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THERE was a n-ice surprise for the residents and staff of St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis at the weekend. The family of resident Mary Skerritt came up with a novel way of celebrating her 99th birthday, while keeping socially distanced, by organising for an ice-cream van to pay a visit to the nursing home. Mary was born on May 8, 1922 in Miltown Malbay and is the mother of seven children, along with being a proud grandmother and great grandmother. Her son Michael told The Champion that because of Covid-19 they were unable to celebrate her birthday the way the family would have liked, so came up with this idea to mark the occasion while also saying thank you to the hospital staff for their dedicated care. “It was just a fabulous day and we had great weather for it. We were trying to come up with ideas of what we could do for her birthday and this one was …

WITH major plans for development on the Shannon Estuary, Kilrush based Councillor Ian Lynch has sought to ensure that private interests don’t decide how the assets of Clare are best used. At this week’s meeting of West and North Clare councillors he put forward a motion proposing the establishment of committees that would make sure things move in the right direction, with integrated planning. On protecting the Estuary, he said it doesn’t belong to the ESB or any other body. “Unless we as a local authority step up to protect that asset we will lose it, and I mean lose it in a terrible way. We will lose it environmentally and economically.” He added, “We can’t sit and let businesses there to make money dictate to us how the natural assets of that area will be developed for the people of the county.” Explaining the type of problem that could arise, he said, “One of the concerns from speaking to …

TD accuses State of having no plan as Aer Lingus’ Shannon commitment runs its course SHANNON Airport’s link to Heathrow could be removed from September of next year, with little sign that the Government has plans to preserve it. The Heathrow link is provided by Aer Lingus, the former State airline, but there is no guarantee that will continue beyond next autumn. In the Dáil Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that whether Aer Lingus continues with it or not is a matter for the airline. Heathrow is a global hub airport offering connectivity to a massive number of onward destinations, and the fact that Shannon has a link to it (albeit one temporarily suspended due to Covid-19) is vital to foreign direct investment and tourism in Clare and the surrounding counties. In a parliamentary question, Clare TD Michael McNamara asked the Minister to outline actions that have been taken to ensure Shannon-Heathrow connectivity, given that the seven-year ownership of the …

ENNISTYMON CBS held its annual Arts week recently, with a series of events helping students access their own creativity and exposing them to new artistic experiences. Teacher Emma Jane Brown said, “We’re very lucky that management are very supportive of everything to do with the arts here in Ennistymon. “This was our third annual Arts week, we had a really great first one, last year obviously it was impacted by Covid, we were doing remote learning and everything was virtual. It was really fantastic this year to be able to do things in person.” Explaining what had taken place, Emma Jane added, “We started off with a podcast workshop with Ruairi McKiernan, who’s a Fulbright scholar and author and he has two podcasts himself. Our TYs and second years were at that and it was fab. “We also had Féile CBS on the Wednesday, which was sports activities, in their class pods outside. We had an ice cream van and …

Council finances holding steady despite impact of Covid-19 on its income streams THE total arrears in commercial rates owed to Clare County Council increased by almost €1.6 million to under €11.6 million last December, a new report has revealed. The total amount of uncollected rates on December 31, 2020 was €11.577 million, according to a report on the council’s unaudited annual financial statement for the year ended December 31, 2020. The report, which will be presented to councillors at the May local authority, stated the opening arrears on January 1, 2020 was €10,043,132 and the rates’ bill issued for 2020 was €44,715,390. Official figures showed the amounts collected, vacant or written off came to €29,605,485, while the Covid-19 commercial rates waiver was €13,674,497. Arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of restrictions on businesses, the Council implemented a range of business supports for customers. These supports included €39.06 million in the restart grant, restart grant plus, Local Enterprise Office …

FOR the fourth successive day fewer than five new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported for Clare by the health authorities. Nationally there were 456 new confirmed cases and no additional deaths from the virus.  Regionally there were 15 new cases in Limerick and fewer than five in Tipperary.  Of today’s cases 233 are men, 223 are women, 81% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 27 years old. Of today’s cases 189 came  in Dublin, 52 in Cork, 49 in Donegal, 39 in Kildare, 17 in Galway and the remaining 110 cases are spread across 20 other counties. As of 8am today, 111 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 36 are in ICU. There were 11 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of Tuesday, May 11, 1,922,913 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 1,408,105 people have received their first dose and 514,808 people have received their second dose.

TWELVE projects across county Clare will share €76,000 under a special grant scheme run by The Heritage Council. The fund will help boost a post-Covid recovery, grow tourism, and enhance community spirit by supporting local heritage projects. Under the Community Heritage Grant Scheme, €76,030 has been allocated to community groups and not-for-profit organisations. Scariff Community Council received €12,000 to carry out a conservation/condition report on the Workhouse Water Tower in the town. Cuimhneamh an Chláir received €8,000 for ‘The Clare Oral History Podcast’ – a podcast series based on the oral history archive of Cuimhneamh an Chláir. Other recipients include: Labasheeda Projects Group; Scattery Island Heritage; New Quay Community Development Group; Dúchas na Sionna; The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group; Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary; Shannon Tidy Towns; Irish Seed Savers Association; Quin Tidy Towns and Ennistymon Tidy Towns. Chairman of The Heritage Council, Michael Parsons, said: “These schemes continue to provide a central focus for the work of The Heritage …

In our third installment of our ‘Day in the Life’ series, Dan Danaher speaks with local podiatrist Doireann MacLaughlin. WHILE a lot of health services were put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, local podiatrists decided they could continue providing an accessible service to reduce the number of patients attending University Hospital Limerick. This prompted the establishment of two Rapid Access Clinics in Ennis and Limerick in April 2020. Doireann MacLaughlin, who works with podiatrist, Jacqueline Hartigan in Ennis stressed patients who attend a podiatry clinic deserve the best possible care. Up to 60 appointments are completed for patients in each clinic every week. “We have the most fantastic team in Ennis and great administrative support. To heal a patient you must look at blood flow, infection and pressure. We link in with general practitioners to ensure antibiotics are not overused. Pressure overloading is one of the most important things to heal an ulcer. Patients were told to rest …