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Clare GAA players on course to help plant a million trees

THREE of Clare’s best known players recently returned from a historic trip to Africa, where they kick started a bid to plant more than a million trees to combat climate change. Clare players Podge Collins, Dean Ryan, and Eimear Kelly joined 50 leading GAA stars to compete in the first ever ‘Plant the Planet Games’ in Nairobi, Kenya, on a visit that also saw them plant the first thousand trees in a GPA-backed tree planting effort to tackle climate change in Africa. Each of the participating players, who included inter-county hurlers, footballers and camogie players from 23 different counties, were tasked with raising €10,000 in sponsorship to support the effort.  The group’s collective total has already topped half a million euro, with funds still coming in. The initiative was organised by Galway dual player Alan Kerins Warriors for Humanity in conjunction with development charity Self Help Africa, and is also being supported by Kenyan Olympic medalist and world record holding …

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Clare man accused of falsely imprisoning woman further remanded

A man accused of falsely imprisoning a woman at his home in Clare last month has been further remanded in custody. The 37-year-old man appeared at Ennis district court via video link from prison where is on remand. The case is subject to reporting restrictions, meaning the accused and the alleged victim cannot be identified. The man is charged that at his home in a rural area of Clare on November 9, 2022, he did falsely imprison a woman, contrary to section 15 of the Non Fatal Offences Against The Person Act. Sergeant Aiden Lonergan said he had been told that the file in the matter will be with the director of public prosecutions (DPP) by the end of the week. Sergeant Lonergan said he was seeking a further adjournment to obtain DPP’s directions which will determine what court the trial will proceed in. Sergeant Lonergan asked that the accused be further remanded in custody to appear again in court …

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‘Risk of measles outbreak’ due to low vaccine uptake

THE region is “at risk of a measles outbreaks” due to low uptake of the MMR vaccine since the pandemic, according to the director of Public Health for the HSE Mid-West. Late last month the first case of measles in the Mid-West for four years was detected, Dr  Mai Mannix confirmed during a recent briefing of the HSE to Clare County Council. The case, the first in the country for 2022, involved an individual living in the Mid-West who had been in East Africa where there is a large ongoing outbreak of the disease. Clare’s uptake of the vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella is at 89.1%, however this falls short of the 95% vaccination rate needed for immunity, she told the meeting. Neighbouring Limerick’s uptake of the vaccine is lower again at 82.8%. She stressed the best protection is MMR vaccination, however the uptake rate has declined since the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are working hard with our community colleagues …

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Revealed: Heavy losses and large loans dominate Shannon Heritage accounts

RETAINED losses totalling €6.352 million and a loan owed to the Shannon Airport Group of €9.2 million have been outlined in Shannon Heritage’s accounts ahead of any proposed transfer of tourism sites to Clare County Council. In the Due Diligence report submitted to government, Clare County Council detailed significant neglect of the sites, the urgent need to halt the deterioration of the assets and estimated government investment totalling €15 million is required to achieve to allow these tourism attractions to reach their full potential. The Shannon Airport Group hasn’t given any indication whether it is in a position or is willing to write off some of the accumulated losses or the loan that is due to the overall group as part of any agreed transfer to the local authority. Responding to Clare Champion queries, the Shannon Airport Group confirmed it invested approximately €6 million in capital expenditure in Shannon Heritage to upgrade facilities between 2015 and 2019. “In addition, the …

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‘Dangerous conditions’ for staff and patients in UHL ED

SIGNIFICANT reductions in elective surgery and outpatient diagnostics will continue in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) over the next month after record high Emergency Department attendances resulted in “dangerous conditions” for patient and staff safety. The UL Hospitals’ Group has admitted planned reductions in scheduled care will continue over the Christmas and New Year period as the group concentrate on inpatients as well as emergency and time-critical care after the busiest weekend ever recorded in the hospital. Responding to Clare Champion queries about the impact of the unprecedented demand on public hospital services, the group outlined work in their operating theatres will be focused on emergency and trauma patients until January 16. It also warned anyone attending the ED with a less than urgent condition is going to face an “exceptionally long wait for treatment” as UHL struggled to cope with 92 patients on trolleys on Monday, 94 on Tuesday and 88 on Wednesday. The INMO has confirmed UHL is the …

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A Christmas message from Bishop Fintan Monahan

As always, the season of Advent flies and seems to disappear like the blink of an eye with all the busyness in and around us. What a lovely time it is for many with all the excitement and anticipation of the season, holy and secular. Advent, Christmas and the restful days post-Christmas days often encourage a nostalgic looking back on what has been in the year just gone by. That’s before the energy and new beginnings of the fresh year around the corner kicks in. In Church and religious terms it was a lively and energetic year with so many things getting off the ground again, as was the case with several other areas of life, post-Covid. It was great to see people able to gather safely again for funerals, weddings and various sacred rituals and rites of passage. The international Synodal Pathway led to many fruitful meetings, discussions and times of discernment all over the world and in the …

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Irish Water lambasted over handling of Gort water issues

RESIDENTS of Gort are being “driven crazy” by problems with the town’s water supply and Irish Water has been strongly criticised for its handling of the situation. People in the town were left without water through some of last week’s extreme cold weather, while the town has a boil notice in place just days before Christmas. Local county councillor Gerry Finnerty said the problems have been going on for a long time, and Irish Water can’t blame it on the frosty weather seen last week. “The first call I’d have got was in November that there was an outage and that was long before there was any frost, and it’s ongoing since then. “The outages are unannounced, nobody knows anything, you just turn on the tap and find you don’t have water and it’s just driving people crazy.” Local TD Ciaran Cannon was also very angry when he spoke to the Clare Champion this week. “We had a very significant …

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GALLERY: Joyful reunions at bustling Shannon Airport

FLIGHTS from the UK and America to Shannon this week are leading to hundreds of reunions in the airport’s arrivals area. On Wednesday morning Michael Doyle, who previously lived in Doonbeg before moving to Co Limerick, was waiting to see his daughter Lauren, who is a social worker in London. “She hasn’t been back for about six months now, so we’re looking forward to getting her home,” Michael told The Champion. As he was speaking, Lauren arrived and embraced her father. “I’m going to relax for the week really. It was a packed flight, but it was nice and quick,” she smiled. Alice O’Connell was there with her two sons, as they waited to greet Alice’s sister and grandnephew, who are now based in London – “I’m delighted, I can’t wait to see them.” When Alice’s sister Jacqui Moloney arrived, she had 14-month-old KJ with her, and Jacqui said it was the little boy’s fifth flight of his short life. …

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