News

A West Clare mother who looks after an adult son with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has claimed her life has been “turned upside down” following the erection of a 19.6m agricultural wind turbine in a neighbouring property.

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation general secretary, Sheila Nunan, will address Clare delegates at a meeting in Ennis on Monday night amid growing concern about the impact of proposed cutbacks on small and disadvantaged schools.

THE lives of women and babies may be threatened by the loss of 47 experienced midwives in the region’s flagship maternity hospital, a local consultant obstetrician has claimed.

TWO mystery councillors have managed to infiltrate Clare County Council without anybody noticing.

  MINISTER for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, was the keynote speaker at the Shannon Chamber luncheon last Friday and told those present we need to “totally reinvent ourselves” in order to transform our economy. In his keynote address, Minister Bruton said, “It is not about getting back to where we were but we really have to totally reinvent ourselves and that is an enormous challenge to everybody, not just those in business. Things did go wrong and people might say it’s not anything to do with an ordinary family but of course it is, because it was the decisions that families make and the career choices that are made that do make a difference to whether we are able to transform our economy.”He highlighted the number of people who took up engineering and technology degrees between 2001 and 2010 was halved and commented, “The impact of the wrong road that was travelled in respect of property and banking …

SINN Féin spokesman Martin Ferris this week confirmed the departure of Shannon Town Councillor Cathy McCafferty from the party but repeatedly refused to divulge what had brought it about.

THERE were 529 new residential and commercial buildings identified in Clare in 2011, according to figures released by GeoDirectory. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 35% compared to 2010, when 814 new buildings were recorded in the county.

Clare’s Joint Policing Committee met this week to discuss issues pertaining to rural policing, crime, garda ­retirements and proposed new penalty points. Carol Byrne reports