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Breaking News

Late Late Show delight for Ennis Brass Band

VIEWERS tuning into Friday’s return of the Late Late Show to our screens were in for a big surprise when some very familiar faces were beamed to the nation. The popular Ennis Brass Band played a starring role in the opening sequence of the first show of the new season, playing its famous theme tune along with two other bands surrounded by dancers. Grainne Kearney of the Ennis Brass Band told The Champion they were sworn to secrecy about their involvement with the Late Late ahead of the broadcast, and they have been delighted with the reaction to their appearance. The filming was done in Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh GAA club with Grainne saying it was a fantastic experience for the band. Explaining how they got involved she said, “They got in touch and told us they wanted to do something to show that Ireland is up and running, that people are back doing their hobbies and enjoying themselves. I’m not …

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Councillor quits 2040 role after appealing against data centre

AN Ennis councillor has resigned from the company set up to deliver Ennis 2040 objectives having appealed to An Bord Pleanala against controversial plans for a €450 million data centre. Councillor Johnny Flynn made the announcement he was stepping down from the Ennis 2040 (Strategic Development) Designated Activity Company (DAC) at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. The development of a data centre at Toureen plays a central role in the Ennis 2040 plan where it is included among a number of ‘Transformational Projects’ for the county capital. Councillor Flynn told the meeting he did not want to “distract” from the Ennis 2040 DAC’s work after lodging his appeal against the development on the Tulla Road. He outlined that he has been engaged with the planning process for the site for a number of years including making a submission relating to its rezoning in 2019. Last month Art Data Centre Campus in Ennis became the first to be …

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Major issues for employers amid tight labour market conditions

AT the moment many companies are facing a slew of problems in terms of recruitment, retention and management of workers, according to Joe Robbins of Shannon-based CareerWise recruitment. Last week a poll suggested 63% of Irish workers were disengaged from their job, but Mr Robbins says that figure, while alarming, is actually an underestimate. “It’s far higher than that. Millennials, modern young people, they want more than just working from home, they want to be able to take time out to go to the gym or do charity work or whatever, there’s a huge disengagement around the world.” At the same time there is a huge demand for people, with labour shortages across various sectors. “The labour market is very, very tight now. You saw last week that Ireland has surpassed 2.5 million people working. “There’s a huge shortage of all sorts of people now; hospitality, production and manufacturing, finance, supply chain, R&D, there’s a shortage of people everywhere. It’s …

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Permission granted for major community facility in Quilty

KILMURRY Ibrickane Development Project CLG has been granted planning permission for a multi-purpose community development including a hall, gym, cafe, viewing area, enterprise space and car park at Pháirc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty. An architectural design statement which accompanied the application said, “Beyond the actual architectural and functional qualities of the building, the structure creates a balance and establishes a dialogue with the coastal location. The application noted that the paritcular area in the centre of the village was lacking a heart “and a space symbolically constituting the centre for all activities, a place to meet, talk and have fun”. They said the key idea was that the space can be used flexibly for community activities of various kinds giveing examples of meetings, conferences, entertainment, sports and group learning events. The structure, they wrote, is intended to meet the needs of the local and neighburing communities, surrounding schools as well as the local GAA club. “The proposed design creates a …

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Judge calls for ‘urgent’ interview of man on sex abuse allegation

A JUDGE has called on Gardai to interview a father accused of sexually abusing his daughter “as a matter of urgency”. At the Family Law Court, Judge Mary Larkin said, “I hate to say it but if the man went down to Supermacs and stole a burger he would probably be interviewed within the week”. Judge Larkin made her comment after solicitor, Pamela Clancy for the man said that it may be a number of months before Gardai interview her client on the matter. Ms Clancy said that there was a complaint made against the man to TUSLA of sexual abuse of his child two weeks after a circuit court judge struck out a family law appeal by the child’s mother. Ms Clancy said that an independent child expert last year recommended in a report that the father should have sole custody of his daughter. The estranged couple are currently going divorce proceedings and on the need by Gardai to …

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Clare hotel’s energy bill four times higher than in 2019

GREATLY increased energy prices are going to pose challenges not just for business this winter, but for everyone in the country, warns Allen Flynn, proprietor of the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis. “It is a very daunting time, for everybody, whether you’re in a one-bedroom flat or a four-bedroom house, whether you’re running a business or not, every citizen is going to be affected by this,” he says. Mr Flynn says while the Old Ground has cut energy usage in recent years, those savings will be more than wiped out this year. “In terms of ourselves here, what we’ve done over the last number of years is introduce a very strong energy consumption programme, so we can be as sustainable as possible. “That has brought significant reductions through LED lighting and everything like that. We’ve been very happy that our consumption has dropped. “But regardless of what we’ve managed to achieve in the last number of years, the fact is …

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Davy Fitzgerald on the lookout for Ireland’s Fittest Farmer

NOT content with finding Ireland’s Fittest Family, Davy Fitzgerald is now on the hunt for Ireland’s Fittest Farmer. The Clare hurling legend will be presiding over the competition which will be held at this year’s Irish National Ploughing Championships, at Ratheniska, County Laois, from September 20-22. The three-day event will see ploughmen and women from across Ireland compete to be named Ireland’s Fittest Farmer. The contest will be held as a fun way of sparking a vital discussion about the physical and mental health of the nation’s farmers, aiming to get all farmers thinking and talking about their health, physical and mental, to make sure they are in top condition to run their farm business. Davy, who has been busy filming the next season of Ireland’s Fittest Family as well as his own show, Davy’s Toughest Team, says he is “delighted to be attending the Ploughing Championships this year”. “I’m encouraging any competitive Irish farmers to come down to Zurich’s …

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Clare’s Covid-19 rate now second lowest in country

THE 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 in Clare has slumped dramatically to the second lowest in the country, new figures have revealed. The prevalence of the virus has fallen in recent months from a high of 208% on May 25 to just 55% in the last two weeks. This compared to Limerick, which is the fourth highest in the country with 120 cases per 100,000. The number of confirmed Covid-19 PCR cases in Clare is edging closer to 40,000, In total, there were 39,898 confirmed PCR cases in the Banner County on Wednesday following five new diagnoses on Tuesday. There were 66 PCR cases in the Banner county over the last two weeks and the 14-day incidence in the county per 100,000 is 55.5% These latest figures only include PCR confirmed cases of Covid-19 and don’t include those who register online with a positive antigen test.

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