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A DETAILED design and locations for bus stops as part of plans to develop an Ennis town bus service is expected to be completed by the National Transport Authority within the first nine months of this year. The establishment of the bus service has been described as “crucial” by Councillor Johnny Flynn who, at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, urged that preparations begin immediately to ensure infrastructure is in place to support the service. Eamon O’Dea, Senior Executive Engineer, stated that the provision of the service “has been a priority for all involved in the delivery of services for the former Ennis Town Council-Clare County Council Ennis Area and Ennis Municipal District Council.” And he said the council will assist the NTA in the “timely completion” of required infrastructure designs and installation. Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Flynn welcomed the news that the NTA plan to have a two route Ennis bus service in operation by early …

A COMMUNITY leader has been lauded for her inspirational work spearheading the provision of a €8.5 million sheltered housing complex in Ennis. Pauline McNamara (72) has been awarded the Margaret O’Leary achievement in community housing for her work with Cuan an Chláir. This award is designed to recognise the achievements and commitment to housing by voluntary board members, individuals or local authority representatives demonstrating a high level of leadership in housing delivery and management over a sustained period. “The award is for all of the committee. It is great to win an award, but my focus is on the next project. What has been achieved by the whole committee is marvellous,” Pauline said. In his nomination submission Cuan an Chláir director, Willie Moloney described Ms McNamara as someone who “nourishes and protects dreams through bad days until she brings them to sunshine and light”. Mr Moloney outlined their chairperson has been the driving force behind the initiative from the start …

TRIBUTES have been paid to a much loved North Clare woman who sadly passed away last week. Selina O’Sullivan, of School Road, Lahinch was well known throughout the county, particularly for her services to the Irish Red Cross in Clare and Water Safety Ireland Clare. Selina passed away peacefully in the care of the staff at Milford Care Centre on Monday. She is survived by her husband Kieran, daughter Susan, brother Owen, sisters Joan and Helen, other relatives and friends. She was predeceased by her parents Marie and Tomsie. Selina spent many years dedicated to the Irish Red Cross in Clare and in a statement posted online the organisation said, “It’s with great sadness that the Irish Red Cross Clare mourn the passing of Selina O’Sullivan. “Treasured wife, mother, sister and member of the Irish Red Cross. Former ADU and EMT. We wish our deepest condolences to Selina’s family and friends. May she rest in peace.” Clare Area Treasurer James …

THERE WAS good news for Clare this Monday with the announcement of 25 new jobs and the promise of more to come from Lufthansa Technik Turbine Shannon (LTTS). Announcing the further expansion of its business in Ireland with the opening of a new 2,000 M2 facility and the creation of 25 jobs in Shannon, LTTS said it was responding to significant worldwide increase in demand for its services. LTTS, a subsidiary of Germany’s Lufthansa Technik AG, is experiencing the increase market demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft engines and components following the recovery of the aviation sector after the Covid-19 pandemic. LTTS has been operating in Ireland since 1992 and employs more than 300 people in Shannon, Kildare and Dublin. The current expansion plans mean that the company urgently needs 25 highly skilled aircraft mechanics who will be based at its new facility in the mid-west, working on state-of-the-art aviation technology and equipment. It is expected …

THERE WERE eight awards for Clare at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) last week, including an individual win for one Scoil Mhuire Ennistymon student. Alanna Hayes won the Senior Individual section of the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category for her project ‘An Analysis of Routing Algorithms for Electronic Design’. Meanwhile, April O’Donnell, from Mary Immaculate Secondary School Lisdoonvarna, took third in the Intermediate Individual section of the Biological & Ecological category for her project, ‘Is the Clumping Behaviour of Mussels (Mytilus edulis) affected by the Presence of a Predator?’. There were sponsored category awards won by Clare projects in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences and Biological and ecological categories also. Oisin Jackson, Mary Immaculate Secondary School Lisdoonvarna won the Met Eireann award in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category for his ‘Statistical analysis of the relationship between precipitation and river discharge in the Aille River catchment area’. Meanwhile in the biological and ecological category, …

THE Feed Clare Foodbank has resumed operations at the Kincora Building in the Town Centre on Friday mornings. Karen Cassidy is involved in running it, and she said there had been huge demand for its support in the run up to Christmas. “We didn’t open on Christmas week, that would have been the 23rd. The week before we had a double week, rather than opening a few days before Christmas, and I think we had our highest numbers ever on that day. We were so busy, my goodness, we really were busy.” When she spoke to the Champion last Friday, she said the first Foodbank of 2023 hadn’t been overly hectic. “Today wasn’t too bad. I think people probably weren’t too sure if we were open or not. It’s always like that in January, it takes people a week or two to realise it’s back open again, even though we always advertise that it’s open.” Extremely high inflation has made …

An EAST Clare woman, who is living in deplorable living conditions without any central heating, electricity or running water in her mobile home, has vowed to challenge an enforcement notice about her accommodation in the “District, Circuit or High Court”. Clare County Council has been accused of breaking its own rules after the planning section confirmed it doesn’t wish to take any further action concerning an enforcement notice issued on December 11, 2017 relating to the alleged “unauthorised storage of two mobile homes, one caravan and ancillary services” by its own housing department at Ballymalone, Tuamgraney. Duncan Young, who has lived in Ballymalone for some years and complained about this planning crux, believes the council has now set a new precedent by allowing a person to live in a mobile home allegedly without any planning permission for the last five years, which could be replicated by others in Clare. A council spokesman said: “As this remains an open and ongoing …

Gardaí had to be called to neutralise a potentially serious situation after a man with a knife locked himself into a toilet on board a bus in Clare on Sunday. It’s understood that the bus was taking a group on a sight-seeing trip to North Clare when an incident occurred on board. It’s believed an altercation involving two individuals broke out on the bus. The driver is believed to have turned off the M18 motorway at Shannon and made his way towards the town while alerting Gardaí. The coach was intercepted by a number of Garda marked and unmarked units close to Shannon Airport. One of the people involved is said to have locked himself into the onboard toilet and would not come out for Gardaí when requested. During their conversations with him, Gardaí established that the man had a knife. The passengers and driver were taken safely off and away from the bus while Gardaí dealt with the incident. Additional …