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Owen Ryan reports on a feisty exchange between Deputy Michael McNamara and An Taoiseach Michéal Martin THE Taoiseach is destroying his own legacy and Shannon Airport, Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara warned in the Dáil this week, shortly after the Aer Lingus decision to close its Shannon cabin crew base became known. The Scariff man vehemently criticised the Government’s approach to aviation. “When are we going to have a debate on what the State’s aviation policy is? When can we even find out what it is? “There are announcements from the Tánaiste every day that contradict each other. There are announcements from all the members of the Taoiseach’s Cabinet that contradict each other constantly. “We do not have an aviation policy or aviation recovery plan. We need one before it is too late. It is already too late for my constituency. The Taoiseach’s is next. “He might not care much about the rest of the country but if he cares …

The UL Hospitals’ Group has appealed to patients attending the Emergency Department (ED) in University Hospital Limerick to bring medical information that will assist staff while HSE information technology (IT) systems are down following the cyber attack. This includes any document or record such as the patient’s Medical Record Number (MRN) or Patient Chart Number (PCN). This information is usually on a sticker on hospital documentation, or on medications or prescriptions, or any hospital discharge information from a previous time spent in hospital. Services across the Group continue to be adversely impacted by the cyber attack on HSE IT systems. This extends to widespread cancellations in scheduled care across six public hospitals including University Hospital Limerick (UHL), University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. All outpatient clinics are cancelled. This includes paediatric outpatient appointments. All elective inpatient and day case procedures are cancelled. This is with the exception of time-critical cases and …

THERE has been unanimous criticism from the county’s politicians of the Aer Lingus decision to close the Shannon cabin crew base, writes Owen Ryan. Fine Gael deputy Joe Carey said the decision was “hasty and ill advised”, while he said he would work to try and bring about a reversal. The Clarecastle man accepted that the Government should have published an aviation plan by now. “Mr Vardakar is going to ask Aer Lingus to defer this decision until the aviation roadmap is published. The aviation lobby is blaming the Government for not publishing a plan and I feel they have a point on this. “I feel that Eamon Ryan and his department should have published an aviation plan at this stage. “Additionally, I have spoken to a number of Shannon-based Aer Lingus workers, along with Shannon Group CEO, Mary Considine. Shannon is much more than an airport. There’s a reason why there are so many Foreign Direct Investment jobs in …

WITH remote working having changed the property market, the coastal area around Lahinch is seeing a property boom despite the pandemic, with a huge increase in the number of people looking to move to the North Clare area. While it is very good news for those trying to sell property in the area, the strength of the market is seeing landlords sell up, and with a deficit in the stock of property for long-term rental, some people are being forced to leave the area entirely. One local property went on sale for €295,000 recently, but ended up selling for €420,000, illustrating how strong the local market is right now. Ennistymon auctioneer Peri Griffin said that the current market is reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger years. “At the moment supply is low and demand is high. We don’t have a house for everyone, we could have 20 or 30 people after one house and that’s driving prices through the roof.” She …

ANYONE who makes contact unexpectedly and requests personal information such as bank details are not to be trusted, gardaí in Clare have warned in the wake of further reports of people becoming victims of scams. Clare Victim Liaison Officer Garda Siobhán Madden has revealed details of two frauds reported to gardaí recently, while offering advice to the public to be vigilant. The first incident saw a man receive a phone call for a person pretending to be ringing from his bank. “The caller alleged that he was an employee of the bank and stated that he had observed suspicious activity on the injured party’s account. The injured party confirmed that he did not carry out any transactions on this date and whilst on the phone a text message came through to the his phone, he believed it to be from bank, the message was an authentication code, which the injured party called out to the caller, the injured party then …

THE Clare County Board will closely monitor its senior hurlers over the coming week after two members of the Wexford hurling panel tested positive for Covid-19 this week, writes Dan Danaher. Wexford GAA chairman, Micheál Martin has confirmed that two players within the panel have tested positive for the virus. A spokesman for the Clare County Board confirmed that Croke Park had not directed the board to test its senior hurlers following Wexford’s confirmed cases. However, the board will closely monitor Clare hurlers and will request a Covid-19 test without delay, if this is deemed necessary at a later stage. It is understood the fact the match was played outdoors is regarded as low risk in terms of transmission. At the time of writing, there seems to be no doubt hanging over Clare’s vital clash with Laois in Portlaoise next Sunday. Clare hurlers complete a Covid-19 questionnaire and follow all the relevant protocols to limit the spread of the virus …

THE government has been urged to prove its commitment to rural Ireland by moving the department responsible for it out of Dublin. At the May meeting of Clare County Council, there was widespread and cross-party support for a motion tabled by Councillor Gabriel Keating calling on the authority to ask the Department of Rural Affairs and Community Development to decentralise “as an indication of their commitment to Our Rural Future policy document”. The Fine Gael member referred to the publication last month of the new strategy document, which runs to 122 pages. “Clare is a mostly rural county and we lead the way in terms of rural development,” he asserted. “We were the first authority to have its own rural development strategy. Now that 80% of public servants are working remotely, this may be our best chance to get a government department and it would mean a huge amount to this county.” The Fine Gael member urged Clare’s seven Oireachtas …

CLARE’S first citizen has spoken of how moved she and her family were by the gestures of sympathy extended by her Council colleagues on the untimely passing of her sister, Bríd. Cathaoirleach Mary Howard said it had been “a very strange time to lose someone and a very difficult time,” as she thanked members for a vote of sympathy to herself and to Councillor Gerry Flynn on the recent passing of his brother, Michael. Proposing the motion, Councillor Pat Hayes extended sympathy to Councillor Howard on “the sad loss of Bríd at such a young age” and the difficult time her family are going through. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil members of the authority, Councillor Hayes also extended sympathy to Councillor Flynn and proposed a 15-minute adjournment of the monthly local authority meeting. Seconding the motion, Councillor Ann Norton sympathised on behalf of the Independent members. “It must be an extremely difficult time to lose someone so young, and …