Tag Archives: Miltown Malbay

A NORTH Clare councillor has been sharply critical of the decision by Fáilte Ireland not to erect Wild Atlantic Way signage in Miltown Malbay. Councillor Róisín Garvey told the June meeting of the West Clare Municipal District that sometimes local authority members knew better than Fáilte Ireland when it came to tourism development projects. In response to the Green Party member calling for Miltown, “the real gateway to West Clare” to be put on the route, using new signage, the tourism authority said it had no plans to do so. A written reply to Councillor Garvey’s motion from Miriam Kennedy, Head of the Wild Atlantic Way, said it was felt that Miltown was already part of the destination marketing plan. “Being on or adjacent to the Wild Atlantic Way,” Ms Kennedy said, “offers destinations an opportunity to influence the visitor’s travel patterns as they navigate along the route and given Miltown Malbay’s immediate proximity to the route, it is considered …

THE wealth of musical talent of the young people of the Miltown Malbay area is set to be showcased to audiences around the world in a new web series to be released from this week. The series, which was the brainchild of the Miltown Malbay Development Committee (MMDC) and was filmed by Neil Hynes, the manager of the state-of-the-art €1.4m community centre in the West Clare town, features some of those who have taken the tradition into the 21st century. The initiative was prompted after the pandemic forced the cancellation of this year’s Willie Clancy Summer School. Mr Hynes explained, “Realising the streets wouldn’t be heaving this July with musicians and tourists from all over the world, we felt that it may be easy for the public to assume that the spirit of the area had been sucked out of it, that it was no longer there. No Willie Clancy, no Miltown Malbay. Nothing could be further from the truth.” …

ONGOING water outages on the supply for the Miltown Malbay area have been described as “hell” for families, farms and businesses by a member of the West Clare Municipal District. Councillor Shane Talty told the monthly district meeting that people were “crying and tearing their hair out” and that there had been more than 30 outages lasting for three days or more. The Fianna Fáil member’s comments were made as he tabled a motion calling on the council to make sure that water was tankered promptly to group schemes during future outages. “I’m calling for a protocol where, in the event of disruption, tankers would be made available within 36 hours,” he said, “and this should be the case until Irish Water completes the long-term upgrade works. Bursts and breaks will continue . We must have some kind of interim solution. I would hope we would be able to bill Irish Water, if necessary.” Backing the motion, Councillor Joe Killeen …

Gardaí have arrested a man and seized €18,500 worth of suspected cannabis plants in Miltown Malbay on Tuesday. At around 1.30pm, Gardaí from Kilrush executed a search warrant at a house in Miltown Malbay. During the course of the search, Gardaí found 23 suspected cannabis plants, which were at various stages of growth. The suspected drugs will now be sent for analysis. A man, aged in his 40s, was arrested at the scene was detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Kilrush Garda station. He has since been released without charge with a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecution.

CLARE Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe, has said that Irish Water has committed to “significant upgrades” to address water supply issues in Miltown Malbay. Residents in the Miltown and surrounding areas have been experiencing outages and interruptions to their supply for several months now and they are at their wits’ end. The most recent outage occurred when a water main burst on June 14 at Coore, which was later repaired. However, this led to a significant delay in supply returning to the Dunsallagh, Ballard and Glendine Group Water Schemes in the area, with supply eventually coming back on June 20. This, Irish Water says, it because of “major issues with the operation and maintenance of the Group Water Schemes”. “This has been a long-running saga for households in Miltown Malbay and so many surrounding areas too,” said Deputy Crowe. “It is completely unacceptable that some homes were left without running water for almost a week and in some cases longer, …

BANK of Ireland has confirmed that three Clare branches closed due to Covid-19 restrictions will re-open later this month, but with reduced opening hours. Concern had been growing when outlets in Tulla, Kilkee and Miltown Malbay remained closed since mid-March. There has been a widespread welcome for news that the branches will open from Monday, June 29. Bank of Ireland said that where ATMs are available, these will also have facilities for the lodgements restored. The three Clare branches will have advice and self-service banking available from 10am to 1pm. Announcing the date for the re-opening, the bank said it would have dedicated supports for healthcare workers, carers, self-isolating customers, mortgage holders and businesses. Gavin Kelly, CEO of Retail Ireland at Bank of Ireland, commented: “We have been monitoring and adapting our operations throughout Covid-19 to reflect customer demand and public health advice. As the economy starts to reopen, which is critically important for families and businesses across Ireland, we …

MILTOWN Malbay and the wider West Clare community continue to count the cost of the cancellation of an event whose economic value has been set at between €5 and €10 million annually. The Willie Clancy Summer School, whose cultural value is probably impossible to estimate, is among the casualties of the coronavirus restrictions. Its absence, on what would have been its 48th birthday, will be felt well beyond the Banner county. This year’s event had been expected to attract 1500 students  between July 4 and 12, with many thousands more attending for sessions, talks, seminars, dancing, concerts and the general festival atmosphere. Administrative Director Harry Hughes described the cancellation of this year’s Scoil Samhradh as “disappointing but inevitable” in the context of Covid-19. “We had been hoping things might improve in terms of the virus, but that wasn’t to be,” he remarked. “We are very disappointed for all of our students and tutors who attend year after year and the cancellation …

CANON Michael McLaughlin will reach a remarkable milestone on June 11, when he celebrates the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Unlike 10 years ago, when large numbers attended the special mass and celebrations in Kilmaley to mark the golden jubilee of his ordination in Carlow Cathedral in 1960, things will be more subdued this time round. The Covid-19 restrictions mean that the members of community will be unable to organise a mass to mark the big occasion for the now retired Kilmaley parish priest, less still a big party, but they are always with him in spirit. The 84-year-old Miltown Malbay native, who is now visually impaired, has great memories of all the parishes he’s been in. “I hated leaving the first parish I was assigned to; I would have stayed there forever if I could. But you learn to move along, you’ve no choice, and you learn and gain different experiences wherever you go. I benefited …