News

THE estimated 1,800 people living with heart failure in Clare are being urged to embrace a wide range of supports to help them manage the chronic condition. The Irish Heart Foundation is at the centre of a national drive to provide vital back-up to patients who need help coping with the illness. “People often feel shock, trauma and isolation after a diagnosis of heart failure, but with the right supports, it is manageable,” said Lucinda McNerney, the Irish Heart Foundation’s Heart Failure Programme Manager. “We want to let these patients in Clare know that we are with them on that journey, in terms of counselling, online meetings, a Nurse Support Line, exercise classes, newsletters, a podcast series and peer-to-peer support to help them to keep well, both physically and mentally. “We have patients in our network aged 30 and above, whose daily lives have changed – their work status, having to take medication, dealing with lower energy. All this can …

THE Mayor of Ennis reflected on “an extremely strange year” in his last meeting in the chair of the Ennis Municipal District. Councillor Paul Murphy described the past year as sometimes being “frustrating” adding, “I think we’ve all found that, but that’s what happens when you have a pandemic around us. It’s been a learning curve for everybody.” The Clarecastle native praised the executive and staff of the municipal district for their support during the year, and made a special mention of appreciation for the outdoor staff who have “been front and centre of the temporary mobility plan” and “taken a bit of abuse on the streets for that matter”. Councillor Murphy said that, in terms of Covid while, “we are not out of the woods yet, hopefully we are getting there.” He thanked his Council colleagues, particularly Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mark Nestor. “I thought I would get an opportunity at some stage in the year to give you the …

DEVELOPERS of a proposed housing estate for Tulla have offered a number of reassurances to the Council following concerns about site drainage, boundaries and the proximity of monuments of archaeological significance. DRM Construction was asked to provide further information (FI) to Clare County Council after submissions, including one from a government department, which flagged concerns about the presence of monuments in the area, including an ancient cooking pit, or fulacht fiadh, dating back to the Bronze Age. The company applied, at the end of last year, to build eight detached two-storey homes on a site opening onto the R462. The lands is zoned for low-density residential housing under the current county development plan. Among the submissions on the project was one from The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Concerns were expressed by the Development Applications Unit (DAU) about the proximity of archaeological monuments. The DAU urged planners to seek FI, including a professional archaeological assessment. A …

CLARE County Council has swooped to delay a decision on providing street lighting on a gravel walkway in Clonlara due to the presence of bats. Plans for the provision of conduct street lighting over the entire length of Clonlara GAA Club’s gravel walkway and associated site works were submitted to the local planning authority recently. These plans are now on hold after the club was asked to hire an ecologist to prepare a detailed site layout plan to ensure it provides minimal disturbance to bat species. In a recent letter to the club, the local planning authority stated the information submitted with this application is insufficient to enable it to make a complete planning assessment of this proposal. In order to proceed with the application, the authority requested further information and revised plans. “Very limited detail has been submitted as regards the proposal to construct street lighting over the entire length of this gravel walkway and all associated site works. …

THE ESB has come under fire from land owners in South Galway following the erection of a sign near the entrance of Derrybrien Windfarm warning about the “risk of peat instability from peat harvesting”. There are about 114 plots of land within the windfarm site boundary that many residents of Derrybrien and Killnadeema have been using through their lifetime for individual use as fuel. The South Galway Flood Relief Committee has claimed the ESB has turned the tables on local communities, meaning that turf-cutting contractors will be the ones liable for peat destabilisation and not the company, by erecting this sign, which has effectively halted peat operations in the region. The ESB has stated it didn’t issue any instruction to turbary rights holders or contractors stopping them from accessing or harvesting at Derrybrien. It also outlined the community liaison for Gort Windfarms Ltd.remains available to discuss the findings on an environmental level with the local community. In October 2003, the …

SILAGE season is underway, despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions. As agricultural traffic increases over the next four weeks, an O’Callaghan’s Mills farming representative has appealed to all road users to take care. Veteran Clare ICMSA spokesperson, Martin McMahon, has asked the users of rural roads to exercise patience and awareness. He noted that the large numbers of people still using rural roads for walking and cycling exercise in the absence of gyms or sports club training might be taken unawares by the large increase in tractor and trailer volumes. Mr McMahon expressed specific concern that the people using headphones while walking or cycling were being misled about the proximity of large machinery. Mr McMahon also asked farmers and contractors engaged in silage work to be extra careful this year in view of the increased numbers of people cycling or walking. He asked them to pull in, where possible, and allow any build-up of traffic to pass. “It is incumbent upon …

CLARE County Council should seek to develop a partnership with cruise ship operators that use the Shannon Estuary, as well as looking at the potential of using Cahercon, Kilrush and Carrigaholt for landing passengers, according to Councillor Ian Lynch. At the May meeting of West Clare Municipal District Councillors he said that such discussions could add to the region’s tourism offering. “In some areas, especially around Kilrush, we’re not at capacity around tourism yet. Maybe there’s potential there to look at it, how we manage it is up to us and I’d just like the conversation to go on.” He said the industry is changing and there is potential there for West Clare. “There is an industry out there, a cruise ship industry that uses the Estuary. There was a documentary on National Geographic recently about the changes in the industry, the large cruise ship is going to be gone and the smaller cruise ship is what the future holds. …

AER Lingus has this afternoon announced it will close its Shannon cabin crew base. A virtual meeting was held at 1pm in which staff were told about the financial impact of the pandemic, and that severe cutbacks are being introduced. In a statement this afternoon, the airline said, “Aer Lingus staff were today advised that the cumulative impact of the crisis over the last 15 months means immediate actions and structural changes are required at the airline. The airline must be more cost-efficient and productive in order to generate the cash required to rebuild its financial health. Disastrous news for Aer Lingus workers in Shannon Airport and the Mid-West region today. The pandemic has done huge damage to the aviation sector. The Irish government's response to Covid has been unique in Europe at least, in making a bad situation worse. pic.twitter.com/oWnsGIELaC — Michael McNamara TD (@MlMcNamaraTD) May 18, 2021 “Immediate actions announced today by the airline include the permanent closure …