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The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) will begin a month long intensive farm inspection campaign on Tuesday next. Approximately 500 inspections are planned with the focus on tractor and machinery safety. Each year, nearly half of all farm deaths, and many more serious accidents, are linked to tractors and machinery.  To date in 2017 there have been six farm fatalities with four involving tractors or machinery. In an effort to reduce these accidents inspectors will be encouraging farmers to plan work and have systems in place that minimise risk particularly during silage harvesting. Pat Griffin, senior inspector with the HSA said that many serious and fatal accidents on farms occur when someone is crushed or struck by machinery. “The movement of machinery, whether in the yard or in a field, can be hazardous and farmers need to be aware of the risks, particularly if there are young children living on or visiting the farm. Incidents of crushing someone against a …

THERE will be a welcome on the mat for all this Sunday at Fr Ted’s House in the heart of the Burren. The hosts, Cheryl and Patrick McCormack, will be on hand to offer tea and scones. Visitors to the house made famous as the ‘parochial house’ for Fr Ted Crilly in the award-winning TV series Father Ted, between 6pm and 9pm on Sunday evening will be asked to part with €10, as a fundraiser for the RNLI. John and Shelly Galvin of The Clare Champion are promoting the event in recognition of the outstanding work being carried out by the RNLI lifeboat personnel all over the country. John lauded the bravery of crew members in facing into very difficult situations to deal with emergencies on sea and inland waterways

AN inquest has returned a verdict of manslaughter in accordance with the findings of the Central Criminal Court into the death of 43-year-old Ballyvaughan woman Deirdre McCarthy. Just days before the sixth anniversary of Ms McCarthy’s death, Colm Deely of School Road, Ballyvaughan was sentenced to eight years in prison for her manslaughter. He had denied murdering Ms McCarthy but in early March 2017 he pleaded guilty to her manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court. At a sitting of the County Coroner’s Court in Ennis on Thursday, an inquest found that Ms McCarthy’s death was due to asphyxia, with blunt force trauma as a contributory factor. County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said, in holding this inquest, she hoped it “helps to bring some closure to what was a tortured and arduous journey” for Ms Carthy’s family. Superintendent John Galvin, acting as coroner’s officer, offered his sympathies and those of An Garda Síochána, describing this case as something that has “been going …

Corofin man Joe Killeen is the new vice-president of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO). The principal of Lough Cutra National School, near Gort, was elected to the post at last weekend’s annual congress in Belfast. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation has in excess of 43,000 members, of which 7,300 reside in Northern Ireland. Its members teach in the region of 600,000 pupils. Mr Killeen began his teaching career at Kiltrusten National School in Strokestown, County Roscommon, and became principal at Lough Cutra in 1987. In the same year, he became Gort INTO branch secretary. He went on to represent the Gort INTO branch and District 6 of the INTO (Galway/Roscommon) for over 20 years. In 2008, he was elected to the central executive committee of the union to represent INTO District 6, which has a membership of 2,500 teachers. Mr Killeen was a member of the Small Schools Task Force, set up in 2012 by the union to advise …

A VETERAN peace activist charged with causing criminal damage to a US navy plane, has revealed that as he was being arrested he handed gardaí a list of names of children who have been killed in the Middle East. Edward Horgan was one of two men arrested at Shannon Airport on Tuesday who were subsequently charged at Ennis District Court with causing criminal damage to an aircraft. It is understood that the words ‘danger, danger, don’t fly’ were written in marker on the plane. Mr Horgan (71) has an address at Newtown, Castletroy, Limerick while his co-defendant, 35-year-old Dan Dowling, has an address at Grace Dieu in Waterford City. Speaking after appearing in court, Mr Horgan said, “I believe that the list I gave to the guards had almost a thousand [names]; there were 35 pages. The total list, unfortunately, has almost one million people since 1991”. He added, “I handed it to the gardaí at the time of the …

THE Minister for Health, Simon Harris has announced that the Government has approved the investment required to enable the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board to award the construction contracts for the building of the main children’s hospital on the St James’s Hospital campus and the two paediatric outpatients and urgent care centres on the Tallaght and Connolly Hospitals campuses. This decision means that the project can proceed without delay. Construction of the new children’s hospital will commence within weeks. At the site of the new children’s hospital, Minister Harris said, “Today (Wednesday) is a huge step forward for the children’s hospital project, ending years of doubt as to whether it would ever be built.  Today, there is no more doubt.  This hospital will be built. The new state of the art children’s hospital, and the two paediatric outpatient and urgent care centres, will provide a fitting place where we can provide our children with the best modern clinical care. “Our children …

The Minister for Health Simon Harris has today (Tuesday) noted the publication of the agreement between the National Maternity Hospital and St Vincent’s Healthcare Group by the two hospitals. In a statement, the Department of Health said, “The minister also particularly welcomes the confirmation by the board of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group that any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of this State will be carried out at the new hospital.” The statement continued, “ The boards of both hospitals are meeting this week and will no doubt review progress to date. The minister and his officials will arrange meetings with the two hospitals shortly. The minister repeats his request that some time be allowed for the detailed work that is necessary. The project is at the very early stages with a planning decision on the hospital not expected until the autumn.” Minister Harris, the statement noted, said the location of all maternity hospitals on the sites of adult …

Shannon Group plc recorded another positive year of trading in 2016, as turnover hit €67.2 million, up by over 2% on 2015.  In its second full year of trading, the group, the parent company of Shannon Airport, Shannon Commercial Properties and Shannon Heritage, recorded EBITDA of €7.6 million, reflecting a solid performance and a 10% increase on 2015. Announcing his first annual results as CEO of Shannon Group, Matthew Thomas said that a continuation of the company’s improving financial performance is necessary to enable it to undertake critical investments across its business units. “The Shannon Group has a unique mix of complementary businesses that, more than any other commercial entity in the region, gives it the potential to positively influence economic development. Sixteen companies who announced new or expanded operations in 2016 in the Mid-West, which was the fastest growing region outside of Dublin last year, cited the global connectivity at Shannon Airport as a key influencer in their decision to …