MINISTER OF STATE Pat Breen has explained that the reasoning behind  Enterprise Ireland’s decision to pay for a €4,398 flight from the US was in an effort to help him attend a family wedding in Malaga, Spain. Deputy Breen was asked by Enterprise Ireland to participate in its inaugural life sciences trade mission to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul in Minnesota in September 2016. “Previous to this request, I had booked personal flights to attend a family wedding in Spain. The end of the trade mission clashed with the weekend wedding, which I had already committed to attend, so I had to turn down the Enterprise Ireland invitation initially. “However, as the trade mission was deemed to be of significant importance to Ireland’s indigenous life sciences sector and would benefit from the support of a ministerial presence, Enterprise Ireland requested that I attend and remain in the US to complete the final engagements of the visit and …

GARDAÍ have charged a 21-year-old Kilrush man with the murder of Karl Haugh at the Marian Estate in Kilkee last August. Detective Garda Padraig Frawley gave evidence of charging Robbie Walsh of 20 Island View, Kilrush, with murder, at a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday. In reply to the murder charge, Mr Walsh said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do it”. Mr Walsh, who is represented by Patrick Moylan, solicitor, had been charged with assault, intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Karl Haugh at Marian Estate on Sunday, August 6. However, on Wednesday, Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecuting, said the State was withdrawing that charge and it was struck out. Judge Patrick Durcan pointed out that it had no jurisdiction to deal with bail in the case of a murder charge. Mr Moylan outlined that a bail application would be made to the High Court. A Book of Evidence is to be prepared and the matter will be …

  The death of former Munster Head Coach, Anthony Foley brought his family to “their knees and many, many others also”. That’s according to his widow, Olive who penned a heart-rendering tribute to coincide with the anniversary of his unexpected death in a Paris hotel before Munster’s Pro 12 clash with Racing Metroin October 2016. The death of the 42 year-old father-of-two sparked a global outpouring of grief as tens of thousands of people wrote to the family to share their own personal memories and express their sympathy. A few weeks after his death, the #8Masses4No8 campaign, the “Axel Foley Memorial” appeal, set up by his son, Tony, secured worldwide support exceeding the capacity of his beloved Thomond Park in Limerick. Olive stated: “It goes without saying that the past year was one that no preparation could help with.  Losing Anthony in any circumstances, not least one with no forewarning brought us as a family to our knees and many, …

There was a significant impact on the vast majority of health and social care services in the Mid-West due to the adverse weather conditions on Monday. The Mid-West HSE has confirmed that some elective surgery had to be cancelled on Tuesday. While the worst of Storm Ophelia was confined to Monday, disruption is likely over the coming days due to a number of factors including road conditions, building damage, power outages and disruption to full staffing levels. With this in mind, the Mid-West HSE  expects a gradual return to normal services before the end of the week. Due to cancelled appointments over the past 24 hours and a subsequent “catch-up” period required, patients can expect some delays in their appointments and discharges from hospitals over the next few days. In the event of a cancellation, Clare people will be contacted by the relevant service. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the HSE stressed the safety of patients and …

  Clare County Council has confirmed that all local authority services in they county will operate as normal on Tuesday following Hurricane Ophelia. The emergency helpline has been stood down due to a significant reduction in volume of calls received. However, the council’s out of hours emergency number (087-4169496) remains in place to deal with requests for assistance from the public in relation to fallen trees, blocked roads and other non-life threatening incidences. Clare’s principal emergency response agencies will continue to monitor the situation this evening and overnight. The Irish Coast Guard continue to advise the public to stay away from exposed beaches, cliffs and piers, harbours and promenades during storm conditions. The Clare Fire and Rescue Service crews were busy clearing felled trees from national routes including at Spancilhill, Clooney, Tuamgraney and Ministers Cross. The Ennis to Corofin road is now fully open after fire crews removed a fallen tree while the Doon road at Crusheen has reopened to …

  Irish Water has incident plans in place and crews on standby to deal with the effects of Hurricane Ophelia. The national water utility recognises that the predicted conditions are likely to result in power outages at critical water and wastewater installations which could compromise service delivery. Heavy rainfall may also increase the risk of flooding. Power outages may impact the operation of its water treatment plants, which would compromise the safety of drinking water. Where risk arises, working with the HSE, Irish Water will impose precautionary Boil Water Notices as necessary. Irish Water is collating information on outages and other issues and will be updating its website constantly during this emergency. The national utility envisage that crews will be unlikely to be able to respond to breakdowns in plants until it is safe to do so and this may lead to a loss of service for a period. However, Irish Water and local authorities crews will respond as quickly …

  Clare County Council has established an emergency helpline (1890-252943) to deal with requests for assistance from the public in relation to fallen trees, blocked roads, flooding and other non-life threatening incidences. This helpline has been established in response to the ongoing threat of severe weather affecting Clare during Monday as a result of Hurricane Ophelia. Members of the public with water services queries should contact the Irish Water helpline number on 1850 278 278. Clare’s principal emergency response agencies are advising members of the public and services providers to avoid any non-urgent travel due to the Red Alert weather warning in place. The council, An Garda Síochána and the HSE have discussed the necessary plans for responding to the Status Red weather warning. Meanwhile, the council has confirmed that all local authority public buildings and facilities, including Áras Contae an Chláir, Area Offices, Civic Amenity sites, leisure facilities, library branches and visitor attractions, closed at 11.00 am. The local …

  This is one of the key safety messages issued by the Emergency Coordination Group, which should be taken on board by people on Monday. People should not travel in Red level warning areas during the height of the storm unless absolutely necessary and take due care if travelling in all other areas. People should listen to local radio and national media broadcasts regarding the current weather situation. With high seas predicted, the public are advised to stay away from coastal areas during this period. Very strong winds are predicted making driving conditions hazardous, especially for the more vulnerable road users, such as cyclists, pedestrian’s, motorcyclist and high sided vehicles. Road users should pay particular attention to the risk posed by fallen trees and flying debris. Given anticipated weather conditions, Monday should be  no bike day. Power outages are likely to occur in certain parts of the country, with contingency planning activated by the ESB. The ESB is advising the …