FEELINGS are running high in west Clare over the proposed construction of a €10 million wind farm, amid claims posters opposing the development have been taken down.

This modern homestead enhances a slice of pastoral paradise, by blending into the landscape. Tommy Barker reports

A LOCAL authority yesterday refused planning permission for a contentious 400ft high wind farm due to its likely impact on a protected and rare bird, the Hen Harrier.

THE development of the new National Children’s Hospital, due to open in 2016, will not be contingent on charitable donations, Health Minister Dr James Reilly said yesterday.

Land giveaways are rare in Ireland. Oliver Moore reports on the thinking behind octogenarian David Rowe’s decision to donate his entire five-acre holding in Co Carlow to a land trust.

THE HSE South has been refused planning permission to remove a large Christian statue from above the main entrance of the Killarney Community Hospital, which it took down and then replaced at ground level.

PROMOTERS of the proposed super-casino in Tipperary have vowed to press ahead with their plans despite the Government yesterday ruling out legislation allowing so-called large resort-style casinos.

COMMERCIAL sea plane flights between Dublin and the mid-west were given official approval yesterday.

A NUMBER of property development companies co-owned by well-known Limerick businessmen, Joe Hanrahan and John Shee recorded combined losses of over €12 million in 2009, new accounts show.

A DECISION on the funding of a new national children’s hospital has been put off until September when the Government will establish how much money is available for the project.

CORK County Council is continuing to charge fees and development contributions for school building applications despite planning laws allowing them to waive such charges.

A CONTENTIOUS development spanning 195 acres that is to receive over 18 million tonnes of red bauxite residue at the Aughinish Alumina plant on the Shannon estuary is due to commence operating later this month.

RELATIVES of the victims of the Stardust tragedy have expressed surprise that a supermarket group has applied to build an outlet on the site of the 1981 inferno, in which 48 people died.

THE state has moved to designate Lough Derg as a special protection area (SPA) for birds.

THE HSE has confirmed it is preparing an application to Killarney Town Council’s planning department for permission to retain a large statue of the Sacred Heart alongside Killarney Community Hospital.

A SLUDGE treatment company which plans a €10 million upgrade to enable it to process hazardous waste faces a considerable challenge as An Bord Pleanála has questioned the validity of the planning application.

Cork County Council has approved planning permission for a major retail development to be built at the dilapidated former Seafield Textiles building in Youghal, Co Cork.

Dublin and the surrounding region will need enough extra water to fill 330 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day on top of its existing supply to meet demand by 2050, Irish Water has warned.

A long-serving county councillor has accused the Department of Education of turning its back on an east Cork village by failing to provide it with a national school.

There is no better testament to the Easter Rising than to begin building the new national children’s hospital next year on one of its most famous battle sites, the South Dublin Union, Health Minister Leo Varadkar said yesterday.