Shannon

ZOOM kept the Shannon Toastmasters club running for 18 months, but its last few meetings have been in person once again, writes Owen Ryan. Of course the meetings now are quite different to the spring of 2020. “It’s a big change, we’re doing the same things, but we have to be conscious of social distancing so our chairs are more spread out and there’s mask wearing,” says President Maura Meaney. “You have to think of all that, but we have the same format of meetings.” The club meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month and Maura says the members adapted very quickly to the pandemic. “We went online straight away once the first lockdown came in. It was a big change for everybody, and it kept the club going and alive, but people were more than happy to go back to in person meetings. “There’s a better buzz about it, a better connection between people. Even just …

THE sport of basketball is thriving in Shannon, with numbers playing increasing very significantly during the pandemic, writes Owen Ryan. When he spoke to the Champion last Friday Shannon Jets club secretary Dean Flynn was waiting to see what restrictions were going to be retained, following the Government’s decision not to go for a full relaxation of them last week. Dean said that basketball has been quite heavily disrupted due to Covid. “Last year we were about to start the season when the October/November lockdown kicked in and the season ended up getting cancelled, so we’ve been a year without basketball really. “During the summer we were allowed to train, but only outdoors. Most of our groups started up in the middle of May and we had outdoor training through the summer. “The schools in Shannon were really good to us, they gave us the use of their facilities with no cost. That was brilliant, we had loads of underage …

Foreign Minister open to full-time role for Padraig Ó Ceidigh in Shannon Group, writes Dan Danaher FOREIGN Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has defended the government’s record on supporting Shannon Airport in the wake of claims it could be doing more to assist the Shannon Group and airport from the havoc wreaked by Covid-19. “This has been a devastating period for the aviation industry. The Shannon region is so impacted by the activity or the non-activity in the airport. “We have seen this in Cork Airport too, but more so in Shannon because of the linkage between the connectivity at the airport and so many businesses in a very wide radius of the airport. “Transatlantic traffic has collapsed because the US has effectively banned EU citizens from flying to the US. For a period US citizens were not allowed into Ireland either without Covid-19 certification,” he said. Although Pádraig Ó Céidigh is being appointed as part-time non executive chair of Shannon …

THE development of a rail link to Shannon International Airport would help to transform the international airport, according to the county’s first citizen. A renewed call for the provision of this rail link was made by Councillor PJ Ryan at a council meeting on Monday. Councillor Ryan urged Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to provide this rail link, which would provide a huge boost the airport, and would also provide some certainty for land owners, as two possible routes are currently identified in the County Development Plan. Down through the years, the councillor recalled he and other members such as Pat McMahon and John Crowe have called for a rail link to Shannon Airport. In view of Minister Ryan’s preference for rail transport, Councillor Ryan believes they should be pushing an open door in terms of securing his support for this venture. He urged Minister Ryan to secure a slice of significant EU Greenway funding to cover the cost of this …

CLARE County Council has sought further information on a proposal for a 14-unit development at Dun Aras Avenue. The planning application from Ballycasey Property Developments, was the target of a number of objections from residents of the area. In a letter to the developer, the Council stated that it had “a number of concerns”. The local authority pointed out that the pattern of development at the location is generally of low density style developments, with detached and semi-detached dwellings in the vicinity. As such it had a concern regarding the number of terraced units proposed here relative to the pattern of development in the area and also the house size, amenity area and layout provided for these terraced units. “In this regard it is considered that this element of the proposal (8-14) should be broken up to incorporate semi-detached units and/or the omission of some units. Please submit proposals in this regard. “Whilst the constraints of the site area noted …

Roisín Fisher on her joy at getting a home for herself and daughter Laia I was delighted to move into our new home in Inbhear na Sionna. Before moving into this apartment, my daughter Laia and I were in homeless accommodation. For nearly two years we lived in BnB in Ennis. As you can imagine, it’s very difficult to live in just one room with a small child. After that, we moved into the Family Hub in Ennis, which was a big improvement in many ways as I was able to cook for myself and my daughter. There were appliances, a fridge an oven and washing machine. I was able to do a lot more for us as a family, even just being able to wash clothes and prepare a proper meal was an improvement. There were other people in a similar situation to me there too, so even though it was lonely in many ways because I’m not from …

LAST week saw the official launch of Inbhear na Sionna, the new 47-unit estate, which has been delivered by approved housing body Co-operative Housing Ireland. The houses are one, two, three and four-bed units, each one with a BER rating of A3. Pearse O’Sheil is chairman of Co-Operative Housing Ireland and speaking about the organisation’s work he said, “What we do is provide homes for families, either in the social housing sector as an approved housing body, or indeed for groups of people who wish to come together as a co-operative and build their own homes. Since its foundation in 1973, the organisation has provided over 6,000 homes through home-ownership, shared ownership and social rented co-operatives. With its membership of democratic local co-operatives, Co-operative Housing Ireland manages more than 3,000 homes across Ireland as well as providing a network of childcare services in their communities. “We operate in the social housing sector, State support sector and we’d be open to …

THE first Aer Lingus flight from Shannon to London in 18 months took off from the Clare airport this afternoon. Arrival times from London into Shannon are 16:10 on Monday through Friday and Sunday, with arrival time on Saturdays scheduled for 15:45. The service will operate for ten weeks during the closure of Cork Airport for runway upgrade works. Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said it was great to see the service back in what has been and continues to be an extremely difficult period for the aviation sector. “The connectivity provided by Aer Lingus at Shannon has always been a valuable contributor to the regional economy,” said Ms Considine. “The hub status of Heathrow for businesses to connect with the global marketplace is crucial, and the inbound Heathrow service helps drive tourism into the region.” “We are working closely with Aer Lingus and our other airline partners to build on the service and to resume long-haul services,” she added. …