Co Clare remains under a yellow warm weather warning until Friday as heatwave conditions descend on the Banner County.
Temperatures hit 31 degrees in parts of Clare on Wednesday in what was one of the hottest days of the year. The yellow weather alert remains in place until Friday at least.
With the sublime sunshine has come huge volumes of crowds to popular coastal locations in Clare, subsequently this has caused traffic management issues.
Speaking on Tuesday, Cathaoirleach of the West Clare Municipal District, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) outlined that emergency services “struggled to get through” to the scene of an incident in Kilkee due to “cars parked illegally and trailers abandoned”.
He said it was very concerning that a woman who was in need of “serious medical attention” was left waiting for care due to “poor traffic management” hindering the access for emergency services.
Reports of similar recklessness when it came to parking were also reported in Doolin, Mullaghmore and Seafield with near-misses recorded as pedestrians were forced onto the road due to abandoned cars and vehicles traversed unsuitable local roads.
Phenomenal crowds are flocking to North and West Clare, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) stated. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like it in Lahinch”.
To allow the county cope with the demand associated with extra visitors, increased resources are needed, Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) outlined. “This is what we want, this is what we market for, this is what the beauty of our area is for, we’ve never experienced this volume before but this is what our economy needs. This is what we want for the future, if our area is going to be the destination for the country then there is a serious question. other parts of Clare and country has to be looked at. If Co Clare is to be used as banner to attract people into Ireland, resources and funding are needed for the work to be put in on the ground. We have to be resourced, we have to be funded”.
