News

WATER quality in parts of Ennis has been described as “deplorable” resulting in illness and malfunctioning appliances for concerned householders. Homes in Ard na Greine, St Michael’s Villas and St Flannan’s Terrace have been affected by “ongoing difficulities” with the quality of their water supply a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District heard this week. Councillor Paul Murphy highlighted the issue while urging the Ennis Municipal District and Irish Water to facilitate mains rehabilitation and road reinstatement works between Captain Mac’s Junction and Station Cross roundabout. Ian Chaplin, Acting Senior Executive Engineer confirmed that the Ennis Municipal District and Irish Water have been in discussions and a meeting is due to take place to finalise plans for the works. He added that the council is aiming to schedule works for a time that “least inconveniences the public”. According to Councillor Murphy these works were due to be carried out during Christmas of last year. He said that the issue needs …

AN Ennis councillor has resigned from the company set up to deliver Ennis 2040 objectives having appealed to An Bord Pleanala against controversial plans for a €450 million data centre. Councillor Johnny Flynn made the announcement he was stepping down from the Ennis 2040 (Strategic Development) Designated Activity Company (DAC) at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. The development of a data centre at Toureen plays a central role in the Ennis 2040 plan where it is included among a number of ‘Transformational Projects’ for the county capital. Councillor Flynn told the meeting he did not want to “distract” from the Ennis 2040 DAC’s work after lodging his appeal against the development on the Tulla Road. He outlined that he has been engaged with the planning process for the site for a number of years including making a submission relating to its rezoning in 2019. Last month Art Data Centre Campus in Ennis became the first to be …

AT the moment many companies are facing a slew of problems in terms of recruitment, retention and management of workers, according to Joe Robbins of Shannon-based CareerWise recruitment. Last week a poll suggested 63% of Irish workers were disengaged from their job, but Mr Robbins says that figure, while alarming, is actually an underestimate. “It’s far higher than that. Millennials, modern young people, they want more than just working from home, they want to be able to take time out to go to the gym or do charity work or whatever, there’s a huge disengagement around the world.” At the same time there is a huge demand for people, with labour shortages across various sectors. “The labour market is very, very tight now. You saw last week that Ireland has surpassed 2.5 million people working. “There’s a huge shortage of all sorts of people now; hospitality, production and manufacturing, finance, supply chain, R&D, there’s a shortage of people everywhere. It’s …

KILMURRY Ibrickane Development Project CLG has been granted planning permission for a multi-purpose community development including a hall, gym, cafe, viewing area, enterprise space and car park at Pháirc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty. An architectural design statement which accompanied the application said, “Beyond the actual architectural and functional qualities of the building, the structure creates a balance and establishes a dialogue with the coastal location. The application noted that the paritcular area in the centre of the village was lacking a heart “and a space symbolically constituting the centre for all activities, a place to meet, talk and have fun”. They said the key idea was that the space can be used flexibly for community activities of various kinds giveing examples of meetings, conferences, entertainment, sports and group learning events. The structure, they wrote, is intended to meet the needs of the local and neighburing communities, surrounding schools as well as the local GAA club. “The proposed design creates a …

A JUDGE has called on Gardai to interview a father accused of sexually abusing his daughter “as a matter of urgency”. At the Family Law Court, Judge Mary Larkin said, “I hate to say it but if the man went down to Supermacs and stole a burger he would probably be interviewed within the week”. Judge Larkin made her comment after solicitor, Pamela Clancy for the man said that it may be a number of months before Gardai interview her client on the matter. Ms Clancy said that there was a complaint made against the man to TUSLA of sexual abuse of his child two weeks after a circuit court judge struck out a family law appeal by the child’s mother. Ms Clancy said that an independent child expert last year recommended in a report that the father should have sole custody of his daughter. The estranged couple are currently going divorce proceedings and on the need by Gardai to …

THE 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 in Clare has slumped dramatically to the second lowest in the country, new figures have revealed. The prevalence of the virus has fallen in recent months from a high of 208% on May 25 to just 55% in the last two weeks. This compared to Limerick, which is the fourth highest in the country with 120 cases per 100,000. The number of confirmed Covid-19 PCR cases in Clare is edging closer to 40,000, In total, there were 39,898 confirmed PCR cases in the Banner County on Wednesday following five new diagnoses on Tuesday. There were 66 PCR cases in the Banner county over the last two weeks and the 14-day incidence in the county per 100,000 is 55.5% These latest figures only include PCR confirmed cases of Covid-19 and don’t include those who register online with a positive antigen test.

A VIDEOED flashpoint in a siblings’ row over land in east Clare “was a very bad production – nearly as bad at Flatley’s Blackbird”, a court has heard. At Killaloe District Court sitting in Ennis, solicitor Daragh Hassett made the comment referring to a film directed by and starring Michael Flatley that has received extremely poor reviews. The solicitor told the court that a yard row between his client, Ciaran Griffin and two siblings, Anthony Griffin and Ruth Griffin “was a complete set-up”. Both Ruth Griffin and Anthony Griffin in evidence stated that this wasn’t the case. Ruth Griffin videoed the row on a mobile phone and the footage was played to the court as part of the State prosecution against her brother, Ciaran Griffin. Mr Hassett said that this was a case of ‘Lights, Camera, Action’. While cross examining Anthony Griffin on his evidence, Mr Hassett said: “This was a very bad production – nearly as bad as (Michael) …

Revenue officials have seized 4kgs of herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of €80,000, at Shannon Airport. The illegal drugs were concealed in a parcel that had originated from Italy and were destined for an address in Cork City. The seizure came about as a result of routine operations at the airport this Tuesday, September 6. Seperately, this Wednesday, as a result of routine profiling, Revenue officers at Rosslare Europort seized approximately 200,000 cigarettes with an estimated retail value of €150,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of almost €118,000. The illegal cigarettes, branded ‘Dunhill’, were discovered with the assistance of Revenue’s mobile x-ray scanner when Revenue officers stopped and searched a Bulgarian registered truck and its accompanying trailer, that had disembarked a ferry from Dunkirk, France. Investigations into both seizures are ongoing. These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and smuggling. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, …