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A MOUNTSHANNON resident has claimed the Covid-19 vaccination system for people who are in quarantine is a “shambles”. Dr Joe Griffin (68) was relieved when he received his vaccination appointment recently, having waited so long. After returning from England where he was attending his wife’s mother’s funeral, he was in quarantine at home and was unable to attend. On the Department of the Taoiseach website, it states that he can only leave his home in certain circumstances including medical reasons and he wondered if getting vaccinated was a valid reason for travel. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, he recalled telephoning a telephone number he received in a text message and waited over 20 minutes in various queues just to speak to a person. After explaining his dilemma, he was put on hold because the person he was speaking with did not know whether or not he should attend for his vaccination. After further delays, he was eventually …

National League Division 1 Group B Round 1 Antrim 1-21 Clare 0-22 A SOBERING start to the new season for Clare as hosts Antrim grittily dug out a rousing home victory in what was their first top flight league tie since 2008. Eoin Brennan reports. With a strong gale dictating matters, Clare started brightly with its aid to ease 0-9 to 0-3 clear by the 15th minute, four from Tony Kelly. However, Antrim incrementally grew in confidence as the half developed and would wipe out the visitors’ lead in the 29th minute when a teasing ball over the top found chief marksman Ciaran Clarke to race through and finish to the net at 0-12 to 1-09. Clare did restore a two point cushion by the break but with the elements to come, a buoyant Antrim quickly snatched the whip hand to inch ahead for the first time by the 46th minute through Keith Molloy. In a blow-for-blow second period, the …

SHANNON Group recorded a loss of over €28 million in 2020, with the pandemic devastating its aviation and tourism businesses. In the group’s annual report for 2020, Chief Executive Mary Considine wrote, “We found ourselves facing an unprecedented crisis which resulted in the group recording a loss for the year of €28.2 million (post tax and exceptional items) compared to a profit in 2019 of €21.6 million, a reduction of almost €50 million. “During the year, the group incurred exceptional charges of €27.9 million, the main exceptional item being an impairment in the carrying value of the airport of €24.5 million, which was necessitated as a result of the uncertain passenger outlook due to Covid-19. “Group revenue was down 57% to €34.3 million in 2020 from almost €80 million in 2019. Faced with this significant reduction in revenue, the group implemented stringent cost control measures. “Our overall operating costs reduced by 42.5% in the year, to just under €30 million,” …

NONE of the Banner’s libraries have got to open to the public in 2021 yet, but the doors will be unlocked again from next Monday, albeit with restrictions reflecting yet another new normal. “We’re due to open on the 10th in a browsing capacity only, so there won’t be people sitting around for long periods of time in the library,” said county librarian Helen Walsh this week. “We have a metric with how many we can let in at a given time and a time limit as well, so it’ll really be in and out, as opposed to having students sitting down. Now, you can still access things like the photocopier and printer and things like that,” she assured. She felt click and collect could have preceded this stage and is pleased it wasn’t introduced. “We are delighted we are open, because we thought it would be click and collect, which was the way we were before. That would have …

GARDAÍ in Clare have issued a warning to the public after a number of people were victims of scams. Last Tuesday, April 27, at 12 noon a gentleman received a phone call from a person claiming to be from the office of the Attorney General and alleging that he had been involved in money laundering. The caller asked him to transfer a sum of money to an account. It was after he did this that he realised this was a scam. In a separate incident a lady received a phone call from a person pretending to be from her bank and telling her that her account has been used for money laundering. She was asked to transfer her money to another account which she unfortunately did. Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks also outlines that there have also been reports of people getting calls from an 083 number claiming to be from the Department of Social Protection. The recipients of …

Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group B Round 1 Antrim v Clare at Corrigan Park Belfast, Sunday 1pm (Liam Gordon, Galway) Already established as the secondary inter-county competition, this year’s Allianz Hurling League takes a even more diminishing backseat in light of the truncated season on offer over the next 14 weeks. Instead, finding your feet, form, formation and force take precedence over results in a bid to peak for championship at the end of June. Five matches in six weeks provide a far more beneficial lead-in to championship than in 2020 when an eight month absence from competitive action left counties scrambling to gain crumbs from an often misleading challenge match circuit once returning from the club championships. Without scope to conclude with any business end, this year’s Division 1 is a league in its purest sense as the top team from each group are crowned joint-winners unless they subsequently clash in the championship. Similar to Clare and Limerick’s …

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 1 additional death related to COVID-19. There has been a total of 4,919 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Friday, May 7, the HPSC has been notified of 408 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There has now been a total of 252,303* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 205 are men / 202 are women 77% are under 45 years of age The median age is 31 years old As of 8am today, 110 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 33 are in ICU. 9 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of May 6, 1,746,912 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 1,267,167 people have received their first dose 479,745 people have received their second dose

WORKS have just got underway on a long-awaited pedestrian crossing for the village of Broadford, writes Fiona McGarry. The traffic calming scheme, which was proposed by Councillor Joe Cooney, at the March meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District, will extend from the local national school to the GAA pitch. Welcoming the commencement of the works, which are likely to take a number of weeks, Councillor Cooney said the issue had been on the agenda for some time. “Everyone appreciates that these improvement works are badly needed,” he said. “There is a serious issue with road safety for a number of years. Teachers and parents have worked well to keep issues under control on a very busy regional road and the really good news is that works are underway on a pedestrian crossing. “When the job is completed, the area will be a lot safer for the pupils and wider community. While a lot of improvement works have been carried out …