An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission to Trump Doonbeg’s contentious plans for coastal protection plans at the west Clare course.

This week we cast our sharp Munster Eyes over a selection of country homes in the southern six counties.

The tag of raging hot favouritism meant that for Cork this journey into the West Clare night was first and foremost about avoiding any potential banana skins they might encounter along the way.

FIRST things first, Keith Ricken wants to make it abundantly clear that it is a privilege to be still involved with the Cork U20 footballers.

The vice-president of the United States has been criticised for ‘rallying the troops’ at Shannon Airport on Saturday when he met with US military personnel travelling to Iraq.

A few months before he won the 1999 US Open, the late golfer Payne Stewart was gifted for his birthday a nylon bracelet by his son Aaron with the letters WWJD emblazoned on them, writes John Fogarty.

An elderly woman has died in a road traffic collision in Co Clare this evening.

Great news altogether for you all, ye have hit the jackpot, at last!

The Donald Trump-owned Trump Doonbeg resort in Co Clare has recorded its first operating profit since the Trump organisation purchased the resort for a knock down price in 2014.

Four years they’ve waited, but results in Páirc Uí Rinn and west Clare mean Nemo Rangers will have the opportunity next month to exact revenge for that never-to-be-forgotten Munster final defeat of 2015.

It was a dour struggle in many respects as befitting the time of the year, but cometh the hour some brilliance burned brightly in the low-lying West Clare sun as the Kennedys swooped to conquer for a mightily relieved Clonmel Commercials side.

Clonmel Commercials’ bid for a second Munster title is very much on track after a late, late show advanced them to another provincial day out against Nemo Rangers for a repeat of the 2015 decider that the Premier County kingpins won with virtually the last kick of the ball.

One evening a couple of years back, Christy Dixon was listening to Clare FM from his home in Dublin when Joan Hanrahan played a slow-air track, ‘An Fhuinseogigín Rua’, on her show The West Wind. Dixon had learned the song going to school in Mullagh in west Clare but the memory was even more poignant because it reminded him of his time playing music with the famed Willie Clancy.

I just love to take short breaks in Ireland. This time it was west Clare. There’s much to be excited about.

The Donald Trump owned Trump Doonbeg resort in Co Clare was paid over €107,000 to provide food to Gardaí deployed around west Clare to protect the US President during his two-night June visit.

Every single thing always seems to come down to money, be that cuts or a potential return on investment. But where does culture fit into that equation, be that in the music we listen to or the public venues in which we gather, asks Joyce Fegan

US vice-president Mike Pence looks set to arrive in Ireland four days ahead of originally scheduled and is now likely to land at Shannon Airport on Monday.

Jim Gavin’s squad undertook a training session in Cooraclare on Saturday.

Paul McGinley is confident the scheduling issues around next year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open can be resolved by European and PGA Tour bosses in the coming weeks but admitted it will be a difficult and challenging task and the outcome may be less than perfect.

Fears have been expressed today for the future of around half of Moneypoint power station's 194-strong workforce.

In early June, I hopped into my car in Tullycrine in west Clare, made the short journey south west to Killimer before boarding the 1pm Shannon Ferry to Tarbert. Kerry were playing Laois in Tralee so going to Austin Stack Park is as handy for me as a trip to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.

How do you take the pulse of a golf tournament?

Padraig Harrington shot a superb opening day seven-under 63 to shoot to the summit of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open leaderboard on Thursday evening and if it looked easy then it was.

There is no escaping the sense of excitement and expectation not just amongst the members of Lahinch Golf Club but also the whole of the village and West Clare in general as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Championship looms this week.

Just days after US president Donald Trump left west Clare on Friday, the sound of helicopter blades were once again in the air as legendary rock band Metallica paid an unexpected visit to the tiny village of Liscannor.

Eric and Donald Junior arrived in the village shortly after 10pm last night to cheers from locals as they swept up in Range Rovers.

Preparations for the massive security operation being mounted for the visit of US President Donald Trump to Co Clare are continuing apace.

What needs to be avoided is the traditional fawning by Irish politicians of US presidents, says Daniel McConnell.

A Limerick mother who trekked across northern Spain to help her cope following the sudden death of her son has penned a moving book about her journey.

Food news with Joe McNamee

I have mighty good news for all of you this week.

A weather rainfall warning for two counties has been upgraded to Status Orange.

Brace yourselves for a staggeringly pure truth which is stranger than fiction.

Members of a small Baptist church in west Clare will have to seek a new place of worship after being refused planning permission to use a shed attached to a residential home to assemble for prayer.

When the mood takes me, I’ll often head back to the Atlantic Ocean in west Clare for a dip. Living so close to the sea gives me that luxury and I have any amount of options; the Pollock Holes in Kilkee, Cappa near Kilrush, White Strand in Doonbeg, Spanish Point in Miltown Malbay. Beautiful spots, every one of them.

The rock was discovered on the shore of Lickeen Lake in the north of the county.

Even those with a great love and admiration for the club and the village believe that Lahinch has undertaken a mountainous challenge in agreeing to stage the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Championship.

As early as yesterday morning, some bookies had me priced at 5-1 to be installed as the next Waterford manager. Some free advice; keep yere money in yere pockets. The road from west Clare to Waterford is one significant reason I wouldn’t entertain the prospect. But the main one is pretty obvious — replacing Derek McGrath certainly won’t be an easy gig. For anyone.

Podge Collins fancies a resurgent Clare will be buoyed by the opportunity to maintain their fine home championship record in Cusack Park against Limerick.

A second Kilrush man today appeared in court concerning an organised public fistfight in a field outside the west Clare town that was videoed and later uploaded to Facebook and Youtube.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s intervention in the planning process for a windfarm, at the behest of Donald Trump, has triggered claims that the move reeks of “clientelism”.

Given that this league has, at times, been a huge phoney war, God only knows how teams are going to treat the quarter-finals, writes Anthony Daly.

A 65-year old farmer today pleaded guilty to a charge in connection with the dumping of 12 decomposing animal carcasses from a 300 ft high cliff four years ago in west Clare.

Trish Dromey uncovers an exquisite cottage restoration in Co Clare that is now back on the market.