HORSE enthusiasts from all over the country have rallied to support a race in memory of a young Killaloe girl with special needs who touched the lives of countless people. In November 2019, Brianna Lynch (9) died in her sleep from SUDEP, Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, leaving her family devastated. Her mother, Arabella Scanlan, a well-known Killaloe horse trainer, has organised the Brianna Lynch Memorial Cup for any rider aged 18 or under as part of the North Tipperary Foxhounds Point-to-Point, which is the last race on Sunday, February 19 at Lisboney, Nenagh at 1pm. Depending on numbers, the race may be split in two for riders aged 14 and under and for those aged 14 to 18. Entries opened last weekend on Plain Sailing for the third year of this competition. Numerous spot prizes have been donated by local businesses, friends, horse racing enthusiasts and people who only met Brianna once. Stephanie Cunningham travels from Cork for the …

A HOSPITAL campaigner has stated she doesn’t want to receive any more treatment in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) for her ongoing kidney problems due to previous alleged bad experiences. Inga Ammonsen, who grew up in Killaloe, requests her consultant to see her in St John’s Hospital because she doesn’t want to go to UHL after her son, Daniel, who was a qualified chef, died there on February 21, 2021. The 58-year old mother-of-two is still waiting for an inquest because he died suddenly. Living on her own in Limerick City, her left kidney is barely functioning due to disease. About four years ago, she attended a public meeting organised by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign in the Mechanics Institute in Hartstone Street, Limerick, and has actively campaigned with the group since then. She was one of the 100 people who participated in a vigil outside UHL on New Year’s Eve and also attended the recent hospital demonstration in Limerick City. She …

MOTORISTS have been urged to avoid parking on narrow access roads to amenities in the Killaloe area after the local fire service encountered difficulties during a recent rescue. Killaloe Fire and Rescue Service was tasked on a call to provide assistance to an injured person on the trail up to Moylussa recently. There have been occasions when firemen would be requested to bring a casualty out of the woods into the ambulance. In this case, the casualty was near the road on the way up to the mountain. Due to careless parking, firemen were not able to use their fire engine and had to instead use their fire truck. The ambulance was just about able to squeeze through with very little to spare. Killaloe Station Officer, Graham Tuohy recalled the difficulties local firemen encountered. “It wasn’t ideal. It was the upper car park where we encountered the difficulty. As luck would have it the van went up first and they …

A WEST Clare councillor has called for the reclassification of regional roads in the district to facilitate more regular gritting during a cold snap. Councillor Murphy proposed the R487, R488 between Kilkee, Carrigaholt and Kilbaha, and the R473 between Kildysart and Labasheeda, be included as strategic regional routes in future winter service plans as Priority Two. Speaking at a recent West Clare Municipal District meeting, Councillor Murphy said these two strategic regional routes were not included in the Winter Plan for treating roads, despite the fact they served significant populations. The Kilkee Councillor said the R487 is effectively a main road to the Loop Head Peninsula for about 3,000 people. “These roads should be treated as Priority Two, which means their treatment will not be done on an ad-hoc basis. This would ensure they are a core part of the treatment of roads rather than we will get to them if we can. “This is exactly the kind of stuff …

MORE than six Whole Time Equivalent posts were vacant in different health disciplines of the West Clare Community Healthcare Network (CHN), new figures have revealed. The Mid-West Community Healthcare has confirmed the CHN manager post was vacant at the end of November for the West Clare CHN, which covers a population of 70,652 in Ennis, Ennistymon, Kilkee and Kilrush. A GP lead working one day a week was also vacant, while there was 1.1 Whole Time Equivalent absent in Occupational Therapy Services in this network, 2.1 WTE short in Physiotherapy Services where eight WTE were filled by agency and three more WTE were required in Dietetics Services. The East Clare CHN covering a population of 33,945 in East Clare, Shannon and Sixmilebridge also had one administrative support WTE vacant; it required a GP lead and had no Podiatry Services staff as this speciality was covered by the West Clare CHN. Ballina and Killaloe are covered by the East Limerick CHN …

THE proposed development of a new wind farm near Bridgetown will result in an average of one truck passing the village every 90 seconds during an eight-hour day, a local lobby group has claimed. RWE Renewables Ireland has submitted a planning application to construct eight wind turbines with a blade tip height range from 169 metres to 176 metres, a hub height range from 102 to 110 metres and a rotor diameter of 138 meters, the length of a GAA pitch. It will also involve the construction of a large compound in Roadstone, Ballymena, alterations on the road layout of regional road R466 between O’Briensbridge Cross and Ballymena and excavation of 11 kilometres of road from Ballymena to facilitate the laying of power cables to Ardnacrusha Power Station. Plans have been submitted for a ten-year construction phase for eight turbines with a 35-year operational life once commissioned with a total output of 38 megawatts. The Fahybeg Information Group has warned …

SEVERAL roads on the Wild Atlantic Way are “not fit for purpose” due to the increasing number of coach tours and vehicles using these routes, a local councillor has claimed. In light of the success of the Wild Atlantic Way and in particular the ever-increasing popularity of the route along the West Coast of Clare, improvement funding has been sought. Councillor Joe Garrihy has called on The West Clare MD to write to Fáilte Ireland, and the ministers for Tourism and Transport to seek appropriate ring-fenced and increased allocation of funding to upgrade, maintain and bring to appropriate standard the road surface, markings, lay-bys and roadside boundaries along this route. “The international marketing and resulting increased traffic along with ever increasing numbers of large coach tours on this route is bringing a usage and scale of wear and tear at a level, which requires ring-fenced funding over and above the standard roads allocation to ensure a quality product and experience …

THE national Coast Guard has been called upon by an independent senator to explain why it sacked ten people who remained in the Doolin Coast Guard Unit. Speaking at a meeting organised by the Irish Coast Guard Volunteer Representative Association (ICGVRA) in the Bellbridge Hotel on Saturday, Senator Gerard Craughwell said the rationale will either stand or fall based on the Coast Guard’s explanation. He said the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport could investigate why private and confidential information provided by Doolin members during previous meetings with outside consultants was given to independent mediator, Kieran Mulvey. The senator advised members to apply on an individual basis to the Information Commissioner asking how this information was passed on and if there was a breach of GDPR. “If there has been a breach of GDPR, then everything that stems from this breach is no longer valid. The GDPR issue is one that only the Information Commissioner can answer. There are questions that …