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IN conjunction with naming Ennis as its European headquarters, Microsemi has announced the inaugural €50,000 Microsemi Scholarship in Engineering at the University of Limerick. Registered pupils from five Ennis secondary schools – St Flannan’s College; Rice College; Ennis Community College; Gael Coláiste an Chláir and Coláiste Muire will be eligible to apply for the scholarship programme.It will be based on merit, as well as exam results and the four-year scholarship is worth €12,000 to the four successful applicants. Another €2,000 prize will be presented to a student in his or her final year, based on results and engineering project work as part of another competition, which is sponsored by the company.  In addition, the company has funded a high-profile science and aerospace engineering programme in St Flannan’s school in Ennis. “As part of our commitment to Ireland, we are proud to sponsor an engineering scholarship at the University of Limerick and a programme at St Flannan’s to cultivate interest in …

IF you are opposed to the property tax to be introduced next year in place of the hated household charge, I would advise you not to read any further. That’s because you are likely to get very annoyed. You see, I happen to support the idea of a property tax. I am also in favour of water charges and I have always supported charges for disposing of our domestic waste. If you are against all these things, you are liable to get very angry with me and start writing letters to the editor complaining about me. It will not do you or me any good for you to lose your temper at this stage. If you are still with me, my advice to you is to hold your tongue and your powder until details of the tax are announced in the budget next December. You can expect to be very annoyed indeed by then – not at me but at …

WHEN Fr Michael Doohan left The Hand in the Kilmurry Ibrickane parish almost 60 years ago, he didn’t set foot in his native townland again for six years. A lot had changed for the Philippines-based Columban missionary priest when he returned to his homestead in 1959.“I missed my father’s funeral. He was dead and almost buried by the time I heard it. There was no communication that time. Telegrams could be rather slow if you weren’t living near a town. It was the same with my mother but you had to take those things. There was no way that you could come home that time,” the now retired Fr Doohan told The Clare Champion this week, during his now annual visit from his adopted home in South-East Asia.His brother, Fr John (RIP), went to the Philippines in 1948 and was the first to hear about their parents’ deaths.“My brother got the telegrams for each of them. When my dad died, …

A MAN airlifted from rocks off Mutton Island on Monday has thanked rescue services for winching him to safety. Doolin Coast Guard was called just after 6pm to assist in a search for the man, who was reported missing after he failed to return at the expected time.The Shannon Coast Guard helicopter, Kilkee Coast Guard Unit and Kilkee Marine Rescue were all sent to find the boat, which was travelling from Quilty to Doonbeg Pier. Doolin Coast Guard team members searched piers in the area and also searched the coastline. The Doolin D Class boat was launched from Dough Mór beach and began searching that area and on to Doonbeg Pier.The Doolin Coast Guard Delta launched from Doolin, searching for the RIB on the way.“As they were coming around Mutton Island, the boat crew saw the man waving from a large rock just off the south side of the island. They were able to speak to him until the coast …

The designation of Microsemi’s Ennis plant as its new European headquarters has been hailed as a catalyst to attract other investors and additional jobs to the county town.Ennis Chamber chief executive officer, Rita McInerney, said the announcement is a significant boost to efforts by the Chamber, Clare County Council and employment agencies to attract new firms to locate in Ennis.Ms McInerney predicts Microsemi, which is regarded as a leading provider of semiconductor solutions, could be used as a case study of a company that overcame an uncertain future a few years ago to become hugely successful.Describing the announcement as a “major confidence boost for Ennis”, she pointed out it also safeguards the retention of up to 300 jobs, following the creation of 50 new positions last January.“Multinational companies don’t take major decisions like this lightly. The cost of doing business in Ireland is relatively high so the management and quality of the product produced by the Ennis workforce won the …

The amount of money paid to survivors of clerical sex abuse has fallen dramatically in the past year, according to the Killaloe Diocesan Accounts 2011 published this week. The payments dropped by nearly 90% last year to €20,748 from €195,799 in 2010. The diocesan communications officer Fr Brendan Quinlivan put the drop down to a decrease in the number of people requesting money from the fund. The accounts also showed a specific contribution by one donor of €200,000 in 2011 “to alleviate diocesan debt” and an accumulated bequest of over €1 million from one estate. The payments arising from clerical sex abuse are listed as special payments in the diocesan accounts. These are paid for from a fund called the Bishop’s House Donation accumulated from the sale of land beside the bishop’s house in Ennis.  “These payments are down so much because the requests of assistance from this fund have gone down. That is fundamentally the reason behind this decrease. …

A DECISION on controversial plans for the development of a €34 million retail park on the outskirts of Ennis has once again been deferred by An Bord Pleanála. According to An Bord Pleanála the ongoing delay is due to a “reduced number” of board members and a decision on the Limerick Road development is now expected to be made in the coming weeks.Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber that is objecting to the project, described the continuing delay as “frustrating” and said the hold up has left retail development in Ennis “in limbo”. A decision was due to be made by An Bord Pleanála on Wednesday on the appeal by Michael Lynch Ltd to the refusal of planning permission for the development by Ennis Town Council. However the local authority this week received correspondence from the board stating that it will “not now be in a position to determine the appeal before that date.” An inspector’s report has been received …