Clare Fm - Podcasts

Clare's towns and villages are said to be seriously lacking in manpower for maintenance and upkeep works. Killaloe Fianna Fáil Councillor Tony O'Brien is calling for more staff to be recruited for works programmes in East Clare as he claims the area is currently "overly reliant" on the efforts of voluntary groups. Killaloe Municipal District says it's currently in the process of recruiting additional staff who will "assist in the provision of sufficient resources to carry out the required maintenance works". Councillor O'Brien, who raised a motion on the subject at the latest meeting of East Clare's elected representatives, is proposing a mobile unit be established to tackle areas in need.

The Director of Clare Animal Welfare claims people should take advantage of their spay and neuter campaign for the health benefits it will give their pets. Spaying and neutering can help prevent cancers in animals along with reducing aggressive behaviours. The campaign is also being ran to help those are struggling with the costs involved in neutering their pets. Director and Treasurer of Clare Animal Welfare, Stiofán MacGabhann, says the scheme provides an affordable chance for a person to neuter their pet, which comes with many health benefits.

Welcome to Beyond Belief, Stephen Fletcher here. As we continue our Pilgrimage Theme from last week our programme has a report on the annual pilgrimage to Scattery Island for the graveside mass with Bishop Fintan and I interview Kitty McNamarra who was born on Scattery and lived there for 26 years.. Also I interview our Vatican correspondent Colm Flynn talking about Pope Francis' Pilgrimage to SE Asia - as well as telling us some personal news. Fr Brendan and Fr Tom Ryan discuss the arrival of St Bernadette's Relic which arrives in the diocese on Monday And I have a short, more serious than usual, chat with Fr Gerry about the report historic abuse in our schools and help that is available.

The Shannon Airport Group insists it has the space available to cater for more airlines, flights and destinations amid a growing capacity crunch at Dublin Airport. It comes as the DAA is warning the possibility of breaching it's controversial passenger cap this Winter is imminent. The Dublin Airport Authority currently awaits the verdict of a planning application to Fingal County Council that would increase the passenger cap to 40 million a year, until then the airport is restricted to a maximum of 32 million passengers. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has been among the most vocal and is now blaming the cap for a steep increase in plane fares from Dublin to London, which could cost passengers up to 500 euro this Christmas. Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless will meet O'Leary next week and has indicated Shannon Airport can play an important role in ensuring Irish air traffic continues to grow in the short to medium term. CEO of the Shannon Airport Group Mary Considine insists the

A Clare General Election hopeful claims this county has been asked to shoulder a disproportionate burden when it comes to housing asylum seekers. Former Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association General Secretary Eddie Punch has announced his candidacy for Independent Ireland in the upcoming General Election,. The Cratloe native ran unsuccessfully for the newly-formed party in the recent European Elections - coming in at 12th place with a tally of 26,167 votes. He says one of his priorities will be working to devise a sustainable plan for accommodating international protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees in this county into the future.

The Government is being urged to address the ongoing pollution of Clare's waterways as a matter of urgency. It comes as Minister of State Malcolm Noonan has announced the Water Action Plan 2024 which is described as "Ireland's roadmap to protect and restore our rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwaters". It's claimed the plan will see an additional 300 waterbodies achieve "good" status by 2027 - with a multi-billion euro investment going towards wastewater infrastructure, action on nitrates as well as a focus on compliance and enforcement. O'Callaghan's Mills farmer and Chair of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association in Clare, Martin McMahon, believes the county's lakes and rivers have been neglected by the State for decades.

Clare writer Nell Hensey has won a Zebbie Award for Best Short Film Script at the 17th Writers’ Guild of Ireland (WGI) Zebbie Awards. Nell, from Barefield won the award as co-writer of Good Chips with Brigid Leahy. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Nell Hensey. Photo (c): Nell Hensey via Facebook

Episode 5 - Taibhse by Clare FM

In the first of a new series on The Colum McGrath Breakfast Show, Colum tries his hand at working in a takeaway! He was invited by Dan at the award winning Ryan's Fish & Chips in Ennis to come try his hand and cutting chips, battering fish and serving the customers. Check out how it all went!

A Burren-based artist will exhibit a new body of work inspired by her travels in Iceland at a gallery in Co. Mayo later his month. The exhibition by Kaye Maahs, entitled Iceland, will be on show at Claremorris Gallery from the 14th of September. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Kaye Maahs. Photo (c): http://www.kayemaahs.com/about.html

Common Knowledge is behind a new traditional singing session. The evening of traditional singing, called ‘Tuan’, will take place at The Common Knowledge Centre, located in The Burren & Cliffs of Moher Global Geopark. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Aoife Hammond, Community Project Manager at Common Knowledge Photo (c): https://booking.ourcommonknowledge.org/

This month is World Alzheimer’s Month, with World Alzheimer's Day taking place on the 21st of September. More than 55,000 people in Ireland are living with dementia. To mark the month, Bluebird Care, in partnership with Dunnes Stores, is bringing its Dementia Bus to Ennis today. The Dementia Bus - a first-of-its-kind virtual simulator, lets people experience the disorientation and memory loss that those with dementia face daily. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Office Manager, Theresa Sexton. Photo (c): Bluebird Care Clare via Facebook

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month. Noel Wallace, who hails from Bunratty, shared his cancer story with us. To raise awareness around blood cancer, the symptoms and the month itself, Alan Morrissey was was joined by Noel Wallace. For more information, visit https://www.multiplemyelomaireland.org/

The Department of Transport is facing increased pressure to ensure Shannon Airport's available space is utilised amid capacity issues at Dublin. Minister James Lawless is due to meet Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary today to discuss alternative options over warnings that airfares will hit record levels this Christmas, with airlines forced to divert from Dublin due to the airport's controversial passenger cap. Last year, Dublin Airport accounted for 85% of all Irish air traffic and welcomed just below 32 million passengers, while this year Shannon remains on course to welcome 2 million passengers for the first time since 2009. Shannon Sinn Féin Councillor Donna McGettigan insists the imbalance is severely hindering tourism and economic growth in this county.

Obair is set to expand its meals-on-wheels portfolio further into Clare. The service provided by the Newmarket-On-Fergus based charity currently delivers free hot meals to over 300 people aged over 65 in this county every week. Tonight, Obair will host a meeting at half 7 in Inagh Community Hall as part of its preparations to roll out a new route serving Inagh, Kilnamona and Cloonanaha. Meals-On-Wheels Co-Ordinator Eimear Murphy says local knowledge will be vital to the success of the new service.

Beyond Belief returns for its Summer break during August. Over the next 2 weeks Fr Gerry Kenny and Stpehen Fletcher look at pilgrimage. This week Fr Gerry has an interview with the French Canadian theologian André Brouillette SJ who talks about the theological significance of pilgrimage.

Clare Senator Martin Conway has withdrawn from Fine Gael's selection convention for the general election. The move means Clarecastle native Leonora Carey will face tomorrow night's convention uncontested, meaning it will be the first time in 80 years Fine Gael run a single candidate in the Clare constituency. Senator Conway meanwhile, who's been a member of Seanad Eireann since 2011, has received a nomination from Vision Ireland to contest the next election for the administrative panel of the upper house. He's been telling Clare FM's Daragh Dolan that the priority for now is ensuring Fine Gael retains its seat in Clare and that a single candidate strategy is the best option.

A campaign group that has long advocated for the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor has expressed hope that Crusheen Railway Station will come back into use sooner rather than later. It comes as the findings of an extensive investigation into the potential for the defunct railway stop to be reinstated have been presented to the public. Once a consistent component of the village's soundtrack, the sound of a train stopping in Crusheen hasn't been heard for several decades. Now however, the prospect of commuters being able to avail of rail transport in the North Clare settlement seems closer than ever. Crusheen Railway Station was first built in 1869 and served the area for over 100 years before being closed to passenger traffic in 1976, and to freight traffic in the 1990s. The line subsequently reopened in 2010, as part of the Western Corridor rail project, but the station remained closed. Hopes were reiginited in 2013 when Irish Rail secured planning permission for the station's reopening, with plans

On Thursday’s Morning Focus Alan Morrissey was joined by Paul Knapp, The Firefighting Chef, from Killaloe. This week Paul shared a delicious recipe for Sweet Potato And Spinach Daal. After a busy few back to school days, how about An easy and quick and not to mention comforting spinach and sweet potato dahl that’s packed with flavour. This plant based gluten free one-pot wonder counts as 3 of your 5-a-day! You can't go wrong with this easy to cook fibre packed iron-rich, low-fat, low-calorie dish that also freezes really well. This dish can be cooked either on the hob or lobbed into the oven (i do love cooking that thrives on neglect) ready for a tasty mid week treat. Ingredients Serves 4 people at 400 cals per portion (or 2 firefighters) 1 tbsp oil 1 Large red onion, finely chopped/pureed 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 thumb-sized piece ginger peeled and finely chopped 1 or 2 red chillis (I will let you decided how hot you want it) finely chopped 2 tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp ground cumin 2 sweet potat

Clare musical duo Phoenix and Wolfe are releasing their new single. Slí na Fírinne is the latest effort from Amanda Shannon and Cairo Rocha. For more on their new single, Alan Morrissey was joined by Amanda Shannon and Cairo Rocha of Phoenix and Wolfe.