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COROFIN’S Kenneth O’Halloran was among the winners at the recent Press Photographers Association of Ireland awards. Kenneth took second place in the Reportage category for a series of images of men working in their gardens just after lockdown hit. The Judges report said, “We really loved this picture story, shot in a very direct documentary style, the photographer pounded the pavements of suburbia, hunting lockdown man in his garden managing to connect the visual threads with humour and a touch of the surreal. Wonderful idea and an absolutely delightful set of images.” Speaking about the work, Kenneth said that while he had started off taking pictures of deserted streets, he soon tried to get something a little different. “With Instagram you can see that what you think is a really interesting idea has been photographed by most people. So I was looking for something else, I hit the suburbs and spent three or four weeks walking around the housing estates …

THE Mid-West Public Health Department has warned about the risks posed for the spread of Covid-19 as a result of social mixing among multiple households. The warning was issued this week as it investigates more than 55 household situations, involving at least two cases each, across the Mid-West region since March 1. These “situations” are in households where a more in-depth public health risk assessment has been undertaken because of either having a suspected or confirmed outbreak. The department has provided an example of a complex community outbreak of more than 20 cases, occurring as a direct result of social mixing among multiple households, which occurred in the Mid-West region in recent months. Each household was exposed to other settings, including workplaces and extended families, resulting in further spread of infection outside the household. One household cluster was linked to a workplace outbreak of more than five cases, which then spread to the household of a staff member, resulting in …

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of fewer than five new cases of Covid-19 in Clare , while there have been nine additional deaths related to Covid-19 nationally. Seven deaths occurred in March, and two deaths occurred in February. The median age of those who died was 76 years and the age range was 64 to 95 years. There has been a total of 4,585 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Friday, March 19, the HPSC has been notified of 525 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 229,831 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 255 are men / 265 are women 68% are under 45 years of age The median age is 34 years old 266 in Dublin, 33 in Meath, 29 in Wexford, 25 in Offaly, 24 in Donegal, and the remaining 148 cases are spread across 19 other counties. * As of 8am today, …

THE government has been urged to develop a long term strategy to deal with Covid-19 and ease stringent restrictions to allow people meet safely outdoors. That’s the view of Deputy Michael McNamara, who believes the government must outline a plan to allow people to meet each other in the open air, while employing social distancing, and provide some outdoor hospitality services. The East Clare Deputy has been informed by former Senator Billy Lawless, who runs restaurants in Chicago, that outdoor dining was possible in very cold conditions in the USA, which illustrated this could be replicated in Ireland during the Spring. He said most bars, restaurants and hotels would be able to work safely outdoors if they were given the opportunity to do so. “People have been cooped up for a very long time now. At what point do will allow people to live because if we don’t ease up, people will just crack? “A lot of what happened during …

THE Shannon Family Resource Centre (Shannon FRC) is now offering a discreet family-support service and has secured additional funding for one to one counselling for children and adults which is being delivered free of charge. The new Shannon FRC website showcases this and other positive mental health services and resources which are available in the Shannon area. “Child and adolescent counselling services have seen a big increase in demand since the pandemic began,” says Colette Bradley, co-ordinator of Shannon FRC. Like many other organisations, Shannon FRC, based in the Rineanna View Community Building, has been learning to adapt to new ways of supporting the people of the town and surrounding communities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s three-person staff team has witnessed first hand the significant challenges that a lot of families are trying to cope with on a day to day basis during this pandemic – poverty, mental health issues, along with grief and loss, which are …

GLOBAL status for a number of Clare heritage sites has the potential to bolster tourism in the wake of the pandemic, according to Clare’s Independent TD. Deputy Michael McNamara is urging the council to get behind efforts to secure UNESCO world heritage status for a number of Clare sites including Inis Cealtra. In a strongly-worded statement, the Scariff native contrasted the efforts to light global tourism sites in green for St Patrick’s Day with what he sees as a lack of action on securing longer international heritage status. Deputy McNamara described Ireland’s efforts to green global historic sites such as the Sydney Opera House, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pyramids of Giza for St Patrick’s Day as in marked contrast to “lacklustre efforts to win recognition for historic sites in our own country”. Nationally, a review is taking place of a tentative list for consideration by UNESCO, which has the power to award a permanent international designation to selected heritage sites. The closing date for councils to make their …

A MILTOWN Malbay resident who swapped his native Kildare for the banner county has described how the move opened up a whole new life for him. Pat Ryan, originally from Kildare town, has lived in Clare for four years with his wife, Geraldine. Now in his early sixties, Pat says life on the west coast has given him a new lease of life and has led to the creation of new business enterprises and an unexpected venture into the world of songwriting. “I’ve been coming to Clare since I was about 17. I loved it, and through the years, despite travelling a fair bit, I was always drawn back to Clare. We have had a journey over the years by virtue of life’s ups and downs. Since we married, we have moved 11 times. “We moved to Ennistymon in October 2017 then in February 2020, we moved to Miltown Malbay to a house with a bit more room.” Pat says …

When Covid-19 restrictions first entered our lives just over a year ago, life took on a pace that was unrecogisable for so many. For Laurie Ryan, it was no different as a hectic schedule of college, family and sporting commitments came to something of a crashing halt. The former Clare ladies football captain found herself with hours to spare in the day for the first time in years as she isolated in Ennis with her grandmother Rita Ryan when the Covid crisis struck. Up to March 2020, her life had centered around working to get her PhD completed while also juggling her considerable sporting commitments with county and college teams. She was ready to take that next step in her career with a job as a Public Engagement and Projects Officer in the University of Limerick having been secured in January. Lockdown meant that working from home was the new normal, but she feels the time that the slower pace …