South Clare

Limerick City and County Council has been informed by the ESB of plans for further significant releases of water from Parteen Weir. The volume of water planned for release is at a level which is likely to cause flooding of roads and could also potentially affect property in flood-prone locations, according to the council. The areas most at risk of experiencing flooding are Montpelier, Castleconnell and the Mountshannon Road, Lisnagry. The local authority is liaising with householders in these areas that were affected by the 2009 flood and is putting additional measures in place to help alleviate the effects of flooding. At this time, there is no expectation of flooding in Limerick City but the council is monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis. The council is advising property owners in flood-prone locations, and motorists, to exercise vigilance over the coming days. The Council is also calling on property owners and landowners to ensure that drains and gullies on their property …

WATER abstraction from the Lower Shannon at the Parteen Basin has been identified as the “emerging preferred option” to supply a new source of water for the Eastern and Midlands regions. Details of the emerging preferred option are to be be unveiled this Thursday by Irish Water. However, The Clare Champion can reveal that a report published by Irish Water has found the abstraction of water at Parteen Basin has the least environmental impact of the four options considered. It can avail of existing hydro-power infrastructure which ensures the proposed water abstraction can be implemented within existing normal operating water levels and with no impact on statutory flow requirements in the Lower Shannon, meaning there is limited impact on the lake. Abstraction from hydropower facilities is common practice worldwide and the Parteen Basin option will use a small fraction, about 2%, of hydropower water, which would otherwise have been used for power generation and then discharged to sea. Irish Water …

The killing of a Brazilian man, resident in Gort, was outlined at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court last week, when a life prison sentence was imposed on the man convicted of his murder. John Paul Cawley (22) of Ardoughter, Ballyduff, County Kerry had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bruno Lemes de Souza at Shronowen Bog, Tullamore, Listowel on February 16 or 17, 2012. After an hour and 24 minutes deliberating, at the end of a seven day trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty on Friday last. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced Cawley to life, backdating the sentence to March 12, 2012, the date on which he was arrested. He has been in custody since. The court heard how Bruno Lemes de Souza , a member of the large Brazilian community in Gort, had called to a house near Ballyduff in connection with a car deal in mid-February 2012. His body was recovered from a drain in a remote bog …

A KILLALOE couple have embarked on another planning battle opposing a new housing development near a former ghost estate where they were “locked out” of their home for eight years. Michele Burke and William Buck have requested An Bord Pleanála to overturn Clare County Council’s planning approval to construct one block containing two semi-detached houses, boundary treatments, connection to necessary services and infrastructure at Ard na Deirge, Knockyclovaun, Killaloe. A few years ago, they lodged their first appeal with the board after AIB were granted permission to construct two houses, along with retention and completion of 25 houses, estate roads, boundary treatments, street lighting, entrance from public roadway and all associated site works at Ard na Deirge. Although the board upheld the council’s decision to grant planning permission, it modified the planning conditions, which included a requirement to finish off the connection of public services for house purchasers who couldn’t access their homes. The couple paid a booking deposit on …

The parents of a baby girl who died in her mother’s arms shortly after birth have sharply critisised the HSE for the pain and torment they have endured while waiting over six years for an apology. Caoimhe Mulcair, the daughter of Joan and John Mulcair of Westbury, Corbally, was born and died on February 11, 2009 at University Maternity Hospital Limerick. Caoimhe was conceived through IVF after her parents had been trying to start a family for a number of years. Following repeated denials of liability, the HSE made an out-of-court settlement with the Mulcairs last December and an admission of clinical negligence. However, the couple did not receive any apology until Monday, some six and a half years after their loss. A jury at an inquest into the baby’s death today returned a verdict of medical misadventure after a letter was read out on behalf of the CEO of the UL Hospitals Group, Professor Colette Cowan, who apologised for …

Communities in South-East Clare are united in mourning following the death of a Broadford bricklayer in a tragic accident on Saturday afternoon. Bryan Whelan (29) and T J O’Herlihy from Castleisland were killed, when the cage-like structure they were working in plunged under water near Thomond Bridge in Limerick City. The men were working on repointing the stonework on the bridge in a cage, which was suspended from the bridge with a cable that snapped. They were connected to the cage via a harness and were unable to free themselves. All three were wearning lifejackets. A third man, Paul Murphy (36) from Askeaton, managed to free himself and survived, raising the alarm in the process.While Mr Murphy managed to free himself, it is reported the other two were under the water for up to ten minutes. It is understood that the cage came within a few feet of the surface of the water but the two men couldn’t be freed in time, …

THERE was great excitement in Cratloe this week, after a local boy scooped a vintage car in a charity fundraiser. Ten-year-old Eoin Deegan was the lucky recipient of a stylish 1969 Triumph Vitesse in the event, organised by the Clare Crusaders Children’s Clinic, Clare Suicide Bereavement Support, the RNLI and Doolin Search and Rescue. It proved to be the start of a lucky streak for Eoin, as he also won €40 from the Sixmilebridge lotto draw on Monday night. He is the son of Joan and Mike Deegan, a former Clare selector and current coach of the Cratloe senior hurlers. “We are delighted to win the car. It has generated great excitement in the house. I texted my six sisters and five brothers telling them we had won a vintage car but none of them would believe me,” mum Joan said this week. Joan’s father-in-law, Phil Deegan, who has a keen interest in vintage cars, has now taken the Triumph …

A MEELICK doctor has scooped a major honour awarded by the University of Limerick (UL) Graduate Entry Medical School. Dr Dermot Murphy, a native of Old Cratloe Road, Meelick and a recent graduate of the UL Graduate Entry Medical School, has been presented with the inaugural O’Higgins Medal at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). Dr Murphy has just commenced his intern year at UHL and is looking forward to working with the medical and surgical teams there. He will commence his work in the areas of general and vascular surgery. The award is supported by Professor Niall O’Higgins, chairman of the Board of UL Hospitals. It was approved and supported by the UL Hospitals’ chief academic officer and foundation head of the Graduate Entry Medical School, Professor Paul Finucane and the UL authorities at the Graduate Entry Medical School. Dr Murphy said it is an honour to receive the award. “I was genuinely surprised and delighted to be recognised by the …