Clare for its support. Monday, March 18 marked six months since Tadhg Giles first became ill with an influenza A infection, which resulted in encephalitis leaving him severely cognitively impaired with inflammation in his brain. The young boy was treated in hospital at Auckland but, when his period in rehabilitation care ended, the family were faced with moving him back home without adequate and appropriate medical support. As their home was not suitably adapted for Tadhg’s new needs, they were required to extensively modify their home with the local health board offering limited support. However, with the combined help of their family, friends, and the Irish community in New Zealand, they were in a position to make the required modifications for a safer home for Tadhg to live in. Speaking to The Clare Champion …

A Kilkee mother living in New Zealand whose ten-year-old son is severely cognitively impaired following a flu infection, has appealed to the community in County Clare for financial help to bring him home from rehab. Laura Devine-Giles’ ten-year-old son, Tadhg has inflammation in his brain, a condition known as encephalitis following an influenza A infection late last September. At the time, he was rushed to ICU and then the children’s ward at Christchurch Hospital before being transferred to Auckland in November. Prior to becoming ill, Tadhg was a very chatty boy who loved playing rugby, singing in a choir and doing all the normal activities a child does in New Zealand. He was also the captain of his school’s kapa haka team. An intelligent boy, he is a self-described “maths genius” and even has his own YouTube channel. Today, Tadhg no longer speaks and is cognitively impaired. The brain injury he suffered has left him with memory loss, psychosis, catatonic …