News

THE impact on the environment of importing fracked gas into the Shannon Estuary will be worse over a 20-year period than importing coal to generate electricity in Moneypoint, a local environmentalist has claimed. Shannon LNG has outlined its plans to seeking planning permission from An Bord Pleanála to build a €650 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal between Ballylongford and Tarbert in North Kerry. An LNG terminal is a facility for regasifying liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipped in by an LNG tanker from production zones. Johnny McElligott, Tarbert of Safety Before LNG, has been opposing the proposed gas terminal for years. In his address to the rally, Mr McElligott alleged that importing fracked gas from the United States of America into the Shannon Estuary will have a 44% higher carbon equivalent footprint over a 20-year period than importing coal from Colombia to burn in Moneypoint. “We are going to close Moneypoint because it looks good, but we are going to …

THE Clare Covid-19 vaccination centre is relocating on a temporary basis from from Treacy’s West County Hotel to the grounds of Ennis Hospital. Vaccinations at the former outpatients department in the hospital grounds will commence on this Saturday, November 20 and it is expected the centre will move back to the West County in early 2022. Parking availability on the grounds of Ennis Hospital has improved since the relocation of the outpatients department to the Kilrush Road. Disabled parking is available at Ennis Hospital. Patricia O’Gorman, Clinical Lead for the Area Vaccination Centres in the MidWest, said: “Our vaccination teams have to date delivered over 400,000 doses as part of this historic vaccination campaign. As society and the economy have reopened, we have had to secure a temporary new location for our Ennis centre with the agreement of our partners. We are grateful to the West County Hotel for their support over the course of vaccination campaign” The current national requirement is that Covid-19 …

ZIMMER BIOMET has been given planning permission for a new development which will see another 50 jobs created in Shannon. A planning statement accompanying the application said, “Due to the continued success and expansion of the Zimmer Biomet brand, the business leadership team have chosen to further invest and expand the infrastructure at their Ballycasey Beg facilities. This expansion shall serve to future proof the business and present a sustainable medium term development of the company’s assets, restating the business commitment to the sites and the Shannon community.” According to the application the current site “occupies an area of approximately 40,849 square metres with an existing building area of 11,143 square metres, associated yard manoeuvering areas and parking for approximately 122 cars. “ It says that the proposed development would have five parts: *An extension to the eastern elevation measuring 870 square metres to contain new Clean Rooms and Dispatch facilities. * A two storey extension to the northern elevation, …

THE Minister for Health is being called on to intervene to save public dentistry in county Clare. A county councillor called on Minister Donnelly to engage with dentists in Clare “to prevent a total collapse” of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) and to ensure funding is available to boost public dentistry in the county in the coming year. Councillor Donna McGettigan raised the issue at the monthly meeting of the County Council. The Shannon councillor outlined, “In Clare there has been a reduction of 46% investment in the DTSS between 2017 and 2021 according to the Irish Dentistry Association.” She continued, “We are also seeing a reduction of dentists signed up to the DTSS scheme resulting in only 16 dentists enrolled in Clare, leaving many Clare patients unable to access dentist care within this county. “Lack of access to timely dental care and delaying necessary treatment is economically unviable as what begins as a routine procedure can lead to …

PLANS have been lodged with Clare County Council for improvements to a prominent hotel, which could see the creation of 30 jobs, writes Owen Ryan. According to the planning application made by Bunratty Castle Hotel, the development would see the “rationalisation, upgrade and repair (principally required as a result of fire damage) of part of the existing hotel resulting in an increase in gross floor area from 1,377 square metres to 1,559 square metres”. There would be removal of internal and external walls and external structures, the reconfiguration of certain internal spaces, the construction of a single storey extension to the rear of the hotel and the provision of a new extended frontage to the bar/bistro. The application says that the development seeks to “increase the functionality of the business and ensure its viability going forward”. It also says that “A fire occurred in the hotel in June 2021 and the proposed works will rationalise, upgrade and repair the part …

GARDAÍ in Ennis are investigating a new approach by online fraudsters which leads people to think that they are connecting with people they know and trust, writes Jessica Quinn. A woman contacted by scammers pretending to a be a friend on a social media platform was recently conned out of €15,000. Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks explained, “The fraudsters managed to identify an actual friend of the injured party and set up a ghost/cloned Facebook Account where they purported to be the actual friend. “Then via Facebook they informed the lady she had won the lottery online and that her details were also there as a winner. “In order to release the winnings, the lady was told by her ‘friend’ that they had to send monies to other parties. The lady then unfortunately sent €15,000 via iTunes vouchers and physical cash.” Sergeant Brooks warned, “We want to advise people that the person behind the Facebook page may not be …

WOODHAVEN Developments has been granted planning permission for 48 houses in Smithstown, despite a number of objections, including one from a landmark local business Treacy’s Oakwood Hotel. The group now has the green light for 48 houses, 40 of them two-storey, with eight bungalows. In its submission to the Council, Treacy’s Oakwood said, “While not averse to development of the subject lands, the primary concern of Treacy’s Hotel Group is the potential for the proposed development to impact on the current operation of the hotel with particular reference to night time use and functions. “The hotel function room and associated use for weddings and functions has the potential to impact on future residents via noise associated with the general use of the hotel for night time activities.” These include the movement of people to and from the function room, music/bands from the function room and general noise from the smoking area. “It is noted that every endeavour is made by …

A SUM of €318,250 is available for discretionary spending by the Councillors of the Shannon Municipal District in 2022. The councillors held a special meeting on Monday, and in a document sent to the members in advance, County Council chief executive Pat Dowling said that the level of funding next year would be similar to 2021. “The Local Government Reform Act 2014 and its related regulations set out various matters in relation to Municipal Districts. This includes the General Municipal Allocation (GMA) which is defined as the discretionary funding available to the municipal district members for allocation in the draft budgetary plan. “In determining the General Municipal Allocation for the municipal districts, the chief executive has considered the overall income available to the Council and the budget strategy discussions to date with the Corporate Policy Group. “The General Municipal Allocation formed a large part of the Local Property Tax income deliberations of the Council bringing the total 2022 Budget to …