On Tuesday’s Morning Focus we looked at how the county’s farmers are under mounting pressure on a number of fronts.
The Climate Change Advisory Council has caused alarm by recommending a reduction in the number of suckler cows by 53 percent by 2030 to cut greenhouse gas emissions; while the uncertainties surrounding Brexit and the Mercosur trade deal are seen as major threats.
Beef farmers took to the picket line at factory gates around the country yesterday with members of the Beef Plan Movement refusing to trade. That came despite the unveiling of a €100 million euro fund for the sector. Clare FM’s James Mulhall, the presenter of Farm Focus, has been getting reaction from Quilty’s Joseph Woulfe, of Beef Plan in Clare.
There is a fascinating new report out this week from GeoDirectory, suggesting that the return of the building boom to Clare continues, although at a slower pace than some might live if we’re to respond to the housing crisis.
The figures show 277 residential buildings were under construction in Clare as of last month.
421 new address points were added to the GeoDirectory database in Clare in the twelve months to June. The report also shows Clare’s vacancy rate stands at 6.6%, higher than the national average of 4.8%.
The average house price in Clare in the twelve months to April 2019 was €180,897.
There were 1,115 residential property transactions in Clare in the twelve months to April 2019.
11.3% of these were new properties. The report found that there were 23 derelict buildings in urban areas in Clare.
It comes at a time when there’s concern over the ability of Clare to compete for major jobs investment and to attract industry; and when the enhanced motorway links are also benefiting towns like Gort in our neighbouring county Galway. Cormac O’Sullivan from DNG O’Sullivan Hurley in Ennis joined us live in the studio to explain what a return of the building boom to Clare would do for the county and the business’s involved.
Will Boris visit Bunratty? Now, he may well be in a stand-off with our government over the back-stop, but Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson has deep family connections in the Mid-West, as we mentioned last week.
Ennis-based historian and genealogist Declan Barron has discovered that Johnson’s seventh great grandfather was a James O’Gorman born in Bunratty Castle in 1688.
The connection prompted Mayor of Clare, Cllr Cathal Crowe to invite Mr. Johnson to visit the county. Well, Declan Barron joined us on the show to tell us more about that ancestral connection.
We were joined by The Money Doctor John Lowe who is an Independent Financial Advisor about the 5 ways to reduce debt on this morning’s Morning Focus.
If you’re in the Kilrush area, you may be familiar with the stunning stained glass windows in St Senan’s Church in the town.
The windows behind the altar were designed by the renowned Harry Clarke. The windows in Kilrush were among the best examples of his work.
This evening Donnacha MacGabhann, an expert on Clarke’s work, will present a talk at St Senan’s at 8pm. On his way to Kilrush this morning he took some time to speak to us about what will be happening tonight.
You may have seen in recent days, a picture circulating on social media showing a fox that has died as a result of plastic waste in the environment.
It’s a very distressing situation and one that’s generating a lot of discussion about what we can all do to help prevent this kind of thing from happening.
Padráic Fogarty is with the Irish Wildlife Trust and he’s the author of a book on Ireland’s vanishing nature called ‘Whittled Away’. He joined us on the show to highlight the importance of protecting our ecosystem.
You might not want to admit you watched it, but it seems like everyone is talking about Love Island.
In case you haven’t seen it, it’s a reality TV show where attractive young men and women spend a few weeks in the sun sunbathing and having fun with the hope that they can ‘couple up’ and ‘crack on’.
It’s all a bit of a laugh, but there’s a serious side, as one couple will win 50-thousand pounds. They’ll also be in line to win tens of thousands more given their hugely enhanced status as ‘influencers’.
More recently, there’s been concern expressed that TV networks need to do more to protect contestants and support them after they leave the villa. This year, there’s been a lot of Irish interest with Longford’s very own Maura Higgins, Limerick’s Greg O’Shea, and Dublin’s Yewande Biala.
The Final was last night and despite all their hype, Maura and Curtis were the first couple eliminated from the finale of Love Island, coming fourth in the competition overall. But Limerick’s very own Greg O’Shea took the top prize and decided to share it with his partner, Amber Gill.
Laura Holland who is a Communications Specialist from Cratloe joined us on the show to get her thoughts on what happened over the last 2 months.
We had our weekly animal welfare update with Clare’s County Dog Warden Frankie Coote who’s been calling for people to take precautions when leaving dogs in the car and making sure you have a license for your dog.
