Tag Archives: Pat Hayes

FRIENDS, family and fans of the late Dennis Cahill, will gather on Saturday night in Feakle to honour the renowned musician. A long-time musical collaborator with fiddle player Martin Hayes, the two men have played at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and toured extensively. Together, they breathed fresh life into a diverse traditional music repertoire and founded the acclaimed five piece, The Gloaming. For more than two decades, Dennis joined Martin as he returned home to his native Maghera and the Chicago native became part of the Hayes family and a valued member of East Clare’s musical community.  “Saturday evening in Pepper’s will be a moment for people to come together and to remember Dennis,” Martin said. “It will be informal, in the same way that Dennis was. Music brought him to Feakle and the festival. East Clare made a big impression on him and the event will give people here the chance to talk and chat and …

THE recent revaluation of commercial properties around Clare has caused huge confusion, Councillor Pat Hayes claimed at Monday’s County Council meeting. He said that there may be a need for further efforts to explain the situation to business people. “There seems to be a huge degree of confusion in relation to the revaluation programme throughout the county. There may be a need for maybe more workshops or information evenings because there’s a lot of disquiet.” Director of Finance Noeleen Fitzgerald said that much of the country was revalued before Clare, while she said that it will not result in any financial gain to the local authority. “This is a project that rebalances the commercial rate income of all commercial rate properties in the county,” she explained. “It does not generate any additional income to the county council, that is the first point. The second point is that it is effective in 2024, it is not effective in the current year …

WHILE the government managed to defeat a Sinn Fein motion looking to stop the introduction of new laws on fuel including a ban on the sale of turf, they remain under fire for the proposals. Plans to ban the sale of turf have been discussed for weeks now but there appears to be little support for the move around Clare, one of the counties where a significant percentage of people use it. Ryan responds that there are 1,300 deaths every year because of air pollution, compares the planned turf sale restrictions to the smoking ban, asks Doherty: 'What number of deaths should we tolerate?' pic.twitter.com/Q8VVxQUQOF — Rónán Duffy (@ronanduffy_) April 28, 2022 Clare TD Michael McNamara said that a degree of realism is missing from the Green Party’s approach to the issue. “The Green Party have correctly identified problems but I think their solutions lack reality. It’s all well and good to increase taxes on things like green diesel, ban …

Councillor says more proactive approach would help tackle dereliction REMEDIAL work to a dangerous building on Main Street in Tulla is expected to begin at the start of July, prompting hopes that disruption for pedestrians and motorists will come to an end in a matter of weeks. In April, Clare County Council issued a ‘Dangerous Structures Notice’ to the owner of the vacant building, ordering them to address safety concerns. The authority closed off a section of the footpath and put a temporary traffic management system in place in the interests of public safety. The arrangement has been the source of considerable annoyance locally, particularly as the matter continued to drag on into the summer. “People are very put out about this,” said Councillor Pat Hayes. “They’re particularly annoyed at the fact the situation has been allowed to continue for so long. “You have (heavy goods vehicles) HGVs coming through town, from the Gort side, to do their essential deliveries …

THE new Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District is Fianna Fáil’s Pat Hayes. The Caher-based councillor took over the role from Pat Burke of Whitegate who has held the role for two consecutive terms. Councillor Hayes was nominated on Monday at the AGM of the district by Councillor Alan O’Callaghan and seconded by Councillor Tony O’Brien. Taking over the role, Councillor Hayes thanked Councillor Burke for his work for the last two years. He also outlined his priorities for the year ahead, including furthering projects like the Killaloe Bypass and Inis Cealtra. “We have many plans in the pipeline in this district,” he noted. “What I want to see now is delivery.” Director of Services Ann Haugh thanked Councillor Burke and welcomed Councillor Hayes to his new role. “I have no doubt but that you’ll keep us on our toes,” she said. The new Leas Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District is Councillor Joe Cooney of Fine Gael.

LATE last week, there was surprise and then anger in Ballinruan as it emerged that there were no plans to use the local community centre as a polling station in the General Election. The community centre is where Ballinruan people have voted for decades and some works have been carried out on it even since last year’s local elections, with a view to keeping the facility up-to-date and as user-friendly as possible. Frustration was even more acute, as there was no notice given of the decision to close. “It’s very disappointing for people in Ballinruan, who always voted there and something else they have removed from a rural community without even telling us,” was part of the content of one post put on the Ballinruan Development Association Facebook page. However, local people were not about to take the decision lying down and quickly began to mobilise to ensure that the centre, which would have been used by generations of local …

IT IS A bright and chilly Friday morning in Tulla and there’s a buzz of activity about the place as locals stock up on the shopping and catch up on the news ahead of the weekend. “Ideally, we’d love to see this level of activity every day of the week,” says Councillor Pat Hayes who is taking The Clare Champion on a short walking tour of following the news that over 40 vacant premises have been identified in the area. While the heart of Tulla is beating strongly, as we make our way down Lower Main Street, the evidence of a report compiled by Clare County Council from Geo Directory statistics becomes more apparent. “We are coming to an area where there would have been busy pubs and shops, as well as a cinema,” Cllr Hayes explains. “But, you know life has changed and times have changed. Still it is hard to be looking at buildings lying idle and empty …

Fine Gael’s Martin Conway will be Clare’s sole representative in the Seanad. The Ennistymon man successfully retained his seat on the Administrative Panel of Seanad Éirean. He was first elected to this panel in 2011 and was the Seanad spokesperson on Justice, Disability and Equality. He is the first visually impaired member of the Oireachtas. Conway’s first foray into politics was in 2004 when he won a seat on Clare County Council, representing North Clare. He was re-elected to the council in 2009, topping the poll. However, outgoing senator Tony Mulcahy from Shannon surrendered his seat. He was one of 23 candidates seeking the 11 seats on the Labour panel. He was eliminated in the sixth count. Following his unsuccessful bid Senator Mulcahy said that one of the first things he has to do is get a handle on his finances. He said that despite perceptions of politics being ultra-lucrative, most of those who have lost their Seanad seats face …