On Monday's Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by Douglas Reddan, Movement Artist, Choreographer, and Director from Quin, and Leah Moore, award winning filmmaker.

Douglas, a movement artist, choreographer and director from Quin, and Leah, who is an award-winning filmmaker, have come together to work on a short film.

The film, entitled Pull Hard, which was shot entirely in Co. Clare, will show at Glór.

An event with the purpose of exploring environmental concerns through drama will take place in Ennis.

Maria Assumpta Hall will be the venue for the free event, which is aimed at young adults.

It will run over three consecutive days this weekend (Friday, 18th – Sunday, 20th July).

To find out more about this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Lisa Joyce, Organiser and Co-Host.

PHOTO CREDIT: Clare PPN

A Clare intern was among the select few who were part of the Bar of Ireland’s first ever Internship Programme.

Lee Mac Cuinneagain from Ennis was one of four interns from four universities across the country who participated in the two-week initiative.

Lee is studying Bachelors of Law (Law Plus) (LLB) at the University of Limerick.

For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Lee Mac Cuinneagain.

Primary and secondary school students are looking at plenty of disruption, with over 2,000 secretaries and caretakers preparing for an indefinite strike once the summer break is over.

Fórsa, which represents more than 2,300 school secretaries working in primary and secondary schools, as well as 500 school caretakers, told the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth the mandate for indefinite strike action comes after the union’s efforts to secure access for school secretaries to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.

Fórsa’s Head of Education Andy Pike said school secretaries and caretakers remain excluded from the scheme, despite being on the Department of Education’s centralized payroll since 2023.

There are concerns that the strike, which is due to get underway on the 28th of August, could affect schools’ opening hours.

To discuss this further, Alan Morrissey was joined by Bernie Dillon, Secretary at St Senan’s Primary School in Kilrush and Rena McGrath, Vice-chairperson and Treasurer of Fórsa School Secretaries Branch on the Clare/Galway border.

A new cup will be presented to the winners of this year’s Clare intermediate hurling championship.

It's being donated in memory of a former player with O'Callaghans Mills and Bodyke.

For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by representatives from both clubs, Pat O'Brien, from O’Callaghan’s Mills and Sean O’Halloran, Bodyke GAA.

The final countdown is on for entries to Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025 with only days remaining for people to submit their nominations.

The initiative which has been launched by The Irish Times, in association with Electric Ireland, will see each nominated place judged on specific criteria including its beneficial environmental impact, level of ongoing collective engagement by the community and evidence of behavioural change by people.

The closing date of July 19th is fast approaching, with no nominations as of now having been received from Clare.

To discuss this further, Alan Morrissey was joined by Mary Minihan, Chair of the Judging Panel Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025 and Irish Times Features Editor.

Members of the Cabinet have defended the refusal of travel visas for Palestinian children due to take part in a GAA tour of Ireland, which was to include a visit to Clare.

47 participants – including 33 children and 14 sports officials were to travel from the West Bank, before they were refused visas by the Immigration Service.

The aim of the two-week tour was to foster friendship, solidarity and sporting connection through the GAA.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said any decisions on the visas had to be made in accordance with the law.

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris defended the decision in the Dáil, saying there were “legitimate checks in relation to child protection” involved, even though the tour body from the West Bank says it has repeatedly sent documentation and been ignored.

For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Éamonn Meehan, Clare based chairperson of Sadaka, The Ireland Palestine Alliance.

Dept of Justice Statement:

Each visa application is decided on its own merits.

Confirming that appropriate child protection requirements are in place is essential when considering visa applications for minors.

This includes a requirement that a child is travelling with their parents or an appropriate guardian, which requires additional documents to be verified such as birth certificates and consent letters.

In adult cases, evidence of financial means, employment or other ties that indicate a person intends to return home are important criteria. These help to establish that a person has a legitimate reason to come to Ireland, and that they will comply with the conditions of a short-term visa.

An application will be refused if it cannot demonstrate compliance with such conditions. An appeals process is available to anyone who has a visa application refused.

The Transport Minister insists he won't allow Dublin Airport to grow at the expense of Shannon. The Dublin facility recorded its busiest ever June last month with a total of 3.5 million passengers passing through its gates. Shannon meanwhile has seen a 7% increase in passenger numbers from January to June compared to the same period in 2024. Speaking in the Seanad, Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien says while Dublin requires considerable investment to accommodate rising numbers, Shannon won't be left behind.

Road closures will be in effect in south-east Clare for four months of this year to facilitate a major infrastructural project. Clare County Council has revealed its intention to implement closures along Knockalisheen Road during the construction of the €31 million Coonagh to Knockalisheen Distributor Road. The section of the road between Brennan's Cross and Hartigan's Villas will be closed from August 11th to September 15th while Brennan's Cross to the Moyross Avenue junction won't be accessible from September 15th to December 15th. Local access will be maintained for the duration of the works, and Ardnacrusha Fianna Fáil Councillor Rachel Hartigan believes it'll be short-term pain for long-term again.

On this week’s Atlantic Tales , Pat Flynn goes on a wild bathtub safari with Michael Declan Walsh.

During the pandemic designer, author and publisher, who lived and worked in Estonia for 30 years, has documented wild bathtubs of which there are almost 500 scattered across the fields of North Clare.