A Clare TD will celebrate St Patrick’s Day Stateside after becoming the first chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee to be invited to the White House. Deputy Pat Breen will travel to the US for a programme of events to mark St Patrick’s Day. While there, he has promised, he will “relay the message that Ireland is open for business”. “It is an honour to represent the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade at this year’s St Patrick’s Day reception in the White House,” Deputy Breen commented.“Our national holiday, St Patrick’s Day, offers our country a unique opportunity to present itself on the world stage. While it is a time when people around the globe celebrate Ireland and what it means to be Irish, it also offers a chance to build relationships and strengthen bonds,” he added.Deputy Breen stressed the value of the “enduring friendship” and “economic ties” between Ireland and the United States.“There are now around …

Former colleagues and students celebrated a Ballyvaughan resident with what was described as “the ultimate honour for a professor in America” on Wednesday.Professor Emeritus Mary Ann Nevins Radzinowicz was presented with a festschrift, which literally translates to ‘feast of writing’, consisting of a volume of written work in her honour contributed by various authors. Only the most accomplished professors receive a festschrift and Professor Radzinowicz said one of the most enjoyable aspects of the experience has been the organisation of “a sort of Irish academic hoolie” to celebrate. She also expressed her delight to be presented with the festschrift by one her former students, Professor Margaret Olofson Thickstun, the Jane Watson Irwin professor of English Literature at Hamilton College, New York State. “What I like most of all about this is that, because the people who are giving this to me and the woman who edited the book of essays and is presenting it to me is coming a long …

In an interview broadcast on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta last Friday, former Clare senior hurling manager Ger Loughnane spoke candidly of his recent illness and recovery, the rumours he had died, and his opinion on the debate over GAA managers’ pay.In the interview with Seán Bán Breathnach, Loughnane described the first indications he got that something was not right last March while out hunting, his subsequent diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia and his treatment. He maintained, he said, a positive outlook from the start. “I decided that I would do everything I could to treat this, no matter how hard it was, that’s what I kept repeating to myself all the time, and I put great confidence in the doctors,” he said. Loughnane talked frankly in the interview about the day he left hospital after his treatment had been completed and the rumours that began circulating that he had died. “My son Conor was in Australia and he called very …

HAVING been in opposition for more than a year, those for and against controversial plans for a €34 million retail development on the outskirts of Ennis have both come to an agreement – that An Bord Pleanála should hold an oral hearing to decide the fate of the project.According to a submission lodged by Ennis Chamber with An Bord Pleanála, opposing the granting of planning permission, the business group have supported the request made by Michael Lynch Limited that an oral hearing be held. Ennis Chamber are urging members of the public to have their say on the development plans by attending the hearing.“We support the call for an oral hearing in this matter as we feel that the issues involved are both complex and of significant public interest. We believe that given the very large number of livelihoods, which would be affected by this proposal that it is in the interests of the planning system to hold an open …

1987 Tour de France winner and world champion, Stephen Roche, will be pedalling around the roads of North Clare on Saturday, March 25. Roche, whose son Nicholas is also a professional cyclist, will cycle in support of the charity Seeking Vision, which helps visually impaired and blind people in Clare.The cycle will leave Lahinch before taking in the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Black Head, Ballyvaughan, Corkscrew Hill, Lisdoonvarna, Ennistymon and Lahinch again. Podge Murphy, one of the event organisers, has been in involved in cycling for many years. “Our family was involved in the cycling business for nearly 30 years. We ran the biggest underage cycling event in the world, Rás na hInse back in the 1980s. So out of that we’re roping in old friends,” he explained, adding that he is hoping that around 500 people will take part. The event will also be open to the Green Schools programme under the supervision of Róisín Garvey.For more information contact …

THEY say three’s a crowd but for Ennis husband and wife, David Mullin and Dymna Considine, they wouldn’t have it any other way.The pair have just become the proud parents of not one, but three babies, who are currently being cared for in the Mid-Western Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick.The three are made up of identical twin boys, Tony James and Owen Hugh, and their little sister, Julie Ellen. The very little bundles of joy were born on March 7 at 34 weeks following a caesarean section. According to dad David they are all doing well and just need some extra care because they were born premature. Tony James weighed in at just 5lb 2oz, Owen Hugh at 4lb 13oz and Julie Ellen at 4lb 1oz.David said, “When we went in for our scan the sonographer said there’s your baby, then the lady said she’d have another look and then she paused and said I think these are twins. We asked …

THE executive general manager of the West County Hotel, Ennis has revealed his optimism for the future of not only the West County but of the hotel business throughout Clare, while also speaking about the “trying time” that the formerly Lynch family-run hotel has faced in recent years.He revealed that upcoming plans for the hotel include bringing big name entertainment acts to the venue later this year, as well as attracting lucrative conferences to Ennis.West County Hotel Ennis Limited was wound up following a High Court order in May of last year, 43 years after the West County Hotel was first developed by Michael Lynch Senior. The West County Hotel is no longer connected to the Lynch family and is now part of the Great National brand, whose headquarters are on the Quin Road in Ennis.Executive general manager Brian Harrington has worked in the West County Hotel since 2009 and said, “It’s been a very difficult and trying time for …

EHA is the first specialist occupational medical service provider in Ireland to be certified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland to the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.  This standard is the world’s foremost management standard used by hundreds of thousands of leading organisations in over 170 countries around the globe. Providing occupational health services on a nationwide basis since 1993, the company’s regional professional services are provided in Shannon and Limerick  by Mid-West Occupational  Health Services. “Now that we have achieved this international standard of recognition, it is difficult to imagine how businesses can operate and continue to provide the highest level of professional services, in today’s economic climate, without a quality management system in place,” said Dr John Gallagher, managing director of EHA. EHA provides a wide variety of services for managing business risk, health and safety, medical assessments, pre placement health screening, health surveillance, management referrals and absence management.“Recent research has shown that sickness absence costs Irish …