News

THE long term ambition of a new Killaloe Tidy Towns committee is to enter the annual national competition in the coming years. In view of the great work being completed in recent years by Ballina Tidy Towns across the bridge, the return of a Tidy Towns committee in Killaloe will be welcomed by locals and businesses. It is understood the last Killaloe Tidy Towns committee operated in 2014, and its absence has been a talking point for such a picturesque heritage town with numerous tourist attractions. The new committee includes Eddie O’Gorman, Councillor Tony O’Brien, Ger and Carmel Manning, Bobby Reynolds and Ger Ahern, who was involved in Kildare Tidy Towns committee. It will work in co-operation with the Killaloe Enhancement Group, which has completed several major clean-ups throughout the town and the new Killaloe Community Council. Initially, the new committee will meet once a fortnight, but meetings may happen more frequently if this is deemed necessary. Mr O’Gorman told …

HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly has admitted “mistakes” were made implementing the controversial removal of 24-hour Accident and Emergency services in Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. Speaking in the Dáil, Minister Donnelly acknowledged “sufficient capacity” was not provided for when changes were made to emergency departments in the Mid-West, which was now being addressed with more beds and health workforce. “UHL is under significant pressure. I turned the sod recently on an additional 96 beds. There are two more plans that will provide a further 200 beds. We are also putting in a surgical hub. There is an awful lot of investment going in. “We will be investing in Nenagh, Ennis and further in St. John’s Hospital and other hospitals. This is the way to do it.” He said changes were being introduced in the new consultant contract to have more senior decision-makers rostered in the evenings and at weekends for patient assessment, treatment, admission and discharge. Addressing the …

A PEDESTRIAN crossing on the Gort Road has been described as “a death trap at times” as calls were made for improved safety measures to be put in place to protect vulnerable road users. A recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District heard a local primary school has highlighted concerns about the crossing. According to Councillor Mary Howard there have been a number of “near misses” of vulnerable road users at the pedestrian crossing at Hogan’s Shop on the Gort Road in front of Glenina and Pine Grove estates. She asked the council, “Is it possible to upgrade this crossing to make it more visible to traffic to ensure the safety of users?” Responding to the motion Paddy Tiernan, acting senior executive engineer, stated that the Ennis Municipal District “commits to reviewing this pedestrian crossing and will investigate measures to improve the visibility of the crossing. “Branches of trees which impact the visibility of the crossing will be trimmed back. …

CLARE gardai have urged the public to be vigilant following two complaints about bogus trademen in the past week. Clare crime prevention officer Sergeant Triona Brooks said, “At 1pm last Thursday, February 2, three males called to a house on Main Street, Kilfenora and told the lady that they were going to clean her gutters. “She said that the landlord hadn’t told her this but the males commenced to clean the gutters but only for a few minutes. They then requested payment of €200 from the lady who paid the money over only to discover when she told the owner of the house he had not employed anyone to do this job.” She added that Gardaí at Killaloe received a report during the week from a home owner in Fossabeg, Scariff reporting that a male called to his home in a white van, claiming to work for a certain water company and said he was investigating a leak. “This male …

STRONG interest has been reported, in Clare, a grant scheme designed to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use as housing.  An update on the level of interest in Clare was provided in the January management report of the local authority, showing that more than 30 applications have been received to-date. The Council also said it is responding to “a large volume of queries received daily in connection with the vacant property refurbishment grant from interested homeowners”. Last year, Croí Cónaithe, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, opened offering a maximum of €30,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties as a principal private residence, subject to certain conditions. “There is a strong interest in the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant to include the derelict property top-up grant as a means of providing assistance to homeowners to bring vacant proper- ties back into use,” the Council’s January report stated.  The documented notes that properties considered for inclusion must be vacant for two …

CLARE County Council pays more to female staff than any other local authority, an analysis of gender pay gap data shows. In a survey conducted by The Irish Independent, Clare topped the league table in terms of Councils whose gender pay gap favours women. Figures released in December place Clare among 13 local authorities where female employees are paid more than their male counterparts. The Council’s recently-published Gender Pay Gap Report for 2022 reveals, for the first time, the average hourly wage of men and women across the workforce. The 2022 report shows a Mean Gender Pay Gap of -7.04%. This means that on average, females working for Clare County Council occupy higher paid roles than males. According to the authority, its Median Gender Pay Gap of -15.73% means that there is “a strong representation of females in upper management roles in Clare County Council”.  The Council’s January management report stated: “Publishing our gender pay gap data helps to reinforce …

A 90-year-old Shannon man, who was living independently prior to hospitalisation, was emotionally traumatised by spending two nights on a trolley in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), family members have claimed. Mick Phelan endured a “horrendous” time on a trolley in December 2014, according to his son, Blaise, who has called on the UL Hospitals’ Group to address chronic overcrowding in the hospital. His daughter, Marena, said Mick went from someone who had bought spare ribs and cabbage for his family before hospitalisation to a person who suffered emotional distress after his trolley experience. A GAA fanatic and one of the founder members of Wolfe Tones GAA club, he trained club underage teams and was manager of the club’s best football teams in the early seventies. In addition to travelling to see GAA games all over the country, he regularly acted as a steward for Leinster matches and All-Ireland finals in Croke Park up to the age of 83. His last …

A MAJOR increase in the number of people using the Western Rail Corridor from Limerick to Galway has proven the case for the re-opening of the train stop at Crusheen, according to a local councillor.  Figures just released show an increase of just over 14% in the numbers using the service in 2022 when compared to 2019, the last full year of figures. “This means that more than 600,000 passengers used the line last year, up from 531,000 in 2019,” Councillor Alan O’Callaghan, Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District said. “The Western Rail Corridor remains the fastest-growing rail link in the country.” The figures were also welcomed by Councillor Pat Hayes who called at the November meeting of the Killaloe district for a business case to be made for the re-opening of the rail stop at Crusheen. “To be honest, the members of the travelling public using the Limerick to Galway rail line have made that case themselves,” he said. …