Tag Archives: Cross

A WEST Clare farmer has slammed the quality of phone coverage being provided by Vodafone, which he said has a major impact on life in the Cross area. When he spoke to the Clare Champion last week, John Keane said there was no reception at all around his home, and it had been poor for some time. “It has been diabolical for months and months and we’re blue in the face from contacting them. You get through to some fella in Israel, and when they put down the phone they’re not going to worry much about a bit of phone coverage in west Clare. You can’t even talk to someone in Ireland about your phone.” He said numerous people living close to him had the same issue. Some time back there was media coverage about how poor the service was, and he said Vodafone started to take the issue seriously then, but the standard has slipped dramatically once again. “At …

THE plight of the farming community in accessing mobile phone and broadband services in West Clare has been highlighted by a Loop Head man who estimates that his family have paid more than €1,000 over a six-month period when they have virtually no coverage. John Keane, who lives half way between Cross and Kilbaha, is a dairy farmer, milking over 200 cows a day. He outlined how, since last November, five members of his family have had worsening problems in accessing a phone signal, and said the issue is also affecting the wider community. The situation is now so bad that Mr Keane fears that in the event of him having an accident or a heart attack in his milking parlour, he would be unable to use his phone to raise the alarm. “I would die in the milking parlour, if, God forbid, I had a heart attack,” he said. “As a farmer, the mobile phone is a safety net. …

By Dan Danaher A WEST  Clare public patient is becoming increasingly fearful he will suffer a heart attack before  his “crazy” seven month wait for an angiogram at University College Hospital, Galway (UHG) elapses. John Collins, Cross, who can’t work for medical reasons and can’t afford private medical insurance, is worried about his health, after  an abnormality was detected after a stress test in the hospital on August 14, 2013. According to Mr Collins, he was told he needed an angiogram and would get one within four or five months to make sure he was ok medically. University College Hospital, Galway hadn’t responded to a number of Clare Champion queries at the time of press. Mr Collins has got a verbal commitment from UHG that he will get an angiogram on March 12 next. Still waiting to get written confirmation of his appointment in an official letter, despite a number of requests, he described the delay as “crazy” and “disgraceful”. He …