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Charity ride for Clare Suicide Bereavement Support this weekend

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 …

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Proposed tourist facility in west Clare rejected by Council

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, …

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Brennan family advocates HPV vaccine catch-up programme

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 …

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Eight out of ten UHL nurses ‘feeling exhausted’

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 …

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More Clare families left choosing between food and rent

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 …

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Major plans for historic Clare cathedral

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 …

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Opporutnity knocks for Clare towns with new national policy

A NEW national policy focused on promoting the vibrancy of town centres should be “a top line priority for everyone in the West Clare District”. That’s the view of the district Cathaoirleach, Councillor Cillian Murphy, who has asked that town teams be supported to represent their areas and drawn down government funding and support. The Town Centre First Policy was unveiled last month by the Department of Housing and outlines a number of actions to promote urban centres through the appointment of Town Regeneration Officers, investment, and training for town teams. Councillor Murphy noted that the name of the policy was “quite misleading”. “This applies to all of our towns and villages,” he said. “The policy will prove to be the single most important document for the sustainability and viability of rural towns.” He said that given that the policy refers to the role of town teams, there might be an opportunity for an early roll out of this element …

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Motorcyclist killed in N18 collision

A motorcyclist has died in a road traffic collision in Clare. The incident occurred at around 4.15pm in the northbound lanes of the N18 dual-carriageway between the junctions at Bunratty and Sixmilebridge. It’s understood the a motorcycle collided with the a car travelling in the same direction. Units of Clare County Fire Rescue Service from Shannon station responded to the incident along with National Ambulance Service resources and Gardaí. Additional units of the fire service from Ennis station were also sent to the scene. Efforts to resuscitate the injured man were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The N18 northbound has been closed at junction 6 and traffic is being diverted away from the area. It’s expected that the road will remain closed for the next number of hours at least and possibly overnight until a forensic collision investigation has been completed. Gardaí at Shannon are investigating the circumstances of the incident and are appealing to anyone …

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