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A PLANNING decision on a proposed €20 million development by Lidl Ireland in Ennis has been put on hold with further information being sought from the developers. Clare County Council raised a number of concerns about the proposed development including its potential “adverse impact” on the town centre. The further information request means the decision process will be paused until a response is received within six months. Lidl is seeking planning permission for the development of a new store and mixed-use development at the junction of the Clare Road (R458) and Toberteascain Road, which, if given the go-ahead, will include 20 residential apartments, a café and two commercial units. According to the discount supermarket giant if given the green light the development will create 30 local jobs along with 100 more during construction. In the further information request the planning authority acknowledged that the proposal is largely in response to the zoning objectives of the site. It stated however, “Having regard …

SIX Clare restaurants feature in Ireland’s top 100 according to one of the country’s most prestigious dining guides. Assembled by renowned food critics John and Sally McKenna, The Sunday Times’ annual list of Ireland’s best restaurants looks entirely to the north of Clare for the Banner county’s best dining experiences. The six included on the list are Ash @ Pots, Gregans Castle Hotel, Kilshanny House, Oar, Vaughan’s Anchor Inn and Wild Honey Inn. Thank you 🙏🏻 @McKennasGuides for including WHI in #ST100Best2022 together with all the other restaurants in #Clare @GregansCastle @vaughansanchor @DoolinOar @potduggans @Kilshannyhouse 😍 pic.twitter.com/lTb1uzIHrT — Wild Honey Inn (@WildHoneyInn) April 3, 2022 Oar restaurant in Doolin is listed among the top six best restaurants on the Wild Atlantic Way. Kilshanny House gets special mention among the eight best open fire restaurants, while it is also listed in the top eight for chips. Vaughan’s Anchor Inn in Liscannor also makes that best chips list. The ever growing demand …

A US-bound passenger jet diverted to Shannon Airport last night after the crew declared a medical emergency reporting a young child had fallen ill. Turkish Airlines flight TK-29 was travelling from Istanbul, Turkey to Newark, New Jersey in the US at the time. The flight was about 250 kilometres west of Co Mayo when the crew turned around. Shortly before 9pm, the flight crew made radio contact with air traffic controllers in Shannon and advised them they had a medical emergency on board and wished to divert to Shannon Airport. The crew reported that a young child had fallen ill. The Airbus A330-300 jet made a U-turn and routed directly to Shannon Airport. In the meantime, the National Ambulance Service was alerted and paramedics sent to the airport ahead of the jet’s arrival. It’s understood that there was a doctor on board the aircraft who assessed the child and advised the crew to divert to seek medical assistance. The flight …

CRUSHEEN Community Centre Committee has announced the creation of a new Wall of Sponsors and have invited their community to be a part of the opportunity. Everyone in the community and all local businesses are invited to sponsor a personalised, engraved brick that will be displayed as part of a wall of sponsors installed as a permanent fixture within the community centre. It is planned to open the facility in autumn, complete with an extension, new heating and insulation, new doors and windows, additional meeting rooms, conferencing facilities, and high-speed Wi-Fi.  One quarter of the capital renovation value is needed to retire the current debt, and all donations and sponsorships raised through ongoing fundraising will support the fit-out and help to plan for the future running of the centre. Bricks can be inscribed with the sponsor’s name, family name, or business name, or in honour or in memory of a relative or pet. Two brick sizes are available – single …

EMPLOYMENT in a Shannon aviation company will more than treble over a six year-period from this Friday when a new takeover of a neighbouring business takes off. Atlantic Aviation Group (AAG) employs 320 in its existing hangar, 120 in its UK base and will take on about 300 new employees from Lufthansa Technik. The new hangar, which is almost three times the size of the AAG building, can accommodate nine narrow body Ryanair sized aircraft or two wide body and four narrow body aircraft. Back in April 2015, when investor Patrick Jordan bought the company it was employing about 217. Revenue have grown from €15 million to a projected figure of €80 million by the end of the year, with AAG chief executive, Shane O’Neill expecting growth to more than €100 million over the coming years. Barring some unexpected major setback, Mr O’Neill believes overall employment could increase up to 1,000 in a few years. AAG services, maintains and repairs …

Derek O’Connor continues to dominate on the point-to-point scene and the Tubber jockey partnered two winners at the recent Tipperary Foxhounds’ fixture at Lisronagh. The first race at the Clonmel venue was the Goffs UK Aintree Sale four-year-old maiden. Nine faced the starter here and it was fitting that O’Connor – who is Irish agent for Goffs UK – should take the spoils when guiding the impressive Act Of Authority to victory. Trained in County Kilkenny by Ellmarie Holden, this son of Authorized, who was one of seven debutantes in the nine-runner field, went off 2/1 favourite. Sent to the head of affairs after half-a-mile, Act Of Authority stayed on well in the closing stages to repel the challenge of fellow first-timer Jet Smart by two lengths. A €145K store purchase at last year’s Goffs Land Rover Sale, the winner is now more than likely to come under the hammer at the upcoming Aintree Sale. Half-an-hour later, O’Connor completed his …

WITH many of his fellow countrymen and women arriving in Clare, 24-year-old Demyd Yatsenko now spends much of his time helping translate their requests. Originally from Chernigov in the north of Ukraine, Demyd moved here with his family 17 years ago.  Demyd’s family home is in Ballynacally, while he now lives in Ennis. He holds an accounting degree and works for Pepper in Shannon and has been pleased to be able to help the arriving refugees. “When they started to come over I was probably one of the few people in the area that can speak the language, so I just starting putting up messages saying I’d help if I could. “People have been sending me lists of medicines they need, for instance, people write down lists and they get sent to me to explain what they are. “One woman was looking for blood thinners but she had no clue how to explain that to anyone. I was down in …

THE stark differences between the green landscape of the Loop Head Peninsula and the concrete jungle of urban India was graphically illustrated for John Bonfil during an overseas work assignment. In July 1992, the Moneypoint Power Generating Station mechanical fitter was offered an “opportunity of a lifetime” to work for ESB International Engineering on an 11-week secondment for the construction of a coal plant similar to the Killimer plant in India. The ESB’s equivalent in India, National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) needed a mechanical engineer with experience of working in a coal burning station to oversee the commissioning of their new ash handling project. Before his departure from Moneypoint, for what proved to be a “great experience” John received a company letter advising him to bring a number of items for his long trip. These included three notebooks, one clutch pencil with leads, two pairs of gloves, markers, three car magazines, one Irish Times, five bars of chocolate, five …