Tag Archives: Mountshannon

ONE of the first two white-tailed eagles to fledge successfully from a nest in County Clare last year has been found dead in Tipperary. It had been shot and subsequently starved to death, as it was unable to fish and forage. The young male eagle was reared by a pair of white-tailed eagles at  Lough Derg, near Mountshannon and successfully flew from the  nest in July 2013 along with its sibling. After a few months of care by the parents, both young eagles began to disperse more widely and become independent. The last confirmed sighting was of one of the two juveniles near Dromineer, County Tipperary, on the east shore of Lough Derg in January. After information supplied by a member of the public and a subsequent search on lands on the shore of Lough Derg by an officer from the  National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the reintroduction project team, the dead eagle was found near Ballinderry, North Tipperary, on the north-east shore of …

SLIABH Aughty Drama Group will present their production of Unforgiven, by playwright John McDwyer, this week as they prepare to go on the amateur drama circuit. The play follows the group’s traditional leaning towards comedy and this production has plenty of humour. It tells the story of brothers, PJ and Seamy, in rural Ireland, whose lives up to now have revolved around movies, puzzles and unrequited love. When it opens, the two brothers are waiting for their father to die and the elder of the two brothers, PJ, has set his sights on marrying his neighbour, Mary, once his father is eventually out of the picture. Matters are complicated by another brother, who lives in America but returns home for the funeral. He was in love with Mary before leaving and settling in America 25 years previously. PJ is vying for Mary’s attention and Seamy holds a watching brief, while PJ plans his happily ever after. Director, John Allen said, …

THE damage caused to coastal areas by the recent  storms may leave a question mark over the future status of Blue Flag and Green Coast Awards locations, it has emerged. Clare’s Blue Flag beaches are Cappa, near Kilrush; Kilkee,  White Strand, Doonbeg; Fanore, in addition to Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon on Lough Derg. The issue will be high on the agenda  will be discussed at the annual Blue Flag and Green Coast Award conference in Dublin, on Wednesday. The conference will be attended by coastal  local authority representatives, as well as Blue Flag and Green Coast Award jury members. Annabel FitzGerald, coastal programmes manager, An Taisce said, “There are some serious concerns for some candidate Blue Flag and Green Coast Award beaches that have been left devastated by the recent storms particularly where infrastructure such as access roads, carparks and other amenities have been destroyed.” These are among the 32 imperative criteria required to achieve Blue Flag status. She added, “Local Authorities work …

By Carol Byrne THE chief executive officer of Harbour Flights Ireland Ltd, which runs a seaplane operation in Mountshannon, may be forced to ground future flights because of the commercial unviability of the base. According to CEO Emelyn Heaps, the decision as to whether Harbour Flights Ireland Ltd pulls out of Mountshannon is to be made at an extraordinary board meeting. He said the four directors and five shareholders will meet this weekend when “one of the main questions to be raised will be the high costs of maintaining the seaplane base in Mountshannon and the viability of maintaining the high overheads in Mountshannon”. Mr Heaps said ultimately the board will make a commercial decision as to the viability of maintaining the base there and he said there is a real possibility that the operation will be pulled from Mountshannon. However he stressed that if the operation base was to relocate outside of the county he would resign as CEO. …

EAST Clare has fared out very well at this year’s Tidy Towns competition, with gold and bronze medals going to Mountshannon and Tuamgraney respectively, while Tulla received the endeavour award for the county. Mountshannon was awarded gold in category A of the Tidy Towns competition with 311 points, just five points shy of the national winners Moynalty, County Meath. Indeed its potential for national success was something that was pointed out by the Mountshannon’s tidy town’s adjudicator. “If you sustain your current enthusiasm and commitment and attend to the relatively few remaining issues for attention Mountshannon has the potential to again secure the top prize,” the adjudicator commented. Mountshannon also received a highly commended in the county awards. Another East Clare village celebrating this week is Tuamgraney, having taken a bronze medal in category B with 304 points, seven points more than their 2012 effort. Their potential for national success was also noted in their tidy towns report. “If you sustain …