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Clare County Council has been asked for answers to a number of questions in relation to its approval in June 2021 of a €10 million loan for Ennis 2040, with the council confirming a total of €2.2m has so far been advanced to Ennis 2040 to fund the work programme underway. At the March meeting of the local authority, Councillor Tom O’Callaghan (FF) called for a discussion to be allowed in relation to the council’s approval of a loan for €10 million. The details he requested were to include the cost of the loan and it’s duration, the schedule of loan repayments by the DAC, the list of assets owned by DAC currently, as well as the purpose of loans and if the council has guaranteed all liabilities. He also questioned whether the council is financially liable in any event of unfortunate financial misadventure. Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling, said he was concerned about the public focus …

The Covid 19 pandemic had a massive impact on the lives of North Clare woman, Aoife Corry, and her American fiancé, Tom Jorgensen. On March 13, 2020, then American president Donald Trump signed an executive order which, among other things, made it impossible for the couple to return to America together for 14 long months. It was a time of great uncertainty for everyone, but also a time when creativity was almost forced to blossom. Later this week, the world premier of Homestead, a film made by Aoife and Tom, will take place at the Los Angeles Irish Film Festival. The short horror film, which was shot over two days in Corofin in 2021, is a reflection of the isolation felt by so many people during those long days of lockdown. “We were stuck. Trump signed an executive order which meant that we couldn’t go back to America at that time. We ended up in Ireland for 14 months,” Aoife …

AHEAD of International Women’s Day last Friday, representatives of Shannon Airport Group paid a visit to some younger members of its local community to deliver an important message about gender diversity. Students from St. John’s National School in Shannon were asked to draw three different job roles in Shannon Airport; a fire fighter, a police officer and an engineer. Research has shown that children start to form perceptions of gender roles from as early as two years, with such perceptions typically fully formed by the age of seven. During this lesson, over 70% of children in the classroom, aged between four and eight, depicted male representations of fire fighters, police officers and engineers in their drawings. At the end of the lesson, there was a surprise waiting for the children, when they were told that they were going to meet the people they had drawn working at the airport in real life. Much to the children’s surprise, three female employees …

PREPARATIONS are almost complete for this weekend’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Shannon. Niamh O’Callaghan is involved in running the parade and outlining the details, she said, “We are going by usual route. The parade is starting at 2pm this year and we have lots in store. I’m really hoping that we get people to come out and support us. Ethan Casserly will be MC on the day, while this year’s Grand Marshall will be Richard Parks.”The Scouts in Shannon are celebrating 60 years this year. When Richard was a child he was in the Scouts and he has been part of its leadership for 30 years. He kind of retired this year and he’s our Grand Marshall,” said Niamh. Some local organisations will be recognised also. “We’re honouring the fire brigade for all that they do in Shannon and the surrounding areas. We have the Organ Donor Association coming down to give some information. When Dylan Coady Coleman died …

Clare farm leader, Eddie Punch, has named the development of Shannon Airport and the return of political power to local areas, as two of his main issues ahead of his bid to be elected to the European Parliament. The East Clare man stepped down as General Secretary of the ICSA on Tuesday in order to attempt to become Clare’s first MEP since Sylvie Barrett (FG) was elected in 1984. Mr Punch believes that now is the time to rebalance the political power structure in Ireland. He says that the upcoming introduction of a directly elected mayor for Limerick could be a catalyst for increased devolution of powers at the local level. He also believes that the role of Shannon Airport must be strengthened in the years ahead to insure balanced regional development. “I am really concerned about the tourism sector in Clare in particular. There has been a completely lackadaisical approach to tourism. The role of Shannon Airport really has …

What will an enlarged European Union of 500 million people look like? How will the citizens of its 35 or more member states live, work and interact? Who will pay for it and how much? How will decisions be made and can consensus be reached with more voices at the table? These were just some of the questions debated at this year’s Model Council of the European Union, which took place on March 1 at Dublin Castle. Teams of secondary school students from across Ireland, each playing the role of an EU member state, did a deep dive into the reforms needed to make future EU enlargements a success. They came prepared with passionate and articulate arguments, to defend the interests of their adopted member states. Six teams rose above 21 other schools with their convincing portrayal of EU Ministers for European Affairs, going head to head on some of the key challenges presented by enlargement such as the future …

I read an article in The Irish Times this week with the heading ‘Women more than twice as likely to rely on State pension’ which lead me to think about our clients and how are the women of Co Clare faring. Firstly let’s look at what the data says nationwide – women are more than twice as likely as men to rely heavily on the State pension for their income in retirement, according to a new survey. And three-quarters of those responding to the study by the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland agreed that women have historically faced financial discrimination when it comes to pensions. Half attribute that to the focus on woman for the provision of unpaid care to children and other family members, while 35 per cent think it is due to women being more likely to have low-paid or part-time jobs. Personal finance is a topic that many people find daunting, boring or confusing, especially in times of economic …

MILTOWN Malbay based author, Darragh McKeon, was one of the highlights of this year’s Ennis Book Club Festival. Now based Clare, he grew up in Offaly and his debut novel All That Is Solid Melts Into Air was published in 2014 to international acclaim. It was translated into nine different languages, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and in France it won the Lire Prize for Best International Debut. His second novel Remembrance Sunday was published last year to further acclaim, with the Irish Times stating that the book’s “imaginative storytelling and fine prose of Remembrance Sunday puts McKeon in the big leagues.” Born in 1979, he is just about old enough to have a vague memory of the IRA bombing of Enniskillen on Remembrance Sunday, 1987, which saw 12 deaths. It was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles and saw an outcry across Ireland and the UK. However when he first began work on what would …