Tag Archives: South-East Clare

DEER are said to be causing significant damage to farms and forests in East Clare, with the pandemic being blamed for a slow-down in the processing of permits for hunters, five weeks into open season. Concerns have also been raised about the ongoing issue of illegal deer hunting, which a major conservation and management organisation described as a recurring problem in the east of the county. “There are landowners in East Clare who might go out to find 30 to 40 deer on their grazing,” said William Shortall of the IFA  said. “As the population of deer expands, they’re competing for food and that’s what drives them into grassland areas and tillage. What we need in the long term is an agency with responsibility for the overall management of deer, who will be able to put effective plans in place to control their numbers. We’re entering the rut now, where stags move off their territory in search of females, so …

SITE preparations works are underway for the development of a new multi-million Euro food discount store in South-East Clare following a recent An Bord Pleanála ruling. Work has begun with the construction of a major new Lidl store at Westbury with workers clearing and excavating the ground for the pouring of foundations. The project was given the green light by An Bord Pleanála in July, after it sent to the planning appeals authority following a number of submissions to Clare County Council. The store will be located across from the Westbury estate, which is the largest in the county, with almost 1,000 homes and a sizeable population, while the site is on one of the busiest arteries into Limerick City. Welcoming this development, Deputy Cathal Crowe said it is fantastic to see that the shovel has broken the ground on this long-awaited development. “One of the key things I worked on during this process was the guarantee that road improvement …

THERE has been a very significant increase in the level of illegal dumping around Clare and unauthorised Limerick waste collectors are dumping tonnes of rubbish here, the recent Clare County Council meeting heard. A number of the members brought motions before the meeting on the theme of illegal dumping, including Councillor Alan O’Callaghan, who said that in Limerick City it is estimated that 25 unauthorised collectors operate.  “They are coming to East Clare and South-East Clare with tonnes of rubbish, not bags,” he observed. Where people are fined for illegal dumping, their details should be published on the council’s website, he said. While GDPR has been put forward as a reason for CCTV cameras not being in place to combat illegal dumping, he said that it should be used. Councillor Joe Cooney described the current situation as “outrageous, disgraceful and embarrassing”. He also called for the use of CCTV and with so many unlicensed operators operating nearby, he said the …

During this spell of fine weather, ESB is reminding the general public of the dangers and potential serious consequences of swimming in any ESB reservoir. This is due to the risk of uneven ground, deep waters, changing water levels and fast-flowing waters. These waters include the reservoirs at the Ardnacrusha headrace and tailrace canal, in South East Clare, Poulaphoca and Golden Falls in Wicklow, Leixlip in Kildare, Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid in Cork and Dunlewey Lough, Assaroe and Lough Nacung in County Donegal.

AN environmentalist has been refused leave to appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to a grant of permission for a 2km bypass around Killaloe in South East Clare. Peter Sweetman, and an environmental protection company, The Swans and the Snails Ltd, claimed the project, including construction of a 170 metre bridge over the River Shannon, would result in irreversible destruction of a woodlands habitat. The habitat, an alluvial wet willow-alder-ash woodland, is located on the western side of the proposed bridge. The High Court case was brought against An Bord Pleanala after it granted permission for the project in March 2013 to Clare County Council. Mr Sweetman, Bunahowen Cashel, Countty Galway, and the company, with an address at Rossport, South Ballina, County Mayo, claimed an environmental impact assessment carried out by the Board did not comply with the Habitats Directive or planning legislation. Mr Justice Paul McDermott dismissed their challenge last month after finding the board received comprehensive …

THE new Government has been urged to put in place an accessible compensation package to enable residents in South-East Clare restore their flood-hit properties. A local Sinn Féin activist has also called on the new administration to ensure that insurance companies will not be allowed to abdicate their responsibilities by compensating householders who have the necessary policy in place and should continue to give them cover in the future. In a wide-ranging address to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis on Saturday, Margaret O’Connor claimed several insurance companies are now refusing to cover people in entire regions because they are what has been described as “designated flood zones”, even though they have never been flooded or are never likely to be flooded. Prior to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, the East Clare cumann member spoke to members of the Quinlivan family in Springfield, Clonlara, who are only getting back on their feet with much work on their house still to be …

Irish Water has dampened claims about water discolouration in the South East Clare area saying there are no issues with water quality. Councillor Cathal Crowe had requested Irish Water to test the quality of water coming into homes in South-East Clare from the Castletroy Reservoir in Limerick, following complaints about discolouration. Several thousand residents’ water is piped through Limerick City to homes in Meelick, Parteen, Ardnacrusha, Westbury, Shannon Banks, Carraig Midhe and parts of Cratloe. According to Councillor Crowe, residents have complained of discolouration in the water for the past few months. “I saw this discolouration in my own tap water on Tuesday, December 29. There was a yellow tinge to the water as it flowed and it took some time for the dirty sediments in the water to fully settle. I poured a glass of bottled spring water to compare and contrast the two – the difference was very obvious. “With a lot of the administrative staff in Irish Water on …

Irish Water has dampened claims about water discolouration issues in the South East Clare area saying there is no problem with water quality in the area. Councillor Cathal Crowe had requested Irish Water to test the quality of water coming into homes in the area from the Castletroy Reservoir in Limerick, following complaints of discolouration. Several thousand residents’ water is piped through Limerick City to homes in Meelick, Parteen, Ardnacrusha, Westbury, Shannon Banks, Carraig Midhe and parts of Cratloe. According to Councillor Crowe, residents have complained of discolouration in the water for the past few months. “I saw this discolouration in my own tap water on December 29. There was a yellow tinge to the water as it flowed and it took some time for the dirty sediments in the water to fully settle. I poured a glass of bottled spring water to compare and contrast the two – the difference was very obvious. “With a lot of the administrative staff in …