News

In the wake of last week’s jobs announcement, Owen Ryan spoke with Ei Electronics CEO Mick Guinee about the company’s evolution and expansion THE TAOISEACH visited Shannon last Friday, officially opening Ei Electronics new Group Headquarters, with the company planning to hire another 200 people over the coming year. The development comprises a 10,000m2 facility, with additional manufacturing capacity along with Research & Development and office space. It underpins its long held strategy of maintaining 100% of manufacturing in Shannon, in addition to the co-location of other key functions on a single site. The Taoiseach was full of praise for one of Shannon’s greatest industrial success stories. “I’m pleased to be here to witness first-hand the continued expansion of Ei Electronics, one of Ireland’s largest and most successful manufacturing and electronic companies. For over five decades the company has made a remarkable contribution to Shannon and the Mid-West region and its ambitious plans for future growth and job creation are …

LOCAL volunteers who have gathered donations to send to war ravaged Ukraine have been told by a Polish charity they have made the largest contribution of goods in Ireland. More than 50 pallets of donations including food, clothes and medical items are now making their way from Clare to Poland, where non-profit Polish charity WOSP will distribute them to Ukrainian people in need. The Ukrainian Relief Fund Committee have been co-ordinating the collection, sorting and packing of goods from individuals, groups, schools and businesses across the county in recent days from their base in the Tracklands Business Park in Ennis. On Wednesday the last of the donations were piled onto a truck and waved off by the volunteers. Julian Czucha, who along with his wife Paulina Podstawska is part of the committee, explains they had initially planned a small collection collaborating with volunteers in Ennis through the local Polish School (Polanka). However, the generosity of the people of Clare soon …

OVER 1,100 homes could benefit from high grade heat generated as part of the planned €1.2 billion data centre campus in Ennis. It has been proposed to allow for homes or businesses to connect and make use of this heat within a 5km radius of the data centre site, a response to further information on the plans confirms. A decision on the controversial plan is due to be made in the coming weeks. Art Data Centres Ltd submitted a response to a further information request on the plans to Clare County Council. The developers’ response also contends an existing flood risk “will not be impacted” by the installation of a proposed new watermain as part of the plans. In its further information request the planning authority noted that excess heat from the proposal “may provide an opportunity for the provision of a district heating system” for the local area. A statement on whether full and comprehensive consideration has been given …

VLADA Gorbunova is a relieved woman at the moment, as her grandmother managed to leave her war-torn home in the east of Ukraine, traverse the country and finally cross the Polish border to safety, writes Owen Ryan. Vlada, who lives in Ennis and first came to Ireland in 1997, was in Krakow when she spoke to the Champion on Wednesday, and was looking forward to getting home. “We’re just trying to sit tight now until our flights on Friday evening.” Her grandmother is about to turn 75, and has been through a traumatic few weeks, as well as having to leave her home behind. It has been a huge ordeal, Vlada says. “She’s tired, anxious, the whole lot. She’s left her life behind so it’s not easy.” At the same time she was lucky to get away from a terrible situation that was still declining. “She’s relieved, things have got a lot worse since she left. She got one of …

COUNCILLOR Cillian Murphy has called for a report on the impact of short term lets on communities across Clare to be commissioned by the County Council. In response to his proposal, a written report prepared by Direct of Services Liam Conneally said it was recognised that an over-concentration of holiday homes and short term lets in an area can create a high level of vacancy outside of the main tourism season. This, he said, can have a negative effect on the sustainable development of rural settlements and areas and their communities. Mr Conneally’s response stated, “It is therefore essential to achieve a balance between the tourism needs of the county and the need to support the permanent population of settlements and rural areas. “The provision and distribution of holiday homes in settlements and rural areas throughout the county, particularly along the Atlantic Coast is monitored through the development management process to ensure that the overall vision of sustainable communities is …

AFTER nearly two years, transatlantic flights resumed at Shannon this Thursday, writes Owen Ryan, with the departure of an Aer Lingus service to Boston, followed by the resumption of its New York service tomorrow. Representatives from multinational companies, the tourism sector and local politicians all attended an event to mark the first flight, and addressing those in attendance Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said it was very heartening to see connectivity to America restored. “As all of you know we have a very rich history here of air links to the US and the east coast of the United States so it’s really great news today that they are being restored. We’re really excited as well to see US visitors back on our shore, and we are joined this morning by many members of the tourism sector, the hospitality sector.” She said that the sector is emerging from a uniquely difficult time and the return of Americans is very welcome. …

A CLARE county councillor has called on the government to give a grant of €30,000 to people building their own houses, writes Owen Ryan. THIS week’s meeting of Clare County Council heard a call from Councillor PJ Kelly for Government to be requested to introduce the grant. He said that in the past proportionally larger grants had been available. The Lissycasey man said that he had done some research and his view is that a very large proportion of the cost of building a house is the money one ends up paying to the State. “There’s a sum of €70,000 to €90,000 that anybody building a house has to pay to the State,” he claimed. He said that in addition to more obvious costs, duty on fuel, income tax on workers, and tax on profits made also goes back to the State. Councillor Kelly claimed that the €70,000 to €90,000 is “a separate mortgage to be paid back over 20 …

Clare Senator Timmy Dooley was in Ukraine last weekend, where he saw the conditions that the Russian invasion has forced upon the public there. Here he recounts the experience for the Clare Champion LAST weekend as Co-President of the ALDE party in Europe, I travelled to the Ukraine city of Lviv alongside my MEP colleague Billy Kelleher to meet the city’s Mayor and also the Governor of the Region who renewed their appeal for Europe to implement a no-fly zone, and to provide them with more humanitarian assistance and equipment. Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi and the governor of the region, Maxym Kozytsky gave us a very sobering assessment of the situation their people are facing. They are very thankful for the support they have received from the EU so far but they do need further help. I believe Ireland can do more to help in terms of non-lethal military equipment like helmets and bulletproof jackets, while also giving money …