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FORMER Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tommy Brennan is fuming over the introduction this week of the smoke-free campus policy at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis.Councillor Brennan, who is a smoker for the last 50 years, has claimed the new policy will force patients and smokers off the hospital grounds and onto the main Ennis to Galway Road, where they could get knocked down by a passing vehicles.Describing the new policy as a “step too far”, Councillor Brennan declared, “Who will police this new policy? Will the HSE employ someone to follow patients in their pyjamas who want a smoke into trees and bushes?“I think it would be more in line for the HSE to open up the new 50-bed unit in the hospital instead of introducing this policy. If any patient who leaves the hospital grounds for a smoke takes a turn, they could get killed on the Galway Road.“Are we living in a republic or a dictatorship? It should …

LIMERICK Regeneration chairman and former Dublin City manager, John Fitzgerald, is to chair one of the task forces being set up regarding Shannon’s future.An announcement from Government on new interim structures at Shannon is believed to be imminent.It is understood that the steering group on Shannon’s future will include a number of civil servants. There will also be two task forces, one dealing largely with developing aeronautical industries at Shannon and the other with change management.The task force on aeronautical industry is set to be led by Clare woman Rose Hynes, while the other will be led by Mr Fitzgerald. These sub-committees will report to the steering group, which in turn will regularly report to a Cabinet sub-committee.Mr Fitzgerald, 65, spent most of his career working in local government, holding the position of Dublin City manager from 1996 to 2006. He is currently chairman of Limerick’s Regeneration Agencies, An Post and the National Transport Authority. A native of Galbally, County …

councillors expend much of their energy attempting to persuade Clare County Council to repair pothole-filled roads in parts of West Clare.However, Lissycasey Councillor PJ Kelly has adopted a contrary approach, aimed at solving speeding issues on the approach to two bridges in the Cooraclare parish. The bridges are located in Cree village and Cloncullen, which is about a mile from Kilmacduane Graveyard in Cooraclare.“A few subterranean speed ramps on the approaches to those bridges is the only way that is going to slow them [motorists] down. I think the subterranean speed ramp is the answer,” Councillor Kelly commented cryptically.Perhaps realising some of his fellow councillors were unsure as to what constituted a subterranean speed ramp, Councillor Kelly filled the knowledge void.“That’s a technical name for potholes,” he informed the meeting.Cooraclare Councillor Bill Chambers had raised the bridge issue, asking that Clare County Council erect ‘dangerous bridge’ signs at Cloncullen bridge and approaching the bridge in Cree village.“We can do a …

THREE out of a total of seven arrests as part of a cross border garda operation into organised prostitution, brothel-keeping and associated offences were made in Clare this week, The Clare Champion can reveal.  Two men, one in his 30s and one in his 20s, and a woman in her 20s were arrested in Ennis town on Tuesday as part of a large number of planned searches in the Republic and in Northern Ireland under Operation Quest, a co-ordinated operation involving An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The three people arrested in County Clare were located following the search of a single premises in Ennis town on Tuesday by local gardaí, as part of the co-ordinated operation lead by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The three were detained in Ennis Garda Station on Tuesday around midday where they were each questioned. They were all released without charge on Tuesday night. Gardaí in Ennis confirmed a …

REPRESENTATIVES of workers at the Aer Lingus maintenance base are due to meet the company’s chief executive Christoph Mueller on Tuesday morning in a meeting, which could decide whether they remain in Shannon or are moved to Dublin.The company has already been presented with a document from workers, which it is believed points to savings of in the region of €1.5 million.The workers came up with the proposals following threats to move approximately 70 jobs to Dublin.Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday, Brian Gormley of the Unite Trade Union, which represents many of the workers, said the proposals would maintain current levels of pay and wouldn’t involve any compulsory redundancies. “There is potential for a few reductions, with people who would be very close to retirement. Staff have already undergone pay cuts across the board,” he said.Mr Gormley said the workers had put together a very worthwhile document, which it is thought will match the levels of savings being …

A DECISION on a controversial plan that would ban sleeping in campervans and on boats at Kinvara Pier, has been deferred for a month. The issue of the Prohibition on Temporary Dwellings at the pier was on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of Galway County Council but a decision on it was delayed after an error was discovered on a map presented to the councillors.“The proposal was ready to go. It was a technicality really,” explained local councillor Gerry Finnerty. “There are a number of streets on which there will be no parking allowed. There is one part of the street that has no restrictions on it but this will not be marked in as a designated camping area. “The council cannot afford to put in the necessary facilities for to make it an official camp site. What I would like to see is a private person coming along and opening a caravan park central to the town. That is …

NOT building new toilet facilities in Lahinch during the country’s economic boom was “remiss” a local councillor claimed this week.Monday’s North Clare Area meeting heard that the remainder of the €6 million development of the Prom in Lahinch is on hold because of “funding issues” and a new toilet and amenity block now depends on funding from Fáilte Ireland. Carmel Greene, senior executive officer, said the council would like to proceed with the project but acknowledged that “there is a funding issue”.“We don’t have the full cost of building the toilet and amenity block,” Ms Greene told councillors at the meeting.Councillor Bill Slattery agreed the council should go ahead with the toilet and block, which forms just one part of the Lahinch Promenade Masterplan. “People are annoyed that the toilets are in Seaworld and are not big enough,” he said. Councillor Richard Nagle said he hoped Fálte Ireland “would come up with the funding”. “The toilets are too small, leading …

The future of a project that would see Limerick linked by motorway to Galway and Tuam remains in doubt, despite the approval this week of a loan that would fund it in part. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has confirmed that it will loan up to €170 million of the €530 million project, subject to due diligence. It has also approved a loan of up to €75 million for the N7 Newlands Cross/N11 Arklow-Rathnew project.“Both these projects are being procured as PPPs by the National Roads Authority and the EIB loans will form part of the overall debt funding package of the PPP consortium, when agreed. In each case, other commercial debt funding is required to enable the schemes to be brought to financial close,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transport outlined.Clare TD and chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pat Breen TD, said the loan approval was positive, adding that the Minister for Transport …