Tag Archives: Liscannor

Works to end the long running practice of discharging raw sewage into Liscannor Bay are due to get underway in the coming months following the appointment of contractor EPS to construct a new wastewater treatment plant. In a statement on Friday, Irish Water said, “Irish Water, working in partnership with Clare County Council, is committed to eliminating the discharge of raw sewage into Liscannor Bay. The construction of the new wastewater treatment scheme will bring big benefits to the scenic West Clare village by improving water quality, protecting the local environment and supporting new homes and businesses. “Wastewater in the Liscannor area is currently treated by a septic tank system which discharges poorly treated effluent into the bay near Liscannor pier. This long-running practice has impacts on water quality, detracts from the amenity value of Liscannor and does not comply with EU regulations relating to the treatment of wastewater. “To address this, Irish Water is building a new wastewater treatment …

AT A time when thousands of us are learning to appreciate the natural world within our 5km travel limit, a Donegal man is offering a fascinating insight into the wealth of plant and animal life around his North Clare home. Cormac McGinley, who is an expert in zoology and marine biology, spent 11 years as a ranger at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre before setting up his own coastal walking tours company. While the pandemic put a bit of a spanner in the works, Cormac admits, he decided to make good use of his time by sharing photos, videos and expert insights on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. “I live in Liscannor, so literally, wherever I walk within the travel limits, there is something spectacular to see,” he said. “I was building up the tours business and working with Leaving Cert students giving Geography field trips, and also training companies based along the Wild Atlantic Way. Then, …

CLARE County Council has confirmed that emergency health and safety repairs have been carried out on a section of one of the most popular walking routes in the county for tourists and locals. Repair works on the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Walk in a two kilometre zone, one kilometre north and one kilometre south of the Visitor Centre, are almost complete. Works completed by Guerin and Considine include resurfacing the entire length, reinstatement of a dry stone wall 500 metres in length, repairs to stiles, and raising of flagstones in areas of uncontrolled access. Access to the cliff edge area was achieved in collaboration with the landowners, design was  completed in-house by the Design Office and a Section Five declaration was obtained from the Planning Department for part of the works. These repair works were recently inspected by Clare County Council chief executive officer, Pat Dowling, and Geraldine Enright, Director, Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience. The works were jointly led …

WHAT started as an art project from humble beginnings along a sea wall in North Clare has been washed on the crest of a huge wave to become a new visitor attraction with the wow factor. Clahane artist, Ann Vaughan had no idea she would be the brainchild for a concept that has been embraced by hundreds of artists, children as young as two years of age, adults and holidaymakers when she placed the first stone on a sea wall a short distance from her art gallery. “I thought I would just paint a few stones, put them down and see what happens. Then I noticed that kids were putting stuff up. It just started from there. People started adding to it,” explained Ann. Ann came up with this innovative idea during the early stages of lockdown to give people some hope and encouragement in the midst of all the doom and gloom about new Covid-19 restrictions. In recent months, …

UPGRADES are being sought for a heavily trafficked section of the Wild Atlantic Way running through North Clare to the Cliffs of Moher. The call came at the meeting of the West Clare Municipal District when Councillor Joe Killeen said local people and visitors alike would benefit from improvements to the route from Ballyvaughan, through Fanore and Doolin. “There are around 1.5 million tourists using this route every year going to the Cliffs of Moher and traffic is often tail-to-tail,” he said. “I was on the road recently when four cars pulled over to look at a fishing competition. Until they returned to their cars, nobody could pass. This area is the jewel in the crown of the Wild Atlantic Way and there are issues with the road surface and alignment, as well as a lack of areas to pull in.” The Corofin native noted that the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar had recently visited Ballyvaughan and that action needed to be …

THE remote working revolution prompted by the Coronavirus pandemic would have been impossible to predict at the start of this year. A life-time ago, back in January, working away from the office was still a fairly fuzzy concept for most of us, tied in with worthy but not-always-attainable aims like reducing our carbon footprint, cutting down on daily commuting and achieving a better work-life balance. Now that we have all been thrown into reality of having to meet our work commitments without venturing into crowded offices, finding an appropriate space for remote working has become a real challenge. Kitchen tables across the country have been acting as board room bases for video conferences, while serving as virtual classrooms at the same time – not always with harmonious, or productive results. In Clare, thanks to a synergy of two key departments, the local authority has been better able than many of its counterparts to respond to the surge in demand for …

LAST year he spent thousands of euro trying to rebuild the flood defences close to his home, but Storm Eleanor has left North Clare farmer Richard O’Shea sitting back on square one again. The money he invested wasn’t easily available to him and he is disappointed that he can get no support, as he tries to carry out necessary repairs once again. Richard lives close to the sea in the townland of Bartra, an idyllic spot when the weather is calm, but a place that takes a battering from the Atlantic when the increasingly frequent storms strike. While his house is a little bit back from where the sea meets land, the road to it is very close to the edge. With his defences badly damaged by Storm Eleanor, Richard is frightened that another storm could potentially leave his home inaccessible by car. Seeing the work he carried out washed away on January 2 was a very frustrating experience. “Last …

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 …