News

WORK has begun on a €90,000 home for the Lesser Horseshoe Bat on the outskirts of the Coole and Garyland Estate in South Galway. The National Roads Design Office at Galway County Council confirmed that a house on the estate is being renovated for the species and a bat roost is being constructed at a combined cost of €89,754, including VAT.The work is being carried out by Duane Construction Ltd and is in preparation for the construction of the next phase of the Atlantic Corridor, which will see the M18 extend from Gort to Tuam through the Coole Park nature reserve managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.“The Lesser Horseshoe Bat has statutory protection under the EU Habitats Directive. That is why this is being done. The contract is signed and work is commenced. It has to be carried out at a specific time of the year, which is appropriate for the species,” explained Michael Timmins, senior engineer, National …

IRELAND is under such threat due to economic factors that a financial emergency should be declared as soon as possible.That’s the argument that has been put forward by Jim Connolly of Kilbaha, who will contest the next General Election as an independent candidate in the Clare constuituency.He told The Clare Champion that, according to Article 28.3.3. of the Constitution of Ireland, a state of emergency can be declared to secure the public safety and the preservation of the State in times of war or armed rebellion.A state of emergency gives total power to the Oireachtas to enact laws deemed essential for this purpose. This was done in 1939 at the start of the Second World War.He argued that Ireland is now under such threat due to economic factors that a state of “financial emergency” should be declared as soon as possible.“It would then be possible to deal immediately with the deliberately contrived tangle of self-protective contract laws that politicians, professionals, …

A new plan to airlift critically ill patients from North and West Clare for special treatment in regional hospitals would substantially improve survival rates, a local accident and emergency consultant has confirmed.Government approval to expand the role for the Shannon-based search-and-rescue helicopter would result in a new strategy to transport major trauma patients in isolated parts of the county to 24-hour casualty departments in a fraction of the time it currently takes by road. The Clare Champion can reveal that preliminary discussions have been held between the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Irish Coast Guard Service and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) on the best way to utilise and co-ordinate existing resources.While a number of outstanding issues remain to be resolved, progress has been made putting a new proposal in place to airlift acute trauma victims as a result of the negotiations organised by Clare Fianna Fáil Deputy, Tony Killeen.Dr Cathal O’Donnell, accident and emergency consultant in the Mid-Western Regional …

WHEN Ireland emerges from the economic mire, it’s likely that exports will be the driving force behind recovery but it seems that IDA firms are giving Clare a wide berth.This week, IDA Ireland released its end of year statement for 2010, which told of a good year for foreign direct investment in Ireland, with a number of companies investing here for the first time.However, somewhat disappointingly, the section of the report dealing with regional development showed that no IDA-assisted companies had chosen to make a major job-creating investment in Clare.This was despite half of all investments coming outside of Dublin and Cork. During the year, IDA Ireland client companies created almost 11,000 new jobs, significantly up on the previous year’s level.Speaking after the statement’s launch, Enterprise Minister Batt O’Keeffe said, “Despite the period of global recession over the past two years, our value proposition to multinational firms either operating here or choosing to hub in Ireland for the first time …

THE future of the Ennis branch of Celtic Bookmakers hangs in the balance this week, as news emerged that the company has gone into receivership.On Tuesday, company director Ivan Yates announced that he had invited Allied Irish Banks to appoint a receiver to Celtic Bookmakers and on Tuesday afternoon, Neil Hughes of Hughes Blake Accountants was appointed with the task.Celtic Bookmakers has 47 betting shops nationwide, including one in Ennis in Chapel Lane. Staff at the shop this Wednesday said they were not in a position to comment on the future of the outlet and that all enquiries regarding the business were being dealt with centrally.In statement issued on behalf of Mr Yates, it was confirmed that the receivership intends to seek to market and sell as many of the shops as a going concern as possible.“Other shops will close in the coming days but the receiver will be making every effort to assign those leases where possible. We can …

Clare County Council’s analysis of “ghost estates” in the county has produced results that are completely at odds with a recent national survey conducted by the Department of the Environment.The department survey, which was based on its own research and had no input from the council, found there was 2,955 unfinished houses, which included Ennis and its environs and Kilrush Town Council.However, Clare County Council this week insisted the number of unfinished houses around the county is, in fact, 315 units.According to the National Survey of Ongoing Housing Developments published recently by the Department of Environment, Clare has a total of 72 unfinished housing estates, of which work is ongoing at just eight.The survey stated the number of incomplete housing developments in the county was six times that of Limerick City, higher than Limerick County and Galway City but less than Galway County.It showed almost nine out of every ten developments do not have any construction activity on site. The …

Overcrowding at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick is placing a huge strain on the provision of safe clinical care, a nursing union has warned.The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has claimed the hospital has in excess of 51 patients who are either on a hospital trolley in the emergency department or on a ward, or are placed on extra beds on a corridor on Tuesday.Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have reported that over the Christmas period in-patients at the hospital had little access to diagnostic tests and procedures. This has led to very few in-patient discharges and the consequent inability of the hospital to cope with the surge in activity since December 26, 2010.The INMO has again requested the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to undertake an urgent review of the impact of the centralisation of all acute services into the MWRH Limerick without the required additional beds and processes to respond to the increased …

Extensive disruptions to Clare’s water services are likely to continue into the New Year as a result of leakages and burst mains since the thaw has set in after the cold snap.