As part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal cigarettes, officers from Revenue’s Customs Service at Shannon Airport on Wednesday seized 70,000 cigarettes with a retail value of €33,600 and a potential loss to the exchequer of €28,500. The “Sept Wolves” cigarettes were concealed in a consignment of airfreight which had arrived into Shannon from China. Investigations are ongoing. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding the smuggling or sale of illegal cigarettes or tobacco, they can contact Revenue in confidence on free phone number 1800 295 295  

A JOINT joint homecoming celebration is planned for the Clare under-21 and senior hurling teams, who are facing All-Ireland final deciders. The joint homecoming will take place on Sunday, September 29 at Active Ennis Tim Smythe Park (Fairgreen) with a time to be confirmed, Clare Local Authorities have announced. Planned activities include music and other entertainment. “The replay of the senior final on Saturday, September 28, coupled with the commonality between the U-21 and senior panels, has resulted in a unique situation. Following consultation with the Clare GAA County Board it has been agreed that a joint homecoming event is appropriate having regard to the overall circumstances,” said Gerard Dollard, Ennis town manager and Director of Services. Meanwhile, the council has confirmed that there are no plans to repeat the big screen event hosted in Abbey Street car park on Sunday last. Mr Dollard said while the event proved very successful with over 3,000 people enjoying the occasion, the timing …

The Restaurant Association of Ireland has kick-started a campaign to highlight how critical it is that the reduced VAT rate of 9% is kept in place for 2014 and beyond, in order for the Irish economy to remain competitive. The nine-day campaign began on September 9 and getting behind it is Ennis bar and restaurant The Cloister, run by husband and wife Dermot and Noreen Fetton. The couple are in their first year of business at this premises and are hugely concerned that the forthcoming budget could see a VAT hike, something that would make trading extremely difficult for them going forward. In embarking on the campaign to maintain the current VAT rate, The Cloister has lobbied Deputy Timmy Dooley for support. Mrs Fetton said the reason they got behind the campaign  is to stave off any further increase in overheads in their sector and to ensure jobs are retained and a quality service is maintained, while remaining competitive. “We …

By Seamus Hayes LAST Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling draw has left the county’s domestic fixtures schedule in turmoil. Paying tribute to the county senior squad and the management under Davy Fitzgerald, county board chairman Michael McDonagh told a special meeting of Clare GAA on Tuesday night, “We have a plan but it will mean sacrifices and if these aren’t made then there is a different dilemna. We can get there”. Padraic Boland, a member of the committee that drew up the masters fixture plan back in February, told delegates that completing the domestic competitions in time for the provincial championship depends on which clubs progress and on co-operation. “It has to be taken round by round and clubs will have to accept short notice,” he added. County secretary Pat Fitzgerald noted, “Every game will have to be played to a conclusion. It will take a lot of sacrifices if we are to meet the deadline. With the senior hurling, our …

THOUSANDS of young people around the country collected their Junior Certificate results this week but for one 16-year-old, it was a day she and her family were not sure they would ever see. An elated Nicole Norton collected her results from St Flannan’s College in Ennis on Wednesday afternoon. The Barefield teenager, who has cerebral palsy, achieved five honours after sitting exams in maths, English, geography, religion and CSPE in June. “I am so proud. People told us that they couldn’t see a day when Nicole would sit a State exam and now she has three As and two Bs,” Nicole’s mother Ann beamed. “Nicole is completely reliant on people. She has very little movement. She is in a wheelchair. Her right side is slightly better than her left but she doesn’t have a huge amount of control of her body. She uses a laptop and types with one finger. She is visually impaired and she has a speech impairment. …

THE prospect of a crematorium being built in Shannon is back on the agenda again, after a number of years of silence on the issue. Some years ago, former Clare county councillors Tony McMahon and the late Sean Hillery proposed the development of a crematorium at Illaunmanagh. Nothing has been heard about it for some time but at the very end of this week’s meeting of Shannon electoral area councillors, town manager Bernadette Kinsella said while the original parties are not involved, another party is now interested in proceeding and it will be proposed that the lands in question be disposed of. Ms Kinsella also said the third party is in the process of applying for an extension of planning permission. Attending the meeting, Councillor Gerry Flynn, who had opposed the development, restated his opposition to it. After originally getting the green light from Clare county planners, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála and in 2009 it granted …

In a three-part series, Owen Ryan speaks to some of Clare’s leading business figures, beginning with Shannon Airport chief executive Neil Pakey. Next week, Irish Hotels Federation president Michael Vaughan of Lahinch will be featured   SHANNON’S performance is important for everyone in Clare. Many of us wouldn’t even live in the county but for it. If it weren’t for the tourists it brings to the county, huge numbers of jobs and businesses wouldn’t exist. Its Heathrow and US links have helped make the Mid-West of Ireland a hub for multi-national companies. The decline of the airport, which had its worst year since the ’80s in 2012, is a serious problem and a Scot has been brought in to get it back on track, 52-year-old Neil Pakey, the new chief executive, who was appointed in May. At the moment, he is commuting to Clare and heading back to Britain at the weekends, where his family are based. “My two boys …

MOST people watching the All-Ireland felt Clare were clearly the better team, but Cork’s top scorer got a little tetchy with journalists on the subject following the game. “We got three goals; ye’re criticising us all year for not getting goals, we get three and ye’re saying they’re better than us. What are ye on about like?” Pa Horgan asked with a laugh. An unfortunate reporter asked the Glen Rovers forward if the occasion had got to Cork and was met with a fairly blunt dismissal. “Why’s that? We were up by a point boy, how did it get to us? We were two seconds away from winning an All-Ireland; I don’t know what ye’re blowing on about really.” Horgan did acknowledge that things were not looking good during the second half, with Clare streaking away from the Rebels. “With about 15 or 20 minutes to go I thought it was going to be tough enough for us. They were …