Breaking News

CLARE County Council has given approval for a multi million euro biomass combined heat/power plant in Stonehall, despite numerous objections including one from the local national school. Carbon Sole Group Ltd received planning permission for the development, which will also include a gasification and methanation plant for the production of advanced biofuels and a thermal energy recovery and storage facility for district heating distribution. The company claims it is an environmentally friendly development, which will benefit the local area. While the County Council have now approved it, it is open to those in opposition to appeal the decision to An Bord Pleanála, and given the volume of objections, it seems very likely this will happen. The site in question was owned by the Shannon Airport Authority at the time planning permission was sought, but in a letter to the Council, it said it had agreed to sell it to Carbon Sole. In a video on the Carbon Sole website, CEO …

Eoin Brennan focuses on this week’s U15B hurling championship QFs Under 15B Hurling Championship Quarter-Final Ballyea 0-16 O’Callaghan’s Mills/Bodyke 0-12 BALLYEA passed a major test of character on Monday evening when belying their numerical disadvantage to finish the stronger in another inch-tight battle with O’Callaghan’s Mills/Bodyke on home soil. With only the minimum separating the sides in the amalgamation’s favour in their group meeting, the sides would go blow-for-blow once more in a compelling tie that would see the lead change times six times and be level on nine occasions by the two-thirds mark. Ballyea proved the more efficient side in the final quarter however as O’Callaghan’s Mills/Bodyke failed to turn their chances into scores or indeed benefit from a home dismissal entering the final ten minutes. Instead, it was the outstanding leadership of Eoin Kennedy that finally cemented Ballyea’s passage to the last four as the midfielder fired two points along with a third from younger brother Dara to …

THE resignation of Susan Crawford of the Green Party from Clare County Council was prompted by an opportunity to take some ground breaking work on autism to the next level, she told The Clare Champion this week. When a research team approached her about a concept she had been working on, Ms Crawford said she knew she would have to resign from the Council. “My mind was made up for me for want of a better way of putting it. I was working on a medical device to relieve anxiety for kids with autism and a research team in DCU said they were really interested in driving this on, we want you for the team. I kind of had to make a call then, something had to give.” She said that to concentrate on the research, she knew she would have to stand down from the Council. Ms Crawford said work is currently taking place on patenting and intellectual property …

THE Bishop of Killaloe has said he can’t understand restrictions on the celebration of the sacraments, in light of the fact that 40,000 people will be allowed to attend the All-Ireland finals. Bishop Fintan Monahan added his voice to those of a number of senior clergy, including the Archbishop of Dublin, when he advised that confirmations and First Holy Communions can go ahead in mid-August, in cases where parishes have already set dates. He also acknowledged “a great deal of anger and frustration” over ongoing uncertainty for families. The bishop had also referenced plans for some 70,000 people to attend Electric Picnic this September, but it has since emerged the festival has been cancelled after being refused a licence by Laois County Council. An update from The Electric Picnic team: https://t.co/axzYM4FJOv pic.twitter.com/RDG16wqUsB — Electric Picnic (@EPfestival) August 5, 2021 “I have been in receipt of a huge amount of correspondence and calls from parents requesting to go ahead with ceremonies,” …

FOR many of its members the Irish Wheelchair Association’s “Think Ahead Think Housing campaign” has really impacted them and struck a chord, writes Dan Danaher. In 2015, Liz Leamy was just 42 when she suffered a stroke that brought dramatic changes to her health and quality of life. At the time her third and youngest child was just six years old. While she regained much of her mobility at first, Liz regrets not thinking about housing and her long-term housing needs sooner. “I was laid back thinking ‘oh it’ll be fine I’ll get better’ but it was the other way around. “I should have started getting everything in place the year I got my stroke. Not waiting years down the line.” Liz is very eager for people like her to think about their home and whether it is adapted and safe. After her stroke, Liz and her husband couldn’t renovate their rental home to make it safer for her and …

A MAN has appeared in court charged in connection with the alleged discovery of animal “carcasses” on his land in Fanore, writes Ronan Judge. Ivan O’Driscoll (47), with an address at Fanore More, Fanore, appeared before Ennis District Court this week charged with 10 alleged offences contrary to the Animal and Health and Welfare Act 2013. Five of the charges are contrary to section 12 of the Act and allege Mr O’Driscoll did neglect or was reckless regarding the health and welfare of animals. The other five charges are contrary to section 11 of the Act and allege Mr O’Driscoll failed in his duty to protect the welfare of protected animals in his possession. Two of the charges allege offences were committed on dates between October 1, 2019, and April 2, 2020. The remaining eight charges concern alleged incidents on April 1, 2020, and April 9, 2020. All of the charges relate to alleged offences at lands in Derreen West, …

RYANAIR launched eight new Shannon routes on Thursday morning and said it will carry more passengers to and from the airport over the next year than it did in 2019, before Covid struck. The airline’s CEO Eddie Wilson praised Shannon Airport’s management for being proactive in securing new services, and estimated around one million people will fly with Ryanair to and from Shannon in the next 12 months, up by around 25% on the 2019 figure. It announced six new services for the winter 2021 season, to London-Luton, Budapest, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Fuerteventura and Turin. New services already in place for the summer include Corfu and Gran Canaria. While there has been some criticism of Shannon’s separation from the other State airports in recent times, Mr Wilson said the deal wouldn’t have been possible had it still been part of the DAA group, with Dublin and Cork. “You have a situation whereby Dublin and Cork have not been able to respond …

BRÍD MacNamara and Clare Camogie’s officers clocked up one million steps between them during the month of July, writes Ivan Smyth. The fundraiser was run for Clare Camogie with PRO Brid completing over 640,000 steps during the month as she visited all 26 camogie clubs in the county. She also put her best foot forward during her lunch break and at any available opportunity. Brid admits her body is sore after completing the challenge and that it was challenging to find the time every day to clock up the steps as she averaged over 20,000 steps per day during the month of July. She believes the help of her fellow county board members was invaluable. “My body is holding up ok at this point. My legs are very sore and my feet are too. It was challenging to fit in the walking every day if you factor in inter county games on work days and then we had minor and …