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Drugs worth over €200,000 seized at Shannon Airport

REVENUE officers have seized over 10.5kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of over €210,000 at Shannon Airport. The illegal drugs were discovered concealed in a parcel that had arrived in an air cargo consignment from the United States and was destined for an address in Cork. The seizure came about as a result of routine operations at the airport The drugs seizure and another of illegal tobacco in Waterford worth €5,900, are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and smuggling. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on our confidential phone number 1800 295 295.

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The big question: Should we keep the home fires burning?

Given the twin issues of respiratory health and climate change the much-loved tradition of lighting the fire in our houses has come under the spotlight. Bridget Ginnity asks if we should keep the home fires burning IN these cold dark evenings, sitting around a fire brings a glow of comfort. There’s something almost hypnotic and primitive in looking at flames. A fire is also practical in these days of high electricity costs. Over 60% of homes have domestic fires and it can be a cost effective way of heating the house, especially with a back boiler. But is our grá for the home fire damaging the environment? It is estimated that about 1,400 people in Ireland die prematurely each year due to air pollution, mainly fine particulates, and blame for some of that pollution is placed on domestic fires. In addition to pollutants, carbon dioxide is generated from home fires. Carbon dioxide causes global temperature increases and the climate disasters …

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Shannonwatch remains resolute with airport protests

PEACE group Shannonwatch held its first protest of 2023 last Sunday. Spokesman John Lannon said that the monthly protests will continue throughout 2023. “The conditions at Shannon are still the same. There are US military planes landing and taking off, in particular the troop carriers are coming through, there are other planes as well. “There has been no response from the authorities or the Government to all the requests we have made over the years for proper inspections, for information about what’s on the planes and where they are going, so the protests will continue.” There were relatively small numbers there last weekend, but he said that is usually the case at the start of the year. “January is always a poor month in terms of turnout. I can’t remember how many we had there, I think there were 10-15. “The protests have been ongoing since January 2008, with the exception of the months during the Covid lockdown when congregations …

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Aerial dance company cleared for take-off in South East Clare

CLARE County Council has approved the subdivision of an industrial building at a business park in Gillogue to facilitate the retention of its use as a training and education centre for aerial dancing. Retention planning permission has been granted subject to one planning condition allowing the Irish Aerial Creation Centre (IACC) to construct a three-storey internal partition and insulating of the building fabric at Unit 2, Burlington Business Park, Gillogue. The Irish Aerial Creation Centre in the Old Burlington Industrial Estate, Gillogue, Corbally, is the first and only purpose-built aerial dance centre anywhere in Ireland. The IACC is a not-for-profit organisation, which is committed to the education and development of Irish aerial arts. It has over 625 square meters of space dedicated to nurturing dancers of all ages. A submission from Europlan Engineering on behalf of the IACC outlined the proposed use is for education and training for the Irish Aerial Arts. “It is proposed to construct an internal three-storey …

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Rental properties in Clare not advertised as they are being filled from waiting lists

SOME rental properties in Clare are not being advertised because local auctioneers don’t need to advertise them. The so-called market rate for some executive properties has increased dramatically in recent weeks due to the chronic shortage of houses and the departure of some small landlords that had one or two dwellings. A four-bedroom property in Fanore and a three-bedroom property in Tulla were advertised for a €2,200 rental cost a month, while a four-bedroom detached house in Lahinch was on the rental market for €2,250 a month. Douglas Hurley of DNG O’Sullivan Ennis said in a lot of cases they don’t need to advertise rental properties because they have clients with references who can be contacted from their enquiry waiting list. Mr Hurley acknowledged some of the rental prices being quoted at the moment are “crazy”. He said they primarily deal with letting rental properties in Ennis and the surrounding areas where a four-bedroom house can attract monthly rental of …

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Framing a passion: ‘When I pick up a rock, it tells me a story’

GEOLOGIST and photographer, Robert Fairfield feels like a detective when he examines a rock. – “When I pick up a rock, it tells me a story. Like a detective, I look at it and see how did this rock get here.” Thanks to his geology training, Mr Fairfield can categorise most rocks into a particular era, but uses a more detailed analysis with specific tools to confirm their precise origin and date. “If I pick up a piece of volcanic rock, I know it came from a volcano. If I pick up a piece of limestone, I know it came from the sea. If there are fossils in it, I know it came from a coral reef,” he said. Recently, combining his two passions – geology and photography – helped him to scoop the runners-up prize in the Irish Geological Survey’s 2022 Du Noyer Photographic Competition. Each year, Geological Survey Ireland holds a photo competition in honour of George Victor …

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Clare County Council accused of setting precedent for illegal siting of mobile homes

CLARE County Council doesn’t intend to pursue an enforcement notice issued about the alleged unauthorised development of a mobile home near Tuamgraney following legal advice, according to a complainant. Duncan Young, who lived in Ballymalone, Tuamgraney, for a few years before moving to Shinrone in County Offaly has expressed his frustration spending almost five and a half years making complaints and representations to the council about the provision of appropriate accommodation for two elderly sisters. Mr Young recalled he first alerted Clare County Council in June 2017 about the siting of a mobile home, which was approved and paid by the council’s housing section to accommodate the Moloney sisters, Breda and Margaret after their farmhouse was deemed uninhabitable. Following countless phone calls and emails to the council over the last five years Mr Young was told: “I wish to advise you that the planning authority has conducted a review of file UD17-055 and sought legal advice on same. “Please be …

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Comeback kid Cotter keen to get the miles under her belt

“Miles to go before I sleep” – Robert Frost You might ask what does a quote from a poem published exactly 100 years ago, have to do with Ruan cyclist Imogen Cotter? The quote is etched on the back of Cotter’s arms with Frost’s words certainly summing up her determination in coming back from a horrific accident in January 2022. The Ruan woman had just signed her first professional contract, but everything changed when she was hit head on by a car driving on the wrong side of the road when training in Spain. What followed was months of surgeries, rehab and physiotherapy as she continues to work her way to full fitness with her team Fenix-Deceuninck supporting her by allowing her to compete with the team in 2023, after signing last year. The words of Frost in his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening have been used by Cotter as a way of motivating herself to rebound from …

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