On Fridays Morning Focus John Cooke came live from Mountshannon. To being the show John began by discussing the White Tailed Sea Eagles that reside in Mountshannon. Members of the public are now able to observe one of the first White Tailed Sea Eagles born in Ireland in over a century; courtesy of a new Viewing & Information Point that has been officially opened on the shores of Lough Derg. People travel from far and wide to catch a glimpse of these magnificent birds. Clare FM’s Jason Murphy met up with Dr. Allen Mee of the Golden Eagle Trust and Denis Minogue, of the Mountshannon Eagles Group to chat about the birds and also try to spot them.
Vera O'Rourke – B&B 'Sunrise' Mountshannon, John Harvey – Chairperson Mountshannon Community Council, Pauline Madden – Owner of The Mountshannon Hotel, John Kavanagh – Mountshannon resident all joined John to discuss hoW Mount Shannonis doing this tourist season. They discussed the new viewing point and the other draws they believe Moutshannon has to offer.
While we were in East Clare today preparation is down to the wire in Zurich where one native from this part of the county is getting ready to run for Ireland. Sean Hehir from Kilkishen is representing Ireland on Sunday when he runs in the Marathon in the European Athletics Championships. John spoke to Sean in Zurich and asked him about his preparation for this weekend.
The community in Feakle are trying to encourage a G.P to make their way to east Clare. The community is currently without a doctor. 18 months ago the local G.P retired they did have another doctor take over but she resigned in June and has not been replaced. The HSE advertised the position in June and had no response. They position is now readvertised and the local Community Council have come together with the landlord of the practice – Niall Smyth – to offer the luck candidate free rent as an incentive to take up the position. Niall says he is willing to give the building for free and first then at half price and so on until the doctor gets settled and established in the community. John was joined by Niall Smyth – Feakle businessman, Ted Harrington – Chairperson of The Community Council in Feakle, Gary Pepper of Peppers restaurant and Bernard Gloster – Area Manager PCCC to caht asbout the issue and find out more.
Tourists from across the country, and indeed the world, flock to east Clare to take to the water and enjoy a boat trip on Lough Derg. Clare FM's Jason Murphy decided to see what draws these tourists to the area. He met with James Whelan of Killaloe River Cruises to head out on the water to find out what keeps visitors coming back to East Clare:
John then spoke to Michael Waterstone – Scarriff Mountshannon Whitegate Angling Club. The Club was founded in 1953. The Clubs main aim is to promote angling in our rivers, streams and in Lough Derg.
Eoin Hogan – Rural Recreation Officer for Clare Local Development Company spoke to John about walking in East Clare. The East Clare Way is 172km in length and ascends some 3,000 metres. Allow an extra 15km for detours to accommodation. It can be comfortably walked in 8 days with stage lengths ranging from 20 to 30 kms.
Google Street View has launched its first collection from the Trekker Loan Programme. This programme allows tourism boards, non-profits and 3rd parties to borrow its Trekker equipment to take pictures of amazing places so that they can be uploaded to Street View. 6 trails around County Clare have been captured in partnership with the Clare Local Development Company.
Kate Purcell – Feakle singer and Denise Glass – Fiddle player from Mountshannon then popped into John to say hello and play a few tunes.
If you have a story, comment or query for Morning Focus email Focus@clare.fm or write to us – Morning Focus, Clare FM, Francis Street, Ennis, Co. Clare.
