A PLANNED debate about overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick was deferred at a meeting on Tuesday when there were 84 patients on trolleys in the hospital, a number that rose to 100 this Wednesday. Councillor Liam Grant and Councillor Seamus Morris had tabled a motion calling for the consistent overcrowding to be addressed by reversing the closure of Emergency Departments at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital at a HSE West Forum meeting on Tuesday. However, the councillors decided to defer any discussion on this motion due to the lack of any representative from the UL Hospitals’ Group at the meeting. Overcrowding continues to be a problem at the regional flagship acute hospital where the number of patients on trolleys soared to 100 on Wednesday. According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation Trolley Watch, this was almost twice the number of patients on trolleys in Letterkenny where were were 54 patients on trolleys and was also much higher than …

SUBCONTRACTORS and construction suppliers throughout Clare are owed substantial sums of money following the announcement construction giant Roadbridge is going into receivership, leaving the future of its 630 workforce and a further 1,000 indirect positions in jeopardy. The Limerick-headquartered civil engineering and construction firm, which traded for over half a century, sent shock waves throughout the Mid-West when it requested Bank of Ireland on Friday to appoint Grant Thornton as receivers as result of insurmountable financial challenges. This decision also places a major question mark over when projects like the €58 million Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road will be fully completed following the company’s serious financial difficulties. Residents in South-East Clare are becoming increasingly concerned this unexpected setback will result in years of a delay or may even scupper the project entirely for the foreseeable future. It is understood half of the first phase of this major piece of road infrastructure is properly finished. Concerns had been raised when the company, …

  PEOPLE in Lahinch are mourning the loss of a community leader following the passing of Tomsie O’Sullivan. The long serving community activist died at his residence in Doonboy, Station Road, Lahinch, on St Patrick’s Day. After reposing in Lahinch Church on Friday, his Funeral Mass took place on Saturday morning before burial afterwards in the Old Cemetery, Ennistymon. While Tomsie was involved with numerous community organisations for decades, he is synonymous with the RNLI, who presented him with a Long Service Award for reaching 58 years with the organisation last September. The RNLI was very much a family affair as Tomsie’s children used to help him with church gate collections and flag days.   In an interview with the Clare Champion last year, Tomsie estimated the Lahinch branch used to raise between €6,000 to €8,000 annually over a 28-year period. Born in Main Street, Tomsie’s father, Thomas, who was a carpenter fell off a roof in the early fifties …

Ukrainian teenager pleads with her mother prior to fleeing bloody conflict A Ukrainian refugee, who is now living in Ennis, has revealed her eldest daughter asked to be killed because she didn’t want to die during the bloody war. Maryna Biriukova-Stefaniuk is one of five Ukrainian adults and five children who are now residing with her friend Mariya Nikishanova in Park Avenue, Ennis. The 35 year-old mother was forced to flee Kyiv with her two daughters, Anna-Mariya (9) and Solomiia (13) due to safety concerns. In a heart-wrenching interview with The Clare Champion, Maryna said she wanted to stay close to her husband but her eldest daughter, Solomiia started crying and pleaded with her “please kill me because I don’t want to die”. “She was hysterical, she couldn’t stop crying and was hiding under a coat. It was very very scary. There were lots of tears. We decided we would leave. We had 30 minutes to pack all of our …