THE family of a Polish man who tragically died in Ennis  said their final goodbyes at a cremation ceremony this week.  

DETAILS of Ireland’s biggest business competition will be unveiled at a free workshop for new and emerging businesses at the Ennis Innovate Regional Innovation Centre next month.The InterTrade Ireland Seedcorn Promotional Workshop takes place at the Information Age Park facility on June 7 and is aimed at SMEs who are interested in becoming ‘investor ready’. The free event features the launch of the 11th annual InterTrade Ireland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, which has a cash prize fund of €280,000 and aims to transform equity raising businesses into first-class investor ready companies.According to Gert O’Rourke, director of Ennis Innovate, “The workshop is free of charge and there will be plenty of opportunities for questions and networking. Individuals and companies who are interested in entering the Seedcorn Competition this year can discover the process for entering the competition and receive advice on what an investor looks for in a business plan.”Now in its 11th year, the Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition has supported …

THE fallout from Alan Shatter’s revelations about an interaction between Mick Wallace and members of An Garda Siochána continued apace this week. It is a very unusual case and will be of great interest to most people for what it seems to reveal about how politics works in the country. By politics I of course include the issue of “garda discretion” which led to this revelation in the first place. Perhaps it speaks to a great naïveté on my part but I was under the impression that having penalty points quashed or taken off the system was not common practice. I believed that with the arrival of new electronic and computerised systems, such things had been confined to the past where things operated on a wink and a nod basis. In the aftermath of all the tribunals which exposed the corruption and skulduggery which defined Irish public life for so many decades, I thought we might have learned some lessons …

HALF of Clare County Councillors believe the introduction of abortion legislation will reduce the likelihood of the death of a pregnant woman from a medical complication.Councillor Brian Meaney cited the public outcry in the wake of the death of Savita Halappanavar as the main reason why the Government finally decided to introduce legislation following rulings from the Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice.While Councillor Meaney believes it is impossible to legislate for every medical complication, he said the new legislation will provide more legal clarity and protection for doctors.Councillor Curtin believes the legislation should reduce the possibility of a similar case. Councillors Bill Slattery, Brian Meaney, Pascal Fitzgerald, PJ Ryan, Oliver Garry, James Breen, Tony Mulqueen and Pat Burke are reasonably confident the new legislation will make a difference if a similar case arises, while Councillors Richard Nagle, Joe Cooney and Tony Mulqueen hope it will make a difference.Councillor Joe Arkins, who has major misgivings about the use …

  Fáilte Ireland will not make any further investment in Yeats’ Tower at Thoor Ballylee, the Seanad was told in recent days, because the number of visitors looking for information when the house was open “was too small to justify spending scarce resources on reopening it as a tourist information office”. The future of the historical landmark could be as part of a cultural and heritage centre, according to Senator Lorraine Higgins. The Seanad was told that Minister Leo Varadkar raised this possibility with Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan.Senator Higgins outlined to the Seanad details of the East Galway landmark and its importance from an historical, recreational and cultural perspective to the people of Kiltartan and Gort. “In 1965 for the centenary of Yeats’ birth, Ballylee was fully restored by the Kiltartan Society replete with a collection of first editions and items of furniture. The adjoining cottage was a tea room and shop. However, following the flooding of the Cloon River …

THE Department of Education and schools have a responsibility to provide adequate parking to ensure the safety of children, according to a senior council official, who commented, “It can’t all fall on the council.”

WHILE the 36 visiting ambassadors and the dozens of additional dignitaries in Kilrush last Sunday may not have noticed, local people must have been astonished at how clean and fresh Frances Street was looking.

THE Shannon Parish Mission is starting this Sunday with the theme of Sharing the Good News.Sister Briege McKenna OSC will lead the parish mission. Sister Briege was born in Armagh and entered the Sisters of St Clare at the age of 15.