Breaking News

CLARE pharmacists have been left in dark about future vaccine deliveries for young people in the 18 to 34-year old cohort, writes Dan Danaher. Sean Hurst of Hurst Pharmacy Kilkee expects to get another delivery of between 100 to 150 vaccines on Monday week, having spoken to a HSE representative. Mr Hurst pointed out pharmacies don’t choose or order vaccines and noted the HSE will be monitoring the administration of vaccines in pharmacies once they are recorded on a central system to see how fast they are being given. Speaking to the Clare Champion, he said if pharmacies were using up their vaccine supply quickly they may get a higher allocation for their next delivery. “The HSE’s supply chain is also limited. I have half of my vaccine delivery on Monday used up for the 18 to 34 year olds after just two days. I needed about four times what I am getting. “Some young people have their name down …

THERE was some concern last week after people working on surveying for the new Shannon flood relief scheme were seen taking photos of local houses. Councillor Donna McGettigan said, “A few people had said that they had seen people taking pictures of their houses. My Mum went out and asked them had they ID, they said they didn’t, and she said you really should have ID. I rang our Shannon MD office about it, because there are so many scams happening.” She said there had been some communication, but not everyone had been informed. “One resident sent me a letter that he received. There are letters going around, but not everybody received the letters and people are suspicious of these people taking pictures of their house.” She said people would be accepting if they were aware of the reasons. “If they knew what it was about it’d be okay, they’re not asking to come in or anything, but they are …

Clare TD questions county’s exclusion from pyrite scheme review THE Tanáiste has said that homeowners in Clare, whose properties are being damaged by pyrite, will have to be included in efforts to assess the effectiveness of a State-supported remediation scheme. Leo Varadkar made his remarks in response to a Dáil question from Deputy Violet Anne Wynne who voiced concern as to why a working group, set up to review the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, had failed to include a representative from this county. The Clare Sinn Féin TD said that while the establishment of the group was a positive move, the government could not continue to ignore the people of this county. “I would like to know why a representative from the Clare pyrite group was not invited and included,” she said. “This is completely unacceptable, disheartening and, quite simply, not good enough. It has taken 12 years to get to this point for those affected in Mayo and …

AFTER 17 years as principal of St Senan’s, Sally O’Neill is retiring next month. Living in Quin, Sally had taught in Ballycar before taking the job at St Senan’s, which she found very rewarding. “I reallly enjoyed it, it was a central part of my life. I worked with fantastic teachers really, the group that were there when I started had great experience and I learned from them. “The deputy principals I worked with were all absolutely super. Midway through my time at St Senan’s there were a lot of changes, and the teachers we had were a fantastic team; hard-working, dedicated, professional people. It was just a joy. “I didn’t know anything really about Shannon when I started there and the people of Drumgeely were so welcoming to me. They were generous in spirit and every way, we did a lot of fundraising for the school, the Parents’ Association always rowed in. There was great spirit and great heart, …

THE Cliffs of Moher welcomed some very special guests on Friday with the arrival of two Dublin teenagers who had just completed a mammoth journey. Friends Scott Ward and Derek O’Brien reached the cliffs after walking for six days from Coolock in Dublin, 250km, for charity. The pair had been sharing their journey across social media, touching the nation with their epic endeavour and raising more than €70,000 to date. Arriving at the Cliffs of Moher the 19-year-olds paid tribute to all who came to welcome them saying, “Thank you all so much for coming to the cliffs yesterday in the rain. It was an absolute pleasure seeing everybody and I can’t thank you all enough for the experience.” The youngsters had raised the funds for Abacas Kilbarrack Special School, where Scott’s cousin Lucas attends. “I know the amazing work they do each time I see Lucas in his progression. This school is amazing and I wanted to say thank …

CLARE finally banished their championship hoodoo at the grade following a facile 2-20 to 0-15 victory over Kerry in Austin Stack Park in Tralee this evening, writes Eoin Brennan. A slick first half display crowned by a late blitz of goals through Oisin O’Donnell and Shane Punch allied to six Diarmuid Cahill points from play ensured an unassailable 2-15 to 0-05 half-time cushion. However, one would be forgiven for thinking that the teams swapped jerseys at the break as Kerry snatched the whip hand on the turnover and deservedly outscored a rudderless Banner by 0-10 to 0-05. Not that there was ever any doubt about the result but it certainly left a bitter aftertaste that will need to be rectified by next Monday when Sean Doyle’s side make the much shorter trip to the LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick for a Shannonside derby semi-final showdown. Strong displays from Shane Punch and Oisin O’Donnell were accentuated by the constant threat of …

TWO contemporary Clare musicians are set to collaborate with their musical heroes from times past as part of an innovative new project which will premiere on Culture Night this September. The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) and the Arts Office of Clare County Council have announced that the second Duala: Creator-in-Residence Scheme has been awarded to joint applicants Tara Breen and Nuala Kennedy. The pair have been working on Ag Lorg Ár Líne – Clare Women: Listening and Performing will premiere online on Friday, September 17, as part of Culture Night 2021. They have been listening deeply to archival recordings of their female predecessors, and are attempting to ‘collaborate remotely’ across time and space with some of their County Clare musical foremothers: Kitty Hayes, song/concertina; Nell Galvin, fiddle; Mary Haren, concertina; and singer Nora Cleary.  Through creative use of digital archival recordings, Nuala and Tara will explore and reimagine the details and subtleties of the music of these influential women …

GARDAÍ in Clare have issued a renewed appeal for witnesses to a road traffic collision in which a cyclist was injured. The incident occurred just over one month ago in Ennis, on Tuesday, June 8, at Clare Road. A female cyclist reported that while she was cycling inbound on the Clare road towards Ennis town she collided with a vehicle while travelling around a roundabout. The vehicle, an older model gold coloured Volkswagen Passat, pulled in front of her exiting the roundabout causing the collision. The Passat was travelling towards the Hawthorns Estate from the Clare road. The cyclist suffered minor injuries. The incident occurred on Tuesday, June 8 at Clare Road, Ennis and gardaí are asking anybody with information to contact Ennis Garda Station at 065 6848100.