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THE plight of a number of Clare tourism businesses was raised in the Seanad this week as Minister Catherine Minister appeared before the upper house. Senator Timmy Dooley voiced concerned that venues including the Ail wee Cave and Doolin Cave might not be allowed to reopen at Level 3 as outlined last month in the Path Ahead Plan. The Fianna Fáil member told the chamber he had had communication from The Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions outlining how such venues have extensively invested in new and updated safety measures and training Fáilte Ireland’s Covid-19 safety charter. He argued that these attractions are well placed to reopen “as safe spacious places”. “Given the likelihood outbound international travel for Irish holiday makers will be hugely curtailed this summer, and recognising that there will little, if any, inbound tourism, there is an onus on all of us involved at State level to try to ensure these facilities are supported and the restrictions …

ALTHOUGH I thought I knew the life of a family carer, little did I know how hard it was until I was thrown into it by a disease called cancer. My partner Noel had been sick for a while , was in and out of hospital and we had guessed he was gravely ill, but our lives were on hold until we got a diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer, three to six months. Such a short sentence bit with long ramifications. We had thought about marriage because of Noel being ill, but we now knew it was something we really wanted. Denied a big wedding due to restrictions, we had a small wedding with just my son Jamie and Noel’s daughter Louise as witness, to such a poignant moment on the day I cried “I Do”. Suddenly I was a wife and a carer, and it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, be both wife and …

SERIOUS anti social behaviour is now a grave problem right in the middle of Ennis, according to a number of traders in the O’Connell Street area this week. Several of them told the Clare Champion that preventing traffic from accessing the area has turned it into a haven for problematic behaviour, with violence, drug taking, alcohol abuse and public urination all rife at the moment. Last weekend a video of a fight just in front of the O’Connell monument was widely viewed on social media, and several of the traders said that such incidents are relatively common now. Despite being frustrated at what they say is happening around the most prominent street in Clare, several of the traders complimented the efforts of the Gardai. However they are very critical of the Council for persisting with pedestrianisation of the area, claiming that it is unlikely to make any difference to the spread of Covid, while it has led to a serious …

A BUSINESS case for a rail stop at Crusheen has been called for by the Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District. While council officials say that such a facility should be furthered as part of a forthcoming county-wide transport plan, Councillor Pat Hayes insists that success if more likely through an initiative focusing solely on Crusheen. Addressing this week’s meeting of the Killaloe district committee, Councillor Hayes said that CEO of Irish Rail, Jim Meade, had told the Oireachtas Transport Committee a business case for the Crusheen stop would be considered and that the council is responsible for doing this. “Crusheen is a growing area,” Councillor Hayes said. “It has a wide hinterland stretching to Tulla, Barefield and Ruan. It’s an ideal location for a rail stop.” The Caher native thanked Senior Executive Engineer (SEE) John Gannon for a written response which said that a Transportation Strategy for Clare is to be undertaken to highlight gaps in public transport and …

INCREASED traffic on roads across Clare has been reported by Gardaí, but general compliance levels with Level 5 restrictions are said to be relatively good. As the country comes to the end of a third straight month at the highest lockdown level, Superintendent John Galvin said that while movement beyond 5km is increasing, a lot of it is down to the return to school, as well as the distances that Clare people normally travel for essential work reasons. “We are certainly seeing a rise in the number of people on the roads at the moment,” the Kilrush-based superintendent said. “A certain level of that is down to the reopening of schools and overall people’s compliance is quite good. If you think about someone living in Kilrush and working in Ennis, if they’re an essential worker, they have to travel well beyond the 5km.” Superintendent Galvin said that fears over large-scale house parties around St Patrick’s Day weren’t realised. “Overall, it …

BANK of Ireland has moved to reassure Clare’s Independent TD that its ATM in Kilkee will be retained after the closure of the branch. From September, the outlet will be one of three in this county – and 103 on the island – to be closed in a move which the bank said comes in response to online banking and cashless transactions. Deputy Michael McNamara questioned bank officials on Tuesday at the Joint Oireachtas Finance Committee. Gavin Kelly, CEO of Retail Ireland at Bank of Ireland confirmed that Kilkee is one of four locations in the Republic of Ireland that will retain their existing ATM. “There will be four locations that we are going to keep an ATM in the branch because there isn’t an alternative branch in the town, and Kilkee is one of those locations,” Mr Kelly said. “So, we are committed to maintaining the ATM in Kilkee for that reason.” In response to Deputy McNamara’s question about the …

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of fewer than five additional cases of Covid-19 in Clare, while there have been three additional deaths related to Covid-19 nationally.Of the deaths reported today, two occurred in March and one in February. There has been a total of 4,631 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Wednesday, March 24, the HPSC has been notified of 606 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 232,758 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 298 are men / 305 are women 75% are under 45 years of age The median age is 33 years old 249 in Dublin, 57 in Donegal, 39 in Kildare, 32 in Meath, 31 in Louth and the remaining 198 cases are spread across all other counties*. As of 8am today, 312 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 75 are in ICU. 24 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As …

PATIENTS are being discharged from a new 60-bed block unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) without adequate planning for step down supports, a local deputy has claimed. Deputy Cathal Crowe is calling on the HSE to ensure that an official discharge co-ordinator is put in place for the new 60-bed block. At present, the role is not filled for the €19.5 million modular unit at UHL, which began taking patients in late 2020 and hospital management have no plans to appoint a new person to this post. “I have been raising the issue of a lack of a discharge co-ordinator for this block both in the Oireachtas Health Committee and with Colette Cowan, CEO of the UL Hospitals’ Group,” said Deputy Crowe. “Several families of patients and workers in the system have been in contact with me highlighting the fact that where a patient is being discharged, there’s very little in terms of stepdown planning for having supports in place …