Breaking News

    THE following flights landed safely at Shannon this morning: Aer Lingus New York EI110 landed at 05:27am Aer Lingus Boston EI134 landed at 05:33am Norwegian Air Providence landed at 06:55am The following flights departed from Shannon this morning: Ryanair Manchester FR4777 departed at 07:14am Ryanair London Stansted FR102 departed at 07:19am Aer Lingus London Heathrow EI380 departed at 07:41am However, at this point the following flights have been cancelled: Aer Lingus Regional Edinburgh EI3675 inbound service due at 10:35am Aer Lingus Regional Edinburgh EI3672  outbound service due to depart 11:05am Aer Lingus Regional Birmingham EI 3639 inbound at 6:35pm Aer Lingus Regional Birmingham EI3638 outbound at 7:00pm Aer Lingus London/Heathrow EI381 inbound at 11:15am Aer Lingus London/Heathrow EI384 outbound at 12:30pm Ryanair Wroclaw FR1172 departing at 10:50am and returning at 5:00 pm as FR1173 Ryanair Faro FR2303 departing at 10:20am, and returning at 4:20PM as FR2304 Ryanair Lanzarote FR1345 at 11:30am and returning as FR1344 at 12.00 noon. …

Clare County Council has closed a number of facilities including the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience due to severe weather conditions expected during Hurricane Ophelia. Limited essential services will be provided by the council during Monday. A number of local authority facilities will remain closed during the day. These include the Central Waste Management Facility, Ballyduffbeg, Ennis, Lisdeen, Scariff and Shannon Recycling Centres; Active Kilrush Amenity Park, Active Ennis Leisure Centre, Active Ennis John O’Sullivan Park, Lees Road, all Clare County Library branches, Clare Museum, Loop Head Lighthouse and the Clare Arts Office.

Shannon Airport will remain open throughout Monday, despite the potential impact of Hurricane Ophelia. A Shannon Airport spokeswoman stressed the safety of passengers and staff is its first priority. The spokesperson asked passengers to contact their airline with regard to updates on schedule changes for Monday. However, at this point the airport is aware of the following flight cancellations: Aer Lingus Regional EI3675/3672 from and to Edinburgh and EI 3639/3638 from and to Birmingham, and London/Heathrow EI381 and EI384 with Aer Lingus. Delta flight DL406 from NY JFK has been diverted to Dublin Airport. “Airlines will continue to advise passengers of schedule changes and we advise intending passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport tomorrow.  Shannon Airport will continue monitoring the situation throughout the day and live flight information is available on www.shannonairport.ie or on the Shannon Airport App. “Shannon Airport will post airport operational updates tomorrow on its social media channels …

  The Clare Champion office will remain closed on Monday in the wake of safety advice issued for Hurricane Ophelia. This decision was taken on Sunday night for safety reasons, following a more severe weather warning issued by Met Eireann. All editorial copy can still be forwarded to editor@clarechampion.ie while all advertising should be emailed to sales@clarechampion.ie The advertising deadline has been extended to facilitate the receipt of all advertising up to this Tuesday at 5pm. Management has urged people to follow all safety advice issued by Clare County Council, the HSE and emergency services.

  Clare remains on red alert as emergency services finalise preparations for the impact of Hurricane Ophelia. Mean wind speeds in excess of 80 kilometres per hour and gusts in excess of 130 kilometres per hour are expected, potentially causing structural damage and disruption, with dangerous marine conditions due to high seas and potential flooding. Hurricane conditions may last until midnight, according to the weather forecast. Gale-force winds are expected to begin across southern parts by early Monday morning and gradually spread northwards across the country during the day. Hurricane-force winds are expected to reach southern coastal counties by late Monday morning with storm force winds spreading inland and northwards across the country during Monday. Preparations to protect lives and property should be taken if possible. Wind speeds atop and on the windward sides of hills and mountains are often up to 30 percent stronger than the near-surface winds indicated in weather arnings and in some elevated locations could be …

    The Mid-West HSE Community Healthcare Department has decided to cancel all non essential community healthcare services scheduled for Monday due to Hurricane Ophelia. In a statement issued on Monday morning, the health authority confirmed all non emergency healthcare will not operate  on Monday and the majority of its local buildings are closed. All residential and emergency services will operate as normal and to the best of the authority’s capability in the expected storm force conditions.   Staff colleagues at the UL Hospitals’ Group have restricted all services to emergency with ED and Local Injury Units operating.  Ambulance services are as normal for emergency work. The group  has cancelled all outpatient appointments, day surgery and elective procedures in University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Nenagh Hospital, Ennis Hospital, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital and St John’s Hospital on Monday. Patients are advised not to travel to the hospitals unless absolutely necessary. All patients whose appointments have been cancelled will be contacted to …

A proposal to offer stalls for free at the controversial covered market in Ennis has got the backing of members of Ennis Municipal District, with calls for the much maligned development to become a “gold elephant”. Councillor James Breen has suggested that traders be encouraged to use the €1.75 million Ennis Market, with 12 months’ rent free. He said councillors are “getting it in the neck from every part of the county about the white elephant. Why not turn it into a gold elephant?” Councillor Breen continued, “It’s time we did something to make the market work. It’s not working at the moment and we all know it’s not working. We need a small bit of imagination.” Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Paul Murphy acknowledged that there are “a lot of bad vibes out there” about the market development. Councillor Johnny Flynn suggested that Ennis’ ratepayers, such as clothing shops, food producers and speciality shops, could use the spaces for free …

KILKEE-based tourism consultant and former chairperson of Loop Head Tourism, Cillian Murphy, has expressed “shock and disappointment” at news this week of Clare County Council’s plans to build a €1.34 million coach park at the Cliffs of Moher. “It completely reinforces our position as the pre-eminent drive-through tourism destination. It is utterly short-sighted and ties the area into a long-term policy. All over the world, tourism destinations are trying to manage capacity issues, yet Clare is bucking the trend and delivering facilities that will encourage further management issues,” he claimed. “I suggest that this money could deliver most, if not all, of a greenway between Kilrush and Kilkee, a development that would deliver social, economic and environmental benefits across the wider West Clare area. Instead, we have yet another development that facilitates external operators, in effect, paid for by Clare rates payers. “Did the councillors vote this through? What is the justification of doing this, what problem is it resolving, …