Breaking News

ENNIS’ Market Building has been ruled out as a location for potential outdoor events by glór, as its walls means it does not meet standards set out by Fáilte Ireland as an outdoor space. However, the covered market building is being considered as a possible site for planned performances by aerial dance company Fidget Feet as well as outdoor live music performances over the summer. Details of the potential use of the market for hosting outdoor events were released at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. Councillor Mark Nestor had requested that Clare County Council in conjunction with glór arrange a series of outdoor concerts, to be held in the Market building at times that would not interfere with trading in the area. Responding to the motion, Siobhan Mulcahy, Arts Officer, outlined that Clare Arts Office is currently working with Fidget Feet Irish Aerial Dance Company to provide entertainment in Ennis over the summer months. “If suitable to …

FINN McGeever made history this afternoon as part of the Irish 4x200m swim relay team that took to the water in the Olympic Games, writes Ivan Smyth. While the team did not progress from their heat, the former pupil of St Anne’s Community College and his colleagues did themselves proud, being part of the first Irish swim relay team to compete in an Olympics in 49 years. McGeever swam the second leg of the relay after Jack McMillan thundered through the field in the opening leg, setting an Irish 200m record. #Swimming Ireland's first ever men's Olympic relay has finished 15th in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay with lead swimmer Jack McMillan setting a new Irish Senior Record 🇮🇪 for 200m! ⏱️ 1:46.66 for @Jackmac121!⏱️ 7:14.58 for Team Ireland#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 @swimireland pic.twitter.com/89Gy5l4h4a — Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) July 27, 2021 The Irish quartet finished eighth in their heat and 15th overall, and were unable to progress through to the next round. Ireland …

‘ELECTRIC Airport’ designation should be sought for Shannon, according to a member of the local authority. Councillor Johnny Flynn tabled a motion at the July meeting of the council asking that the government and Shannon Group be urged to plan for the use of green electricity at the facility. He said the move would help Ireland to meet its climate action targets in reducing emissions from the aviation sector and help secure the future of Shannon Airport. “We all know how important Shannon Airport is and that it contributes €3.6bn to Ireland’s GDP, supporting 43,700 jobs,” the Fine Gael member outlined. “We also know that aviation has to change and to decarbonise. There are a number of Irish companies involved in developing electric planes and we should be building the infrastructure. We know that aviation will have to green its processes.” The motion was seconded by Cathaoirleach, Councillor PJ Ryan. Councillor Pat McMahon also gave his support, saying that the …

VULNERABLE people in the county and those who have difficulty getting loans are being targeted by scam artists in an Advance Fee Fraud, gardaí in Clare have warned. The warning came after a man in Sixmilebridge fell victim to the scam when applying for a loan online. Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks outlined, “During the week a gentleman in Sixmilebridge applied for a loan online from a site purporting to be a legitimate loan site. “He was asked to pay €150 as an insurance deposit which he did. A short time later he received a call from a person looking for a further deposit. 2He became suspicious and contacted his bank who informed him that this was a scam. “A number of websites offering unsecured loans are targeting vulnerable persons and persons who have had difficulty obtaining loans, for example because of a poor credit rating, from established financial institutions in a fraud known as Advance Fee Fraud.” …

THE new Draft Shannon Town Centre Masterplan proposes developing a main street for the town, to the front of SkyCourt, with an ‘Innovation District’ on the other side of the road. The new document says, “Shannon Town Centre has been the heart of Shannon Town since the 1970s, but despite its range of retail and community services, it lacks definition and the sense of place found in other Irish towns and villages. “This masterplan vision aims to give it that definition, by managing future growth and establish a place that captures and secures the benefit of growth for the local community. “Shannon has been a place of innovation and promoting a healthy lifestyle since its inception, yet its town centre has never been the source of pride that Shannon deserves. “This masterplan vision is an attempt to improve the local townscape with new retail, community, housing, and public spaces for locals and visitors to enjoy.” Regarding the innovation area, it …

THE link between illegal dumping and the management of waste collection by local authorities was debated at the July meeting of the local authority, on foot of a motion from Councillor Donna McGettigan. The Sinn Féin member called on the council to bring domestic waste collection back under its control in a bid to curb the widespread problem of fly-tipping. While a number of councillors were supportive of the motion, the Chief Executive sounded a note of caution and advised members to “think long and hard” about the implications and the effectiveness of such a move. Outlining the motion, Councillor McGettigan said she accepted the significant costs that would be involved in the authority running domestic waste collection once again. “We are among the only states where collection is fully privatised,” she said. “We could look at a franchise model which works well in other countries.” Seconding the call, Councillor Gerry Flynn said the service, which had previously been provided …

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID 19 vaccine is now available in seven pharmacies in Clare, the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has revealed. The IPU is now calling for this to be extended, so that all pharmacies registered to administer COVID 19 vaccines have access to the Pfizer vaccine. The participating pharmacies in Clare are Burren Pharmacy, Lisdoonvarna; Keating’sCarePlus Pharmacy, Corbally; Kelly’s Pharmacy, Miltown Malbay; Malone’s Total Health Pharmacy, Kilrush; Murphy’s Total Health Pharmacy, Ennistymon; O’Meara’s Total Health Pharmacy, Scariff and Rx+ Total Health Pharmacy, Shannon. Pharmacies started vaccinating in mid-June and to date have administered over 123,000 vaccines nationwide. This has predominantly been the Janssen vaccine, available to people aged 18 to 34 and to people 50 years and older in over 950 pharmacies nationwide. A smaller number of pharmacies, chosen because of their distance to the nearest vaccine centre, are also offering the Pfizer vaccine to patients aged 18 and over, in line with the HSE Vaccination Centres. Darragh O’Loughlin, Secretary …

INDOOR dining and drinking is resuming across Clare today as Covid-19 restrictions loosen a little further. The move could hardly be better timed for publicans and restaurateurs as the heat wave has just ended and this afternoon is set to see the return of rain to the Banner. Ennis publican Mark Kelly reopened Dan O’Connell’s in June and today he will also reopen the Diamond Bar on O’Connell Street, one of the town’s best known pubs. The Diamond has only been open for a handful of days since the pandemic began in March of 2020. “We have only been open for a couple of days last year, that was it, so it’s great to be opening again.” He said a lot of work had to be done to get the pub ready to go. “It had be cleaned from top to bottom, we had to stock up again, everything.” Mark says it is quite difficult to find staff at the …