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THE Clare chair of the Vintner’s Federation of Ireland (VFI) has described the government’s plans to restrict indoor hospitality to vaccinated people only as “a total smokescreen”. Charlie O’Meara characterised the mood of the county’s 160 VFI members as one of “annoyance, anger and frustration” at news that indoor hospitality will not now resume until July 19, at the earliest, and that unvaccinated people may be banned. The Ennis publican said he now fears for what faces the trade this winter when government supports come to an end and vintners try to restart their businesses, without the benefit of the normal summer takings. “There has been absolutely terrible treatment of our members,” he told The Champion. “There’s been no respect whatsoever and the government would have been happy enough, once again, to leave this issue to the eleventh hour, but for the fact that the VFI in Dublin put pressure on them to make a decision. It’s just not good …

DOORA National School is one of just 18 in the country to be provided with free library resources by Children’s Books Ireland. There will be a number of other benefits, accruing to the school under the Every Child’s A Reader project. Teacher Geraldine Greene co-ordinated the Doora entry and was told in February that it had been successful, winning the school hundreds of free books in various genres, free art workshops, art materials and online interactive storytelling sessions with Pat Ryan, the school’s champion of Reading. In late April a launch was held and this was followed with events such as art and storytelling workshops. Sadly, parents or visitors couldn’t come to see the school’s new book case or displays, but it is hoped they will be able to come when school resumes in the autumn. Further storytelling events and art workshops continued during May and June, while each pupil received bookmarks, stickers and their personal challenge record pages. When …

‘Shocking decision’ undermining the Government’s credibility, warns councillor THE decision to delay the reopening of indoor dining and drinking has been met with some exasperation in Clare this week, with Fianna Fáil Councillor Cillian Murphy warning that the Government has lost credibiilty in the eyes of the public. “I think it’s a shocking decision, I’m extremely disappointed with the Government, I’m extremely disappointed with my own party,” the Kilkee representative said on Wednesday. The decision to delay reopening was announced on Tuesday, with plans for a vaccine pass set to follow. It came after NPHET issued warnings to Government of a potential fourth wave, with a huge number of cases of the Delta variant and as many as 2,170 deaths within three months, under a worst case scenario. However, despite the advice from NPHET, Councillor Murphy said he does not accept the right move is being made, particularly with the vaccination programme having gone as far as it has. “Maybe …

THE Ennistymon Púca may have been hitting the headlines all over the world, but Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group believes it has fished out a magical tale to rival that. The local group has been compiling information about the once famous Mermaid of Newhall Lake, with the aim of bringing the mystical figure back into the public consciousness. As part of this members have gathered stories from various sources over centuries about the mermaid and made them available on the group’s website. There has also been a watercolour painting of the mermaid completed, and local composer Seán Lyons has recorded a song inspired by the legend. Eric Shaw of Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group said, “Reading through the Clare section of the 1937 Schools’ Project now held in Dúchas, there are 92 stories of mermaids and 26 of these relate to our Mermaid of Newhall. “In the 1930s, most school children in Clare knew of the …

AN ANTIQUE piece of furniture linked to a man who conspired, along with the legendary wisewoman Biddy Early, in a notorious East Clare murder is to go on display in Kilkishen next month. The blanket box, a large wooden chest, belonged to a James Mac Namara who was accused, along with the husband of the legendary Feakle healer, of murdering their landlord. The item, which was salvaged by local Kilkishen historian Cathal O’Hagan, has been carefully restored and will go on display at the Kilkishen Cultural Centre. “I think it’s fitting on the 161st anniversary of the murder that people would be able to see this,” Mr O’Hagan said. “According to lore, this historic blanket box came out of the farmhouse of James Mac Namara who one night in October 1860 with Biddy Early’s husband Tom Flannery and three other evicted tenants and, with help from Biddy, killed the landlord.” Legend has it that Biddy, who foretold Mr Sheehy’s demise …

THE students of Coore National School this week took part in the last of their walks to school as part of their Green Schools Travel Initiative, Walk on Wednesday (WOW). They have been completing the walk every Wednesday since returning to school after the Easter holidays, and Green Schools Co-Ordinator Dolores Montgomery says that the initiative has been very well supported by parents. They take turns on a rota system at different crossroads on the walk to warn oncoming traffic that students are on the road. The walk is a mile long, running from the local church to the school itself. The aim of the initiative, besides promoting sustainable travel, was as much to help the children become aware of the locality as well as give them a healthy physical activity to look forward to weekly. Ms Montgomery said: “Simple activities gave them a great awareness of the area; counting the cars, the houses we pass. We worked with maps …

HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly has announced an update to the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme. In light of the increasing prevalence of the Delta variant and the risks associated with it, the National Immunisation Advisroy Committee have recommended that those aged 18-49 years can opt for an adenoviral vector vaccine (AstraZeneca and Janssen) in order to gain earlier protection. Younger age-groups who do not wish to receive an adenoviral vaccine will be offered an mRNA vaccination in due course. Consent mechanisms will be put in place by the HSE to ensure that anyone under 35 years of age wishing to avail of earlier access to vaccination through the administration of an AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccine is appropriately informed of the rare side-effects associated with the adenoviral vector vaccines. People in this group will also be advised about the probable timing of the availability of mRNA vaccine for their age group when considering this accelerated option. People in Ireland aged 18 – 34 …

AN Ennis man has completed a mammoth ultra-cycling race of 804km, taking second place after a gruelling 31 hours non-stop in the saddle. Noel Cusack took part in the Joe Barr 500, an 800km race around Donegal and Northern Ireland with a three-person crew following behind to give him food and hep with navigation along the way. He described the race as an “epic battle”, which saw him break his previous 800km record by more than six hours. The race started in Derry at 9.23am on Saturday, June 12, with each competitor leaving at three minute intervals. “We raced over to Donegal before tackling all the coast line and mountains areas before finally sprinting through Sperrin mountains in Derry to finish,” Noel told The Champion. “The riders cannot race together, we have to be a certain distance apart from each other until you make your move to overtake or pull away if possible,” he said. His support crew kept him …