News

A SUM OF €500,000 has been granted by government for the advancement of a section of dual carriageway to provide better access to Shannon Airport. Speaking about the allocation, Clare TD Cathal Crowe said it will improve safety. “The works on a dual carriageway at Shannon Airport will see a stretch about 2km long put in place on safety grounds. “As you enter Shannon Airport and pass the security hut on the approach, the road becomes a single lane each way. “This has been assessed by experts as not being safe – as in a case where emergency services and so on need to access the airport, passing may be an issue.” “Whilst our first priority must be rebuilding air connectivity in and out of Shannon, it’s also encouraging to see groundworks taking place to improve things at the airport too.”

FRUSTRATION with the waiting time for decisions on planning appeals has been expressed by members of Clare County Council.  A joint motion from Councillors Pat Daly, Mark Nestor and John Crowe made a call for staffing levels at the appeals board to be increased. The members also agreed that more planners should be appointed to Clare County Council to handle a predicted surge in applications in 2022.  “The normal planning appeals decision time with An Bord Pleanála is four months,” Councillor Daly told the December Council meeting. “In recent times, the decision process at the board has totally gone over control… So many appeals in Clare are with An Bord Pleanála for up to 12 months. “One, in particular is a proposed plaza for the outskirts of Ennis. Clare County Council gave its full planning permission 12 months ago creating up to 130 jobs and there’s still no decision [on the appeal]. The reply the frustrated applicant get from the …

CLARE County Council has announced that the controversial Púca statue commissioned for Ennistymon will not now be erected in the north Clare town. The local authority issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon that following extensive consultation with elected members and the local community, it would not be proceeding with the proposal to erect the Púca artwork in Ennistymon. Instead, the sculpture created by Aidan Harte is to be offered to other north Clare towns, villages and community-operated tourism sites. An expressions of interest process will be announced shortly by the council. The statue had divided opinion in Ennistymon and around Clare and prompted the council to undertake a survey in November 2021 to garner local opinion on the artwork and its proposed location. More than 720 survey responses were received by the local authority with 43.6% of respondents saying they ‘Really disliked’ the artwork compared to 34.3% who ‘Really liked’ it. While many disliked both the artwork itself and its …

WITH Clare having recorded the second highest incidence rate of Covid-19 in Ireland over the Christmas period health authorities are appealing to the public to take care over social activity. The Department of Public Health Mid-West has said preliminary analysis indicates at least 2,300 new cases in the Mid-West region per day. The department added that the current high volume of cases may result in delays in data reporting, meaning that data may not be complete and up-to-date. Therefore, it is probable the real infection rate is higher due to the unprecedented levels of transmission across the three counties and nationwide. A spokesperson stated, “In recent weeks, we were notified of an outbreak of more than 80 people (age ranged from early 20s to late 30s) in a single community in the Mid-West. “Transmission occurred over a three-week period and involved multiple sources of exposure (e.g. social contact, household contact, education setting, workplace setting, etc). We believe outbreaks of this …

Clare Animal Welfare have been experiencing a ‘staggering number’ of surrenders of unwanted pets before and after the Christmas writes Owen Ryan EVERY year in Clare hundreds of dogs and cats need someone to give them a home. The problem endures through times of prosperity and recession, and people like Ciara Copeland, co-director of Clare Animal Welfare, are always working to improve the lot of the unfortunate animals. Around four years ago Ciara and her co-directors Stiofán MacGhabhann and Judy Beck re-established the charity, which had been dormant for some time. “We managed to get it up and running again, just three of us at that time, it was very hard work, but it’s running really well now, we’ve a great team.” Clare Animal Welfare doesn’t have a place to keep animals, but it co-ordinates a team of fosterers around the county and beyond who can keep them for a period of time, before passing them onto a more permanent …

FINANCIAL support may be required to continue providing out-of-hours services by the veterinary profession in isolated rural areas, according to a Clare vet. Killaloe Vets senior partner, Tadhg Gavin, has revealed retention of qualified personnel in the veterinary profession is one of the big issues facing this sector. His comments came after Veterinary Ireland announced it will seek central funding from the government to support the provision of out-of-hours services by the veterinary profession like other professional groups – including specific supports for the provision of veterinary services in rural areas. A survey of the veterinary profession in Ireland has identified major concerns in relation to working conditions, especially regarding work-life balance, which could undermine the long-term sustainability of veterinary and out of hours services, particularly in rural parts of the country. The professional body Veterinary Ireland has set a key objective over the next five years to work towards improving the work-life balance of vets in Ireland. The findings …

CLARE gardai are appealing for information about a potential arson attack in an east Clare community last week. On Wednesday night, January 5, a caravan and mobile home parked at Ballydonaghan, Bodyke were set on fire and both were totally burnt out. A garda spokesperson noted that this is a rural area in Bodyke and said, “If there was anyone in the area of Balydonaghan between 11pm and 11.30pm last Wednesday and saw anything suspicious we would ask them to contact Scariff Garda Station on 061 922790.

THE dramatic €850,000 increase in income from the General Medical Card Service (GMS) for an out-of-hours GP service, despite a much lower call volume, has been questioned by local health campaigners, writes Dan Danaher. The 2020 audited financial statement for Shannondoc revealed the number of calls handled by the company fell by 12% from 112,273 in 2019 to 98,178 in 2020. It also shows income from the GMS increased from €1,050,607 in 2019 to €1,900,655 in 2020. Overall income jumped from €7,306,717 in 2019 to €8,032,116 in 2020. This included income in 2020 from HSE Out-of-Hours €4,639,883; HSE Specimen Collection: €258,319; HSE SATU €49,275; HSE Methadone clinics and psychology services income: €176,297; HSE Other Income: €92,940; members’ contributions €654,433 and private patients’ income €154,384. The company received more than 50% of its income in the year from state funding through the HSE. According to the Shannondoc Reinstate Committee, for the past number of weeks Miltown Malbay has started to be …