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Newmarket Celtic and Avenue United have learned who they will face in Round Four of the FAI Junior Cup. Paddy Purcell’s side will face Shelburne United from Wexford while Avenue United will travel to Galway as they were paired with Tuam Celtic. Newmarket Celtic progressed through to this stage after a comfortable 3-0 win over Shannon Town last weekend. Two goals from Eoin Hayes, who recently represented his country as the Republic of Ireland qualified for the UEFA Regions Cup, ensured Newmarket avoided an upset. They overcame Classic FC in the second round of this competition when securing a facile 4-0 win. A Darragh Leahy hat trick coupled with a strike from Dean Hegarty saw Newmarket progress. In the opening round of this competition, Newmarket travelled to Kerry as they faced Mastergeeha FC. The Clare side secured a 4-1 win as Harvey Cullinan, Davy McCarthy, Dean Hegarty and Sean Perrill all found the target. Meanwhile, Avenue United face an away …

CLARE students have been warned about the dangers of becoming a ‘Money Mule’ by the county’s crime prevention officer. Sergeant Triona Brooks outlined, “If you act as a money mule you are helping international organised crime. You are helping them fund other crimes and funding their lifestyle.” She explained that a Money Mule is a person who allows their bank account to be used for the transfer of illegally-gotten money on behalf of others. They may also receive money into their bank account in order to withdraw it and wire it overseas. “Even if Money Mules are not involved in generating the money, they are acting illegally by laundering the proceeds of crime and helping criminal syndicates move their money around the world. It doesn’t matter where the money is stolen, it is a crime to launder the proceeds of crime in Ireland regardless of where the original crime occurred.” Money Mules are often recruited through social media or instant …

A CLARE mother whose son was diagnosed with Autism has spoken about the “life-changing” effect of access to respite and residential services. Mary Nolan whose son Liam has availed of RehabCare respite services for more than 20 years, was speaking as a new regional service offering up to 1,200 respite bed night opportunities for children and adults with severe and profound disabilities in the Mid-West region opened in the county. The new regional respite and residential service, which will support more than 100 adults and children, was opened on Friday in Clarecastle by the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Anne Rabbitte. Carrowgar is operated by RehabCare, the Care division of the Rehab Group. This service will support children and individuals with severe/profound learning difficulties, accompanying physical disabilities, complex medical and healthcare needs, and those who may have additional sensory impairments. The HSE Mid-West funds this new service to provide much-needed respite breaks for children and families responding to …

IT will be lights out early in the county capital this festive season in response to the ongoing energy crisis. The Ennis Municipal District has confirmed that while the town will have its traditional Christmas lights, the festive display will shine for a reduced number of hours each evening. Details of this year’s Christmas in Ennis programme were released at the monthly meeting of the local authority this week with plans including free parking initiatives, pedestrianisation, street radio, a Christmas village and the return of retro drive-in movies. The official turning on of Ennis’ Christmas lights will take place on Friday, November 25 in Abbey Street Carpark, with the lights to stay on for 12 hours from 3pm to 3am every day. The move to reduce the time of the lights in a bid to conserve energy was welcomed by councillors at the meeting, with Deputy Mayor Mary Howard quipping, “We do our best to be on the nice list …

CLARE County Council has said that it is continuing to engage with national government and the Housing Agency on the new scheme for homeowners with defective blocks.  Despite the fact that the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme was extended to Clare and Limerick last June, the grant has still not opened to homeowners in the Mid-West. The scheme itself was revised through legislation signed by the President in July, but is still not operational in the four counties it covers. Last week, angry homeowners, facing another winter of uncertainty, told Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien of their frustration at being “trapped” in their unsafe homes. They also appealed to him to give a date for the opening of the new scheme.  In response to a query from The Champion, the Council said it is still awaiting clarity on the role of each local authority. “Since the approved inclusion of County Clare properties onto the Defective Concrete Block Redress Scheme, we are continuing to engage with …

AUTHOR John Connell will be the special guest at this year’s annual Clare Reads Day 2022 this Friday, November 11. Every year, Clare Libraries celebrates the work of an Irish author by encouraging the whole community to read a chosen book by that author. The chosen author this year is John Connell, author of The Cow Book and The Running Book. Clare Reads Day will feature John’s latest book, The Stream of Everything, published earlier this year by Gill Books. The Stream of Everything is an account of a two-day trip along the Camlin River in a kayak during lockdown with a close friend. The rich biodiversity of the river forms a quiet backdrop to John’s much-loved philosophical observations. Book Clubs around Clare will read and discuss John’s book together ahead of attending a special author event in Scariff Library. Clare Reads Day also includes a special author event in Scariff Library. John will be interviewed by Jim O’Brien, journalist …

A RECENT upsurge in the theft of catalytic converters has led gardaí in Clare to warn vehicle owners to be on the alert. At the end of last month, on October 28 at 2am, two males were seeing leaving the Rath Ban estate on the Tulla Road, Ennis after taking a catalytic converter from a car in the estate. And at 2.15am on the same night another converter was stolen from a car parked at Woodfield, Broadford. Meanwhile on October 25 between 10.30pm and 11.30pm the catalytic converter was stolen from a car parked in a shed at the rear of a house in Derreen, Miltown Malbay. “The increase in these thefts is a reflection of the rise in price of palladium and rhodium metals,” explained Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks. She advised motorists, “Defensive parking near a wall can make jacking up a vehicle difficult making this type of theft more difficult too. If you have a garage …

THE Wings music festival was a big hit in Shannon this summer, and plans are in train to have another one in 2023 – but this time it will be a winter event. Damian O’Rourke was behind this summer’s event, which went down very well and he explained the thinking behind the reboot. “After Wings, a few of us met to see what had worked well, what could we do better for next year. After that I started thinking about it being on in the summer, and with there being so much else on in the summer, it might be better as a winter festival. “We decided to go with the last Monday to Sunday in February, the 21st to the 26th. There is a lot on in the summer and in Shannon the gigs are mainly indoors, so if there’s a spell of sunny weather it can be harder to get people to come. In February it’ll be dark …