News

ONE THOUSAND homes in East Clare received a Poetry Day surprise on Thursday (April 29), courtesy of Scariff Post Office and University of Limerick (UL) Arts Officer, Patricia Moriarty. Across the county boundary, a further 1,000 homes will have what Patricia described as “a side serving of poetry,” with their deliveries from meals on wheels services in Limerick. “Every year, Poetry Ireland produces Pocket Poems, where poets create work that’s printed on postcards,” Patricia explained. “Last year, because of the pandemic, they didn’t do the print run, but I had the mad idea during lockdown to ask Scariff Post Office to deliver 500 postcards to those cocooning if I could get 500 printed. “I left the destination of the cards up to the delivery staff, because they know the people on their route. One of the poems was about a woman breast-feeding at night and the postman delivered it to a young mother locally. “I got a lovely text from …

THE recent announcement of €200,000 funding for a walking and cycling route linking Ennis to Clarecastle has been described as “very positive”, with more funding being sought by the local authority for future projects. Once complete it is intended that people will be able to access the route at Clareabbey, bringing them to the Quin Road. In light of the funding, Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy, at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, sought an update on efforts to create a greenway/blueway from Ballyalla to Clarecastle. Eamon O’Dea, Senior Executive Engineer, responded, “The Ennis Municipal District has submitted the “Connecting and Co-creating Ennis” project to the NTA for Active Travel Funding in 2021 with the intention of phasing the works over a number of years. “Some the elements of works identified in the project, will require the completion of the Mobility Plan for Ennis to show the justification for the proposed higher cost works. “The EarthRoute “Banks of the Fergus …

NATIONAL honours in a competition to raise awareness of how the European Union works have gone to St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla. Leaving Cert students Liam Boyce and Eoghan Kinsella won the 2021 Model Council of the European Union at a virtual event last week, beating strong competition from teams around the country. The theme of this year’s debate was highly topical as EU Member States actively look into ways to co-ordinate their health policies to respond more effectively to global pandemics and emergencies such as Covid-19. For the Model Council, each school team plays the role of a particular members state and must research the issues for the country they are representing. Liam and Eoghan were assigned to represent The Netherlands and, as part of their advance research, they held a virtual meeting with Ambassador Adriaan Palm. Mrs Lorraine Glynn, who coached the team said the school is delighted with the win. “In preparation for the debate the …

WHILE many people in their 60s have been vaccinated at this stage, the wait goes on for Margaret Morgan, who will turn 101 on June 1. Margaret’s daughter Peggy says that bringing her to Kilrush or Ennis for a vaccine is not possible and she really hopes her mother can be seen to soon. She has raised questions over the mobile vaccine unit that has been promised, without a specific date. “She’ll be 101 on June 1 and she’s still waiting for her vaccine. I was talking on the radio about it, but I haven’t heard anything from the HSE to tell you the truth. They’re all saying please God it’ll be soon, but when?” Peggy herself has already been vaccinated. “I’m her full time carer and I have my two injections got, and all her care assistants have them got, the public health nurse has them got. “I have made calls to her GP and it’s all about the …

THE proprietor of a Shannon Chinese restaurant has described how she saw off an armed robber who paid an unwelcome visit. Cindy Lin was seated behind the counter at her restaurant on the night of Saturday, April 17, when the would-be robber made his move at around 10.10pm. “At that time there were no customers here, no orders. I was sitting at the back of the counter, playing with my phone. A young boy came running in, he had a knife and he said ‘give me your f***ing money’ and I saw the knife. I was screaming loud, trying to call the chef in the kitchen. He dropped the knife, I think maybe he was scared too, this was a young boy.” She ran from the scene, while the robber picked up the knife and took off. Two men who had been working in the kitchen, one of whom was her husband, ran after him, but couldn’t catch up. “I …

A Lough Derg swimmer scaled the heights at the Irish National Team trials by recording his first individual senior record. Dominating the 400 metre Freestyle Final in an impressive performance, Finn McGeever finished on 3.52.83 in the Irish National Swimming Championship, which smashed Northern Ireland’s Jack McMillian’s 2019 record of 3.53.31 In fact, the Ballina swimmer achieved success on the double with his second place finish in the semi-final and third place in the final of the 200 metre freestyle, placing him in a strong position to secure a coveted place on the Irish 4×200 metre relay team for the next Olympics Games. Interestingly, the main focus of Finn’s ambitions wasn’t the 400 metre freestyle but the 200 metre freestyle in his efforts to win one of the hotly-contested spots on the Irish men’s 4×200 metre relay team. The members and substitutes of the Irish men’s 4×200 metre relay team was due to be officially announced on Wednesday. Selection is …

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of three additional deaths related to Covid-19. There has been a total of 4,906 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Friday, April 30, the HPSC has been notified of 569 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There has now been a total of 249,437* confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 268 are men / 290 are women 78% are under 45 years of age The median age is 26 years old As of 8am today, 123 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 41 are in ICU. 5 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of April 29, 2021, 1,527,844 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 1,097,742 people have received their first dose 430,102 people have received their second dose

A RESIDENTIAL area of Ennis which had been a pilot location for 30kph speed limit zones is being used as a rat run with “unbelievable” speed. Increasing traffic has lead to local fears of potential accidents in Castlewood Park and residents are seeking the erection of speed ramps at the entrance and exit to their estate. Councillor Mark Nestor highlighted the issue at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District where senior executive engineer Eamonn O’Dea confirmed a review will be carried out while also stressing the need for driver behaviour change. “Residents are very much concerned that the area is being used as a rat run to get from one estate to a main shopping area of the town quickly,” said Councillor Nestor. He added that the level of on-street parking is adding to the danger. “A lot of residents there don’t have their own driveway and there are quite a lot of children living in the area. “What …