This article is from page 2 of the 2011-11-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A MAJOR new job creation drive could be on the cards for Clare in 2012 after Shannon Development was one of a small number of regional organisation granted an increase in funding by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton (FG), last week.
The regional promotional and job creation agency has been granting a year-on-year budget increase of almost 40 per cent and will see their operations budget swell from € 3.6 million to € 5 million next year.
It is as yet unclear what this € 1.4 million budget increase will be spent on or whether a particular major project has already been identified for the money. It is also unclear whether some of all of this budget increase has already been accounted for in the € 3.2 million in tourism funding which was announced for the Shannon region by the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar (FG), earlier this month. The Clare People contacted Shannon Development in relation to the funding boost but no comment on the increase or the possible use of the funding was forth coming at the time of going to press.
Speaking on the budget increase, Shannon Senator Tony Mulcahy (FG) said it was a vote of confidence for the work being on the ground in Clare to promote the region to foreign tourists as-well-as foreign investment. “This funding is good news for Clare and the region and it just highlights the positives work that is being done. I mean, we had an Olympic Handball event here [Shannon] last week and that saw about 400 extra people here for a week,” said Senator Mulcahy.
“Even sporting events like the Munster match the other night will help boost the profile of Shannon Airport and the region as a whole.”
Meanwhile, a major seminar for the promotion of walking tourism in Clare has been announced for the Pavillion Theatre in Lisdoonvarna on Wednesday, November 23.
There will be a number of speakers in north Clare for the event including experts from Shannon Development as-well-as members from the Clare Trails Steering Group.
The purpose of the seminar is to let the public know of recent developments in the provision of way marked trails and to announce a special two-day training programme for walk leaders.
Walking tourism is now Clare’s fastest growing tourism attraction, attracting more people to the county each year than traditional favourite golf.