Clare Fm - Podcasts

Fr Brendan Quinlivan leads our Sunday Prayer for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A Clare-based conservation group admits there's much work to be done regarding the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law. The heavily-debated legislation has finally been approved by the EU Environment Council this week after previously having been passed in the Dáil by 121 votes to nine. The intention behind the law is to restore habitats and species across at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030, and ultimately all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. Marine Policy Officer of the Kilrush-based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Dr Stephen Comerford, says at least from a marine respective, the devil will be in the detail.

A Clare Restaurateur is rubbishing suggestions that hospitality staff earning sub-minimum wage in this county are being exploited. It follows a protest held by Bar and Restaurant workers trade union, Mandate at Leinster House this week calling for the rates of pay below the hourly national minimum wage of €12.70 to be scrapped. Currently, workers under 18 years of age can be paid €8.99 per hour in hospitality settings, 18 year-olds can receive €10.16 and 19 year-olds can be paid €11.43 per hour. Owner of Monk's Restaurant in Ballyvaughan Patrick O'Donoghue says the system rewards employees for their experience.

Clare FM Sideline View Friday June 21st

A group of Clare activists is hoping to make an international impact at a local level by opposing a controversial data centre development in Ennis. The Clare branch of BDS, which stands for boycott-divest-sanction, is rallying against the proposed construction of the Ennis Data Centre on the Tulla Road by Art Data Centres Limited. The group is against the development on the grounds that the end user has been tipped to be Amazon, which along with Google has entered into Project Nimbus - a joint contract to provide cloud computing infrastructure, artificial intelligence and other technology services to the Israeli government. BDS Clare member Emma Karren says "if everyone thinks they're tiny and not worth it, nothing changes".

It is time for the second episode of our newest feature on Morning Focus, Energising Clare. This new feature will be about educating you, the listener, on renewables. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Justin Moran, the Director of External Affairs at Wind Energy Ireland to discuss onshore wind energy.

It is time for the eighteenth episode of our newest feature on Morning Focus, Village Tour, where Alan Morrissey paid a visit to Clonlara. With the Village Tour, we here at Morning Focus are aiming to highlight the smaller villages and townlands around the county. By doing this, we hope to showcase their unique character, while also bringing their diversity and individuality to life for you, the listener. During each episode of Village Tour, Alan chats with three people from a particular village or townland in Clare: from locals and business owners to those involved with local sports clubs and community representatives.

Thoughts are already turning to the 2024 Spancilhill Fair, which will take place this Monday 24th June. To tell us more about the world-famous fair, Alan Morrissey was joined by Amy Ryan, the secretary of the Spancilhill Fair Association and Michael O’Connor, a new committee member.

Alan O’Callaghan will be officially declared Mayor of Clare at the Council’s AGM today. He will succeed the Bodyke Fine Gael Councillor Joe Cooney as Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council. The Kilmurry-based Fianna Fáil Councillor has been elected in the Killaloe MD for three successive council terms and most recently served as Cathaoirleach of the MD in 2023. He has also sat on the Clare Joint Policing and Physical Development Committee in recent years. To find out more about his priorities for the county, Alan Morrissey was joined by Alan O'Callaghan, on Friday's Morning Focus.

Clare's Green Party senator claims older people are being locked out of retrofitting grants while living in older homes. 24% of homes in Ireland were built before 1961 while a further 21% were constructed before 1980 and a further 10% prior to 1990. Of the 169 homes built in Clare built in 1977 or before, less than half have a Building Energy Rating of C or above. Speaking in the Seanad, Inagh Green Party Senator Róisín Garvey says more needs to be done to enable those in older homes to access retrofitting.

A prominent Clare Car Dealer is calling for a scrappage scheme to be introduced to make electric vehicles more affordable. It comes as ESB has announced rate reductions of 8% on its standard power EV charging stations and 13% on it's high power charging stations nationwide. Last July, the SEAI slashed the EV purchase grant from €5,000 to €3,500, which it said was necessary to invest in public charging infrastructure. General Manager of Sheils Motor Group in Ennis, Eddie Rynne says while reduced charging costs will help sales, consumer incentives need to be urgently enhanced.

A Clare Auctioneer claims the findings of the CSO's latest Property Price Index does not reflect what's happening on the ground in this county. According to the CSO, the average price paid for a new or existing dwelling in Clare was just over €257,000 in April, which is down over €40,000 from the figure recorded in March. The index also shows the number of new property transactions here fell by 75% between March and April, dropping from 12 to 3. But Douglas Hurley from DNG O'Sullivan Hurley in Ennis has been telling Clare FM's Daragh Dolan he believes the true number of sales is much higher and the market remains well in favour of the seller.

A Government minister claims the majority of Ukrainian refugees being moved from Shannon next week will find accommodation in this county. It's now four days until Ukrainians living in Shannon's Phoenix House are due to be relocated to Lisdoonvarna, after the Government claimed the contract with the provider had been terminated "as part of the Government’s policy of reducing its accommodation portfolio". A petition to keep the emergency accommodation centre open has been signed by over 500 people in Shannon including employers, teachers and trade union representatives. Responding to Meelick Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe in the Dáil, Minister of State at the Department of Integration Joe O'Brien while it can't ignore the negative impact the move will have on the refugees, the compliance issues at the facility must be acknowledged.

The Mayor of Clare has issued a call for the residents of three Clare towns to play a part in planning for their communities' futures. Clare County Council is in the process of forming Town Teams in Kilrush, Lisdoonvarna and Tulla, as the three areas have been named beneficiaries of a prestigious Government initiative. Sixmilebridge became the first Clare community to receive funding to develop a masterplan under the Town Centre First Programme in 2021. The programme is a cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into town centres. Now, Clare County Council is seeking to form Town Teams in Kilrush, Lisdoonvarna and Tulla - wth similar work to commence in Clarecastle in the coming weeks. These teams will work with the local authority to set up a representative group for the town, participate in thematic working groups, assist in preparing grant applications and support fundraising activities. Mayor of Clare and Bodyke Fine Gael Councillor Joe Cooney says

On ‘Clare Women in Business‘ this week, Pat Flynn meets Sinéad Téhéry Cronin, founder of Conscious Connections based in East Clare.

On this week’s episode of Taste Of The Week, Alan Morrissey welcomed TV Chef Jack O’Keeffe to the show. This week, Jack prepared sausage and veggie pasta bake. Recipe: Serves 4 Ingredients: 8 Great Quality Sausages 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 4 Clery Sticks, Diced 1 Onion Diced 1 Large Carrot Diced 4 Garlic Cloves, Chopped 1 tbsp Fennel Seeds 1 Pinch of Chilli Flakes 1 Courgette, Diced 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar 1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar 100ml Red Wine 1 Can Of Good Quality Tomatoes 1 Small Bunch Of Basil, rustically chopped 320g of Good Quality Rigatoni Pasta 2 Mozzarella Balls, Diced Sea Salt and Black Pepper Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350"E). 2. To start, we need to cook the sausages. For this recipe. T like to use the best quality jumbo sausages I can find. It's even better if they have some extra flavor-like chili and fennel or fresh raw chorizo 3. Grab a decent-sized frying pan with metal handles. I do this because I want to cook everything except the pasta in the pan, then toss it all tog

On Thursday’s Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by the duo Amanda Shannon and Cairo Rocha, also known as Phoenix and Wolfe. The duo will perform as part of the series of Cosy Concerts at Banner Books in Kilrush on Saturday 22nd of June.

On Thursday’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, Alan Morrissey spoke with Kieran about the wellness and mental health behind Summer fitness goals.

The Falls Hotel & Spa in Ennistymon are currently refurbishing the hotel, and they’ve come up with an interesting way of tackling it! They are giving away a variety of items from the hotel to a good home that’s willing to take them. Giving away these items such as furniture and carpets, has a number of knock-on benefits, including supporting sustainability. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Michael McCarthy, the General Manager at the Falls Hotel and Spa in Ennistymon.

Today is World Refugee Day. Each year on the 20th of June, the world celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. Given the war in Ukraine and global geopolitics more generally, it is a pertinent time to be discussing the topic of refugees. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by John Lannon, the CEO of Doras.