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CLARE County Council has identified 26 sites with development potential in the Killaloe Municipal District (KMD) following a review of vacant properties and derelict locations. A house at No. 4 An Garrán, Mountshannon is one of the first notices for the proposed compulsory acquisition of derelict sites by the council. The other properties, outside Killaloe MD, are House No. 3 St Senan’s Terrace, Kilrush, a house at Cloughleigh Road, Ennis, and a house at 111 Dun na hInse, Claureen, Ennis. The Vacant Homes Team of the council is currently assessing vacant properties using data from the Geo Directory. In co-ordination with the four Municipal Districts, a targeted focus on a number of towns and village centres across the county has commenced. Councillor Pat Hayes requested an update on the present situation regarding vacant and derelict properties in towns and villages in the KMD at a recent meeting. The Fianna Fáil Councillor welcomed the council’s recent drive to address dereliction and …

ORGANISERS of the Fleadh Nua festival in Ennis were “devastated” over the closure of the Rowan Tree hostel, a meeting has been told. Calls were made at an Ennis Municipal District meeting for action to be taken to secure tenants for empty business premises in the town. The hostel on Harmony Row is just one of a number of high profile businesses which have closed in recent years in the county capital, with Councillor Pat Daly insisting, “Ennis can’t afford to lose business.” Speaking at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District the councillor urged the local authority to co-ordinate with Ennis Chamber and the owners of properties with a view to securing new tenants. Alongside the Rowan Tree which closed in October, he recalled the other locations which have shut their doors, Food Haven, O’Brien’s deli and Twomey-Walsh. Councillor Daly recalled how in a recent conversation with organisers of Fleadh Nua they outlined the closure of the Rowan Tree …

WITH route options now under consideration for the Scariff to Limerick Greenway, members of the public are being encouraged to make their views known at a series of consultation clinics Five consultation sessions are being run between April 26 and May 5 at which local communities, landowners and other stakeholders can make submissions on, and inform themselves about, the Shannon Greenway cycle This follows the completion of a feasibility and constraints report by a working group which includes representatives from Waterways Ireland, Clare County Council and Limerick City and County Council. According to Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey, it is essential that stakeholders make their views known at this stage of the process. “The success of this project will depend on the level of public engagement to take account of local knowledge and preferences. It is essential that the Greenway is regarded as a community asset as much as a significant visitor attraction.” “I would strongly encourage local people …

THE Saint Flannan’s College Space Settlement Design team are over the moon having once again proven themselves to be out of this world in an international NASA competition. The team, made up of five students, have been awarded the highest honour in the NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest beating thousands of entries from around the world. Fifth year physics students, Adam Downes, Cian Pyne, Naem Haq, Jack O’Connor and Garabhan Monahan now have the opportunity to present their idea at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Washington next month. After more than a decade of winning major awards in the most senior category of the prestigious international contest they have built on their previous successes and been awarded the the much-coveted Grand Prize. Their project was judged to be the overall winner from a field of 17,000 participating students who submitted over 3,000 entries. Entries came from 22 countries around the world. The competition brief is to design an …

A YOUNG jockey has told how she was inspired by a late Killaloe girl with special needs to resume riding in her memorial race, a few months after receiving her own Epilepsy diagnosis. Ali O’Brien (14) Tullaheady, Nenagh, was thrilled to win the Brianna Lynch Memorial Cup at the North Tipperary Foxhounds Point-to-Point at Lisboney, Nenagh recently. In November 2019, Brianna Lynch (9) died in her sleep from SUDEP – Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy – leaving her family devastated. Her mother, Arabella Scanlan, a well-known Killaloe horse trainer, provided Ali with one of her horses, Bridget, to ride in the memorial race for her daughter, a few weeks after the teenager had decided to get back on a horse following her own Epilepsy diagnosis in December 2021. Ali didn’t want to go back riding in December and January in the wake of her Epilepsy diagnosis. When her medication wasn’t working, Ali often wondered was this how Brianna, who was …

Michael O’Connor witnessed a powerful show of tackling and shooting from Kerry side Mercy Mounthawk Tralee who defeated the Ennis school 3-11 to 0-7 A POWERFUL show of football tackling and impressive forward play led by Paddy Lane and Odhran Ferris ensured Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee defeated St Flannan’s College in the Frewen Cup. The Munster post Primary schools U16A Frewen Cup final was played in the perfectly appointed Feenagh in Limerick on Friday afternoon. The winners accounted for St Brendan’s, Killarney, in their semi final whilst the Ennis college overcame Croom. 12 of the Ennis school’s starters were going for the Munster double having won the Dean Ryan before Christmas. Flannans played against the strong wind in the first half but were unsettled by the near senior standard tackling offered up by the Kerry side. It forced numerous errors by a diligent Clare school side and closed off any avenue for goal chances throughout the game. Only for the heroics …

A NINE-DAY walk by a group of environmental activists to draw attention to the climate and biodiversity crisis will begin at Ennis this Saturday, April 9. The Climate Justice Caravan will be walking across Munster, from Ennis to Tarbert, for climate justice and the rights of nature taking in a number of sites in the Banner County facing environmental challenges. The group is made up of members from, and supported by, the Glasgow Agreement, Extinction Rebellion, Futureproof Clare, Rights of Nature Ireland, Cappagh Farmers Support Group, Keep Tulla Untouched, Safety Before LNG, Friends of Ardee Bog, Irish Seed Savers Association, Ecojustice Ireland, Unite Community Climate Justice branch, and Cultivate. The Caravan will walk from Ennis to Tulla to Scarriff, until it meets the River Shannon at Killaloe. It will then proceed alongside the river through Clonlara, Shannon Banks, Mungret, Curraghchase, Aughinish Alumina, Knockpatrick, and finally Tarbert. Along the nine-day journey, the Climate Justice Caravan will be visiting locations linked to …

A SITE visit of University Hospital Limerick (UHL) found permissive boarding with beds placed “anytime, anywhere, even and including mixed gender” five months before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new unpublished report has revealed. Serious questions about the model of care being adopted in UHL were highlighted in a draft report – “Review of Unscheduled Care Performance” concerning nine public hospitals, which has been released by the Irish Patients’ Association. Chaired by Prof Tom Keane, former President of the RCSI and joint National Lead Clinical Programme in Surgery, the review team, included external clinical and management expertise from NHS Scotland, the Scottish Government and NHS England. They visited nine public acute hospitals including UHL and Galway University Hospitals from August 16, 2019 to November 18, 2019. Overcrowding continues to be a problem in UHL, with 95 patients on trolleys in the hospital on Wednesday, April 6, which once again was the highest in the country. UHL had 36 …