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A BOOKER prize winner, one of the most lauded writers in the English language today, John Banville says that every one of his books is a failure, and the act of writing leaves him constantly disappointed. He will be at Glór on Saturday, March 5, as part of the Ennis Book Club Festival, appearing alongside fellow author Kevin Power. Originally from Wexford, Banville’s first novel Nightspawn was published in 1971. His Revolutions Trilogy was published between 1976 and 1982, while his 1989 novel The Book of Evidence was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Guinness Peat Aviation Award. In 2005 his thirteenth novel The Sea won the Booker Prize.  In addition, he publishes crime novels as Benjamin Black — most of these feature the character of Quirke, a pathologist based in Dublin. He has won numerous awards and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007, while Italy made him a Cavaliere of the …

AN online lecture delivered by Kilrush and District Historical Society was disrupted by a number of people with sexist and racist abuse, while they also exposed themselves and displayed pornography, writes Owen Ryan. The lecture was being given by Dr Mary McAuliffe, a historian, lecturer and Director of the Gender Studies Programme at UCD, who described herself as being “pretty shocked” by the events of the evening.  She said that a decision had to be taken to shut down the lecture. “We had to abandon it, the images were of porn, there were naked genitalia. Then there was the screaming, it wasn’t just images there were voices and in the chat function there were horrific things, sexist abuse, racist abuse. Everything was being impacted.” Dr McAuliffe also said that sex acts could be seen coming from some of the accounts on the call, but it was unclear if they had been recorded or were being shown live. There have been …

A RISE in theft from shops is putting small business owners under severe pressure, Clare’s Joint Policing Committee (JPC) has heard.  An increase of 69% in reported incidents was revealed by Chief Superintendent Seán Colleran, who said the spike seems to coincide with the reopening of the economy. The figures relate to the period of November to January when compared to the same period in 2020/21. “The one thing about theft form shops is that there’s quite a high detection rate,” the Chief said. “Whereas the figure itself can be alarming, certainly we have strong investigative processes for that.” Nonetheless, the numbers were described by Councillor Pat Daly as “alarming”. “There are shops who can’t afford CCTV and they are being robbed every day of the week,” he said. “I would appeal to our Oireachtas members to see if grant support can be provided because every shop should have CCTV. In this day and age, there should be some sort …

HUNDREDS of council homes in this county could be affected by pyrite, it has emerged. At a council briefing for members of the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) and the Oireachtas, a figure of 350 local authority homes was given. The council has since confirmed the accuracy of this estimate, based on tests conducted to-date. Some believe, however, that even that figure may not paint a true picture of the extent of defective concrete blocks in homes in Clare, and that the actual situation could be worse.  The details have been welcomed by the founder of the CPAG as well as residents of one Ennis housing estate who spoke publicly to The Champion last year about the condition of their homes. Eileen Downes of Oakwood Drive described how she and her neighbours felt ignored for years after first highlighting cracks in their houses.  “We’re looking at our homes getting worse for the last three to five years,” she said. “It’s …

CBS Ennistymon’s historic dual run is set to continue this weekend when the Munster Senior C Post-Primary Schools double champions enter the All-Ireland C series at the penultimate stage, writes Eoin Brennan. Taking on the Ulster champions over the next two Saturday’s, first up for the North Clare school is a football showdown with Donegal’s St Columbia’s Stranorlar who only secured their first ever provincial title on Tuesday evening. This fixture is set for this Saturday, weather permitting. In a dominant display aided greatly by 1-7 from targetman Niall McCormack, the breakthrough champions kept Cavan’s Virginia College at arm’s length throughout to record a 1-13 to 0-06 victory. Seven days later, CBS Ennistymon will take on Antrim’s St Killian’s College in the hurling version, the same day as Harty Cup champions St Joseph’s Tulla commence their Croke Cup campaign with a semi-final clash with roll of honours leaders St Kieran’s College. Despite not reaching the Leinster decider, the Kilkenny superpower …

ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour in parts of Shannon is leading to the “terrorising” of people trying to go about their daily lives, Clare’s Fianna Fáil TD has said. Deputy Cathal Crowe told the quarterly meeting of Clare’s Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that a stronger approach needs to be taken to tackle a raft of incidents in the town. “This is a parental and a policing issue,” he said. “There are kids being dropped off from Sixmilebridge, Quin and from across the region and they think their children are just spending time with their friends. “The truth is that there is terrorising going on in the shopping centre. Last week, a trolley was pushed down two or three flights of stairs and it narrowly missed a pensioner who was out doing the shopping.” Responding to the Fianna Fáil TD’s concerns, Chief Superintendent Seán Colleran said the issue of anti-social behaviour was widespread. “This is not just a concern for Shannon,” he said. “There …

THREE projects in Clare will share a grant of just under €734,000, under the first strand of the 2021 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. Projects in Clonlara, Drumgeely and Mountshannon have been selected in this funding stream, which tackles vacancy and dereliction by bringing landmark town centre buildings back to life for community use. The allocation was welcomed by Clare Fianna Fail TD Cathal Crowe, who said, “This is a significant fund coming into our county which will help rejuvenate the three areas that have been selected. “The biggest single allocation of €454,050 goes to Clonlara for the creation of a plaza area at the village crossroads, as well as the development of a multi-purpose community space at Kiltenanlea Church. “This will hugely transform the village centre and I think the idea of a central plaza is one that could be replicated in years to come in communities the length and breadth of the county. “In Drumgeely in Shannon, €225,000 …

DRUGS with an estimated value of €50,000 have been seized at Shannon Airport with the assistance of detector dog Harley. Revenue officers seized 2.5 kgs of herbal cannabis concealed within metal cans manifested as “Jasmine Tea”. The consignment had originated in the US and was destined for an address in Cork. Separately, at Dublin District Court Revenue officers were granted a three-month cash detention order by Judge John Campbell. This followed the seizure on 18 February 2022 of €10,000 at Dublin Airport. The cash was discovered when, as a result of routine profiling, Revenue officers stopped and searched a passenger prior to boarding a flight to Instanbul, Turkey. The cash is suspected to be the proceeds of, or intended for use in, criminal activity and is detained by Revenue in accordance with proceeds of crime legislation. Investigations into both seizures are ongoing. These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting organised crime groups and the importation, sale and supply …