This article is from page 36 of the 2009-07-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 36 JPG
COMMUNITY pride and friendship has prompted a group of local people to take it upon themselves to clean up one of Clare’s oldest eyesores.
The site, which is located on the Liscannor harbour, has been a virtual dump for more than 30 years.
It was purchased last year by Clare County Council but the local author- ity has had insufficient funds to de- velop the site after the purchase. This prompted a group of locals to take ac- tion into their own hands earlier this year.
“The people here have done fan- tastic work. Everyone in the whole parish is so proud of all the people who have worked so hard,” said Pad-
raig Blake of the Liscannor Harbour Amenity Organisation.
‘The people who have been coming here to help clean up each Wednesday have gotten so much out of it. There has been a great sense of friendship throughout the whole thing. We have done so much work that from now on, we only have to meet every second Wednesday.”
The project began in May when the Liscannor Harbour Amenity Or- ganisation approached Clare County Council with a proposal for the area.
“The place had essentially been a dump site for the last 30 years and it was very unsightly, especially for the tourists who come through Liscannor on their way to the Cliffs of Moher,” he continued.
“The site came into public own- ership in the last year or so and we approached Clare County Council about the possibility of bulldozing it and cleaning the whole place up.
“When Clare County Council agreed, we spoke to three local build- ers – the Atlantic Group, Guerin and Considine and the McNulty family and they all agree to donate Hi-Macs, lorries, dumper trucks and all sorts of machinery to help us out.”
After removing 42 full lorry-loads of rubbish and other material from the site, another meeting was held to allow the local people to decide what should be done with the new commu- nity area.
“We held a public meeting back in June and more than 40 people came
along. There was still a lot to be done at that stage. The next day we went down to the harbour and started work and we have worked there every Wednesday since then,” he contin- ued.
“Over the first three Wednesdays, more than 100 bags of rubbish were collected each day. We had some great support from Clare County Council and were allowed to dispose of all the rubbish at Ballyduffbeg with no charge.”
The group are now restoring stone- work at the site and plan to develop further in the coming week and months.
Anyone interested in getting in- volved should contact Patrick Blake at 086 1932872.