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A JUDGE has jailed a 21-year-old Limerick man for six months for an assault on a female Garda sergeant who remains in constant pain and is unable to return to work two years after the late night assault at the seaside resort of Kilkee. At Kilrush Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford imposed a 30-month prison sentence suspending the final 24 months on apprentice mechanic, Stephen Cotter of Oakfield, Fr Russell Rd, Dooradoyle, Limerick after he pleaded guilty to the assault causing harm of Sergeant Edel Burke on August 1, the Saturday night of the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2020. Counsel for the State, Lorcan Connolly BL said that the incident was filmed on a mobile phone and widely circulated on social media but that Mr Cotter was not responsible for this. Sergeant Katie Carthy told the court that Sergeant Burke came across the incident on clips that appeared on TikTok and Snapchat. In her victim impact statement, Sergeant Burke …

TÁINAISTE Leo Varadkar has been urged to address chronic overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) when he takes over from Micheál Martin as Taoiseach. Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Michael McNamara stated almost every day of the lifetime of this Government University Hospital Limerick, (UHL) has been the most overcrowded hospital in the country. “Of the 676 beds we were told would be required at the time of reconfiguration, more than one third have yet to materialise. As Head of Government, what will the Tánaiste do differently? “The current Taoiseach has said it is a matter for the HSE, even though the HSE is not improving the situation? “What will the Tánaiste do differently to ensure UHL is no longer providing a different level of healthcare from the rest of the country?,” he asked. Minister Varadkar said he knows UHL well and has visited it several times. “As Taoiseach and Minister for Health previously, I did my best to ensure …

PAT HENCHY was a great student of hurling and there was nothing he liked better than following the fortunes of Clare when they scaled the heights in big championship games at Munster or All-Ireland level. He was the same in his support of Cuala — his adopted club in Dublin that won Leinster and All-Ireland titles in 2017 and ’18 as Con O’Callaghan marked himself down as the best dual star in the land. Clare and Cuala in full flow — there was nothing like it for Pat as he studied, analyzed, mused and marvelled about the qualities of the modern game in terms of skill, speed and the confidence, swagger and derring do in players like Tony Kelly, Con O’Callaghan and others at the top of their game. His great friend of Clare hurling stock, Leo McGough, who comes from Carlow via Inagh, told a great story about him ahead of the 2013 All-Ireland replay when he picked the …

Ahead of the August Bank Holiday weekend, the Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland are appealing for people to take care when they are on or near the water. With many people continuing to enjoy the summer holidays or planning a break this weekend, the organisations are asking people to be particularly mindful to check weather forecasts and tide times before venturing out and if planning on entering the sea to know how to spot and safely handle a rip current. If planning other activities such as paddleboarding, the ask is to always go prepared so the water can be enjoyed safely. Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting in Met Éireann says: ‘While there will be some warm sunny spells the weather will be mixed this weekend. For a detailed forecast for 10-days ahead for over 1,000 locations around Ireland including the beaches, lakes and mountains go to www.met.ie’. If heading out on the water or visiting the coast: …

IRELAND’S first festival for disability, Pride and Power 2022, might be over, but there is still time to join the after-party in Ennis. This Friday July 29 at 11am in Cloughleigh Community Centre members of Clare Leader Forum, together with Clare members of Disability Power Ireland’s (DPI) committee, have organised an after-party event for the festival which hosted events nationwide. The Ennis after-party titled ‘What Clare has to Offer’ will feature a showing of the new film ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’ developed by Clare Leader Forum and facilitated by Grey Heron Media. There will also be music by the Ukrainian Choir and Paddy Mulcahy, followed by a samba disco. Dermot Hayes of Clare Leader Forum explains, “The Disability Pride and Power Festival 2022 ran throughout the month of July and was the first official celebration in Ireland of Disability Pride Month, an international phenomenon which began in the US in the 1990s. “It was also Ireland’s first cross-impairment festival …

AER Lingus chiefs has reassured local Dáil deputies the airline it has no intention to withdraw the lucrative Shannon to Heathrow slots in the near future. However, the national airline has confirmed it has no plans to reopen its base in Shannon, stating this would not be the best option in the current climate. Concern has been expressed by Deputy Cathal Crowe and Deputy Joe Carey there is no legal guarantee once a commitment given during the sale of the government share in Aer Lingus to AIG ends this September. The two Clare deputies raised a number of issues and questioned senior Aer Lingus management during a briefing for Oireachtas members at the Transport and Communications Oireachtas committee this week. Aer Lingus chief corporate affairs officer, Donal Moriarty told Deputy Carey normally the airline has three return services daily between Shannon and Heathrow, which were operational before the mandated cuts due to capacity issues in the London hub. Mr Moriarty …

THE partner of former Sinn Fein TD, Violet Anne Wynne is free to drive until November at least despite receiving a two-year driving ban last month. This follows John Mountaine (40) formerly of Pella Road, Kilrush, Co. Clare, not appearing in court in Kilrush to press ahead with his circuit court appeal of the two year driving ban and the case has now been adjourned to November for hearing. At Ennis District Court last month, Judge Mary Larkin imposed the third driving ban on Mr Mountaine after his third conviction for driving with no insurance. Mr Mountaine has 16 previous convictions and they include two for driving with no insurance dating from June 2014 when Mr Montaine was banned from driving for two years and in 2012 when he received a one year driving ban. Judge Larkin imposed a two year ban on the latest offence of Mr Mountaine driving with no insurance while driving a 192 registered black Ford …

STAFFING issues have been identified in a Killaloe nursing home following an inspection by an independent health watchdog. The Lakes Nursing Home can accommodate a maximum of 57 residents, and on April 6 last during an unannounced HIQA inspection, there were 54 residents in the residential centre. On the day of inspection there were sufficient numbers of staff on duty to attend to the direct care needs of residents. The person-in-charge, however, confirmed that the centre was faced with ongoing recruitment challenges and that staff turnover was high. Records evidenced multiple shortfalls in the allocation of healthcare assistants. It was confirmed that when staff phoned in at short notice they could not be replaced. Residents had provided feedback to the provider through the resident surveys, voicing concerns on staffing in the centre. The results of a residents’ survey identified that 33% of respondents stated they were satisfied while 17% stated they were not happy and 50% were recorded as not …