News

THE fundraising efforts of a local sports club have been causing quite a racquet. The Ennis Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club has raised €1,000 for the work of the Irish Red Cross in Ukraine. On Good Friday the junior badminton players took part in a fun whistle-stop blitz to raise the funds for the charity. The aim of the whistle stop blitz was to score as many points as possible off your opposition within a short-time frame which leads to lots of fast badminton action as well as plenty of noise and banter. The morning started with the U12 and U14 age groups and continued with a combined U16/U19 group in the afternoon. All age groups were well contested, with the U12 section won by Aleksei  Tushkanov and Colin Hehir with James O’Connell and Lily Mantari in second place. The winners of the U14 section were Jack Doyle and Conor McMahon while the runners-up were John O’Connell and Iurii Tushkanov. …

A father has appeared in court charged with assaulting three children, one aged three at the time, in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury. At Ennis District Court this Tuesday, the 28-year old appeared in connection with the three counts of assault against the three small children that are alleged to have occurred at the family home in County Clare. The man’s court appearance follows a lengthy Garda investigation into the physical abuse allegations against the man that first came to light at a behind closed doors Family Law court hearing in July 2020 in Ennis. After hearing physical abuse allegations against the man concerning the three children, then aged seven, six and three at that sitting, Judge Patrick Durcan called in the Gardai to mount a criminal investigation concerning the allegations. Judge Durcan told the court: “This should be reported immediately to the Gardai.” In the case, the man is charged with, on diverse dates …

CROW bangers will not be controlled by any new legislation, Deputy Michael McNamara has been told. The Scariff TD raised the issue of noise cause by the devices, which are widely used in spring and summer to keep birds away from recently-planted crops or seed, with Minister Eamon Ryan through a Dáil question last week. In response, the Environment Minister, ruled out introducing new controls, saying the matter comes under general noise regulation rules governed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and administered by local authorities. “Current legislation in the area of noise does not specifically address the use of bird scarers (also referred to as crow bangers),” Minister Ryan said. “There are no plans at present to introduce such legislation. There is provision, however, under sections 107 or 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 to deal with the issue of nuisance noise from a range of sources, including agricultural sources. “My Department has produced an information leaflet, …

WOULD you like the chance to subject yourself and your family to a gruelling physical challenge while being barked at by Davy Fitzgerald? Of course you would! Clare fitness fanatics are being invited to take part in the new series of Ireland’s Fittest Family, with producers promising the competition will be more challenging than ever before. The programme team is scouring the country to find the fittest, fastest and strongest families to be coached to victory by the super competitive coaches, including Fitzgerald, Anna Geary and Donnacha O’Callaghan. Last year camogie star Geary coached the Kinsellas from Wexford to victory, this year it might be your family. If you think your family has what it takes to win the €15,000 cash prize and be crowned Ireland’s Fittest Family, then what are you waiting for? Applications are open now at www.rte.ie/irelandsfittestfamily. As long as your family meets these requirements you are in with a shout * Minimum age is 14 years …

THE late Susan O’Neill was remembered at Ballyea National School on Wednesday, when a bench in her memory was unveiled. As secretary of the school Susan was a well known person in Ballyea and her former colleagues, her friends, her children, grandchildren and husband Michael were all present on the day. “She was here for 20 years, so it definitely is poignant. The grandchildren are around today, all the school kids who made a major impression on her,” said Michael. He said that one of the children who were confirmed recently had chosen the name Susan, which showed the esteem his late wife was held in. “She took Susan as her name and that epitomised what Susan meant to the school and to the kids who went to the school. An awful lot of 18 to 20-year-olds came to the house, during and after the funeral, whose lives she had touched. “She meant a lot to a lot of people, …

CLARE County Council has signed a contract for a new €8.7 million County Library in Ennis with Galway-based firm Coolsivna taking over construction of the building. The contract signed on Friday in the Council Chamber at Áras Contae an Chláir by Patrick Gardiner of Coolsivna and Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling, in the presence of the Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Councillor PJ Ryan. The development had been on hold following the liquidation of initial tenderer Kilmihil-based Keating Construction. Coolsivna’s work is known to those in Ennis as the company has recently completed the Ennis Community College project, a 4,200-square-metre three-storey extension to the existing school. As a medium-sized company, Coolsivna has completed projects in residential and healthcare settings and has also won the contract for the construction of the new Craughwell National School in County Galway. The County Library project consists of a 2,321-square-metre building on the glór site comprising two public floors of library space …

A JUDGE has admitted “I don’t know the price of a pint” after hearing that a publican illegally sold €85.80 worth of alcohol to patrons after hours in August of last year. Judge Mary Larkin made the comment at Killaloe District Court after hearing evidence that late night revellers inside Liam O’Riain’s pub in Ballina, Co Tipperary could be heard by a Garda at the front door ‘shushing’ inside the locked front door of the pub after the Garda knocked on the door before 20 to 30 were seen streaming out a side entrance. Sergeant Louis Moloney told the Killaloe Court sitting in Ennis that on August 28 last after entering the pub, Gardai carried out an examination of till sales between midnight and 12.44am and they found that €85.80 was spent on alcohol. In response, Judge Larkin said: “€85? I don’t know the price of a pint so you have to tell me about that later.” Sergeant Moloney said …

THE prospect of an elective-only hospital in the Mid-West has effectively been ruled out by the Minister for Health, who has confirmed that location for new facilities as Galway, Cork and Dublin.  With the main nurses’ union reporting 126 people on trolleys on a single day last week, concerns continue to intensify over health care provision in this region. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) described conditions as “inhumane”, and an expert is now to be deployed to examine the situation.  Overcrowding has led to the repeated cancellation of elective procedures with concerns over lengthening waiting lists. Against this backdrop, calls for a public electives-only hospital in the Mid-West have increased in recent weeks. The matter has been raised in Dáil Éireann by Deputy Joe Carey who described the provision of such a facility, in this region, as “critically important”. The Fine Gael member asked Minister Stephen Donnelly if he had discussed the need for an elective-only hospital with …