Shannon

THE committee of the Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society visited Áras an Uachtaráin last month, taking up an invitation from President Michael D Higgins. They made the trip to Dublin on December 17 and to mark the visit, the chairman of the society, John O’Brien presented the President with a collection of editions of the society’s journal, The Other Clare and a specially commissioned silver tie pin featuring a Poulnabrone motif, which was designed and crafted by Gleeson Goldsmiths of Shannon. The society’s outings organiser, Pat Costello was one of those who travelled and he said he felt the invite arose because of the President’s interest in local history. “First and foremost, I think it was an interest in the journal, the work of the society and so forth. Many years ago, John O’Brien [the chairman] and myself would have met him and he has a big interest in County Clare. We had sent him copies of the journal to …

Transaero, which employs 235 people at Shannon, is unable to meet its debts because of economic difficulties in Russia and by its Russian parent company, the High Court was told today this week. Mr Justice Bernard Barton appointed Grant Thornton chartered accountant, Michael McAteer as interim examiner to Transaero Engineering Ireland (TEI), a globally approved maintenance, repair and aircraft overhaul company. Barrister James Doherty told the court that TEI, which had a turnover of €27 million in 2010/11, was an Irish-registered company, which had been generating relatively modest profit and had been taken over by Transaero Airlines in 2012. He said increased pressures had been put on TEI’s profitability by its parent company, which had required it to carry out work for it on a cost only basis, which had eaten into its profits. Mr Doherty said the company was seeking the appointment of an interim examiner to stabilise its position and give comfort to employees that their situation is …

A SHANNON woman is stirring up quite the online following and is now a finalist in the UK Blog Awards. Claire McCarthy’s blog, www.clarewiththehair.com, is a finalist in the lifestyle and food and drink categories. “It’s kind of like an online magazine, the kind of thing that I would like to pick up and read. There’s a bit of fashion, a bit of beauty, a bit of celebrity gossip but the majority of the focus is around food and cooking easy, family-friendly meals.” Claire lives in Ballycasey and works in the marketing department of an IT services company. She started www.clarewiththehair.com at the start of September and says she had long been interested in blogging. “I always loved blogs and reading other people’s blogs. But I would have thought that blogging would have been a million miles away from me, I’d have thought other people do blogging, I don’t do blogging. But there were loads of blogs I was following …

WHILE pre-Christmas and festive trading was certainly no worse than in previous years, there hasn’t been much evidence of increased spending in the Banner County, according to retailers. This week, Pat Kelly, manager of SkyCourt shopping centre in Shannon, said trading was quite similar to 12 months previously. “It was on a par with previous years, not better, but on a par with previous years. There was a lot of talk about the uplift but I thought we’d see more of it.” He said that Dealz, which sells goods at discount prices, had a very good Christmas but that most of the businesses at SkyCourt “generally found it was similar to last year, not the uplift we had probably expected”. Patrick Bourke, who has men’s clothes shops in Ennis and Kilrush, said there had been an improvement, albeit not a dramatic one. “We were busy, I have to say. We’d be up on last year, not hugely up. There were …

SHANNON Airport has rounded off a successful year on a high after being named among the award winners at the InBUSINESS Editor’s Choice Awards in association with Chamber’s Ireland. The airport, in its second year as an independent entity, won the Best Newcomer title at the third annual awards ceremony, which was held in Dublin. The awards recognise and honour exceptional business achievement and innovation in Ireland and winners are selected based on growth, profile of business, range of services and customer care. Earlier this year Shannon landed its most significant industry award ever, when it won the overall Airport Achievement Award at the inaugural Irish Aviation Industry Awards. Shannon CEO Neil Pakey said that 2014 has been an extremely successful year. “We’ve had a really strong year on so many fronts, not least with the continued growth of passenger numbers at Shannon and the finalisation of the Shannon Group. We’ve got a lot of recognition for this through international …

CREE based Clean Ireland Recycling have made an appeal to An Bord Pleanála following a decision by Clare County Council to grant planning permission to Emerald Waste Company for a Pay To Use (PTU) waste compactor at Texaco Service Station in Shannon. In its submission to the authority it states, “Clare County Council’s decision to allow this PTU to operate without a pay by weight mechanism, without provision of a brown bin, without a system to track customers (eg smartcards) and without a customer charter will negatively impact on the DECLG’s (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government)  attempts to regulate PTUs. We expect that An Bord Pleanála will have access to the new regulations prior to making a final decision on this application and will be better placed to see the potential impact of a decision to allow this development to proceed as per the applicant’s proposal.” They also raised concerns about the potential safety impact of the development. …

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has written to Transport Minister Pascal Donohoe regarding possible threats to Shannon’s Heathrow slots. In the letter, sent on December 19, he stated, “I note reports in today’s media quoting you as having said the Government remains “open to the sale” of its stake in Aer Lingus in the context of the takeover approach from British Airways’ owner, IAG. “I would appreciate assurance that any sale by the Government would be contingent on maintaining Heathrow slots for Shannon flights and that this would be legally binding in the event of a sale. Maintaining connectivity from Shannon to London and beyond via Heathrow is key to the economic future of the Mid West an area that has not yet benefited as much as others from the recovery underway across our country.” While Shannon has had a sometimes difficult relationship with Aer Lingus, there is no doubt that the airline’s Shannon-Heathrow route is very important to business in …

A SHANNON woman has become The Face of a new calendar celebrating positive body images, regardless of shape, size or individual hang-ups, which has been released for the Christmas season in aid of Clare’s Wish Foundation. The calendar has been produced by Limerick photography company, Boudoir Darlings, which is run by women for women and creates an artistic interpretation of those it photographs, capturing the beautiful woman within. In September, they launched a Facebook competition to find 2015’s Face of Boudoir Darlings, who would be on all promotional material and would do various shoots throughout 2015. However, as the idea grew, they decided upon partnering with a charity and Clare’s Wish Foundation was chosen. Clare’s Wish is a Limerick-based charity, which was founded in April 2013 in memory of the founder’s sister, Clare, who was born with Spina Bifida and passed away aged 24. The charity’s main goal is to grant a wish for adults with a terminal or life-threatening …