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ON Tuesday Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that a taskforce looking at the Shannon region’s economic potential and challenges will be set up. However, it now seems that the taskforce will be related to Shannon Estuary rather than Shannon Airport and the adjacent industires, which had seemed to be the case when he was speaking on Morning Irleand. While being interviewed, the Minister was asked about the setbacks at Shannon and the jobs at Lufthansa Technik, and he said, “I have been in contact with people in the area who are very concerned, and this has been an ongoing concern. “We are going to have to do a whole range of different projects in Shannon particularly, it’s the wider industrial estate, it’s not just the airport, it’s the jobs that come with it. “The Government are going to be setting up a Shannon taskforce, looking at the whole wider region, looking at the whole Shannon area. I believe that’ll be …

ALMOST 40,000 vaccines against Covid-19 were delivered by the UL Hospitals’ Group over the last two weeks, new figures have revealed.  The group delivered 110,127 doses of vaccine across the Mid-West up to the close of business on Tuesday, June 2, according to figures obtained by the Clare Champion.  It achieved a significant milestone by clocking up 150,000 vaccine doses on Wednesday since the regional programme got underway on January 4. This figure does not include the vaccines delivered by colleagues in HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare, the National Ambulance Service and General Practitioners. Pharmacists are also delivering vaccines from this week. In recent times, the group has been aware of a number of instances in which SMS text message appointment confirmations have directed people to centres other than those closest to their homes. Similar incidents have been reported in other parts of the country over the past few days.  The group has been working to identify and contact people who …

AS THOUSANDS of people gathered in Dublin on Tuesday (June 15) to demand full redress for to repair homes with defective concrete blocks, it has emerged that one public building in Clare, as well as a number of council houses could be affected. Members of the Clare Pyrite-Mica Action Group were among the thousands who thronged the area around the Convention Centre, where the Dáil has been sitting, before marching to Leinster House to hand in a letter calling on Minister Darragh O’Brien to extend the existing redress scheme to and to cover to 100% of costs. Currently, the scheme only covers Donegal and Mayo and will only cover 90% of costs. A homeowner from Newmarket-on-Fergus said he believes that the scale of the problem in Clare could be huge. “My home is getting worse week-by-week,” he said. “A qualified engineer has seen it and said it’s grade four pyrite.We were filling and painting for a while, but it’s gone …

The weekend starts here for the footballing fraternity who embark on a frantic Friday of Cusack and Garry Cup action. The opening round didn’t exactly go according to script so it’s probably best to expect the unexpected once more. Consequently tasked with the futile exercise of predicting those second round winners is Eoin Brennan. Cusack Cup Round 2 Éire Óg v Kilmurry Ibrickane at Éire Óg, Friday, 7.30pm (J Donnellan) Normally a box office annual meeting, neither a full complement of supporters or players will be present in Ennis on Friday evening. Without county players in both codes, inevitably Éire Óg and Kilmurry Ibrickane lost their opening ties albeit that the Townies will be much the happier in defeat due to a battling display against Ennistymon which was in doubt right up until the final whistle. In Pairc Naomh Mhuire however, the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough in a derby demolition at the hands of their nearest neighbours St …

Under 13 Division 1 Football Championship Round 1 St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 8-15 Lissycasey 0-10 THERE’S no doubting the clear merits of St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield’s opening victory but the scoreline is certainly misleading as this was a competitive tie for the majority in Lissycasey, reports Eoin Brennan. Indeed, Lissycasey were arguably the better side in the opening period but while they kicked nine scores to DooraBarefield’s seven, crucially four of The Parish’s were goals at 4-3 to 0-9. The second half rather petered out to its inevitable conclusion but not before another four goal burst from a very powerful and balanced visiting side. Overall, it was clear to see that size will count for a lot in this inaugural Under 13 Championship. So with all but two of their squad to the age, St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield’s superior physicality did ultimately show against their younger opponents who will have more than half of their starting team eligible for next year’s Under 13 …

A PLANNING application for the development of eight 180 metre wind turbines in South-East Clare will be lodged to Clare County Council next February. RWE Renewables has unveiled plans for the development of the wind turbines at Fahy Beg, Fahy More North, Ballymoloney and Ballyknavin in Bridgetown. RWE Renewables spokesman, Kieran O’Byrne, has also confirmed the next stage of the process is the completion of the Environmental Impact Statement. In an interview with The Clare Champion, he said the company has sent out two information letters to residents in April and was planning to circulate a third one this Friday or next Monday. He confirmed a company representative has met about 30 residents, some of those living less than one kilometre away are positive, some of the houesholders living more than two kilometres away are negative, and it is also receiving questions from people living further away. He said the company is happy to talk to any resident and hoped …

CONCERN about the high turnover of staff in a Meelick nursing home has been expressed by a health watchdog. Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) found Ennis Road Care Facility (ERCF) was non-compliant with four standards: records, governance and management, fire precautions, as well as training and staff development following a recent inspection. The long-stay residential facility was compliant with standards on persons in charge, staffing, statement of purpose, notification of incidents, complaints’ procedure, visits, personal possessions, end of life, premises and food and nutrition. Eight breaches of national health regulations were detected following a previous unannounced inspection last September. The latest inspection report related to an unannounced risk-based inspection undertaken on February 25 to follow up on previous inspection findings in 2020, all of which had identified issues with the governance and management of the service. This had resulted in the chief inspection reducing the number of beds registered from 84 to 45 to allow for …

Mike Hanrahan tells Fiona McGarry he is on a mission to highlight escalating crisis of Alzheimer’s in our society STOCKTON’S frontman, Mike Hanrahan, has described himself as being on “a crusade” to improve services for those with dementia and memory loss. It follows the recent passing of his mother, Mary, who had vascular dementia, and to whom his new single ‘A River Rolls On’ is dedicated. The deeply personal piece, performed by Mike, along with Sandy Kelly, Lisa Lambe and the inclusive Forget Me Nots Choir, will raise funds for The Alzheimer’s Society. Mike hopes it will also spark a conversation about an issue facing an increasing number of Irish families. “After our experience of living with my mam’s dementia, I am on a crusade,” he told The Champion. “I feel I have to help. Our generation is encountering this condition on a scale not seen before. People are living longer and we’re going to need more supports for those …