Tag Archives: Kilmihil

ON Monday, Dr Michael Harty announced that he is not looking to be re-elected to the Dáil and in an interview with The Clare Champion, he said the outgoing Government has failed rural Ireland, while the administration didn’t accept obvious solutions to major problems facing the country. Dr Harty also revealed that he had turned down invitations to stand for established parties in the General Election. “Obviously, the economy has recovered and that brings benefits to everybody. But I think there is still a huge dissatisfaction within rural Ireland that they are being left behind, that services are still being withdrawn to rural Ireland,” he commented. As it stands now, he feels that the likes of Leo Varadkar, Simon Harris and Eoghan Murphy do not understand the needs of a county like Clare. “I think that the Government is urban-orientated. We have the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Housing, who are all urban-based …

ON Saturday morning, Jimmy Guinnane will leave his home at Toonagh around 5.30am and travel to Annacotty to pick up hundreds of loaves of Brennan’s bread, before spending the next 13 hours or so distributing them around Ennis and West Clare. He has spent thousands of days doing the same routine but Saturday will be the last time, as he finishes a job he has really enjoyed since beginning it 32 years ago. “I was working for Michael O’Sullivan before that in Corofin. I used to do a run up in North Clare and I did a run in Galway for him for six months with Kiely’s Bread. Then I started in West Clare in 1987 with Brennan’s bread.” He says he is very grateful to all the customers and the friends he has made on the route over the years. “I love meeting the people, meeting so many people every day. You’d have the craic with everybody. When I …

SHE’S only 25 but when Ailish Considine totted up the figures, the Kilmihil girl realised that she has been playing adult football for 12 years. As the club approaches their second successive county final against Banner Ladies on Sunday, Considine somewhat reluctantly acknowledged that she is not far off the veteran category. “It’s mad. I didn’t think it was that long. I probably am one of the oldest on the team now, which is a scary thought,” she laughed uneasily. This weekend’s final will be just the fourth club championship game of 2017 for both clubs, who met in the two team group stages. While Considine gets plenty of games at county level, she knows that club players simply don’t get sufficient matches. A senior or intermediate club team play three championship games at most, if they don’t make it out of their group and lose their B or shield semi-final. Throw in the fact that clubs often have to …

THE weather is not dampening spirits in Clare this summer, as communities right across the county gear up for a bumper month of festivals, competitions, music, song and dance, with plenty to do for all the family. It all kicks up a notch this weekend as a host of events get off the ground and pave the way for Ennis to hold its second Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. In East Clare, the Scariff Harbour Festival will play host to Red Hurley and author Michael Harding, with Delorentos and Little Hours entertaining in the Fair Green. There will be fun events, fishing for kids, workshops, the launch of a new cookery school by well-known foodies The Happy Pear and plenty of activities on the waterways. In Feakle, meanwhile, Martin Hayes is tuning up for his annual appearance with Dennis Cahill, as the International Festival of Traditional Irish Music marks its 30th year. This celebration of traditional music will see performances from …

LAST Sunday, Eimear Considine was desperately hoping not to hear her phone ringing. Instead, she was very keen to detect the ping of an email landing in her inbox. The 26-year-old Kilmihil girl eventually received confirmation that she had made the 28-player Irish squad for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will be staged in this country from next month. Ireland will play their opening game against Australia on August 9 in the UCD bowl. They are also grouped with Japan (August 13) and France (August 17). “You got an email if you were picked and you got a phonecall if you weren’t. So I was hoping my phone wouldn’t ring,” the PE and Irish teacher at St Mary’s in Glasnevin mused. “I was up at cock-crow. I couldn’t sleep because it was always on my mind. The waiting was the hardest part of it. Initially, the squad was to be announced two weeks ago but it was postponed further …

CLARE County Council’s decision last Friday to grant planning permission to Brookfield Renewable Ireland Ltd for 11 wind turbines, will mean that a total of 98 turbines will be located within a 10km radius in Connolly, Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Lissycasey and Kilmihil. Up to 131m in height, permission was given subject to 27 conditions. Fifty six separate submissions were received by the council, with 53 of them listed as objections from local residents and community groups. In a detailed submission, the Conserve Kilmaley Group outlined its concerns with the latest windfarm, noting that almost 100 wind turbines would be located in the area, if granted permission. “This combined development is a very substantial windfarm in terms of site area, scale and height of turbines, capacity of output, noise emissions and enormous local disturbance to the environment – peat disposal, tree felling, loss of moorland and bog habitat, impact on all species and impacts on residents and their dwellings,” were amongst some of …

Kilrush firemen dealt with one of their most unusual emergencies this afternoon (Thursday).  A delivery truck with a consignment of beer slipped off the main Ennis to Kilrush road, at Ballyduneen near Kilmihil. After determining that nobody had been injured in incident, the firemen embraced the Christmas spirit and helped to unload the truck. Traffic on the road was held up for a short while until alternative transport arrived for the beer.

Two former Clare secondary school students have been each awarded scholarships worth €20,000 from the Naughton Foundation. Gavin O’Brien, Tulla, formerly of St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla, is now studying Design and manufacturing Engineering in University of Limerick. Pauraic Mairtín O’Gorman, Kilmihil who attended the local St Michael’s Community College  has accepted a place in University College of Galway to study Mathematical Science. Both secondary schools were also presented with a prize of €1,000 towards their school’s science facilities for their support of these students. The Clare duo were among 35 new scholars who were awarded third level scholarships towards their studies in the areas of engineering, science and technology. Since its establishment in 2008, Naughton Foundation scholarships worth over €2million have been presented to 135 remarkable young people in the fields of science, engineering and technology in publicaly funded third level institutions in Ireland, north and south.