News

THE creator of the controversial Púca statue has expressed concerns that a Council online survey over the artwork “will give the naysayers an effective veto”, writes Gordon Deegan. Aidan Harte was commenting after Clare County Council launched the online survey to get the views mainly of the people of Ennistymon as to whether the Púca should be installed in the north Clare town. In launching the survey that comprises five questions about the Púca and its location, the Council state that its results “will guide Clare County Council and Fáilte Ireland in a final decision in relation to the proposed artwork”. In May of this year, the project was paused after a local outcry including parish priest, Fr Willie Cummins denouncing the bronze two metre high Púca from the altar at Sunday mass. The Council survey includes an option for participants to say how much they like or dislike the Púca by sliding a smiley face across a page. If …

TD says more creative solutions required to address housing shortage WITH average rents in Clare now standing at €1,061 a month, prices are causing severe financial difficulties for couples, families and individuals around Clare. Prices have doubled since the recession, and Clare TD Michael McNamara said there is a need to make sure all existing houses are used and more are built. The Scariff man said that local authorities need to get houses back into use quickly when tenants, leave, with some Councils allowing long gaps. Also, he said that in Clare derelict units must be restored. “It could be put back into use quickly if either schemes were in place to incentivise private landlords or if the Council were to use their powers under the Derelict Sites Act. “It’s something that could be done quickly, there are structures there, and almost all of them are pre 1963 so enjoy planning permission, it’s a matter of repairing them, compulsorily acquiring …

A flight which took off from Shannon on Sunday morning bound for Lanzarote, had to turn back due to a medical emergency on board. The Ryanair flight left Shannon at 8.20am, but had to return and landed at Shannon again at 9.46am. Members of the Shannon Airport fire rescue service and the National Ambulance Service were on hand to meet the plane which landed safely at 9.46am. A passenger was transferred to University Hospital Limerick for treatment. The flight resumed its journey to Lanzarote at 10.55am.

GARDAI have advised the Clare public to be more careful about security saying one third of cars broken into are unlocked at the time. The advice comes in the wake of a spate of thefts from parked cars around the county. On November 9, at 2.40am a resident in the Glassan estate on the Lahinch Road rang Ennis Garda Station to say that a male was acting suspiciously in the driveway of a house. Gardaí went immediately to the scene and a male in his mid-30s who was seen leaving the estate on a bike was arrested and detained at Ennis Garda Station. This male was found to be in possession of a black Samsung phone which had been stolen on the previous date from an unlocked car on the Kilrush Road in Ennis. This male was subsequently charged and brought in custody before Ennis District Court where bail was refused. In another incident that occurred between 5pm on Wednesday …

Survey launched by housing body to show need for accommodation in North Clare A LOCAL voluntary housing agency is carrying out a survey of North Clare accommodation requirements in a bid to remove a stumbling block that has halted the development of an approved €7 million purpose supported retirement complex in Ennistymon. Inagh Voluntary Housing Association (IVHA ) has secured an agreement with Banna Developments to redevelop the old Convent site in Ennistymon into a sheltered retirement village with 30 accommodation units, subject to state funding. However, this major elderly housing scheme hangs in the balance over Department of Housing criteria for the administration of government-funded projects. IVHA is now carrying out a public survey to find out how many elderly people require this type of accommodation in North Clare, particularly in Ennistymon, Lahinch and the surrounding areas. Banna Developments, c/o Áine Hussey and Thomas Fitzgerald, Quin, was granted planning permission on December 20, 2019 to refurbish the existing convent …

THE first interment of ashes has taken place at the new columbarium at the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul. Ennis Cathedral is the first Cathedral in the country to offer a columbarium for the interment of ashes. The development of the columbarium was approved by the Pastoral and Finance Committees of Ennis Parish last year while planning permission was granted by Clare County Council. Local builders Michael Clancy and Michael McInerney recently installed the facility which was consecrated as a place of rest by Bishop Fintan last month. On Saturday the ashes of Michael Fitzgerald were the first to be interred in the Columbarium in a ceremony led by Fr Tom Ryan. Mr Fitzgerald, who passed away in August made the decision with his wife Ann and his family that he would be cremated and interred in the Cathedral. Mary Quinn, who was married to Ann Fitzgerald’s brother Jim and who died in London in May 2019, was also …

THERE are still 1,735 people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Clare, with latest figures also showing that 3,783 people were signing on the live register in October. The number receiving the PUP fell by almost 400 between October 19 and November 2, while it is way down from its peak in 2020 of almost 15,000. On the live register side, the October figure increased by 73 on September. The majority of people signing on in Clare (1,929) were attached to the Ennis Social Welfare office. The figure for Kilrush was 657, for Ennistymon it was 643, and for Tulla it was 554. Of those signing on in Clare, 2,031 were male and 1,752 were female. Despite more than 5,500 people getting unemployment supports, there are also labour shortages in a number of sectors. Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council PJ Ryan, a businessman himself, said that workers are in short supply. “Definitely there’s a major problem for businesses trying to …

WITH the long awaited and welcome return of live entertainment, an exciting event like no other is on its way to glór. The Iron Annie Cabaret will be travelling the country in style, with 15 dates scheduled this autumn including right here in Ennis on Thursday, November 18. The show is based on Luke Cassidy’s critically acclaimed debut novel which The Irish Independent described as “probably the most ambitious and well-written debut this year.” Now, as producer, Luke Cassidy is bringing that same story to the stage. The Iron Annie Cabaret tells the story of Aoife, and her doomed relationship with the beautiful but capricious Annie. Set against the backdrop of a larger-than-life criminal underworld of Dundalk, their adventures also take them on a whirlwind trip across the Irish Sea to offload ten kilos of cocaine swiped from a rival. A Juncture Arts production, the Iron Annie Cabaret stars actor Eleanor McLoughlin as the inimitable Aoife, and is directed by …