Tag Archives: Michael mcNamara TD

“FEAR and despair” is impacting Clare publicans’ mental health as the closure of pubs and uncertainty over their re-opening continues, Clare Vintners Federation of Ireland chairman Darragh McAllister told a meeting this week. The meeting of the Clare branch held at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis saw six of Clare’s Oireachtas members hear the concerns of the county’s publicans. The meeting comes a week after it was announced that the re-opening of pubs that don’t serve food been delayed until August 31 at the earliest. In attendance were Cathal Crowe TD, Michael McNamara TD, Violet Ann Wynne TD, Joe Carey TD and senators Timmy Dooley and Martin Conway and Mayor of Clare, Mary Howard with apologies from senator Róisín Garvey. At the meeting, which was limited to 50 attendees as per Covid-19 regulations, Mr McAllister, welcomed the presence of the Oireachtas members. In a wide-ranging address detailing the current state of the trade, Mr McAllister highlighted the many false …

Jessica Quinn A REFUND of accommodation fees for University of Limerick students has been recommended by the university’s governing authority. This is welcome news for students, many from Clare, who had been forced to give up their campus accommodation after the Covid-19 crisis broke. A spokesperson for the University of Limerick has confirmed, “The University of Limerick Governing Authority has today (Tuesday) given a recommendation that UL subsidiary Plassey Campus Centre Ltd (PCC), which manages the student residences on campus, return rental income to the students who left their accommodation on foot of the government’s decision to close the university campus in March.” UL’s Governing Authority held a Special Meeting on Tuesday during which the refund of student rents was discussed. Plassey Campus Centre Ltd (PCC) is the licensor and a separate legal entity to the University, with the issue a matter for decision by PCC and not the Governing Authority. “Nonetheless, as PCC sought the views of Governing Authority …

Former Labour TD Michael McNamara is to appeal a two-year driving ban imposed for dangerous driving. At Ennis District Court this week, Judge John King convicted Mr McNamara of dangerous driving, which comes with an automatic two-year ban, at Tobernagath, Scarriff on December 10, 2016. Counsel for Mr McNamara, Martin Dully, BL, said a driving ban would be “exceptionally disastrous for this man”. Mr Dully said there was an allegation from a garda that Mr McNamara was driving 20km in excess of the 80km speed limit and that“what you have here is not dangerous driving; it couldn’t possibly be”. Judge King dismissed an accompanying charge against Mr McNamara that he had obstructed a garda in the course of his duties on the same date outside his home. Judge King said it would be “unfair and unsafe” to convict Mr McNamara of the obstruction charge, as Garda Darren McLoughlin had not specifically advised him that he was invoking Section 7 of …

Residents on the outskirts of Clonlara, who have been left marooned by rising flood waters, have urged Agriculture Minister not to forget them ahead of Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. Minister Coveney visited some residents in a flat bottom boat with the help of the Irish Defence Forces early on Sunday morning. The Cork Deputy, who was the first government representative to visit the devastated community, since it began to flood nearly a month ago, spoke to householders,  who are cut off from their homes due to the flooding of a local access road. Standing with the minister in the river of water surrounding her home, resident, Lisa Griffin asked the minister to save the community from the regular incidence of flooding, which first started in 1995. When the ESB-operated Parteen Weir reaches capacity, the company releases excess volumes of water, which in turn results in Springfield and the wider Clonlara area becoming flooded. “If you are going to protect Athlone you are going …

The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has appointed Clare TD Michael McNamara as its rapporteur on the investigation into the 2010 Smolensk air crash. On April 10, 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154M, with the Polish State delegation on board, led by President Lech Kaczynski and which was taking part in ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre, in which thousands of Polish officers were killed by Soviet secret police, crashed. All 96 passengers on board died. These included the president, his wife, Maria and many high-ranking Polish officials, among them the chief of the Polish General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, Polish military commanders, the chief of the National Security Bureau and the president of the National Bank of Poland. Although more than five years have passed, the plane wreckage is still being kept by the Russian Federation, as well as the black boxes with original flight data recordings and much more material evidence, while the Russian authorities continue …

Clare TD Michael McNamara has called on the European Parliament to increase its work to uphold human rights in Europe. Deputy McNamara, author of a report on “European institutions and human rights in Europe” for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, told the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee in Brussels this week, “Any EU initiative concerning the promotion and protection of human rights should take into account the Council’s role as a benchmark for human rights, the rule of law and democracy in Europe.” The two organisations shared the same core values, he pointed out. In particular, the EU should continue to scrutinise its draft legislation to ensure its compatibility with the Charter for Fundamental Rights. Referring to the recent negative opinion of the EU Court of Justice on EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, he called on EU decision-makers to “find a way out from this difficult situation”. Mr McNamara also reiterated PACE’s concern at …

Clare TD, Michael McNamara is to introduce a Bill to the Dáil this Wednesday afternoon, which will provide for the right of Garda and Defence Forces representatives to carry out negotiations on pay and conditions of its members. The Industrial Relations (Members of the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces) Bill 2015 will also allow gardaí to take industrial action. “This Bill seeks to introduce the necessary amendments to bring Ireland into compliance with the Social Charter, a European treaty which guarantees social and economic human rights, which Ireland was found to be in breach of by the European Committee of Social Rights,” said the Labour Deputy. “Ireland has been in breach of the charter, as it prohibits police representative associations from joining national employees’ organisations; and prohibits the right to strike of members of the police,” he added. This Bill will not, however, allow members of the Defence Forces to strike, Deputy McNamara stressed.

MOL an Óige Steiner National School in Ennistymon was this week granted permanent recognition by the Department of Education. School principal Una Garvey told The Clare Champion that the news is a huge boost to the school, which is the first Stenier school in Ireland to receive this recognition. “It’s a complete validation of the Steiner approach and Steiner methodologies. It’s a recognition of all of the fantastic work that goes on in the school. This says that this school does wonderful work, does it in a different way but it delivers the curriculum to the children and gives them what they need,” Ms Garvey said. She also believes this development validates the Steiner approach to the public. “It puts it in the public sphere. We know what we do inside here and we know how well it works. But now it’s in the public domain that the Department of Education also recognises the good work that happens inside here,” …