Clare Fm - Podcasts

Two Clare members of the Defence Forces will be honoured with Mayoral Awards tomorrow. Major General Adrian Ó'Mhurcú began his service in the army reserve of the 22nd Infantry Battalion before enlisting as a Cadet in the permanent defence forces in 1982. General Ó'Mhurcú He would go on to serve in the Elite Army Ranger Wing and participated in multiple overseas tours of duty with the UN, including in South Lebanon, Somalia, Western Sahara, Israel, Syria and Ivory Coast. The Ennis man says serve hes been looking to serve with world-class comrades throughout his career.

It's claimed those looking to buy a new home in Clare are being forced to turn to the second-hand market. Research published by estate agents DNG today has found that just 58% of new properties sold in Ireland last year were to individual private buyers. The remaining 42% - which accounts for 7,306 homes - were sold as part of block sales to non-household organisations such as Approved Housing Bodies, investment funds and local authorities like Clare County Council. Managing Director of DNG O'Sullivan Hurley in Ennis Douglas Hurley has been telling Clare FM's Seán Lyons that fewer new homes have been available in the private market as developers have been opting to build developments for Approved Housing Bodies which have less risks attached.

The long awaited delivery of an EU funded project will aim to make an East Clare region a benchmark for Irish Water Quality. It comes as the Waters of Life Programme will be outlining its high level objectives to bring the quality of rivers and streams in the Graney-Sub Catchment area up to a premium standard. It's now been over two years since the waterbody was included in the €20m EU funded Waters of Life Programme, which aims to combat the decline of Ireland's high status rivers. The Graney sub-catchment area also includes the Drumindoora, Bleach, Corra Rivers, Lough Graney and Lough Attorick and the area includes roughly 1,350 people within the villages of Flagmount, Caher, Killanena and Dromindoora. A recent analysis by the Local Authority Water Programme determined the water quality in the Graney River was 'mixed' and cited a high level of forestry and man made barriers as the main problems. The Waters of Life will soon be conducting a risk assessment of the Graney sub-catchment area to identify pr

It is time for the twelfth episode of our newest feature on Morning Focus, Energising Clare. This new feature will be about educating you, the listener, on renewables. On this week’s episode, Alan Morrissey was joined by Clíona O’Sullivan, Head of Development Onshore for RWE Renewables Ireland to discuss community engagement with wind energy.

Home care provider Home Instead has announced the creation of 1,000 new Professional CAREGiver roles. The positions will be filled at Home Instead’s upcoming National Hiring Week, which runs from Monday 2nd-Friday 6th September. To discuss this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Sarah York, Operations Manager at Home Instead Clare. Photo (c): www.homeinstead.ie

There was great success for Clare at the recent World Wallball Championships (August 18th-23rd). Three players from Clare won titles at the tournament, which was held in University of Limerick. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by players Sean Coughlan and Claire Minogue, and coach Christy Philpott.

We all enjoy taking a holiday, but just how many of us think about the health benefits of a trip abroad, or holiday in Ireland? Many people still travel off-peak, but how much difference can a holiday have on our health? To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Joanne Hanrahan, Psychotherapist, Trauma Specialist (SEP) in Liscannor. Photo (c) Walkerssk from pixabay via Canva

It's claimed the lifting of Bus Eireann's driver age cap will be essential to fulfil Clare's school bus services long into the future. The Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland is calling for the establishment of a working group to tackle pressing issues facing the sector, including that commercial operators are responsible for providing over 95% of school services. Last year, a number of school bus routes were temporarily suspended across Clare as Bus Eireann's policy didn't allow contracted drivers aged over 70. Owner of Burren Coaches, Brian Farrell insists the rule is having adverse impacts on the wider coach industry.

The number of people presenting to charities with drug addiction is said to be on the rise in Clare. Support services across the country are calling on the Government to ramp up the provision of low threshold detox facilities, aftercare and rehabilitation spaces ahead of International Overdose Day tomorrow. According to drugs.ie, at least one person will die of an overdose every day in Ireland , while in 2020, 409 such fatal incidents were recorded. Novas Senior Health & Recovery Manager Julie McKenna says the MidWest is particularly lacking when it comes to resources.

It's claimed the beating life and soul of Clare is at risk due to the rampant increase of pub closures. New figures show the number of public houses trading in this county has fallen by over 30% since 2005. The sound of traditional Irish music and craic that was the once the beating drum of towns and villages across Clare has been fading rapidly within the last two decades. A new report by the Drinks Industry of Ireland which has just been published, shows that since 2005, 114 of this county's public houses have closed their doors. 18 of these closures occurred last year, which is a 28% increase on the amount that ceased trading in 2022 alone. One North Clare establishment is determined to buck this trend though, having been taken from a derelict building to a thriving community hub in just the space of two years. In the last two decades alone, Tubber has lost three shops, a post office and pub, and Co-Owner of the Burren Inn, Niamh Baker says the increasing costs facing the industry are challenging. N

A Clare academic claims it's "almost certain" Ukraine is willfully acting without the permission of its Western allies as it continues its incursion into Russia. Three weeks on from its first attack on Russian soil, Ukraine says it now controls 100 Russian settlements which roughly equates to 1,294 square kilometres of territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his appeal for Western nations supplying his Government with weaponry to untie his hands and sanction Ukraine's actions in Russia - a call that has been backed by the EU's foreign policy chief. Newmarket-on-Fergus academic and Professor of Politics at Dublin City University Donnacha Ó Beacháin says expecting Ukraine not to escalate the war is a big ask given the ongoing attacks by the Kremlin on its civilian population and energy infrastructure.

A new project coming to East Clare for the first time will be aiming to divert young people away from a life of crime. It comes as the Department of Justice is inviting proposals for organisations to establish Youth Diversion Projects in the region. The initiative is primarily targeted at 12-17 year-olds who are judged to be at risk and the proposals must include early interventions for 8-11 year-olds who may become engaged in criminal activity. Minister of State Fianna Fáil TD James Browne insists the programme will bring major benefits to the taxpayer and society.

Oonagh Minogue, who hails from Corofin, is a Feng Shui Consultant. Feng Shui is all about balancing the Yin and Yang energy in your home to bring a beautiful flow of abundance, peace and harmony into your home. Oonagh offers invaluable advice on how to reduce back-to-school anxiety. For more on this, Oonagh joined Alan Morrisey on Thursday's Morning Focus.

The Scariff Show takes place this weekend. A host of events and entertainment will be on offer on Sunday (1st September), from show jumping and dog shows, to family fun and even a LEGO competition (Building Better Lego Championship)! To find out more about the Scariff Show, Alan Morrissey was joined by Committee member, Beckha Doyle and Chairman, John Blake. Photo (c): Scariff show via Facebook

To discuss the latest in the entertainment world, Alan Morrissey was joined by Clare FM’s Colum McGrath, on Tuesday’s Morning Focus. This Week, Colum discussed the upcoming Oasis reunion and his thoughts on interrailing at 15.

On Friday’s Morning Focus, Alan welcomed Kieran McMahon onto the show for the Fitness and Wellness slot. Kieran is an online personal trainer and is also the founder of KM Fitness and the Be A Better Man online coaching mentorship. This week, Kieran gave advice on back-to-school fitness.

Clare has experienced the joint-second-highest percentage drop in the number of CAO applicants issued with Round One offers this year compared to 2023. The number of Clare people who applied to the CAO in 2024 and received an offer is over 10% below that of last year, despite roughly the same number having sat the Leaving Cert here both years. 83,369 offers of courses have been issued by the CAO in Round One - almost 52,000 of which are for Level 8 courses with the remaining 31,400 for courses at Level 6 or 7. In Clare, 1,457 applicants have received an offer which is 179 fewer than the 1,636 applicants who were issued offers last year - indicating a decrease in 2024 of 11%. For advice on CAO offers and acceptance, Alan Morrissey was joined by Mary Tyrell, Career Guidance Counsellor, Teacher at Ennistymon Community School and Manager of Career Focus.

A Clare man has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Galway. John Davoren, who is a farmer in Caherconnell in the Burren, as well as a businessman and innovator, has been awarded the honorary doctorate in science. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by John on Thursday's Morning Focus. Photo (c) https://caherconnell.com/about-us

The number of pubs trading in Clare has fallen by more than 30% within the last two decades. A new report from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland which has just been published, shows 114 public houses have closed in this county since 2005, including 18 closures in just the last year. The bulk of the closures have been attributed to soaring costs such as utility bills, the hospitality VAT rate and alcohol excise duty, and last night industry representatives met with ministers to discuss budget supports. Martin Baker who bucked the trend of closures by renovating a derelict building to reopen the Burren Inn in Tubber along with his daughter Niamh in 2022, insists the Government needs to take decisive action on the matter to keep rural communities alive.

The Government's been accused of placing upward pressure on this region's emergency department by failing to attract GPs to Clare. The UL Hospitals Group has begun the resumption of scheduled care following three weeks of deferrals as part of an emergency plan to alleviate overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick. It comes amid the backdrop of a new report from the Irish College of General Practitioners, which shows Clare has 32 fewer GPs for its population size than minimum World Health Organisation recommendations. Kilrush Independent TD Violet-Anne Wynne believes it's a damming indictment of the state.