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Breaking News

Funds continue to roll in for Gort’s Biogas challenge

MORE than €80,000 has been raised as part of efforts to launch a judicial challenge to the granting of planning permission for a biogas plant in Gort.  Opposition group, Gort Biogas Concern, confirmed earlier this month that legal representation has been secured to initiate the court challenge. The group said it is determined to overturn An Bord Pleanála’s decision to allow the controversial project, in the wake of its rejection by Galway County Council. The Concern Group has also revived its awareness-raising walking campaign which invites people to walk the town’s scenic ‘Golden Mile’ every Sunday to learn more about the project and the strength of local opposition.  A statement from the Concern Group confirmed this week that €82,000 has been raised to-date “in order to protect Gort and South Galway from a catastrophic biogas development”. “From far and near people have donated €82,000 in less than two weeks after the public meeting on January 4,” the statement said. “Contributions …

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Sixmilebridge to get long-awaited car park in 2023

SIXMILEBRIDGE is to get a new car park in the near future, the January meeting of Shannon Municipal District heard. In a motion to the meeting Fine Gael councillor John Crowe sought an update on the proposed new car park, while he also suggested that it proceed in tandem with a new housing development, which he said would be going into the same field. In a written reply, Senior Executive Officer Anne Griffin said that it is planned to go ahead with the car park this year. “Clare County Council is committed to developing a car park in Sixmilebridge town centre,” said Ms Griffin. “The Economic Directorate is reviewing the proposed car parking element of the recent Part VIII in conjunction with the feedback recently obtained through the Sixmilebridge Master Planning exercise under the Town Centre First Policy. “The Housing Department has proceeded to tender for the housing element of the site in consideration of funding timelines. It is also …

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Shannon teachers team up to write Junior Cert revision book

SHANNON teachers Laura O’Brien and David O’Halloran have collaborated on a new school book. It is called Junior Cycle Success for English and is part of a series of Junior Cycle revision books produced by Examcraft. David teaches at St Patrick’s Comprehensive, while Laura teaches at St Caimin’s and describing the new publication, she said, “It covers all the usual topics, going through sample questions from the paper. It gives two answers, a middle of the road answer and a full marks answer and it shows why one answer got five out of ten and the other one got ten out of ten.” She says it is one of the few books in the area that is fully up to date. “It’s one of the only things out at the moment that’s for the new Junior cycle, most of the revision books that are out are for the old Junior Cert.” The two worked together at St Caimin’s some time …

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Tulla fashions a fabulous fundraiser for Astroturf facility

EXCITING plans are afoot in Tulla for the creation of a state-of-the-art astroturf facility at St Mochulla’s National School.  The development is a collaboration between St Mochulla’s and Tulla Camogie Club and the objective is to develop an all-weather pitch, ensuring that sports facilities are available all year round to all of the community.  “In today’s world this is ever more important for their wellbeing and health and a key part of our Active School Policy,”said Angela Byrnes, Chairperson of the Board of Management of St Mochulla’s. “We’re just about to start our fundraising for 2023 and there will be some great opportunities for all of the community to get involved.” The estimated cost of the project is €120,000 and a Sports Capital Grant of €45,000 has already been secured. An additional €20,000 has been raised towards the cost of the 40m x 25m facility.  “We were delighted to join with Tulla Camogie Club because they have no permanent home …

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Shannon recovery taking off with 1.5m using airport in 2022

OVER 1.51 million passengers travelled through Shannon Airport in 2022, 88% of its pre-pandemic transit figures. This strong recovery in the airport’s fortunes came about despite travel still being impacted in the early part of last year. “The accelerated pace of the rebound in air travel from Shannon has exceeded our expectations and shows the pent-up desire for international travel following the lifting of pandemic travel restrictions,” said Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine. European services recovered strongly in 2022 with over 532,000 passengers travelling through Shannon. This actually surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic levels by 7% and was a 225% increase on 2021. Shannon recorded over 638,000 passengers on its UK services in 2022, a 309% increase on the previous year. After an absence of almost two years, transatlantic services returned in March 2022 and saw a strong rebound of almost 240,000 passengers on services to New York (JFK), Boston and Newark. A further boost is expected from May 2023 when …

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Clare’s Outing festival bringing LGBTQ+ community together again

AFTER a break up due to Covid, The Outing Festival returns to Clare this Valentine’s weekend celebrating 10 years of bringing people together. The Outing Festival, the world’s only Queer (LGBTQ+) Matchmaking Festival is back from February 10 to 12 on the grounds of Dromoland Castle at The Inn at Dromoland. The world famous festival has grown from its first year in 2013 when it first began as an offshoot of the matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna. With same-sex marriage equality since 2015, the now-standalone festival has, with the help of Queen of Matchmaking Eddie McGuinness and some teaching from the legendary Willie Daly, brought together hundreds of couples and even a few marriages, with a few more on the way. Over the years the Outing Festival has developed into an even bigger event by bringing the LGBTQ+ plus community and friends together in the areas of arts, music, film, comedy plus outdoor activities including hiking, surfing, watersports to horse riding, golf and more. However the heart of the festival remains the matchmaking and bringing people, no matter who they are or what their …

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Clare boxer wins pro debut of year award

SHANNON boxer David Ryan took away the irish-boxing.com Debut of the Year award in Dublin on Thursday night. David was back to work at Morrissey’s butchers in the Town Centre the following morning, and said he was delighted to get the honour and had a fair idea his name would be the one called out. “The guy running the show told me to make sure to be there, I kind of knew then! “It was a fantastic night. I’d have preferred if it wasn’t a Thursday night or the week before a fight, but it was a good night. There were a lot of other boxers there, a lot of other people nominated as well, so it was good to come out on top.” While David couldn’t indulge given his upcoming fight, there were lots of other people in the same boat at the awards ceremony. “99% of the people there were boxers, so everyone was not drinking, not eating …

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Thousands fall silent for late Aoife at hospital march

THOUSANDS of hospital protesters bowed their heads in silence in a show of support for the family of a Shannon teenager who died in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) before Christmas. You could hear a pin drop when Melanie Sheehan requested a minute silence to mark the tragic death of Aoife Johnston during protest speeches at Arthur’s Quay car park on Saturday. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently requested a new inquiry into Aoife’s hospital treatment after she contracted meningitis to ascertain if her untimely death could have been prevented. Her death sent shock waves throughout the Mid-West. Hospital activists are hoping her untimely passing will prove a watershed moment in their campaign to tackle overcrowding in the region. UHL has promised a “comprehensive investigation” into the circumstances which led up to Aoife’s death. Young family members and friends of Aoife held up framed photographs of her as they listened to speeches calling for the restoration of 24-hour Accident and Emergency services in …

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