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After a near five month hiatus, the fairways of Clare’s ten golf courses are busy once more this week as the latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions allowed for the game to return at a non competitive level. Whether it will be the fairways or the rough that sees the most action while the rust is being cleared is another matter, but there has been a positive reaction from the members of the clubs across the county and beyond to being allowed back out onto the courses. Guidelines set down mean that only players from a maximum of two households may tee off together, while a strict member only policy has also been implemented in a bid to keep numbers controlled. Some clubs have opted to limit their 18-hole courses to just nine holes at certain times in order to allow as many members as possible to get on the timesheet, while 8-10 minute intervals have been adopted between tee times. …

MYSTERY surrounds the disappearance of the Fairy Doors that had been attached to trees on the River Walk, on the forest stretch between Illaunmanagh and Cluain Airne, reports Owen Ryan. The disappearance of the doors has disappointed those involved in making the doors, as well as the local children who enjoyed the installations. “We put them up there two years ago, the Men’s Shed made them, they were painted at the creches and the Tidy Towns put them up, said Derek Clune, of Shannon Men’s Shed and Tidy Towns. “We had to put them up fairly high, because if we put them too low we felt they could be vandalised. We had a ladder and I’d say they were eight feet off the ground and they were screwed in,” he added. He has no doubt that it is not a simple case of vandalism, because removing the Fairy Doors isn’t that simple. “It seems to me that whoever took them …

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of fewer than five additional cases of Covid-19 in Clare and three additional deaths related to Covid-19 nationally. There has been a total of 4,899 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Wednesday, April 28, the HPSC has been notified of 474 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 248,326* confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 239 are men / 232 are women 71% are under 45 years of age The median age is 32 years old 167 in Dublin, 39 in Kildare, 37 in Cork, 36 in Donegal, 29 in Meath and the remaining 166 cases are spread across all other counties**. As of 8am today, 155 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 44 are in ICU. 14 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of April 27, 2021, 1,452,434 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 1,041,284 …

IT is widely reported this afternoon that the Cabinet have agreed a timetable for the loosening of Covid-19 restrictions. From May 10 restrictions on intercounty travel are set to be lifted, while hairdressers and barbers are likely to be allowed reopen at this point. Click and collect may also resume, but a more complete reopening of retail is not expected until later next month. While juvenile sport is already back, it’s thought that training for adults in pods of 15 will be allowed to resume, while the numbers of people attending religious services will increase to 50. It’s understood that non essential retail will resume on May 17, while on June 2 hospitality is set to resume, with hotels and B&Bs resuming. Pubs and restaurants are likely to be allowed to service customers outdoors from June 7, with a further loosening of restrictions in the weeks and months afterwards.

MORE Clare householders can now benefit from Irish Water’s free leak repair service following approval by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to extend the scheme. In approving Irish Water’s proposals, the CRU recognises the success of the scheme in reducing leakage and safeguarding water supplies. The First Fix scheme is a key element of the national Leakage Reduction Programme which is addressing the serious problem of leakage in Ireland’s water network. The scheme provides customers with support in identifying and fixing leaks. Irish Water offers a free leak investigation and, when a potential leak has been identified, a free repair to a leak detected on an external supply pipe on the customer’s property. Since its introduction in 2015, the First Fix scheme has resulted in savings of 155 million litres of water every day, enough water to supply 450,000 homes a year. To date more than 87,000 investigations and 60,400 leak repairs have been completed. The changes approved …

Community shares ideas to make ‘heart of town beat again’ with help of state redevelopment fund AN EXPLORATORY meeting on the possible regeneration of the old Astor Cinema building in Scariff heard hopes that “the heart of the town may soon beat again”. The Zoom gathering was convened last Saturday night by community activist Eoin O’Hagan, former chair of Clare Tourism. Mr O’Hagan is the driving force behind a bid to make a large-scale application to the Department of Rural and Community Development. Earlier this month, government unveiled a plan to reinvigorate rural Ireland by transforming disused derelict buildings into remote working hubs and community venues. He outlined how the venue, if redeveloped, could even accommodate a performance stage capable of catering to audiences inside and outside of the building. “A stage that could be opened to the outdoors could cater for festivals of all kinds. This could be a truly flexible venue for all kinds of groups and events,” …

PATIENTS who were cocooning for more than a year have been given a new “lease of life” after receiving a vaccine against Covid-19. That’s according to Patricia O’Gorman, who was redeployed to be the clinical lead for the Mid-West Vaccination Centres at Treacy’s West County, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Meelick, and the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh, since March 1. The Ennis Hospital director of nursing has seen some patients cheering after they are vaccinated and has witnessed a sense of joy in their overall demeanour. “Vaccination is the start of a bright summer and an autumn of hope, particularly for people who want to go back to work, the businesses that didn’t get to work for the last year and people who want to see their grandparents, brothers and sisters.” She hopes the three centres will be able to reach peak capacity of delivering 6,000 vaccines in total by late May or early June. Patricia’s main role is to ensure …

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of fewer than five additional cases of Covid-19 in Clare and 13 additional deaths related to Covid-19 nationally. Three deaths occurred in April, three in March, and seven in February or earlier. The median age of those who died was 85 years and the age range was 60 to 95 years. There has been a total of 4,896* Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Tuesday, April 27, the HPSC has been notified of 371 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There has now been a total of 247,857** confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 190 are men / 181 are women 77% are under 45 years of age The median age is 28 years old 131 in Dublin, 38 in Kildare, 33 in Donegal, 18 in Cork, 17 in Meath and the remaining 134 cases are spread across 17 other counties*** As of 8am today, 153 …