News

THE directors of a Seaplane company, which is looking to establish a base in Mountshannon, are “gobsmacked” as to why locals are opposing their proposal for a business, which will not only create 10 jobs in the village but will also bring 5,000 to 7,000 tourists to the village annually.

AIRPORT security is back in the news after events over Christmas but there seems to be little prospect of Shannon Airport Authority introducing body scanners in the near future.

The average price of a house in County Clare has fallen by €90,000 from the high of two years ago.

LISSYCASEY and much of West Clare came to a standstill on New Year’s Day when Brian Casey was laid to rest.

THERE’S been a lot of reaction this week to reports that it has cost in the region of €10 million to provide garda and army security for US troops passing through Shannon Airport between 2006 and 2008.

There is hardly any need to tell you what you already know – that 2009 was one of the worst years in living memory. Things were so bad that I believe the coming year must be better.

A year ago on New Year’s Eve we spent what we considered a wintry night on a beach in The Gambia, West Africa, with a group of fellow volunteers. Even at midnight the temperature hovered around what felt like a chilly 23 degrees.

PLANS have been unveiled for a new 140-bed private hospital on the outskirts of Ennis, with a construction price tag in the region of €60 million. A planning application has been lodged with Clare County Council to provide the first state-of-the art private health care facility of its kind in the county at Shanaway Road in Ennis.