News

United Airlines has resumed its daily nonstop seasonal service between Shannon and New York/Newark for the first time since October 2019. The service is set to operate until October 29 2022 and departs daily at 12.30pm. Welcoming the restart of the New York/Newark service, Mary Considine, CEO of Shannon Group said: “United Airlines is a very valued airline partner of Shannon, and we are delighted to welcome them back to our airport as they restore this vital transatlantic service. “With its hub status and onward connections, the Newark service is extremely important for our business passengers and is a key component of our transatlantic connectivity for our region and the broader west of Ireland.” “We are delighted to return to Shannon Airport in 2022 and resume nonstop services to the United States,” said Martina Coogan, United’s Sales Manager Ireland. “With the return of service to New York/Newark, our customers in the west of Ireland can take advantage of a direct …

THE Kilrush and District Historical Society meets via Zoom tomorrow and has been taking care to prevent a repeat of the incident that marred its previous lecture. On that occasion, a lecture on Republican Surveillance of Women during the War of Independence, was disrupted by intruders displaying pornographic imagery. (See Champion story here) The lecture was being given by Dr Mary McAuliffe, a historian, lecturer and Director of the Gender Studies Programme at UCD, who described herself as being “pretty shocked” by the events of the evening. “We had to abandon it, the images were of porn, there were naked genitalia,” Dr McAuliffe told the Clare Champion at the time. “Then there was the screaming, it wasn’t just images there were voices and in the chat function there were horrific things, sexist abuse, racist abuse. Everything was being impacted.” A spokesperson for the Society told members, “Let me apologise for the Zoombombing which forced us to abandon our February lecture …

A TRANSATLANTIC jet has made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport after it suffered an engine failure west of Ireland. United Airlines flight UA-134 was travelling from Newark in the US to Zurich, Switzerland when the crew declared an emergency at around 9.30am today. The Boeing 767-322(ER) jet was about 40 minutes west of Ireland at the time. There were 123 passengers and crew on board. The flight crew reported an issue with one of the jet’s two engines. The pilot told controllers that the engine had been ‘damaged’ however it wasn’t clear whether the crew intentionally shut the engine down or if it failed in flight as a result of the damage. Soon after the flight entered Irish airspace, the crew transmitted an emergency ‘squawk’ radio signal indicating to air traffic controllers and other aircraft they had an emergency on board. In the meantime, air traffic controllers and authorities at Shannon Airport implemented emergency procedures ahead of the aircraft’s …

Ukrainian refugees in Lisdoonvarna have implored the country’s ambassador to Ireland to send a message out to world leaders to stop the conflict now. Larysa Gerasko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland was in Lisdoonvarna on Saturday and met many of the 500 refugees, who have been living in the village for the past number of weeks. In total there are nearly 1000 Ukrainian people living in North and West Clare. Marcus White, owner of the Hydro hotel, said that there were emotional scenes, as the Ukrainian people, along with members of the local community met the ambassador at the Pavilion theatre. “They delivered a strong message to Ms Gerasko, which was to call on world leaders to bring in a ceasefire and stop the senseless conflict now, before any more men, women and children from either side lose their lives.” he said. “Our message is not only addressed to Europe but to all world leaders in the countries, like India, …

A MOVING poem written by the residents and staff of a Clare nursing home forms part of a special broadcast released online to coincide with the National Day of Remembrance and Reflection. Carrigoran House has taken part in Reflections, a video released on the Nursing Homes Ireland YouTube channel last week. Over 90 residents and staff from over 20 participating nursing homes including Carrigoran House in Newmarket-on-Fergus feature in the broadcast. Reflections, encompasses song, poetry, readings and reflections from nursing home residents and staff. The poem by the Clare residents and staff recognises the power of our community throughout the pandemic and remembers all that was lost over the last two years. It was written, “In recognition of the commitment and dedication our staff show every day, the understanding and support shown by our families throughout all restrictions and our residents’ resilience and courage in all they had faced.” The poem is accompanied by visual images of life at the …

AN inspection of the Acute Psychiatric Unit at Ennis Hospital by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) found a ‘critical risk’ non-compliance. The centre, which provides in-patient mental health care to residents of North Tipperary and County Clare, achieved an overall compliance rate of 71%, a 7% increase on the 64% it received in 2020. However, the inspection identified one critical risk and six high-risk non-compliances, with the critical risk relating to risk management procedures. The Ennis inspection report was one of three published by the MHC along with mental health centres in Drogheda and Offaly. Across all three the MHC found one critical and sixteen high-risk non-compliances “All of the centres inspected were non-compliant with the regulation relating to premises,” said the Inspector of Mental Health Services, Dr Susan Finnerty. “We see issues with buildings not being maintained, bathrooms not being ventilated and the lack of sufficient privacy for patients. These environments are not conducive to the treatment and recovery …

THE early decommissioning of an ESB wind farm in South Galway could result in an overall taxpayer bill of up to €70 million, a local lobby group has claimed. Following a lump sum fine of €5 million and a daily fine of €15,000 plus legal costs imposed by the European Court of Justice ruling in November 2019, the Derrybrien Wind Farm has now incurred a bill of €17,845,7779 for the state. The penalties were levied after it found Ireland had failed to comply with a previous court ruling in relation to the wind farm where a landslide occurred during construction in 2003. David Murray from the South Galway Flood Relief Committee estimates when fines, early decommissioning accounting for a €10 million loss annually over the life time of the wind farm, consultants fees and resolution of turbary right are factored in, the final bill and loss of earnings could be in the region of €70 million. The ESB, through its …

A MAN in his 60s arrested in relation to the seizure of €700,000 of suspected heroin in county Clare has been released without charge. A file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Investigations are ongoing. As part of Operation Tara, planned searches led by the Limerick Divisional Drugs Unit assisted by local Garda units, the Regional Dog Unit and members of the Defence Forces, were conducted on lands in the Ardnacrusha area on Friday. In the course of the searches suspected heroin with an estimated value of €700k (analysis pending) was recovered.