News

The doors of the new €2m purpose built injury unit at Ennis Hospital have opened this Friday morning. The facility, adjacent to the main entrance of Ennis Hospital, replaces the existing unit that has operated out of the main hospital building since 2013. The new unit boasts five separate patient assessment bays, and according to the HSE will have the highest standards in Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C) compliance. There is also a brightly decorated waiting room and a separate triage area. Other utilities include a clinical room, storeroom, senior nurse manager’s office space, and a nurses’ station. Laid out in approximately 300 square metres (almost 3,230 square feet) of floor space, the Injury Unit cost just under €2m—funded from the HSE capital budget—and the project was managed by HSE Capital & Estates. Joe Cassidy, Acting Director of Nursing at Ennis Hospital, said the new unit would bring immediate improvements for staff and significantly enhance the overall patient experience at …

KING John’s Castle has been transferred to Limerick City and County Council, and while the transfer of Shannon Heritage assets to Clare County Council is taking longer, it is still very likely to go ahead in the near future. Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council PJ Ryan said that talks on the transfer are still continuing and going quite well. “It’s ongoing at the minute, my understanding is that the Department is negotiating with the Council at the moment, and that there are positive negotiations regarding the first three years after Clare County Council taking over from Shannon Heritage.” He said that the take over in Clare is far more complex than Limerick City and County Council taking over the running of King John’s Castle, which it actually owned already, but did not operate. “King John’s Castle is a different situation, there’s only one entity there, there’s only a handful of staff. In Clare you’d be talking about four different units …

A body has been recovered from the sea off County Clare on Thursday afternoon. An initial search was conducted in the north Clare area on Friday night last (April 1) amid fears that a person may have entered the sea. The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was tasked to undertake an initial search of the area. The Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter was also requested to assist in the search. Rescue 115 conducted a detailed search of the area but the search was stood down for the night when there was nothing found. Doolin Coast Guard volunteers returned to the scene again on Saturday morning in search of any sign of the missing man. The team also launched a drone as part of the operation and searched the coastline and cliff top areas. Rescue 115 also returned to the scene to carry out further searches on Saturday afternoon. The search had been hampered by poor weather earlier this …

THE mother of a Clare child who died tragically in a car crash has paid tribute to her daughter in an emotional message in the new time capsule section of the Census. Amy Dutil-Wall’s daughter Estlin Luna died in a crash on her way to creche on March 15 2017 in Inagh, just days before the youngster was due to celebrate her fourth birthday. Estlin’s father Vincent also suffered a brain injury in the crash. There was controversy recently when it emerged the man who was convicted of careless driving causing Estlin’s death was seeking the early return of his driving licence (see Champion story here). For the first time, Census 2022 featured a time capsule section, a dedicated space at the end of the census form for people to leave a message for their descendents, future generations and historians which will be released in 100 years. Sharing her time capsule entry on social media, Amy said she felt “comfort” …

AN Ennis man who was part of a convoy of Tesla drivers bringing Ukrainian refugees to Ireland has told how he still gets emotional thinking about the experience. John Casey, founder of the Tesla Owners Group in Ireland, also revealed the drivers are planning a return trip to help even more people to safety. John recently returned from Poznan in Poland where he was part of a humanitarian endeavour which saw more than 70 Ukrainians, including a three-month old baby, brought by car across Europe to Ireland. He explains that fellow Tesla driver and member of the group Tom McEnaney, founder of International Orphanage Development Programme Ltd, approached him last month with the idea of the club helping people in Ukraine. Having put the word out to the members on Thursday, March 24, a convoy of 15 cars and a van set out for Poznan. Fellow club member, and director at Unicef, Caroline Dowling flew out ahead of time to …

A STATEMENT from a government minister claiming a 44% reduction in Clare’s social housing waiting list since 2016 has been criticised as “spin” by a local councillor. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien welcomed figures published in the 2021 Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA), which show a substantial reduction in the number of households on Clare’s social housing waiting list since the first annual assessment was conducted in 2016. The 2021 SSHA shows 1,100 households in Clare were assessed as being qualified for, and in need of, social housing support as of November 17, 2021. This figure is down 101 (8.4%) from 1,202 households recorded on November 2 2020. This figure also represents a total decrease of 866 (44%) households since 2016 when annual recording of the SSHA began. The minister outlined the social housing list has fallen from 1,966 in 2016 to 1,952 in 2017 and dropped to 1,004 in 2018 before …

The Parents Council in Seamount College, Kinvara hosted a special meeting recently to highlight the urgent need for a Sports Hall in the school. The meeting was held online and in person with over 300 people registered. The Parents Council said the Department of Education has repeatedly refused to fund an investment in a PE Hall, at this time, while the parents and board of management have invested over €200,000 in PE facilities in the school in recent years. Sara-Jane Moore, chairperson of the Parents Council, chaired the meeting with contributions from Minister Anne Rabbitte, Deputy Ciaran Cannon, Councillor Joe Byrne and Councillor Geraldine Donohue. Chris Dalton of the Parents Council provided strong rationale for the urgent need of a Sports Hall. The requirement was outlined by Mr Dalton under a number of themes: health and safety; equality for all; current inadequate facilities; economic benefit and wellbeing. In terms of health and safety, it was pointed out that students are …

NUMEROUS people in parts of East Clare didn’t receive a national Census form, it emerged this week. Deputy Michael McNamara has confirmed people living in Scariff, Tuamgraney, Feakle, Killaloe and rural locations near Flagmount didn’t receive a Census form, which they were required to complete on Sunday night. The Independent Deputy said it seemed there was a blanket exclusion for some rural parts of East Clare as well as those living within the urban speed limits of Scariff. “The legal obligation for people is to fill in a Census form if you are given one. Everyone should have been given a Census form. “If the government didn’t have enough enumerators, they should have sent the Census forms by post,” the TD said. “Completing the Census is important for a variety of reasons. Funding is allocated based on population. “If Shannon was a town with a population of in excess of 10,000, there would be more funding streams open to it. …