Breaking News

A SUM OF €500,000 has been granted by government for the advancement of a section of dual carriageway to provide better access to Shannon Airport. Speaking about the allocation, Clare TD Cathal Crowe said it will improve safety. “The works on a dual carriageway at Shannon Airport will see a stretch about 2km long put in place on safety grounds. “As you enter Shannon Airport and pass the security hut on the approach, the road becomes a single lane each way. “This has been assessed by experts as not being safe – as in a case where emergency services and so on need to access the airport, passing may be an issue.” “Whilst our first priority must be rebuilding air connectivity in and out of Shannon, it’s also encouraging to see groundworks taking place to improve things at the airport too.”

FRUSTRATION with the waiting time for decisions on planning appeals has been expressed by members of Clare County Council.  A joint motion from Councillors Pat Daly, Mark Nestor and John Crowe made a call for staffing levels at the appeals board to be increased. The members also agreed that more planners should be appointed to Clare County Council to handle a predicted surge in applications in 2022.  “The normal planning appeals decision time with An Bord Pleanála is four months,” Councillor Daly told the December Council meeting. “In recent times, the decision process at the board has totally gone over control… So many appeals in Clare are with An Bord Pleanála for up to 12 months. “One, in particular is a proposed plaza for the outskirts of Ennis. Clare County Council gave its full planning permission 12 months ago creating up to 130 jobs and there’s still no decision [on the appeal]. The reply the frustrated applicant get from the …

Munster Senior B Post-Primary Schools Camogie Championship Semi-Final Coláiste Muire, Ennis 4-19 Laurel Hill (Limerick) 2-7 COLÁISTE Muire powered into a Munster Senior B decider following a commanding victory over Laurel Hill in a floodlit John O’Sullivan Park, Ennis this evening, reports Eoin Brennan. Two years after falling at the final hurdle of the provincial junior C equivalent, the Ennis school demonstrated the significant strides made in the intervening period when leading from start to finish in impressive fashion. An outstanding central quintet of Tierna Hegarty, Ellen Casey, Aisling Moloney, Emily Costelloe and Emma Considine were greatly aided by Hannah Doyle and Mary Hanrahan as Coláiste Muire moved incrementally through the gears. Firing the first five points, the home side were pegged back by a scrambled goal for Jayne Meaney just before the water break at 0-6 to 1-0, a score that would be wiped out when Emma Considine cooly dispatched a 19th minute penalty to the left corner after …

THE Shannon Musical Society’s annual production has had to be postponed from February until April, due to Covid-19, writes Owen Ryan. Huge numbers attend the shows every year, and this year the Society are set to perform Little Shop of Horrors, but with a massive amount of Covid infections, the show is not set to be put back until the week of April 10-16. This year the group were set to perform Little Shop of Horrors and director Aodán Fox said that the postponement is disappointing, and he hopes the show will be able to go ahead on the new dates. “We kind of started very tentatively and when we were picking a show we picked a small cast, small band musical, because we knew it was going to be a difficult year. Rehearsals have been going on with major social distancing and breaks for air every half an hour, as recommended. It’s gutting to have to postpone it, it’s …

RICHARD O’Brien’s recent impressive Naas bumper winner, Impulsive Dancer, has been sold to join Champion trainer Willie Mullins’ all-conquering Clusutton, County Carlow stable. The son of Dragon Pulse really caught the eye when making a winning debut for his Ballingarry, County Limerick-based trainer at the Kildare track just two days into the New Year. Sent off a 15/2 shot on that occasion, Eoin O’Brien’s mount fairly motored up the home straight in what appeared a hotly-contested affair, when slamming Gordon Elliott’s highly-regarded 13/8 favourite, Douglas Dc, by an effortless eight lengths. That display was always going to attract attention and earlier this week Kilmaley-born O’Brien confirmed Impulsive Dancer has joined the high-profile Mullins camp. 🗣 “It’s always mixed emotions when a horse of his calibre leaves the yard, but this is the business we’re in." Richard O’Brien on the sale of Impulsive Dancer 👇 — Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 11, 2022 He said: “Bloodstock agent, Anthony Bromley, has purchased impulsive …

CLARE County Council has announced that the controversial Púca statue commissioned for Ennistymon will not now be erected in the north Clare town. The local authority issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon that following extensive consultation with elected members and the local community, it would not be proceeding with the proposal to erect the Púca artwork in Ennistymon. Instead, the sculpture created by Aidan Harte is to be offered to other north Clare towns, villages and community-operated tourism sites. An expressions of interest process will be announced shortly by the council. The statue had divided opinion in Ennistymon and around Clare and prompted the council to undertake a survey in November 2021 to garner local opinion on the artwork and its proposed location. More than 720 survey responses were received by the local authority with 43.6% of respondents saying they ‘Really disliked’ the artwork compared to 34.3% who ‘Really liked’ it. While many disliked both the artwork itself and its …

IN line with restrictions there are a number of changes to glór’s January programming. The Ennis arts centre has been working with promoters to update the events in January which have been impacted by these restrictions. Some events have been updated and details of these updates have been added to the glór website. A spokesperson stated, “Some events will take a little longer to reschedule and update so please bear with us and keep an eye on our website. “Our Box Office is working hard to contact all customers who are affected and will be in touch to transfer/refund tickets.” “Please bear with us as we manage these changes, and thank you for your patience and understanding,” they added. Among the events affected, this weekend’s performance by Sharon Shannon, Mary Coughlan and Frances Black has been cancelled. Tommy Fleming’s performance on Saturday, January 22 will now take place at 50% capacity at 5.30pm. An additional performance has been added on Friday, …

WITH Clare having recorded the second highest incidence rate of Covid-19 in Ireland over the Christmas period health authorities are appealing to the public to take care over social activity. The Department of Public Health Mid-West has said preliminary analysis indicates at least 2,300 new cases in the Mid-West region per day. The department added that the current high volume of cases may result in delays in data reporting, meaning that data may not be complete and up-to-date. Therefore, it is probable the real infection rate is higher due to the unprecedented levels of transmission across the three counties and nationwide. A spokesperson stated, “In recent weeks, we were notified of an outbreak of more than 80 people (age ranged from early 20s to late 30s) in a single community in the Mid-West. “Transmission occurred over a three-week period and involved multiple sources of exposure (e.g. social contact, household contact, education setting, workplace setting, etc). We believe outbreaks of this …