Breaking News

IT is expected that new cost-saving measures, potentially redundancies, will be announced at Moneypoint within days. While an announcement had been expected on Thursday of this week, that has now been deferred to next Monday and staff at the plant are very concerned. One long-time employee told The Clare Champion on Wednesday that he has never seen morale as low at Moneypoint, with huge uncertainty about what the future will hold. This year has already seen significant cutbacks, with the vast majority of contractors at the plant already having been let go, while it is understood that at the moment the plant is almost devoid of personnel each weekend. Ireland is due to finish generating electricity from the burning of coal by 2025 and Moneypoint reportedly uses in the region of two million tonnes of coal per annum. In a statement on Wednesday, the ESB said it was “committed to engaging and communicating with stakeholders” on the challenges faced by …

My friends at the Dogs Trust charity have come up with a wonderful idea I want to tell you about. Next Friday week, June 21, is Dog Friendly Ireland Day, a day when all business owners are encouraged to open up their premises to us canines. We’ve a lot of work to do in this area. Despite 40% of all households in Ireland taking the enlightened decision to have a dog about the place, we lag far behind the rest of Europe when it comes to dog-friendly facilities. When I went on holidays to Devon and Cornwall a few years ago – come to think of it, it’s high time I went back – everywhere I went I was welcomed with open arms. Nearly every pub, café or restaurant had a sign that said ‘Well behaved dogs welcome’. I’m always well behaved and it was lovely to sit under a chair while my humans enjoyed a drink or meal and …

SHANNON Group has acknowledged that its already disappointing passenger numbers will dip further in 2019. In a statement on Wednesday, low-cost airline Norwegian said it won’t run any services from Shannon for the rest of this year. “Due to the continued grounding of the Boeing 737 Max by the European aviation authorities, our flights to and from Cork and Shannon will be re-routed via Dublin for the remainder of the summer season. Cork is a seasonal route and the reduced availability of aircraft has led to the removal of Shannon services this winter.” Later on Wednesday, Shannon Group also released a statement, which said, “The worldwide grounding of the 737 Max aircraft is having a serious impact for Shannon passengers. “Proportionally, no other Irish airport has such a high level of activity operated by the 737 Max aircraft. At peak, this aircraft type would have operated 13 weekly flights from Shannon to North America. “We now estimate that the loss …

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has now left Clare, flying from Shannon Airport earlier this afternoon. Shannon Group Chairman, Rose Hynes was one of the last people to speak to him before his flight left, and she said the trip had been a great boost to the region. “The visit of the American President Donald Trump to Shannon further illustrates the deep ties between the West of Ireland and the United States. “Shannon is the gateway airport to the Wild Atlantic Way and is critical for tourism and indeed, business in this region, not least in the context of the huge US multi-national footprint here. The visit has been a huge sign-post for Shannon, something that will grow awareness of the airport as the premier access to this wonderful part of Ireland.”

“HE was so sound like, he was telling us to stay in school, had we any interest in golf, were there any future Taoiseachs around.” This was one of 16 year old Abbi Shanahan’s memories of meeting President Donald Trump on Friday, as he took a moment from his round of golf at Doonbeg to meet with children from Clohane National School and various members of the Shanahan clan, who were nearby. Abbi’s grandfather, Kevin Shanahan, has land next to the ninth hole, and members of the family went there on Friday as the President was negotiating the course. Her aunt Aideen O’Mahony is Principal of Clohanes National School, and she brought all the children and the school’s staff up there for the occasion. They never expected they would actually get to meet President Trump, but it came about unexpectedly, as Abbi’s 13 year old sister Lucy described. “A secret service person said you can move up a bit, then …

EXCITEMENT is gripping West Clare again this morning, with strong rumours that First Lady Melania Trump will visit Doonbeg national school. Numerous journalists and photographers are currently in the school’s car park, in the hopes that she will visit at some point during the day. There is still very tight security around Doonbeg, with Garda checkpoints on the approach roads, while an exclusion zone is still in operation close to Trump International. It is understood that Mr Trump began a round of golf at around 10am this morning. There is a very unique atmosphere in the centre of the village today, with numerous media personnel and Gardai present, vastly outnumbering the locals. President Trump did not visit the village last night, despite hopes earlier in the day that he would do so. However White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was one of a party that came down from the hotel, enjoying the hospitality in Comerford’s pub.

Councillor Cathal Crowe will fly to the top table in Clare County Council tomorrow afternoon when he is elected as the its next first citizen after councillors hammered out a new power-sharing deal. There were fears that the 15-year power-sharing pact, which was in operation since 2004 was coming to an end after Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independent Technical Alliance failed to agree on a new deal earlier this week. However, intensive talks late on Wednesday night broke the logjam and ensured power-sharing will continue for another five years. Councillor Cathal Crowe is delighted to get the opportunity to succeed Councillor Michael Begley as Clare County Council chairman at the local authority’s annual general meeting on Friday afternoon. “I feel hugely honoured and excited to be at the cusp of taking on this important leadership role and I promise to give it 110%,” he said. Councillor Crowe’s elevation as the next council chairman is a timely boost for …

ERIC Trump and Donald Trump Junior, the sons of United States President, Donald Trump came to Doonbeg to press the flesh on Wednesday night, and what a welcome they got. The two businessmen went into every pub in the village and were met with rapturous applause and shouts of “welcome”, which were only heightened when they announced to the patrons that they were buying everyone a drink. There was much anticipation throughout the town as the evening wore on that the brothers would venture into the village, as they are known to come in on occasion when they are staying in the hotel. When a group of secret service staff came to dine at Morrissey’s pub, the locals quickly gathered outside the bar and restaurant expecting the Trumps to also emerge. It was nearly an hour before they did make their appearance and the long wait had some villagers worrying about missing ‘Love Island’, while another older gentleman commented, ‘Who …