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ICU consultant Dr Catherine Motherway will be joined by frontline colleagues from University Hospital Limerick this Thursday in the local effort of a national fundraising cycle to commemorate those who have lost their lives to Covid-19. Dr Motherway urged the people of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary to support the ICU4U Memorial Charity Cycle, which aims to raise €150,000 for charity partners working with people impacted by the secondary challenges of the pandemic. The UHL team of frontline healthcare workers, some accompanied with family and partners, includes Eileen and Paddy O Neill, Anne Calitz, Mary Sexton, Vera Leahy, Hanin Hamza, David Murphy, Debbie and DJ Hayes, and Donal Ryan, as well as Catherine Motherway and Christy Curley. The four charity partners of this year’s ICU4U Memorial Charity Cycle are ALONE (supporting older people); Aware (mental health supports); Aware NI (depression supports in Northern Ireland) and Breakthrough Cancer Research (new treatments for poor prognosis and difficult to treat cancers). Tweet below features …

RESTRICTIONS have been eased for some time, but the local retail sector is still facing a number of challenges. Rosie O’Neill of A Bit of a Do children’s fashion boutique said that things have been relatively quiet. “We’re just tipping away, it’s nothing major or anything like that. We have a lot of our spring/summer stock still left, with having been closed for so long. Communions and confirmations were cancelled and that had an ongoing effect, families would come in for clothes for them, and now that they’re running into the autumn it’ll be winter stock they’re looking for.” The end of August would typically be a quiet time anyway she feels, and she is hopeful things will pick up in the coming months. “This week things are very quiet, but that’s only because of going back to school and the weather has a lot to do with it. People aren’t going shopping, they’re getting every little last bit of …

GARDAÍ have appealed to the public to take care that their possessions are not visible in parked cars following a spate of thefts in the county. There were three thefts from vehicles reported in west Clare on Sunday, August 29. Between 2.30pm and 3.10pm the driver’s window was smashed in a car parked at Georges Head Car Park and a brown Michael Kors handbag was stolen containing cash and cards. Between 4pm and 4.20pm a car parked at Carrigaholt Castle was broken into and a black River Island handbag containing cash and cards was stolen. In the third incident a car parked at the White Strand in Miltown Malbay had its rear fly window smashed and a purse was stolen. A black Nissan Almera was seen leaving the scene at Carrigaholt Castle. If anyone saw this car or if anyone has dash cam footage they are asked to contact Ennistymon Garda Station on 065-7072180.

GARDAÍ are appealing for witnesses after a man posing as a doctor stole money from an elderly person while “examining” them at their home. On Monday evening August 23, at 5pm, a man called to the home of an elderly gentleman in Drumquin, Tiermaclane. He identified himself as a doctor and as he examined him he took a sum of money in cash out of the homeowner’s pocket. A car, possibly a black Volkswagen Passat, was seen acting suspiciously in the area around this time. If anyone was in the area of Drumquin between 4.30pm and 5.30pm and saw this car or has dashcam footage, gardaí are asking them to contact the Ennis station on 065-6848100.

GARDAÍ have seized €52,000 worth of suspected Cannabis Herb following three searches near a county Clare village on Sunday. Shortly after 4pm on Sunday, Gardaí attached to Kilrush Garda Station and the Clare Divisional Drugs Unit conducted three separate searches under Operation Tara in the Kilmihil area. During the course of these searches a quantity of suspected cannabis herb estimated to be worth €52,000 (subject to analysis) was located and seized. A man in his late 20s was arrested and is currently detained at Kilrush Garda Station under the provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996. This seizure forms part of Operation Tara, an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on July 2, 2021. The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels – international, national, local – involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled …

A FAMILY of four and their two dogs were rescued by the Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat after their speedboat suffered engine failure on Tuesday evening. At 7.05pm the lifeboat Jean Spier launched following a request from Valentia Coast Guard to help the family on a 12ft speedboat adrift in open water south of Garrykennedy. The lifeboat, with helm crew Owen Cavanagh, crew Steve Smyth, Chris Parker and Tom Hayes on board, arrived on scene at 7.15pm. The family and dogs were safe and unharmed. Given their proximity to Garrykennedy Harbour, the closest safe harbour, and the hour, the helm decided that the safest option was to set up an astern tow and take the vessel with her passengers and an RNLI volunteer on board, to Garrykennedy, where the boat was tied alongside at 7.45pm. At 7.50pm lifeboat departed the scene and was back at Station at 8.05pm. Jeremy Freeman, Deputy Launching Authority at Lough Derg RNLI, advises water users to …

A FACELIFT is on the cards for six Clare towns and villages, three of them in the East and the South East of the county. A pot of €7 million is to be shared among 124 areas across the country under the Streetscape Enhancement Initiative. In Clare, the beneficiaries will be Tulla, Scariff, Clonlara, Kilrush, Corofin and Clarecastle, where property and business owners will be invited to apply for funding. The allocation will support a number of activities to brighten the appearance of towns and villages. These include strategic collaboration between property owners to paint buildings or shopfronts in vibrant colours and the commissioning of murals in towns and villages. The funds also enable the upgrade or restoration of historic and traditional shopfronts; as well as the provision of street planting, shrubbery, trees and flowers boxes. Enhancements through the illumination and lighting of architectural features can also be carried out, as well as the installation of canopies and street furniture …

THE next stage in the transformation of Ennis’ town centre has moved a step forward with Part 8 planning lodged by Clare County Council for the re-vamping of O’Connell Street. The plans, part of the overall Ennis Town Centre Public Realm Regeneration Project, include an upgrade of the public realm of O’Connell Street, with the one-way traffic flow retained. There will also be the creation of a new civic space outside the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, including shared surfacing in natural stone materials; street furniture; replacement street lighting; signage; tree planting and rain gardens; and all ancillary works; together with changing Barrack Street (east) from raised kerbs to flush shared surface. According to a design report the result of the works “will be a safer and more attractive pedestrian environment and spaces for all sectors of the community, facilitating the Town Centre as a destination for visitors, improving its vitality and enabling Ennis to capitalise on its unique …