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FRUSTRATION has been expressed at the red tape that surrounds the process of reviewing and appealing speed limits. The point was made by Councillor Joe Cooney, at the end-of-year meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District, that action is needed on the route between Tuamgraney and Killaloe. However, he described a Council response to his motion, calling for a speed limit change on the R463 from the Steiner Schools to Raheen Hospital, as disappointing. The response from Senior Executive Engineer Derek Troy outlined that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), rather than Clare County Council, is responsible for conducting reviews. It also outlined an appeals mechanism whereby individuals can make a case to a local appeals board. If they are not happy with the outcome, that can be referred to a regional panel and then back to an annual Council meeting for final approval. “I am not happy with the reply,” Councillor Cooney said. “We are all well aware of this section of …

IF a commercial deal was handled as badly as the transfer of the Shannon Heritage sites to the County Council, those in charge would probably be looking for new employment, said Clare TD Michael McNamara this week. It should be far easier to establish if Clare County Council can get the finance it says it needs, he feels. “If money isn’t available, money isn’t available. I’ve never been one to make little of money or to say that €15 million, which is reputedly what’s being asked, is a small amount of money, it’s not. “On the one hand you have Government representatives saying that it’s a small amount of money, which I don’t agree with, and on the other hand they’re saying that every effort is being made. “It seems to me that the dispute isn’t even about money, there seems to have been a lack of interaction between the Government and its various departments, Shannon Airport which is a …

NEW figures from the Department of Education show that there are now 531 Ukrainian children in Clare primary schools and another 326 in the county’s second level schools. Cork, Donegal, Dublin and Kerry are the only counties with more Ukrainian pupils, however even Donegal and Kerry have significantly greater populations than Clare, as well as Cork and Dublin. Overall around 6.5% of the Ukrainian children attending Irish schools are doing so in County Clare. While the numbers are large, Clare TD Cathal Crowe said that the Department of Education have coped quite well with a very challenging situation. “Capacity is a problem, yet capacity can always be increased if decisions are taken quickly to do so. I would think that from the get-go Minister Norma Foley’s office have been one of the better departments to engage. “They set up a team of people in each regional area, so there’s a Mid-West team that have been dealing with school principals. “There …

A PLANNED sale by Shannon Airport Group of a 4.9 acre site at the Quin Road Business Park, which includes a pumping station serving housing estates in Ennis, would leave Irish Water “over a barrel of sewage flowing backwards into estates”, Independent TD Michael McNamara has told the Dáil. Deputy McNamara has voiced concerns that private ownership of the infrastructure could negatively effect the provision of a public service to a number of large housing estates in Ennis. This week he asked the government to bring together the relevant bodies involved in a bid to ensure the pumping station, described as a vital piece of public infrastructure, is protected. Speaking in the Dáil this week the Clare TD raised his concerns about the sale to Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath. He outlined, “Shannon Commercial Enterprises, the successor of Shannon Development is selling five acres of land on the Quin Road in Ennis. “In one corner of that …

GLOWING tributes were paid to a Clonlara resident for her invaluable contribution to her local community during a recent presentation. The legacy left by Theresa Gleeson (70) was aptly summed up by Clonlara Community Creche deputy manager, Laura Woods when she stated:“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” Ms Gleeson was given a photograph includes images of St Senan’s National School, the local church and Clonlara Community Crèche as symbols of the indelible mark she has left on the local community. The mother-of-two was on the national school board of management for 25 years, she volunteered for the local church for years and has spent 38 years working in childcare. The crèche caters for 74 children that are looked after by 21 staff. In 2001, Ms Gleeson was named the Clare Person of the Year during this period when she was honoured at a function in …

TENSIONS are “extremely high” between two families alleged to be involved in a violent feud in Ennis, a court has heard. At Ennis District Court earlier this week, Garda Alan Burke said, “Tensions have been very high over the last couple of months between the two families.” Garda Burke was giving evidence as the State objected to the granting of bail for Michael Doherty (22). Doherty, with an address at St Michael ‘s Park, Ballymaley, Ennis, is charged with two offences arising from an incident at Hogan’s service station, Gort Road, on the outskirts of Ennis on November 18, 2022. Doherty is charged with unlawful possession of a slash hook contrary to section 9 the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act. He is also charged with breach of the peace contrary to section 6 of the Criminal Justice Public Order Act. The court heard Doherty replied “no” to each of the two charges, under caution. Garda Burke said gardaí have secured …

A NATIONAL coaching body has served up a provincial award to a local coach in recognition of his club and charity work. Wesley O’Brien has been named Munster coach of the year by Tennis Coach Ireland. Wesley introduced a coaching programme in Killaloe Ballina Tennis Club, trains visually impaired people to play tennis as part of Blind Tennis and has shown hundreds of refugees in various countries how to use a racquet during his “Hit and Hope” charity trips abroad. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Wesley said this award was unexpected and hopes it will help him to secure new sponsors for his Blind Tennis initiative. While Wesley has received funding from different Sports Partnerships and Vision Sports, he believes it is not sustainable to continue to rely on these sources in the future. Recently, he travelled over to Wrexham to assist Marguerite Quinn, who competed in the United Kingdom Blind Tennis Championships against players who had more …

THE difficulty recruiting full time firefighters has the potential to leave the town exposed in an emergency with one councillor calling the situation “alarming”. It is understood that on a recent weekend just four firefighters were available for duty in Shannon. Such low numbers could have meant the service was well below what is required, but arrangements were made to bring firefighters from other areas to Shannon. Councillor Donna McGettigan said it is imperative that the situation improve. “To have so few in a town with an airport and chemical factories, it is very alarming. There must be a lot of stress on the staff too to cover shortages, and they’re under immense pressure.” She said that the reason for the lack of cover goes beyond the Council. “I know they have been trying their best to recruit, but something needs to be done to make sure it is done. I can’t blame them here, they have been trying, but …