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FLOODING concerns have been raised in Tulla by several residents close to the site of a new social housing development. Michael O’Callaghan is among a number of people who contacted The Champion on the issue. He farms 38 acres of land beside the Council’s site and said that since the end of last year, up to 20 acres have been subject to unprecedented flooding. That is despite the fact that rainfall levels have been low. He said that local knowledge suggests that culverts which normally drain the lands close the to the site have been blocked, possibly during excavation works on the Council’s site. “Water from the farm flows underground, beneath the social housing site,” he said. “It’s the view locally, based on our knowledge of the area, that culverts have been blocked. The natural flow of water from the land is not continuing in the way that it used to.” Mr O’Callaghan said the flooding situation worsened towards the …

THERE was more success for Clare athletics after  superb displays by St Flannan’s and Colaiste Muire runners at the Munster Schools Cross Country Championship in Cork Athletics Grounds last week. The St Flannan’s team of Dylan Casey, Dean Casey, Niall Murphy and Barry Conway, Thomas McGuire and Cian O’Boyle effortlessly took team gold in the Senior Boys 6,000m with the first four finishing in the top five spots. Dylan, Niall and Dean practically stepped over the line together in a one, two, three, with Barry only seconds behind them. St Flannan’s won the gold team with an astonishing six points. In the Minor Girls 2,000m, Coláiste Muire team secured gold with 22 points with Emily Singleton just missing out on first place. Her team mate Aoife Keane finished fifth with  Sarah Crowe 15th. In the Junior Boys 3,500m St Flannan’s won gold with 34 points with Flannan’s boys Finn Duignan and Simon Farrell doing a second and third. Patrick Thynne …

A CATTLE dealer served with a child maintenance arrears ultimatum by a judge of “sell a cow or go to jail” has handed €5,000 in €50 notes into court, writes Gordon Deegan At the Family Law Court, the cattle dealer told Judge Mary Larkin that a man he buys cattle for phoned him to help out on his child maintenance arrears debt. Judge Larkin had issued the ‘sell a cow or go to jail’ ultimatum on the cattle dealer last month. The cattle dealer said that the friend gave him a loan of €5,000 in the form of a cheque which he cashed and handed into court. The cattle dealer said: “He is a well-off person and he rang to help me out.” Judge Larkin said that after the €5,000 has been paid over, the cattle dealer owes a further €1,600 in maintenance arrears. After the man handed over the bundle of €50 notes, Judge Larkin told him: “It was …

UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick (UHL) will be closed to inpatient visiting for the next number of days due to multiple outbreaks of Covid-19 and influenza across the site. There are limited exceptions to the safety measure including parents visiting children in hospital; people assisting confused patients (e.g. dementia) (on a case-by-case basis); people visiting patients who are critically unwell or at end of life (on a case-by-case basis). All exemptions are limited to one person per patient only. Seven wards are currently affected, and on the recommendation of the UL Hospitals outbreak teams, the decision to close to visitors was taken as a precautionary measure. A spokesperson said that all appropriate infection control precautions were being followed to minimise the risk of spreading infection among staff and patients in the hospital, and also within the wider community. “The situation is being monitored and reviewed daily, and we will relax the restrictions as soon as it is safe to do so. We’re …

PLANS for the development of a one-off dwelling house near Feakle have been put on hold following an appeal by neighbouring residents, writes Dan Danaher. Patrick Treacy, c/o Paul Dolan RDF Architects and Planning Ltd Unit 19, Charleville Town Centre, Charleville was granted planning permission by Clare County Council for the construction of a new dwelling house. The house is to be single storey and part two storey, with ground floor garage attached to the dwelling, externally accessed green house, proposed wastewater treatment unit with polishing filter and percolation area, new site vehicular entrance and all associated site works at Lacorroe, Feakle. One of the conditions for last July’s planning approval stipulated no development shall commence on site unless and until the access road has been upgraded to the satisfaction of the council with details to be submitted and agreed. The appeal site, which has a stated area of 3.56 hectares, is located to the north west of Scariff and …

IN a sign of things to come efforts are being made to upgrade a popular Ennis initiative which has been helping to bring history to life for more than a decade. The Ennis Historic Town Signage was introduced back in 2009 and has proven to be a welcome addition to the town for both tourists and local people alike. However, condensation issues, stickers and graffiti are affecting the posters encased within the signs and calls are now being made for an update, with QR codes for use with mobile phones among the suggestions being made. The condition of the signs was raised at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District by Councillor Mary Howard. “These signs have been a great addition to the town since they were introduced back in 2009. However I believe they now need some refurbishment as most displays have condensation issues, this is affecting the integrity of the information posters within the frames.” She asked was …

THE Government appears to be abandoning the development of the Northern Distributor Road, Senator Paul Gavan has claimed. Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton appeared before the Seanad last week and while raising a number of issues regarding transport around Limerick, Senator Gavan included the Northern Distributor Road. “This is a key element of infrastructure for Limerick city. Right now we have serious traffic congestion at the Mackey roundabout. “We have serious problems across the University of Limerick campus. At its peak level of busyness, it can take up to 45 minutes to get from the back of the campus to the front gates. “We have massive traffic issues across Corbally, all of which would be relieved by the Northern Distributor Road. “Unfortunately, the senior Minister has set his face against this road being developed. It is not mentioned in the national development plan.” When replying to him, Ms Naughton spoke on a number of other …

MET Eireann has issued a status yellow wind warning for county Clare and nine other counties for Tuesday. The warning takes effect from 4am and will remain in place until 3pm, until further notice. Strong to near gale force and gusty southeast to south winds on Tuesday morning and afternoon. These winds will be accompanied by heavy rain clearing to squally showers through the afternoon, with hazardous driving conditions and localised flooding possible. ⚠️Status Yellow – Wind & Rain warning issued for Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo Valid: 04:00 Tuesday 08/03/2022 to 15:00 Tuesday 08/03/2022 More detail➡️https://t.co/l8JdKfwZt9 pic.twitter.com/jtHso8yxQW — Met Éireann (@MetEireann) March 7, 2022 There is also a status orange marine warning in place off the coast from 6am to 1pm on Tuesday. South to southeast winds will reach storm force 10 for a time Tuesday morning and early afternoon on Irish coastal waters from Valentia to Slyne Head to Rossan Point. Cork, Kerry, …