News

THE team at Cahercalla is urging the Clare public to get behind the Hospice Sunflower Days initiative this June to help raise vital funds for the local facility. Hospice Sunflower Days are returning to towns and villages all over the country and this year’s event takes place over the weekend of Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11. The campaign was launched by ambassador for Together for Hospice, The National Hospice Movement, garden designer, Diarmuid Gavin. On those days, volunteers nationwide will be selling sunflower merchandise to raise vital funds for local hospice and specialist palliative homecare services. Members of the public who wish to support their local hospice by donating online can do so by sponsoring a virtual sunflower in memory of a loved one at the following link. Speaking about the launch of the 2022 Hospice Sunflower Days campaign, Mary Maloney, Fundraising Manager, The Clare Hospice at Cahercalla, said, “We are delighted to launch our 2022 Hospice Sunflower …

THE introduction of a new bill aimed at discouraging use of single-use items could be exploited to help detect crime in Kilrush, according to a local councillor. The Ministry for Justice, through An Garda Síochána, may be allowed to take charge of the CCTV infrastructure within Kilrush Town for the prevention and detection of crime, operating and maintaining the cameras to safeguard and protect the public. This is possible due to the new Circular Economy Bill, which was published on March 30 and aims to discourage the use of single-use items to improve the process for allowing recycled materials onto the market – in fact, it defines the circular economy for the first time in Irish domestic law. Councillor Ian Lynch stated his wish to use this bill as a foundation for the control of CCTV in Kilrush by the authorities, because of the various instances of dumping, fly tipping and excessive littering in the town. At a meeting of …

Irish Water has been accused of causing a “public health hazard” by allowing a wastewater treatment plant to pollute a stream in West Clare that is potentially contaminating bathing waters for local swimmers. This assertion comes after an EPA report found breaches for ammonia at the Miltown Wastewater Treatment Plant were 171 times the permitted emission levels following an inspection carried out on June 10, 2021. It has also emerged that that the EPA raised concern about the absence of a proper roadway into this plant in August 2018 to facilitate desludging, which still hasn’t been properly addressed by Irish Water. North Clare civil engineer Mick Duffy has expressed major concern about the contents of an EPA report, which stated a visual inspection of the Legard Stream at its discharge points indicated widespread sewage fungus following discharges from the Miltown waste water treatment plant. Irish Water was requested to examine the pathway of this stream to the sea to identify …

A hapless serial bicycle thief was caught red-handed by Gardai after he put up some of his stolen bikes for sale on his personal Facebook page, a court has heard. At Kilrush District Court, Adam Sullivan (19) of Fort Road, Cappa, Kilrush, pleaded guilty to the theft and handling of bikes valued at a combined €4,750. In total, 10 bicycles were stolen from holiday makers staying at Aylevaroo Caravan Park in Kilrush in August 2021 and the most expensive bikes stolen included a Drag Racer valued at €1,900 and a Carrera Valour and a Bentini Frazier each worth €400 and €500. Judge Mary Larkin told the court that “this was an organised crime and warrants a jail term”. However, Judge Larkin said that she would consider community service for Sullivan who has no previous convictions. The court was told that Sullivan’s girlfriend is expecting the couple’s baby and Judge Larkin told solicitor for Sullivan, Patrick Moylan: “If he wants me …

THE average rent now sought for a Clare property on daft.ie is €1,109, up by 106% on the lowest point of the recession. In its report covering the first quarter of the year, Daft.ie found that prices in Clare had increased by 14% on the first three months of 2021. It also found that it is cheaper to pay a mortgage than rent a property in Clare, in many cases significantly so. Rental supply is very tight in Clare, with just 17 properties available to rent last week. Writing in the report, associate professor of economics at Trinity, Ronan Lyons stated, “In some ways, for Ireland’s rental sector, it’s like the pandemic never happened. “As Covid-19 moves from a shock that brought daily life to a standstill, to something more like part of daily life, pre-existing patterns and pressures are re-emerging in the rental market. “The figures in this latest Daft.ie Rental Report confirm, for example, that for prospective tenants …

A 32-year-old west Clare man “destroyed” the family home in a row with his mother over the purchase of dog food, a court has heard. At Ennis District Court, Sergeant Louis Moloney said that the man sent his mother a text message on Monday of the week in question concerning the family dog. In response, the mother said, “This is how it all came about. He wanted me to get food for the dog because I was gone for two weeks. “Because I didn’t come with the dog food and I didn’t have his messages, it made him angry.” Sergeant Moloney said that the man told his mother by text “your dog will suffer now”. In response, the mother said: “He says things like that all the time. He loves the dog.” The man had sent his mother a previous text stating “All I want is dog food.” In the case, the man is charged with the criminal damage to …

ACCORDING to Shannon Group’s annual report, it experienced a degree of financial recovery in 2021. It states “The Group recorded a consolidated profit of €26.0 million (post-tax) (2020: loss of €28.2 million, post-tax and exceptional items) and consolidated turnover for the year was €40.5 million (2020: €34.3 million).” This came after a year in which airport passenger numbers increased by 30,000 and the number of visitors to Shannon Heritage sites went up by 193,000. The report states that “Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the year, before exceptional items, is €8.6 million (2020: €1.2 million). This result is considered satisfactory in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a devastating impact on the Group’s business during 2020 and 2021. “During 2020 the Group incurred exceptional charges of €27.9 million in respect of a non-cash impairment of Airport assets and a group-wide voluntary severance scheme. No such exceptional charges were incurred in 2021.” Regarding Shannon Group’s …

A CELEBRATORY service of evensong will welcome the new Anglican bishop of the diocese that covers Kilfenora, to the village’s ancient cathedral on Sunday next, May 22.  The Right Reverent Michael Burrows, whose diocese has recently been expanded to encompass Tuam, as well as Limerick and Killaloe, will be ‘enthroned’ in Kilfenora Cathedral, in a history-making ceremony, at 4pm. It follows the formal installation, on May 1, of the Catholic Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora. Bishop Michael Duignan was formally installed in a ceremony at Galway Cathedral.  Sunday’s ceremony will be a celebration of song and welcome and refreshments will be served in the cathedral after the service. Everyone in the community is welcome to attend. The last enthronement took place in 1981, when Bishop Walton Empey, who was later COI Archbishop of Dublin, came to Kilfenora Cathedral. The bishop’s throne was donated in that year for the deremony, and will be used again on …