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The body of a woman has been recovered from the sea off County Clare following a land, air and sea search. The operation was mounted and coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry after a woman was reported missing in north Clare last night. This morning, the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was alerted and requested to commence a search while the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter and Aran Islands RNLI lifeboat were also tasked. The crew of Rescue 115 and lifeboat volunteers conducted a comprehensive search of the area while Coast Guard personnel searched along the cliff top. Shortly after 8.30am, the helicopter crew spotted a body in the water off Aill Na Searrach. The body was recovered by the crew of the RLNI lifeboat and taken back to the pier at Doolin where Coast Guard volunteers and Gardaí were waiting. After being formally pronounced dead …

THE window of a home in Ennis was smashed and the home owner’s car set on fire during an incident at the weekend. Investigating gardaí are appealing to anybody with information to contact them. At approximately 2.30 am on Sunday, March 20, the sitting room window and the glass beside a front door of a house on Watery Road were smashed. The owner’s car at the rear of the house was set on fire. “Thankfully nobody was injured,” says Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks. “If anyone has any information in relation to any of these incidents or if anyone saw anything suspicious or has dash cam footage we would ask them to contact their local Garda Station or any Garda Station or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.”

GARDAI are investigating a break-in to a house in a Clare village at the weekend in which the occupant was awoken in her bedroom by the intruder. At 11pm on Saturday, March 19, a woman in Crusheen was awoken in her home by a male in her bedroom. She asked him to leave and he did so immediately. Investigating Gardaí are interested in speaking to a man with a dark coloured beard who was seen on the Main Street in Crusheen village on Saturday night between 8pm and 12 midnight. If anyone saw this man or anyone who may have dash cam footage we are asking them to contact Ennis Garda Station on 6848100.

THE weather was kind for the return to Kinvara of the St Patrick’s Day Parade. Willie O’Reilly was on hand to capture the colour and atmosphere.

LIVE drama makes a welcome return to East Clare later this month and, as part of that, John B Keane’s legendary leading lady Big Maggie will be making an appearance. Tulla Drama Group is staging the classic tale of sex, land and money at Tulla Courthouse this week from Wednesday, March 23 until Friday March 25 and Big Maggie will also feature in the feast of drama that will be on offer as part of the 73rd Clare Drama Festival. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the event is back from Friday, March 25 to Saturday, April 2 in Scariff.  The festival opens on Friday, March 25 at Scariff Community College Hall. Big Maggie will be back on stage there on Wednesday, March 30.  Other highlights of this year’s festival will include a performance of Sive by the Clan Machua Drama Group on March 25. Meanwhile, on Saturday, March 26, Skibbereen Theatre Society will perform Brighton by Jim Nolan. …

A NEW survey has revealed a huge disparity between rental and mortgage payments on an average Clare house. People looking to rent a house are likely to spend €331 more on accommodation than someone who buys an equivalent property, new research shows. According to Moneysherpa.ie a house valued at just under €220,000 in Clare means monthly rent payments of €1,087 a month, compared to a mortgage of €756. More starkly, the difference between fully paying a 30-year mortgage and renting for that period comes to over €119,000.  Commenting on the analysis Mark Coan of moneysherpa.ie said the current lending rules need to be revisited. “This analysis raises some significant questions about the current Central Bank lending rules, which are in effect creating a chasm between those who can afford property and those that can not. “Those that can meet the current lending rules, will pay over €100,000 less to live in their home for 30 years and create an asset …

MORE than 80 jobs were shed at Shannon Airport in May of last year, when Aer Lingus closed its cabin crew base. The job losses were hugely controversial as the airline were major beneficiaries of State supports, but speaking at the relaunch of its transatlantic services, Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty was unrepentant. “You don’t need me to remind you how challenging it has been over the last two years for the aviation sector and all of us who work in it. In Aer Lingus we had to take some difficult decisions, including the closure of our cabin crew base here in Shannon Airport. That was unfortunately necessary, it meant we had the right structure and cost base to reinstate our transatlantic services, starting today with Boston.” Shannon-New York was due to restart the following day, and Mr Moriarty said that there is going to be a very good level of connectivity to America. “Both routes will …

A US-bound Aer Lingus flight was forced to turn around off the west coast and return to Shannon Airport this afternoon amid concerns that an emergency exit door might not have been securely locked, reports Pat Flynn. Aer Lingus flight EI-111 Shannon to New York’s JFK Airport took off at 12.57pm however soon afterwards, the flight crew asked air traffic controllers for clearance to stop their climb. The Airbus A321-253 (Neo) jet had crossed the Clare coast over Quilty when the flight crew advised controllers they had a technical issue which they were working to resolve but added they might have to return to the airport. The crew also made contact with company engineers on the ground to seek assistance troubleshooting the issue. The crew reported they had received an “indication of an emergency exit door open”. After turning around and while the flight was descending towards Shannon, the flight crew told controllers that the indication had cleared and requested …