News

THE lack of a bus stop for patients from West Clare accessing the Outpatients Department in Ennis has been described the Cathaoirleach of the district as “a bit of a miss”. Councillor Cillian Murphy made his remarks at the meeting of the district committee last week when he called for collaboration with the Ennis district and the Roads Section to ensure a stop is installed. He said he had been contacted by someone who needs to use public transport to access the facility, which opened last year at the Westpoint Retail Park on the Kilrush Road. “What we need is a little joined up thinking,” Councillor Murphy said. “It took long enough to get the Outpatients Department opened up there in the first place. Having no bus stop to serve patients from West Clare is a bit of a miss.” Councillor Gabriel Keating supported the motion and added a bus shelter is also necessary. “At the moment, we have an …

Claims that Rusal Aughinish Alumina, the largest alumina plant in Europe, used lobbyist Frank Dunlop as its “fixer” have been levelled in the Dáil, writes Dan Danaher. Deputy Paul Murphy told the Dáil on Wednesday afternoon he wanted to raise a “shocking example of where the state is failing to protect the well-being of people”. “Those living in the shadow of the Aughinish Alumina plant in County Limerick have suffered massively from the toxic pollution from that plant.” “People have gotten sick, animals have died and livelihoods have been wiped out by the pollution. When an investigation was done into the health impacts of the plant, Aughinish used the notorious Frank Dunlop as their fixer. “Later 18 medical samples from Pat Geoghegan and his family mysteriously disappeared.” Deputy Murphy said when the Taoiseach was Health Minister he was on record as supporting an independent inquiry into the missing samples. However, Deputy Murphy claimed Deputy Martin did a “u-turn” and ended …

THE organising committee of the charity horse ride around Quin and Doora are back in action this year, having had to cancel the event in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. The event, which is in aid of Clare Suicide Bereavement Support, will take place on Saturday, March 19, commencing at 1pm from Malachy’s in Quin. It is suitable for all levels of rider with an entrance fee of €25 per horse and €15 per pony. Refreshments will be served at Malachy’s, and The Shebeen, Doora. A spokesperson for Clare Suicide Bereavement Support said, “This event has been going for a number of years and sincere thanks is due to the organisers, those who take part, those who give donations, the many people who help on the day, the residents of Quin who tolerate the inconvenience, the local land owners who allow the horse ride over their land and the Clare Hunt for their support.” Clare Suicide Bereavement Support is …

AN application for outline planning permission for an extensive tourism facility at a west Clare resort has been rejected, writes Owen Ryan. The application for a caravan park, camp site and motor home park with glamping facilities at Dough, Kilkee, was refused by Clare County Council.  In its application, Gold Star Homes 3 Limited said that it was quite a preliminary application and it said it was looking for “confirmation that the principle of the proposed development is acceptable to the planning authority”. It added that a future application for full planning could be made, subject to outline permission being granted. A number of objections to the outline planning permission were made, and the Council came down against the proposal.  A Chief Executive’s Order set out the reasons for the decision, one being the state of site access. “The road network that serves as the access to the site from Circular Road is deficient in terms of capacity, horizontal alignment, …

THE family of HPV vaccine advocate the late Laura Brennan have appealed for a catch-up programme for those who missed out on the vaccine, writes Jessica Quinn. The family have made an urgent appeal to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) for such an initiative to be put in place. The State’s HPV vaccine programme has not been administered in schools as usual for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Brennan family feel “the time is now right” to welcome vaccination teams back to the school setting. On HPV Awareness Day this month Laura’s brother Kevin on behalf of the family urged NIAC to roll out a programme that would allow teenagers who could not get the jab in their first years because of Covid to receive the vaccine. In a social media post he pointed out that the catch-up programme is available in the UK and Australia free of charge. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly recently …

EIGHT out of every ten nurses working in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) felt exhausted at the end of the day, according to the findings of a new survey. The findings of this INMO survey coincide with ongoing chronic overcrowding in UHL which hit a high last week of 84 patients on trolleys. The UL Hospitals’ Group announced earlier that week that UHL would be closed to inpatient visiting for a number of days, while the hospital managed multiple outbreaks of Covid-19 and influenza across the site. The INMO stated, “Not only have our members been placed under enormous pressure owing to a global pandemic, but now, the endemic of consistent overcrowding is significantly impacting the mental and physical health of staff.” To gain an insight into how nurses felt, the INMO surveyed members in a number of public hospitals. In University Hospital Limerick, 80.64% stated that they always or often felt worn out by the end of the day, and …

AN Ennis homelessness campaigner has said she has been helping working families who are being forced to make the choice between paying for their rent or mortgage and food, writes Jessica Quinn. Josie O’Brien was speaking to the Clare Champion ahead of next month’s ‘Clare Easter Concert’ in glór with funds raised being used to support local people in need and the homeless community. The concert takes place on April 21 with Luka Bloom headlining, and follows the cancellation of two planned Christmas concerts due to Covid-19. According to Josie the numbers of struggling people looking for help is rising all the time. “It’s awful, and it’s just continuous, there is definitely more of a need out there. I know people who are actually working and they have to make a choice between paying their mortgage or rent which is going up or buying food for their families. I help them as much as I can by giving them food …

PLANS have been unveiled to transform St Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe into a major new community arts and music venue with the projected expenditure of an estimated €500,000 over the next year, writes Dan Danaher. The upgrading of this iconic 13th century building has been described as an “amazing project” by a local conservation architect. Vestry representative, Jonathan Harper, who is a construction quantity surveyor, recalled architectural historian, Dr Judith Hill and Conor Hourigan of Drake Hourigan Architects were appointed to complete a comprehensive conservation plan for development works at the cathedral. This sets out the history of the building and previous renovations and will help the Vestry prioritise a series of renovations over the next five and ten years, subject to funding. Clare County Council assisted the Vestry Committee by processing an application that resulted in the allocation of €50,000 from the Historic Structures’ Fund from the Heritage Section of the Department of the Environment. Former council conservation officer, Dick …