News

THE SHANNON Omniplex and Fine Gael have come together to host a screening of the Neil Jordan biopic Michael Collins, marking the 100th anniversary of the death of the eponymous Irish hero. It will take place on Tuesday, September 6, at 7pm, and at the same time it will be shown at 18 other cinemas around the country. The film was released in 1996 to huge fanfare, while it provoked much discussion throughout the country. Twenty-six years later, the screening will provide an opportunity for many people to see it for the first time on a big screen. Tony Mulcahy grew up in a Fine Gael home in Limerick, before moving to Shannon where he represented the party on the local town council and Clare County Council. He also stood for election to the Dáil and won a Senate seat for the party. He said that he hopes to attend the screening, and that Collins would certainly have been seen …

CLARE people have been urged to book their Covid-19 booster appointment online at HSE vaccination clinics. The Vaccination Centre in the former Outpatients’ Department at Ennis Hospital has reopened for booster vaccinations. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the UL Hospitals’ Group outlined booking a booster appointment online is an easy and convenient way by selecting a time and date that suits the individual person. People seeking a booster vaccine have also been advised to check with participating GPs and pharmacies. People who are more than 16 weeks pregnant are also invited to book their next booster at a HSE vaccination centre or from participating GPs and Pharmacies. The HSE and Children’s Health Ireland will shortly be inviting, through their parents, children aged five to 11 years who are immunocompromised and now due to have their first booster, following completion of their primary Covid-19 vaccine course. People aged 50 – 54 will be offered their second booster vaccine …

A UNIQUE fund set up 20 years ago to invest public money in West of Ireland-based businesses, including 13 in Clare, has generated a return of almost two-and-a-half times its original value and helped provide Ireland’s economy with a €3.3 billion boost, new research has revealed. An analysis into the socio-economic impact of the Western Development Commission’s Western Investment Fund was carried out for the WDC by Indecon, Ireland’s leading independent economic research and consultancy organisation. Indecon says the fund has provided “an impressive contribution to economic activity in the Western Region and has made a significant contribution to the national economy”. It has achieved a financial return on investment of almost 2.5 times its original Exchequer allocation of €31.75m: the fund is currently valued at €73m and has been self-financing since 2010.     The WDC Investment Fund provides seed and venture capital and loan finance to companies and community projects across Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Clare. It co-invests with private sector investors on a commercial basis …

THE predicted noise levels for a controversial wind turbine in Parteen are below the maximum recommended day and night time levels set out in the 2006 Wind Energy guidelines, according to new planning documents. An Enforcement Notice issued by Clare County Council on March 8, 2021 requested Limerick Blow Moulding to decommission and remove a wind turbine erected near the factory on or before Thursday, April 8, 2021 following an alleged breach of a planning permission condition. However, this wind turbine, which has attracted numerous planning objections from residents, two Clare deputies Cathal Crowe and Violet-Anne Wynne and Senator Timmy Dooley, is still in situ albeit not operational. The company recently applied for retention permission for a revised site boundary and revised position of a single 800 KW wind turbine, 73 metres high to hub height, as granted under previous planning permissions at Gortatogher, Parteen. Employing 70 people, with more than half living in Parteen, Clonlara and Killaloe, Limerick Blow …

AN Ennistymon company has been refused planning permission to retain two electronic signs descried as “a travesty and a blot on the landscape”. An objection from a local resident had been very critical of the signs and their “lurid animation” at Daktronics Ireland Ltd premises in the Deerpark Industrial Estate in the town. “Their huge LED sign is an eyesore and a blight not only on the town of Ennistymon but also on the surrounding countryside,” the submission stated. “It was built without permission, illegally, and should not be allowed to be retrospectively allowed considering the phenomenal detrimental effect it has on the surrounding area,” he claimed. The objection added, “I myself live across the valley from the site and the huge LED sign is bright enough at night to cast a shadow in my bedroom and its repeated lurid animations are both distracting and disturbing.  “Throughout the whole of last winter their sign caused me unnecessary stress as I …

WELL over a year after Clare County Council rejected Aldi’s plans for a Shannon store, An Bord Pleanála has yet to make a decision on an appeal. A spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála this week said that its inspector has already completed work on the case, but it still has to go before the board of An Bord Pleanála. She was unable to say when this would happen, but that the agency is dealing with a significant backlog. While the board usually goes along with the inspector’s recommendations, that is not always the case. Indeed, on a previous occasion an inspector had recommended allowing an Aldi store to go ahead in the town, only for the board to overrule them. There has been much anger in recent years over how Shannon has developed, and the Council’s decision to block Aldi’s proposals led to more disquiet in the town. When the most recent Aldi application came before the Council, it was …

Councillor Mary Howard has called on Clare County Council to crack down on dog fouling by giving more local authority employees the power to issues fines for this offence. Her appeal coincides with the release of a survey conducted by the National Council for the Blind Ireland that revealed the low number of on-the-spot fines issued by local authorities. Clare County Council issued one dog fouling fine in 2021 compared to 31 by Kerry County Council, four by Limerick City and County Council and none by Tipperary County Council. Interestingly, Kerry County Council had dramatically increased fines issued between 2020 and 2021. No fines were issued in 2020, jumping to 31 fines issued in 2021. While Kerry County Council is an outlier with such a large increase, the NCBI outlined the vast majority of Councils have issued very few or no fines in 2021. This may highlight a lack of enforcement but also indicates the threat of receiving a fine …

WITH the project deadline for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2023 fast approaching, students from across Clare are encouraged to get their thinking caps on and turn creative ideas into project entries by the September 26. Students can enter across any one of four categories, whether their interests lie in technology; social and behavioural science; biological and ecological science; or chemical, physical and mathematical science. An individual or group must submit a simple, one-page proposal outlining their bright idea. The 2022 exhibition winners Aditya Joshi and Aditya Kumar from Synge Street CBS, Dublin said, “We found the whole BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition experience really fun and exciting, and we think every student should enter a project in an area of science that they find intriguing.” In January, thousands of visitors are set to walk through the doors of the RDS where the brightest minds from across the island of Ireland will be showcasing their projects. Spectacular …