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THE Government has this week promised a major financial injection to Shannon and Cork Airports, both of which are reeling due to the impact of Covid-19. On Tuesday, the Department of Transport announced a revised €80 million funding package for Irish aviation. Shannon and Cork will share operational and capital funding supports of €22 million, of which Shannon will receive around €8.4 million. In a statement the department said, “In recognition of the very difficult winter season being faced by the aviation sector the government has decided to provide an extra €48 million in supports for 2021, in addition to those announced in Budget 2021. “The Department of Transport will provide further operational and capital funding supports of €22m for Cork and Shannon Airport, which is in addition to the €10m in capital funding announced in Budget 2021.” For years Shannon was precluded from receiving support from the State, but smaller airports such as Knock and Kerry were eligible for …

CONCERN has been expressed about the lack of a definitive opening date for a new €19.5 million 60- bed block modular unit to tackle overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after a government minister recently pledged it would be operational at this stage. Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler stated in the Seanad recently “from a construction perspective, the new ward block should be ready to be operational by Monday, November 9”. In fact, Minister Butler praised all those involved on their hard work and patience in seeing the much-needed additional capacity for University Hospital Limerick come to fruition. She also thanked Senator Martin Conway for his constructive approach as she was aware he had raised this issue many times. “The Government is committed to developing acute hospital services and infrastructure. University Hospital Limerick is an integral part of the University of Limerick hospital group, providing hospital services and care to the populations of Limerick, …

WITH the US presidential election over and Donald Trump set to leave the White House, attention in west Clare has returned to more pressing local matters. The Doonbeg Coastal Protection Group has produced a new brochure on the need for protection works at Doughmore, which Trump International is keen to carry out. An application by Trump’s organisation to carry out the works was refused by An Bord Pleanála and PRO of the Doonbeg Coastal Protection Group Liam Ryan says the brochure highlights again why the protection is required. “If you look at the first page we say it is sustaining over 300 jobs in West Clare and that’s our main interest, to protect what is there. “We explain why it is not renewing itself; anybody can see that the grass and the topsoil is falling down on the sand, and there are no stones to protect it. “The Presidency thing, as we see it, is over, and it was of …

2020 has been a hectic year for the Clare Immigrant Support Centre, and a very uncertain one for the people it supports. Spokesperson Orla Ní Éilí said that things were particularly busy as the first lockdown struck. “We’re very busy. Obviously when it hit we were doing everything by WhatsApp and email and all of that, back in the spring and we were ridiculously busy, it was 24/7, literally. Then we tried to pull it back into a bit of shape, to do our clinic times, we always had clinics in Miltown Malbay and Lisdoonvarna. When things settled we were doing appointments only on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but we were working the rest of the week as well. Now we’re back off appointments and we’re doing everything online at the moment.” She said that some of the undocumented immigrants in the county are particularly struggling, with the segments of the economy they work in having disappeared, while they may not …

FRUSTRATION is growing South-East Clare over repeated water breaks involving an old water mains pipe coming from Corbally that is supplying water to householders in Parteen and Westbury. Residents are becoming increasingly concerned with the frequency of water breaks with eight disruptions in the Parteen and Westbury area this year. Grainne Flynn, Ballykeelaun, Parteen, who has two children, said residents needed a proper water supply to have showers and wash clothes. She said the interruptions in the water supply were happening too frequently and even when the water comes back she can’t really depend on it because the pressure can be low for days. She is annoyed with the amount of times she has to call Irish Water to unblock a public sewer manhole outside her back garden, which she can’t access. She described the smell after overflows as “disgusting”. When this public manhole overflows, workmen acting on behalf of Irish Water have to go through property owned by one …

MINISTER for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue has pledged to keep restrictions on mart access under review, following a major outage with the online system, which affected sales nationwide, including those in Clare. Raising the issue in Dáil Éireann, Deputy Cathal Crowe told the minister there had been anger and confusion among local farmers over the issue that arose at the end of last month. “The system crashed for about two hours at Sixmilebridge mart,” the Fianna Fáil TD outlined, “with the result that many of the cattle already in pens in the back yard had to be loaded back onto trailers and returned to their home farms. There was consternation in the marts and considerable anger and frustration among farmers.” The Meelick-based TD said that while sales had managed to resume on the day in question, many farmers were unable to sell their animals. “The mart in Sixmilebridge continued and some sales took place, including the sale of my uncle’s yearlings, …

AN alternative to repeated lockdowns, in response to the pandemic, could lie in the promotion of ventilation and air filtration systems in homes and businesses, according to a West Clare member of Clare County Council. Addressing the November council meeting, Councillor Cillian Murphy asked the authority to undertake a campaign and to contact other councils “to build awareness at a national level of the impact better indoor air quality has in reducing the spread of Covid-19”. His motion was seconded by Councillor Patrick O’Gorman. Noting a written response from Senior Engineer Cyril Feeney saying that responsibility lay with the HSE, Councillor Murphy urged the authority to consider what it could do to promote the message. “To-date the health promotion message had focused on social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing, but there is now an increasing understanding of air-borne transmission and proper ventilation of buildings,” the Fianna Fáil member said. “Clare County Council has been instrumental in delivering HSE recommendations …

PLANNING permission is being sought for a renewable energy development close to Miltown Malbay and Ennistymon. The proposed development, approximately 5km Miltown Malbay and 7km from Ennistymon, would consist of up to eight wind turbines with a height of up to 175 metres. According to the application, which was made by Slieveacurry Limited and is with Clare County Council, the development would encompass the townlands of Glendine North, Fahanlunaghta More, Curraghodea, Letterkelly, Cloghaun More, Cloghaun beg, Silverhill, Doonsallagh East, Shanavogh East and Knockalassa. As well as the turbines there would be a meteorological mast, that could be up to 110 metres high. There would also be underground cabling connecting the turbines to an existing 110kV substation in Knocklassa. The substation would be extended also while there would be an upgrade of access junctions and existing tracks and roads. An impact assessment included with the applications states, “It is proposed to access the site of the proposed development via the R460 …