News

ENNIS hotelier Allen Flynn is delighted with the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions. The virus has plunged the hospitality and tourism industries into chaos over the last two years, but yesterday’s announcement of a major easing of restrictions has sparked much optimism that 2022 will be different. Speaking to the Clare Champion on Friday, Mr Flynn said it was great to see things going in the right direction. “It’ll make a massive difference. We’ve had a very tough period since Christmas as a result of Covid, everyone wants to do their bit, ensuring the health and safety of customers and staff was paramount, everyone wanted to buy into that, and we’d like to think we’re coming out at the other end much stronger.” Given the nature of his business, he expected it would take a few days to get ready. “In our industry you can’t just flick a switch, there are staff who may be on vacation, there are temporary lay …

AIR pollution levels in Ennis were higher than in Beijing at the weekend with the EPA’s air quality monitoring station showing a significant spike in pollutants, despite a smoky coal ban being in place in the county capital since 2011. Fears this “very harmful” pollution will result in “significant adverse health impacts” has sparked renewed calls from a former Mayor of Ennis for the establishment of an Ennis Clean Air Strategy. On Sunday evening at 7pm the EPA recorded a sharp rise in the levels of particulate matter associated with the burning of solid fuels, almost ten times higher than the EPA’s daily limit. Particulate matter (PM) are minute particles of dust, soot and smoke and the daily limit for PM10 is 50 ug/m3. PM10 of 485.38ug/m3 and PM2.5 of 467.58ug/m3 was recorded in Ennis on Sunday along with sulphar dioxide measuring 67.22ug/m3. On the same day, China’s capital city experienced moderate to good levels of air pollution. Councillor Johnny Flynn …

THE majority of Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted from tomorrow morning, the Taoiseach has announced this evening. Pubs and restaurants are being permitted to return to normal opening hours from tomorrow, with the 8pm closing time being axed. Social distancing requirements are also being dropped as is the requirement for vaccine certificates, although mask wearing will remain in place for the coming weeks at least. Limits on numbers attending both indoor and outdoor events are also being scrapped. Earlier this week 5,000 tickets for this Sunday’s Clare and Limerick senior hurling tie were sold, but the door is now open for more to be made available. “It is time to be ourselves again,” said the Taoiseach this evening, as people received the most positive news on Covid-19 since the pandemic began. Pubs around the county are set for their busiest weekend for some time, while it seems that finally normality will resume to most aspects of life.

THE West Clare Cancer Centre will be hosting its annual mini marathon fundraiser over the course of next weekend, writes Conor Clohessy. As was the case last year, it will be held virtually and while the event which has raised over €5 million in its time is usually run off on the last Sunday of every January, this year participants have the 29th and 30th to do their 10km in their own time. Organiser Willie McGrath said: “We ran the marathon virtually last year as well, and found it was a huge success. Going forward, it might be the way to do it; but having said that, we’re still hoping that by next year restrictions will be lifted. We’ll be celebrating 25 years, and it would be lovely to think that we could bring the crowds back to Kilkee.” Funds from the mini marathon have facilitated the construction of palliative care suites with en-suite assisted facilities in West Clare, such …

CLARE publicans are getting ready for the expected resumption of normal trading after years of restrictions and rolling lockdowns. Popular Ennis bar Taylor’s was set to remain closed for the rest of January , but this morning Susan Taylor said those plans have now changed. “We are going to open next week and we’re just waiting to hear the news about the restrictions.” The pub does not serve food and the 8pm closing time had meant that opening just wasn’t worthwhile. However the expected resumption of normal trading times in the very near future has changed the outlook. In Newmarket on Fergus, John Quinlivan, who runs the Honk, is looking forward to normality resuming. “It was very hard, especially in a place like this where we wouldn’t open until the evening anyway. We’d open at five or six o’clock and you’re supposed to close again at 8pm, that’s very difficult.” He said that January is always a difficult month anyway, …

THE €19 million Lotto jackpot may not have been won in Clare at the weekend, but four Banner players still managed to scoop a prize. Four Match 5+Bonus tickets winning more than €36,000 were bought in Clare for the must-win draw last weekend. The winning tickets were sold at the Eurospar, Ennis Road, Newmarket-on-Fergus; Reddan’s Store and Post Office, Sixmilebridge; Taltys Mace/Topaz, Lissycasey and another was sold online at lottery.ie. The Clare wins were among 149 players from all over Ireland to share in a prize fund of almost €5.5 million at the Match 5+Bonus prize tier. As the Lotto jackpot was capped at €19.06 million, the funds that would usually go to the jackpot flowed down to the next highest tier at which there was a winner and in the historic draw, this was the Match 5 + Bonus prize tier. The National Lottery has urged players to check their tickets carefully and for the winners to sign the …

PROTESTERS will march through Ennis on Saturday week, five months after the Housing Minister promised to support Clare homeowners affected by pyrite.  Efforts to have Clare included in the revised grant scheme for those with defective blocks are still ongoing, with correspondence being exchanged between the Council and the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government. Considerable frustration has been expressed with the fact that the Department is querying several aspects of a report submitted by the local authority last July asking for inclusion in the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme.  Members of Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) are now appealing to the public for their support in progressing the issue and are asking them to gather at Áras an Chontae in Ennis at 2pm on January 29, and join a walk to the O’Connell monument at The Height.  “More and more impacted homeowners are contacting the Clare Pyrite Action Group, asking for advice and help, but we are still …

THE chair of an Ennis retailers group has warned against “blanket pedestrianisation” of the county capital’s town centre saying it would lead to “commercial apartheid”. John O’Connor of Retailers of Ennis was reacting to the release of a survey by Clare County Council this week which showed more than 70% of respondents would like to see some form of pedestrianisation in Ennis ‘immediately’. (See Clare Champion story here) He believes compromise is needed if there are any future plans to make Ennis’ streets car-free. He insists it would need to be carefully planned out, with the needs of business owners and those who need to access those businesses taken into consideration along with increasing parking. Mr O’Connor fears that full pedestrianisation of the town centre would drive people out to the peripheries resulting in a “business desert” in the town. “We have always maintained if you continue with blanket pedestrianisation you reach a situation where you have, in essence, commercial …