A South-East Clare primary school teacher has scooped a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study in the USA. Eimear Millane has won the Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship (FLTA) scholarship to teach in the University of Connecticut for ten months. One of the 40  Fulbright Irish Awardees, Eimear was presented with her award at a ceremony in Iveagh House, Dublin, recently in recognition of the excellence of her study and research. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Eimear recalled she completed an interview for this scholarship last January, having applied the previous October. Under the Fulbright Programme, she will be teaching Irish as a minority language in the University of Connecticut for ten months, having opted to take a career break from her current job as a primary school teacher in Bunscoil Bhríde in Co. Kildare, where she oversees the Coiste Gaelach. The scholarship covers her flights and accommodation, while she will also be paid during her time as a teacher. …

A FORMER Bus Eireann bus inspector from Killaloe has driven to the top of Clare County Council. Councillor Tony O’Brien was elected unopposed as Clare’s next first citizen without a vote as part of the power-sharing arrangement that was first brokered in 2004 at the annual general meeting in Ennis on Friday.   The former Smith O’Brien GAA club secretary replaced Councillor P J Ryan, who was lauded for being a great ambassador for the county over the past year. Councillor O’Brien was proposed by his Fianna Fáil colleague, Councillor Pat Hayes and seconded by Joe Cooney, Fine Gael, while Councillor Gerry Flynn, Independent also expressed his support. Councillor Ann Norton was elected as vice-chairperson for the next year, succeeding Councillor Joe Killeen. In his wide-ranging address following his election, Councillor O’Brien pledged to work in partnership with the Shannon Group to attract further investment and more traffic through Shannon Airport. The Killaloe resident promised to continue progressing the proposed …

    Jet ski operators, who drive at excessive speed on Lough Derg, are putting the lives of swimmers at risk, Killaloe Coast Guard has warned. Killaloe Coast Guard was tasked to assist local gardai deal with jet skis being operated at dangerous speeds near Killaloe Bridge on Monday and Tuesday. A number of vessels were requested to return to the relevant slipways and the owners were spoken to by Gardai. A Coast Guard spokesman told the Clare Champion that some jet ski operators were driving at speed of up to 60 kilometres an hour near Killaloe Bridge in a speed limit area of about five kilometres. He said some jet skis were doing “doughnuts”, which is akin to doing a hand break turn on the water, which in turn creates a backwash that causes issues for boats being knocked against jetties and swimmers. During periods of hot weather, he said large numbers of young teenagers are congregating and swimmers …

ONE of the 60 patients in the Emergency Department at UHL was waiting more than 116 hours for a hospital bed, an inspection report completed by the Health Information and Equality Authority has found. Inspectors who visited UHL unannounced on March 15 found a second was waiting over 85 hours and a third was waiting 71 hours. Hospital management told inspectors that all three patients were awaiting suitable in-patient isolation facilities. Performance data on the patient experience time collected on the day of HIQA’s inspection was poor. The data showed that at 11.30am the hospital was not compliant with any of the national key performance indicators for the emergency department set by the HSE. At that time 76 patients (55%) attendees to the emergency department were in the department for more than six hours after registration. Over half (51%) of the attendees to the emergency department were in the department for more than nine hours after registration. Just over one …

FIRE safety reports are not being adhered to in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) due to chronic overcrowding, a nursing union has claimed. In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) called on the Health and Safety Authority to act on the “unsafe conditions” affecting nurses and patients. It has also emerged that the union is considering consulting its members on the possibility of balloting for industrial action. “The dignity of patients is often diminished because of the conditions they are being treated in,” the INMO states. “Emergency Departments are pressure cooker environments leading to the physical and verbal assault of our members in some instances. “The HSE has a duty to provide a safe environment for employees and patients and this just is not being adhered to in the vast majority of hospitals. “Our nurses are at the end of our tether, and they cannot provide the clinical care that is required. They …

TWO Kilkee residents have poured cold water on plans by Fáilte Ireland and Clare County Council to locate WC, shower and changing rooms facilities for water-based activities in the town. Serious questions have been raised in an objection lodged with An Bord Pleanála about the proposed location of this development and whether there has been a proper assessment of alternative sites or the use of existing buildings. The submission by Michael Nolan, solicitor and his wife, Mary O’Dowd, East End, Kilkee claimed no evidence has been produced that there is a need for the proposed facility. Their submission also states that the site selection is incorrect, unsuitable and contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area. They further claim there are more than sufficient facilities already in existence, both in terms of existing buildings and alternative sites, if it is accepted at all that the proposal is acceptable. This development is based on a proposal from Fáilte …

RECRUITING general practitioners in the Mid-West has become more challenging due to the national shortage of family doctors, the Mid-West HSE has warned. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, Mid-West Community Healthcare acknowledged it is facing a recruitment and retention challenge in this speciality. There are currently 216 General Medical Services GMS GPs in the Mid-West. Over the next seven years, 24 GPs (11%) will reach the age of 72, whilst 64 GPs (30%) will reach the age of 65. The growing population, ageing demographics and the extension of GP visit card eligibility on an incremental basis is also placing an increased demand on GPs. There is evidence of a significant undersupply of GPs in Ireland at present, and these issues are likely to persist. By 2025, the predicted shortage of GPs in Ireland will range from 493 to 1,380. More than a third of doctors working as GPs are not on the Medical Council’s Specialist Register of …

TEN FORMER Doolin Coast Guard volunteers, with at least 155 years of experience between them, still haven’t received a meaningful response almost six weeks after offering to return as a group to facilitate a proper working of the unit. On May 3, the ten members sent an expression of interest to return to the unit as a group in response to correspondence issued by the national Coast Guard on April 14 last. “As a collective group with many years of experience and relevant IRCG qualifications we feel that this interview process is unnecessary. “Since the “standing down” of the unit, we are and have been available to return to active duties of Doolin Coast Guard as a group. “With immediate effect we can facilitate the return of the Doolin Coast Guard Unit to full operational capacity in all competencies,” they stated. Apart from an email requesting clarification whether the members wanted to participate in the recruitment process on an individual …