South Clare

Twelve historical artefacts of the Limerick Navigation are included in a new Heritage Guide to O’Briensbridge National Loop Walks.Produced by the O’Briensbridge Community Group, the informative guide will be officially launched by the group during National Heritage Week and can be downloaded from the discoverireland website.Following years of dedication, the group has made these artefacts accessible to locals and visitors alike thanks to the O’Briensbridge National Loop Walks.O’Briensbridge was on the main water route from Limerick to Dublin from 1799 until the last trading boat passed through in June 1929. Group chairman Mick Murtagh recalled that in the late-18th century it was the only significant port between the two ends of the Limerick Navigation, which used three canals and two river sections to bypass the shallows on the Lower Shannon.“The navigation dates from the days of the horse-drawn barges and left an extraordinary rich heritage of artefacts. It was one of Ireland’s first steamer routes and part of the agricultural …

THE new €2 million moorings and walkway on the Shannon Navigation in Killaloe will net more tourists for the locality, Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan has predicted.Speaking at the official launch of the state-of-the-art facilities on Thursday last, Minister Deenihan told the attendance the new development was already attracting an increase in boating enthusiasts from Germany, Sweden and the United States.Acknowledging the previous facilities were not acceptable for modern times, the Fine Gael deputy predicted the economic spin-off would also benefit the wider Mid-West Region. Developed by Waterways Ireland and jointly funded by Fáilte Ireland, the minister said the project illustrated what could be achieved through co-operation including Shannon Development, Clare County Council and North Tipperary County Council.Over the past decade, Waterways Ireland has installed over 10,000m of new moorings. Minister Deenihan claimed up to €100m has been generated on the waterways in the Lakelands and Inland Waterways Region, with about €20m in income from hire boats and €60m to  €80m …

THE parents of Megan Malone, the little girl who has beaten all the odds in her battle against a rare form of cancer, are planning to bring the tot back home in September.John Malone, from Ballyalla moved his family to New York after Megan was diagnosed with a rare cancerous brain tumour called sPNET medullablastoma. After receiving life-saving treatment in New York’s Presbyterian Children’s Hospital, Megan and the rest of the family moved to Boston in July for radiation treatment.Following the success of her treatment, the Malone family are now preparing to move back to their family home in Cork. John said this week, “Megan is going from strength to strength. She has even starting running now. She gets physiotherapy once a week now and that seems to be helping her a lot.”Megan is scheduled to finish her treatment at the end of August and the family hope to fly home in early September.“We have booked our return flight home …

A NEW €2 million moorings and walkway on the Shannon Navigation in Killaloe will be officially opened by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan this Thursday.

A Killaloe-based marketing executive is on cloud nine after scooping a bronze medal in the 30-34 Female European Triathlon Championships in Northern Spain recently.Andree Walkin, who works as a marketing executive in the University of Limerick Activity Centre in Ballycuggeran, is now the third best female tri athlete in Europe in this particular age group.Despite stiff competition from team Great Britain, who won four of the top five places in this category, Andree got to hoist the Irish flag in third spot on the podium.“I was hoping to finish in the top five and to win a bronze medal was a dream come true for me. It made all the hard work worthwhile. There was about 22 athletes in my particular age group and to make the winning podium was the icing on the cake.”Andree, who was representing Limerick Triathlon Club, was in fifth place after the 1,500m swim, in a time of 28.57 and moved up to fourth place …

DEPRECIATION of residential property and noise pollution are some of the key concerns of residents living on the six potential routes for the proposed €40 million ring road of Limerick City.That’s according to Councillor Cathal Crowe, who claimed he has been inundated with queries from concerned residents since details of the route options went on public display.Once the route options are whittled down to a single preferred route, Councillor Crowe argued this should be the route that impacts least on residential areas.He said people are worried about the visual impact the new road could have on their homes. Depreciation of property prices and noise pollution concerns also rank highly in dealings he has had with constituents.Clare County Council, in conjunction with Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council, has commenced the planning process to advance the development of the Limerick Northern Distributor Road and associated infrastructure from a location in the vicinity of the eastern end of the proposed Coonagh-Knockalisheen …

THREE midwives based at the Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick have volunteered their services to help improve maternity services in Haiti, which has one of the highest death rates for women giving birth in the western hemisphere.Midwives For Haiti educates Haitian women in providing prenatal care and skilled birth assistance.Róisín Browne qualified as a midwife in 1991 in England before returning home to work in St Munchin’s in 2000. The Ennis woman, who now lives in Shannon, raised over €2,000 for the charity before she went to work for a week in Haiti last February. With one in 17 women dying in childbirth in Haiti, Róisín found her first trip very fulfilling. She is delighted that two of her colleagues, martina Keogh and Mary Bolger, have decided to come with her for a second trip in September.She recalled working in what was effectively an old stable converted into a hospital and noted pregnant women only had what they brought with them …

CLARE County Council is statute barred from taking any enforcement proceedings concerning alleged unauthorised works at an end-of-life vehicle recovery facility at Leitrim, Bridgetown, according to planning consultants.