Ennis

MAYOR Johnny Flynn is set to ask Clare County Council to back a Seanad reform proposal that would relocate the Upper House of the Oireachtas to Ennis. Cllr Flynn will ask the municipal district to back his proposal, in line with the electorate’s decision last year to see the Seanad reformed rather than abolished. The questions surrounding the future of the Seanad remain a year later, Mayor Flynn said, and he is set to put a possible solution on the agenda of next week’s Ennis Municipal District meeting. Noting the recent reform of local government, he will call on Clare County Council to seek urgent and meaningful reform of central Government, starting with the relocation of Seanad Éireann. The Seanad in the west would act as a counterbalance to the Dail in Dublin, he believes. Senator Martin Conway agrees the proposal has merit. “I welcome Mayor Flynn’s extremely interesting proposals on Seanad reform. The people voted in October 2013 to …

A YOUNG Ennis mother, who is planning to take part in a rugged charity cycling event in Uganda in November, has been given some inspiration by a local life coach. Life coach, Conor J Flynn has offered to host a fundraiser seminar and workshop for Marta Kubik at the Roslevan Community Hall on October 12. Marta is taking part in the World Vision Uganda fundraising cycle, from November 13 to 22, and plans to cycle a total of 315km through the mountainous region of North Rukiga in the south-west of Uganda. The money she raises will go towards helping the communities she meets along her journey to create a better future. To take part and to help the Ugandan communities she will meet, Marta needs to raise as much money as she can and Conor has stepped in to help her. Conor will host the workshop in Roslevan from 6.30pm on Sunday week. The motivational one-off event will inspire, challenge …

ENNIS councillor Pat Daly has called on the Clare branch of Comhaltas to mount a major campaign in bringing Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann to Ennis in 2016. Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is the biggest traditional Irish music festival on the planet, a week-long jamboree of music, song and dance. And the Fianna Fail councillor has asked his colleagues on the council to back the bid that would bring thousands of visitors and millions of euro to the town in two years time. “We just missed out by two votes on securing the Fleadh in 2014 and Sligo is hosting it again next year, but Ennis is the ideal centre for the Fleadh, as we emerge slowly from recession,” Cllr Daly told the Ennis Municipal district meeting. Cllr Daly outlined the work carried out by Sligo whose county councillors were to the fore in lobbying for the Fleadh at the Comhaltas Congress and pursued their interest by lobbying people all over …

THE passing of actor Richard Kiel, best known to filmgoers as the steel-incisored villain “Jaws” in two 1970s James Bond films, has prompted a resident from the Bushy Park area of Ennis to recall his days on film sets with the Detroit -born 7’2″ colossus. David Coley, who spent his working life on film sets all over the world, met the late 74-year-old actor while working on the Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). David began his early career in construction before landing a job making sets and props at Pinewood Studios. He worked his way up the career ladder working on the film ‘stage’ and then going on location to build the sets and any props that were needed, before progressing to working with the camera crew as a stand-by ‘chippy’. “If they wanted a the camera on a roof it was your job to get it up there safely,” David explained David’s first …

IT was the end of an era on Monday for some of Clare’s best known credit unions as St Francis Credit Union in Ennis, Ss Peter & Paul Credit Union, Clarecastle, and Fergus Credit Union, Lissycasey, amalgamated into one credit union with total savings of more than €150 million. And that may not be the end of amalgamation in Clare and the wider region as Caherdavin Credit Union takes in the Shannon Development Credit Union, and Southill and St John’s credit unions in Limerick. The moves follow the introduction of new regulations by the Central Bank, now responsible for the country’s 460 credit unions. “In the future smaller credit unions aren’t going to survive because there’s so much regulation coming in and the smaller credit unions won’t be able to afford the cost of regulation,” said outgoing St Peter & Paul’s Credit Union director, Dermot Moloney, who has served his local credit union for the past 38 years. Indeed, the …

ENNIS Municipal District has backed a call for Clare County Council to freeze commercial rates at their current level in the old Ennis Town Council area for the next three years, to give stability to businesses, in order for them to grow and expand. Councillor Tom McNamara raised the matter at the monthly district meeting, telling members that businesses in the town need a timeframe so they would know exactly where they stand for the next three years, allowing them to “expand their businesses and create growth” and job creation. The Kilmaley councillor asked the meeting to back his motion and to allow it to go to the full council meeting, saying, “We need to give them [Ennis businesses] the security to know that Clare County Council won’t be increasing the rates in the town for three years at least and to hope the economy will improve in that time. Then we can have a relook at it and people …

ENNIS woman, Maureen Cronin from Mountain View has proven that age is no barrier when honoured at the 2014 Hidden Hearing Heroes Awards ceremony in Dublin which celebrate those who made a significant, and often unheralded, contribution to society. RTE personality Brenda Donohue presented the 92-year-old with the ‘Age Is No Barrier Award’. Maureen was recognised for having played a key role in getting the marriage ban lifted for school teachers in 1950s Ireland. She became a test case for the INTO Teachers’ Union when she defied the ban and carried on teaching in Limerick for a full year without pay, then continuing her career until well after the ban was eventually lifted in 1958. Proving that age is no barrier, the Kerry native delivers parish newsletters to the local shops, writes poetry for The Clare Champion and plays several musical instruments at parish events. She was also featured on RTE’s programme Nationwide recently. Speaking at the function Brenda Donohue, RTE said, …

A Marie Keating Foundation mobile information unit, staffed by a trained nurse, will be at Midwestern Regional Hospital, Ennis on this Thursday from 11am to 3pm. This service is available to both men and women and is free of charge. The mobile unit is equipped with take-home information leaflets on each of the key cancers. The Marie Keating nurse can also provide practical advice on healthy lifestyle choices. The nurse will give cancer information presentations on the unit and use practical awareness tools such as the smokerlyzer, tar in a jar and body fat and scales to help to illustrate health massages. The trained nurse can talk to people on a one-to-one basis in a private area on board about any concerns that they might have about cancer, either for themselves or for someone else, such as a family member or friend. For more information see www.mariekeating.ie.