Regional

PLANS for the future development of Éire Óg GAA Club are looking bright, with An Bord Pleanála upholding a decision to grant planning permission for the erection of floodlights on the club’s all-weather pitch.The Clonroadmore-based club has been given approval for the installation of four 1,000 watt flat glass floodlights to light the pitch, with one floodlight to be erected on each of four existing 12m-high steel columns. Permission had been granted for the development by Ennis Town Council, subject to three conditions. However, a third party appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanála by Enzo and Nuala D’Auria of Clonroadmore against the decision of the local authority.Among the grounds for appeal, the couple insisted the development would lead to a greater intensification of use. They argued there would be traffic safety implications, noise, nuisance and their property would experience light spillage.Responding to the appeal, the club stated the floodlights are to facilitate winter training and games. It was accepted …

IN 1914, a group of people in Doora took up arms to fight for the cause of Irish freedom.The group, known as the Doora Volunteers, were formed and trained by a local man, Monty Delahunty, on the use of arms and ammunition. As guns and ammunition were scarce, they used timber replica guns to train. The volunteers trained two nights a week in Calleys field in Bunnow Inner, Doora, sometimes under the cover of darkness to avoid been caught by the authorities and jailed or maybe face execution. Delahunty later went on to fight in the battlefields of Flanders on the Western front and never returned.When the war died down and some kind of peace reigned, a local bard composed a song about the exploits of the volunteers. The song became a rebel song for the volunteers and has been sung in the parish for years. However, with the passing of time, the words of the song were lost and …

ENNIS’ retail and hospitality businesses are being urged to capitalise on the town’s Purple Flag status by offering later shopping hours and earlier entertainment.Plans are underway for a meeting of local businesses, organised by Promote Ennis, to highlight the opportunities that are available with expert speakers from Killarney, Dundalk and Ennis set to attend. Throughout the process of research and application for the international evening excellence award, the Purple Flag Working Group found one topic to be recurring and presenting a real opportunity for the town of Ennis – the early evening shopping and entertainment.Upon receipt of the award earlier this year, it was decided at consecutive meetings a customer survey would be carried out to confirm visitors’ interest in evening shopping and entertainment and a business briefing was suggested to inform the retail and hospitality sectors in Ennis of the findings, the opportunities and the long-term planning for Ennis town. The initial results of the survey, which as distributed …

WITH only days to go, record numbers have already signed up for Pieta House’s Darkness into Light event next weekend as the suicide charity gears up for what looks to be the biggest turnout ever for the event.This year’s 5km event in Ennis will start at 4am Lees Road this Saturday,  simultaneously with other events nationwide. Preregistration will take place in Lees Road and the boardroom of the Temple Gate Hotel this Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. Now in its fifth year, Darkness Into Light is taking place in 20 locations nationwide. This unique event begins in darkness at 4am on Saturday morning as thousands of people gather at locations across Ireland and walk or run a 5km route as dawn is breaking. Pieta House are asking people to bring glow sticks or torches to guide the way at the beginning of the walk. “The buzz this year is incredible,” said Joan Freeman, founder and CEO of Pieta House who …

CHOPPING down approximately 150 trees around Shannon has left a sour taste with many locals and several members of the town council called for a replacement programme this week.At Tuesday’s town council meeting Independents Patricia McCarthy and Gerry Flynn both put down motions calling for a replacement programme to be arranged.In a report to the meeting, senior executive engineer Eugene O’Shea defended the decisions taken regarding the removal of trees and he also acknowledged the need for a replanting programme. However, he indicated it is still months away and would be done in phases.“The council is very conscious of the importance of trees from environmental, amenity and visual aspects. We are also very mindful of the high value placed on these resources by the Shannon community. As such, the felling that has taken place has been carefully considered and planned to ensure that only those trees that required removal in the interest of public health and safety, which must always …

WITHIN weeks, pupils who completed all their secondary education during recession will sit the Leaving Cert.Ciara Guinan and Meadhbh Halton of St Patrick’s Comprehensive and Aislinn Keogh and Gearóid McMahon of St Caimin’s Community School are among the tens of thousands who are going through this rite of passage.Three of the four started secondary school in September of 2008, just weeks before the ruinous bank guarantee, while another had just one year of second level done at that stage.All four are planning to go on to third level and with finances under strain, they are conscious of the cost of further education. The money Gearóid earned last summer, cutting silage and working for a builder, has been left largely intact and set aside for his education, while Meadhbh says she is thinking about taking a year off to work, before going on to further study.Gearóid hopes to study engineering at UL and after speaking to people working in the field, …

Sr Margaret Mary Jordan left Lisdoonvarna after 64 years of active ministry and service. She retired to her native Mayo on Thursday, April 25.  Sr Margaret Mary was present when the secondary school opened its doors to students for the first time in September 1949.In 1955 Sister Evangelist encouraged Sr Margaret Mary to get a qualification in speech and drama. Each Friday from September to Christmas she travelled to Limerick and ended up passing her Senior Advanced by the end of December of the same year. In June 1956 she was awarded her Diploma in Speech and Drama from the London College. She continues to prepare and enter students for examination with the Leinster School of Music and Drama. This year she had 12 students from Grade 9 to Grade 4 all honour students. In 1990, at the age of 66, she formally retired from the teaching staff of Mary Immaculate. In the past 23 years, since her retirement, there …

A SOUTH Galway councillor is still waiting for white smoke, following his request to issue an open invitation to newly-elected Pope Francis to visit Galway.It may take a few weeks before Galway County Council gets an official response to its request for the new Pope to ensure Ballybrit racecourse will again be the location for a papal visit – 24 years after an estimated 280,000 packed the same venue to see Pope John Paul II’s visit on September 30, 1979.However, Councillor Michael Fahy was very quick off the starting blocks at a recent county council meeting, when he proposed that an invitation should be extended to Pope Francis to visit Galway. The proposal was passed at the meeting.He made the plea in view of the strong connection formed by the people of Galway with the papacy arising from the historic 1979 visit. Having joined the thousands of people at Ballybrit racecourse that day, Councillor Fahy noted the young people who …