News

MULTINATIONAL drugs company Roche, which has a manufacturing base in Clarecastle, have seen an increase in profits and a rise in group sales with demand growing for cancer medicines and an increase in sales of diagnostic tests to clinical labs.The Swiss company described their results for 2012 as “strong” with group sales rising by 4% to 45.5 billion CHF (Swiss francs). The group’s core operating profit increased to 17.2bn CHF, attributed to solid sales development and an increase in royalty income. The group’s core earnings per share rose 10% to 13.62 CHF. The net income for Roche increased to 9.773bn CHF from 9.544bn CHF.Roche chief executive Severin Schwan said, “We met our financial targets, grew faster than the market and our strong pipeline positions us well for further growth”.The company stated its three top selling products, MabThera/Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin, all performed strongly in 2012.  

FLAGS were flying at half mast this week at Ennis, Killaloe, Kilrush, Shannon and Ennistymon Garda Stations following the gunning down of detective garda Adrian Donohoe at the Lordship Credit Union at Bellurgan, Dundalk, last Friday night. Detective Donohoe’s death shocked the nation and the community in Kilkee, where his wife Caroline Deloughrey is from and where the couple were married. People in the town are reeling from the news that his life had been so brutally cut short at 41 years of age.  Books of condolences have been opened this week at Ennis, Killaloe, Kilrush and Ennistymon Garda Stations and locals have not been slow to turn up to pay their respects. The books of condolences will remain in place at the district offices for the coming days. Although Chief Superintendent John Kerin is currently out of the country, Clare’s Garda Division was represented by Superintendents Gerard Wall and Derek Smart. Other senior gardaí and members of the force …

A CHARITY soup kitchen, serving up to 180 dinners weekly, is to be established in Ennis. Athenry man, Ollie Williams, has already opened soup kitchens in Galway, Roscommon, Athlone and Limerick.Twist Soup Kitchens is an entirely voluntary movement and its establishment was inspired by Mr Williams’ brief experience as a homeless 15-year-old in London in the 1980s. Having conducted some research, he said a soup kitchen will be opened in Ennis in the coming weeks.“I would hope to have it open within two weeks. That would be my plan. That’s subject to finding a suitable premises. I’m working very closely with Josie O’Brien in Ennis. She does what I’m doing, albeit from her home. We’re just complementing her service and Josie is working very closely with us, to make her life a little bit easier and get the food to people who need it most,” Mr Williams explained.He is adamant that Ennis needs the soup kitchen, which he predicts will …

THE Gathering 2013 will quite literally shine a light on what the Banner County has to offer over the next 11 months. More than 2,000 people attended the Clare Gathering 2013 official launch and expo at Glór in Ennis at the weekend. The event featured exhibits on 100 of the estimated 230 Gathering festivals and events taking place throughout Clare during 2013.One of the centrepieces of the event was the lighting of Solas an Chláir (The Light of Clare), a commemorative limestone piece by Corofin stone mason John Goggin, with design inputs from sculptor Shane Gilmore, a draw was held to determine what events The Gathering symbol will be present at during the 11 remaining months of the year.The first Gathering to welcome Solas an Chláir on its journey around Clare will be the Concertina Cruinniú in Miltown Malbay, in February. March will see the Ennis Phoenix Twinning host the piece, which will stay in Ennis again in April for …

You will be glad to have it confirmed during the week that stroke politics is still alive and well. Fine Gael and Labour promised us before the last election and while they were still in Opposition that things would be different once they were elected to power.They were going to do away with the old-style politics as practised by Fianna Fáil down through the years. Enough of us believed them to give them a record number of seats at the general election.We had heard it all before and no doubt we will hear it all again. You might change parties but nothing changes. Health Minister James Reilly has shown us once again that he is as adept as Fianna Fáil ministers ever were when it comes to pulling strokes. Once again, he was caught out and once again he will get away with it. What he did on behalf of his cabinet colleagues Phil Hogan of Kilkenny and Brendan Howlin …

DONNAGH Gregson of the Bunratty Cookery School is the new chair of the Clare Tourism Forum, succeeding Barbara Faulkner in the role.She says it is important to promote what the Banner County has to offer, adding that much work has been done on making The Gathering a success in Clare. “I suppose that what we would be facing is that everyone is trying very hard to promote their county and we have to try and show that Clare is the county to come to above others. We are handling the Gathering quite well and I think we have the fifth-highest amount of events in the whole country, so we’re doing quite well on that.”She said the forum is drawing expertise from across the public and private sectors. “We have some quite successful tourism business people and it’s a mixture between private and public sectors. We have Shannon Development in and we’d also have people like myself and Mark Nolan from …

THE collapse in the property market has been blamed by a local developer for the non-construction of 169 houses planned for the Roslevan area. An application by Finn Properties to extend planning permission for the development of houses and a distributor road at Oakleigh Wood, Knockaderry, Tulla Road, has now been refused by Ennis Town Council.Finn Properties had originally been granted permission in 2007, subject to 41 conditions, for the development consisting of a number of different house types, pump houses and associated drainage, continuation of existing access road and all associated site works. However, no development work has commenced on the site. The granting of planning permission expired in November of last year.An application was made by Finn Properties for the planning permission to be extended by another five years, with the developer stating they expect the project could recommence in 2015.According to the developer’s application to Ennis Town Council for the extension of permission, “The property market collapsed …

SHANNON has secured its first new route as an independent entity, with Wednesday’s announcement of a new Flybe service to Glasgow, to commence on May 2.The new flights will operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and are expected to generate some 10,000 additional passengers for Shannon this year.Flybe is Europe’s largest regional airline and Shannon Airport Authority chairman Rose Hynes welcomed the new route. “We said that the immediate focus of an independent Shannon would be passenger growth. This is a good start and there will be more to come.”Shannon’s managing director, Mary Considine, said it was an important development and that securing a link with a new airline is significant. “This is excellent news for Shannon Airport as it not alone delivers a new route to Glasgow but also a new airline customer to the premier gateway airport for the West of Ireland.“The Glasgow route was last operated in October 2011 and we are delighted to restore links there …