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Clare

County Clare is located on the west Coast of Ireland and is bounded to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the East and South by Lough Derg and the Shannon River and Estuary.

It is no wonder that Clare is called the County of Contrasts. In terms of geography and landscape it contains the towering Cliffs of Moher, the sandy beaches of Fanore and the sand-dunes at Doonbeg along its Atlantic edge. Inland is the renowned Burren area with its haunting rock dominated landscape and Lough Derg, Irelands newest waterpark.

Clare has an extremely diverse economy. Agriculture and agriculture-related activities still form an important element of the county's economic base but industrial development is of great importance in the Ennis and Shannon Areas, with the Shannon Free Zone being one of the biggest Regional Industrial Centres in the country. The designation of Ennis as Ireland's Information Age Town is a recognition of the forwardlooking approach of the town and county and it is hoped that a wide range of benefits will flow from this designation.

Clare has a long and proud history. The archeological remains with which the county is liberally strewn reflect its pre-historic past, while its association with Brian Boru, Daniel OConnell and De Valera speak of its influence in domestic and international affairs over many generations.

The population of Clare has been relatively stable over the last decade but the distribution of that population has varied considerably. The county is becoming more and more urbanised with the urban centres gaining population at the expense of the more remote rural areas. More detailed information on the countys demography and geography is contained in this report.

County Clare is acknowledged as being one of the centres of Irish culture in the Country. It is particularly renowned for its music and dance but also boasts motherhood of a wide range of literary luminaries. The county hosts a number of literary and musical festivals each year which attract devotees and fun-lovers from far and wide. While providing facilities for a wide rangeof sporting activities, Clare has a particularly long association with traditional Gaelic Games and, in recent years, has been rewarded for decades of effort with great success in the All-Ireland Championships in hurling.