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CLARE gardaí are urging people planning for the festive season to ‘Buy Safe and Pay Safe’ when it comes to online shopping. In the lead up to Christmas and in particular the Black Friday sales promotion period An Garda Síochána are supporting Europol’s online fraud prevention campaign which encourages safe online shopping by customers. “More and more businesses are using the internet as the primary channel to sell goods and services. Whilst convenient for both the consumer and retailer it also presents opportunities for fraudsters who can use the anonymous nature of the internet to rip off consumers or target retailers who do not have the necessary defences in place to protect themselves,” outlines Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks. There was a total of €22 million in credit and debit cards fraud losses on Irish consumers in 2020, according to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). “Consumers and eCommerce merchants will be particularly active online over the …

CLARE GAA Chairman Jack Chaplin has defended the handling of the crowd at last Sunday’s county hurling final, despite calls from a former TD for resignations from the county board. The game had to be delayed by a quarter of an hour due to the volume of people arriving at the gates, but Mr Chaplin said that the crowd had been unexpectedly large and the county board had done everything it could. “We had 21 people manning 16 stiles. We brought in a zig-zag queue to help try and keep some distance between the crowds. There were approximately 4,400 and obviously people were coming late. There were 2,700 online tickets that had to be scanned. “It has been a lockdown year and people haven’t been going to matches. The week before (at the county football final) there was a small crowd, but on the day there was a big crowd. I don’t think there was much more that we could …

THREE Clare poets have been named as recipients of Poetry Town Bursaries. Sixmilebridge based Carrie Barrett O’Donnell is based in Sixmilebridge, Eileen O’Malley who lives between Miltown Malbay and Spanish Point and Marianne Slevin living in Doolin are among the 24 awardees of the bursary scheme. Poetry Ireland put a call out during October for submissions from poets all over the island of Ireland, with three categories (New Poets, Experienced and Spoken Word). Each bursary was worth €300-500, depending on the level of support requested by the applicant.   The bursaries are designed to be used by the awardees for opportunities to develop their poetry – some examples given during the submission process were: taking a writing course, attending a writing residency, paying for mentoring or critical assessment, paying a filmmaker to create a film of poetry work, or simply taking time off work to devote to writing.   Niamh O’Donnell, Director of Poetry Ireland, said, “We were overwhelmed with the number of applications for bursaries and …

Shannon Airport is running an initiative which it launched on World Kindness Day (last Saturday, November 13) to acknowledge its customers who have shown kindness in their communities. Services to 19 destinations are currently operating from Shannon International Airport and the airport is asking people to nominate a passenger flying into or out of Shannon any time between up until November 27 for a special surprise. “If you know of someone who has shown kindness to others, be it through volunteering, being a community leader, or going the extra mile to help someone out, then we would love to hear from you. People have been through so much during the past 20 months and while Covid-19 has taken its toll on all of us, the spirit of human kindness is still alive and well. That’s why we would like to surprise some deserving people with a small token of appreciation for their efforts,” says Niall Maloney, Head of Operations and …

SHELL has signed an agreement with Irish leading blue economy developer Simply Blue Group to acquire a 51% share of their Western Star venture, which seeks to develop a floating wind farm off the Clare coast. The Western Star Joint Venture will be developed by Simply Blue Group personnel and Shell floating wind experts, with the project office based at Simply Blue Group Headquarters in Cork. The project aims to harness the vast floating wind potential in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Ireland. The joint venture will seek to co-develop up to 1.35GW in total: 300MW-450MW in the first phase with 700MW-900MW to follow. This is equivalent to powering over one million Irish homes. Hessel de Jong, Offshore Wind General Manager Europe, Shell, said: “Shell has a clear ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society. We aim to provide more renewable power to consumers and businesses alike. Working alongside coastal …

IT IS a very busy time for Quin Taekwon-do head coach Stephen Ryan as his Team Ireland members prepare for the European Championships in Spain next week and he reflects on his club’s success at last weekend’s Irish Cup in the University of Limerick (UL) Sports Arena. Six of the club’s black belts will join a 60-strong Irish squad when they travel to La Nucia, Spain, for the long-awaited return to international competition. Experienced competitors Shane Tuite (-70kg senior sparring); James Tuite ( -68kg junior sparring); Alice Larkin (2nd Degree Patterns and –68kg senior sparring) and Luke Moriarty (-70kg senior sparring) will be joined by Aoibhin Copeland (- 55kg junior sparring) and David Larkin (1st Degree Patterns and –50kg junior sparring), who have been selected to the Irish team for the first time. “It’s been great but challenging to be back training for the Euros with this group of athletes,” said Stephen, who is also Head Coach of the Irish …

THE official switching on of the Christmas lights in Ennis on Friday, November 26, will now take place as a virtual event. Clare County Council said that details of the online event will be made available soon. In a statement this afternoon the Council said, “This decision has been taken by Clare County Council based on current public health advice and in view of anticipated numbers of up to 6,000 people attending the event. “This was a difficult decision and Clare County Council appreciates there will be disappointment for those involved. “Other planned events in the Christmas in Ennis programme, including the Christmas Village, Cadbury Postal Service and Retro Drive-In Movies, are expected to go ahead. However, we strongly advise that members of the public monitor all media platforms for updates in relation to the planned programme of events.” The Council also called on the public to support the town in the coming weeks. “Please remember to visit Ennis to …

Challenges of litter, wandering fairy doors and aged signs all taken in stride of community volunteers, says report SHANNON received 320 marks from a possible 470 in this year’s Tidy Towns contest, winning a lot of praise from the judges. The adjudicators report on the town said, “A really sterling effort from Shannon here this year. You’ve shown how well a community can deal with setbacks and not just Covid-19. You take litter, wandering fairy doors and aged signs in your stride. Thanks for all the time and effort. “Not just for your entry but for the massive amount that you are clearly doing for Shannon. Well done.” It said that there has been a lot of support for the Tidy Towns effort locally. “We are very impressed with the level of commitment we are seeing from Shannon. It’s clear that you are providing a very worthwhile volunteering experience for many of your residents. You are well supported by a …