News

IT was another disappointing week in Irish politics for all those who believed a new dawn had broken after the last general election. There are thousands of young people all over the State who thought that by electing TDs like Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan in Roscommon-South Leitrim, Mick Wallace in Wexford and other candidates, they would be sending out a message that the young people of Ireland were no longer going to tolerate the old ways that passed for politics in this country for decades. Corruption, cronyism and hypocrisy were to be consigned to the pages of history.Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, in particular, seemed to represent that new order. He was totally different to the deputies of all parties who had represented the people of this very rural constituency of Roscommon along with South Leitrim in the past. He dressed differently and he spoke out in favour of ideas and practices that his predecessors would have roundly condemned. His anti-establishment stand on …

AS all connected with Shannon Airport know, its connectivity to Heathrow, one of the world’s most important hubs, is absolutely crucial. Given that there will be some disappointment that Aer Lingus are putting their first service of the day to Heathrow back by a little over an hour, from 7.30am to 8.45am.In a statement, Aer Lingus said it was because an existing arrangement had come to an end. “The timing of the flight has been changed as the original slot pair is no longer available to us. This is due to the expiry of a lease. In order to ensure that the frequency and capacity on the route is unaffected, we have acquired another slot pair.“The timing change is unavoidable, however, we have conducted an analysis of the onward connectivity available at Heathrow for those travelling at the new timing and are confident that there is no material effect of the timing change.”Shannon-based Councillor Sean McLoughlin said the decision to …

MORE than 70 locals from Spanish Point and Miltown Malbay turned on Bank Holiday Monday for the annual Armada beach clean-up to prepare for the busy season ahead. The sun shone down on hotel employees and management, who donned the rubber gloves to scour the beach for rubbish.  The beach clean-up was managed by Noralynne Murrihy from the Armada Hotel and started at 2pm, with young and old braving the cold to reclaim the beach to its former glory. Over 100 bags of litter and debris were collected and within an hour, the group had achieved their goal. The inaugural beach clean took place in 2009 and due to the phenomenal local reaction, it has now become an annual event. Commenting on the success of the event, Frank Minogue, general manager at the Armada said, “We are very proud of our unique location and our natural surrounds and it is a privilege to allow our employees time out to participate …

THE years were rolled back in Ennis on Tuesday night when the times of  The Union Workhouse from the 1840s were recalled. The occasion was the celebration of a special mass to mark the 40th year of St Joseph’s Church, Ennis, which is situated on part of the site of the former workhouse and church, which were demolished in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Clare County Council to make way for the new church and hospital.The special mass of thanksgiving on Tuesday, the Feast of St Joseph, was celebrated by Bishop Kieran O’Reilly, SMA and among the 16 concelebrants were Bishop Willie Walsh, Fr John McGovern, administrator St Joseph’s and past administrators and priests attached to St Joseph’s.Among the past administrators  who concelebrated  the mass were Fr Seamus Mullen, Miltown Malbay; Fr John Bane, Broadford and Fr Jerry McInerney, Barefield. Remembered in prayers during mass were past administrators, Fr Sean Saunders, Fr Rory McInerney and Fr Hugh O’Dowd, …

OVER €5,000 a week was being spent by the defence forces on the provision of security at Shannon last year, according to information provided by Minister Alan Shatter in the Dáil.According to the information provided by Mr Shatter, €275,008 was spent last year and €4,060,455 in the years 2003-2012. The greatest expenditure in a single year was in 2003, when it reached €1,113,200, while it fell by over a quarter the following year, down to €760,500. In 2005 it was €225,900, in 2006 €403,375, in 2007 €275,054, in 2008 €286,273, in 2009 €258,040, in 2010 €203,366 and €259,739 in 2011.Mr Shatter provided the information in response to a question from Clare TD Timmy Dooley and speaking in the Dáil, the minister said; “An Garda Síochána has the primary responsibility for law and order, including the protection of the internal security of the State. Among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces is the provision of aid to the civil power …

Nostalgia will fill the air when 250 youth club leaders, past and present, come together to celebrate The Gathering and reunite for a trip down memory lane on April 27 in The West County Hotel, Ennis.Since its formation almost half a century ago, Clare Regional Youth Council, now Clare Youth Service, has supported over 100 youth clubs in all parts of the county and it is estimated that over 1,000 youth leaders have volunteered in their local clubs. For many leaders, the memories of Tops of the County, Youth Day, Thrills ‘n’ Spills and discos with Big G, Gerry Sexton, provide the soundtrack to a voluntary career in the service of the county’s young people.With this service also came the reward of great friendships and a cracking social life.Now, as part of The Gathering initiative, the Youth Club Leaders Reunion offers the chance to relive it all for one night only. Big G himself will be there with the vinyl. …

Occurrences of contamination of public water supplies in Clare with the potentially dangerous E.coli bacteria is down by almost 90% since 2005, according to a report released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA regional inspector Niall Dunne pinpointed the drop in the level of E.coli contamination to “better management, processes, monitoring, treatment and disinfection by Clare County Council”.The report also shows that drinking water in Clare achieved 100% compliance in microbiological parameters, the same as it was in 2010, and 100% compliance with chemical parameters, which is also an increase in quality compared with 99.1% two years ago. However, Mr Dunne cautioned that while there have been improvements in the quality of drinking water from private supplies, “it remains inferior to that from public supplies”. Contaminated private well water, he admitted, “is a growing cause for concern”.“It is great news for people in Clare that the number of occurrences of E.coli in public supplies is down by almost 90% …

THE number of commercial movements at Shannon Airport in February was down by 17% on the figure for the same month in 2012.Shannon is having a difficult start to life as an entity separate from Dublin Airport, as the poor numbers recorded in February follow a 10.7% year-on-year decline seen in January.In February, there were 1,012 commercial movements at Shannon compared to 1,219 in the same month of last year. A certain amount of the decline can be attributed to the fact that February was one day longer in 2012 due to the leap year.Overall, the airport saw a decline of 13.78% in commercial movements in the first two months of this year compared with the first two months of 2012.The two other State airports also saw declines, albeit much less dramatic ones. The number of commercial movements at Cork in February was down by 2.1% year on year, while at Dublin Airport the drop was 1.6% year on year.As …