Tag Archives: rural Ireland

THE possible negative impact of the deferral the new County Development Plan (2022-2028) for seven months has been played down by the councillor who proposed the move. Councillor Cillian Murphy, who tabled the motion to invoke a new law that takes account of the impact of Covid-19, said that the net delay will be just three months. He added that the deferral is an opportunity to final alternatives to national policies that many fear will do irrevocable damage to rural areas. Last week, the deferral secured unanimous support, with some concerns raised about the potential impact on the county town, which will see both its Local Area Plan (LAP) and Ennis 2040 strategy deferred. “Because the Forward Planning team had actually started the County Development Plan process early, what we’re looking at, in real terms, is a delay of around three months,” Councillor Murphy told The Champion. “I respect the concerns of Ennis members but I don’t believe this will …

NEWMARKET-on-Fergus based David McCourt, the man behind the company that has won the contract for the National Broadband Plan, has said he was unfairly labelled in the media during the selection process. He has also said that criticism of the cost of the contract failed to take into account of certain inescapable realities and that rural broadband provision can finally revitalise long-struggling areas of the country. On Tuesday, just hours after the deal was finally concluded, Mr McCourt, who heads up National Broadband Ireland, bypassed interview requests from the national media but met with The Clare Champion in his local pub, O’Neill’s, in the heart of Newmarket. He was warmly congratulated by the pub’s staff on arrival. It was an unlikely place to find a man whose company had concluded a deal with the Irish State potentially worth €3bn. On a local level, the National Broadband Plan will see €89 million invested in Clare, with 22,342 homes and businesses to …

FOR almost 50 years Mike Noonan has been coming to The Blacksticks Bar but he can see its the type of bar that might not survive for very much longer. Mike, who doesn’t take a drink himself, is still very critical of the changes to the drink driving laws, introduced by a government minister who he feels has no understanding of rural Ireland. “Bring Shane Ross out of Dublin City Centre and he’d get lost. If you landed him here and turned off the street light he’d panic, he’d be looking for the public transport home.” He adds, “It’s a shame, just because of a man above in Dublin City. If you landed him here, he’d get frightened when he saw the dark, he wouldn’t be used to it. But I suppose it’s in now and it’s there to stay. I honestly don’t think it will save any life.” Mike says there are degrees of drink driving.“If you go into …