News

ACTIVITY has almost stopped at Shannon Airport nowadays, but Clare County Councillors want it to be primed for whenever recovery is possible. At Monday’s meeting of the local authority Fine Gael’s John Crowe and Fianna Fáil’s Pat McMahon, both representatives of the Shannon Municipal District, put forward motions aimed at helping the airport, which is so important to the county’s economy. Councillor Crowe proposed that with Brexit having happened “it is now the time to develop Shannon as a leading European International Cargo Hub.” He welcomed talks between Amazon and Shannon Group and said that the tech giant’s invesmtnet could give the region “a huge boost in difficult times.” Councillor Crowe said that a huge amount of products go from Ireland to Heathrow by truck, before being flown from there, but Shannon has important advantages like an exceptionally long runway and plenty of nearby land which can be developed for cargo facilities. He proposed that the Council write to the …

LOGISTICS company DB Schenker have started a new €10 million development at Shannon Free Zone East. It is taking place on a 5.2 acre site owned by Shannon Commercial Properties, and the facility will be 52,000 square feet in size, to support their multi national customer base. DB Schenker, who already have an operation at Smithstown, have secured a 5.2-acre site for the project from Shannon Commercial Properties, a Shannon Group company. Congratulating DB Schenker, the latest company to establish a base at Shannon Free Zone, Mary Considine, CEO, Shannon Group said: “It is really encouraging to see a major development of this scale and we are proud to have played our part in facilitating DB Schenker’s €10 million investment on our development land at Shannon Free Zone East. This is yet another a very positive announcement for the business community in Shannon and I would like to extend our congratulations to the DB Schenker team.” Shannon Group manages a …

RYANAIR has agreed to a refund for a school group from St Joseph’s in Tulla, whose planned Transition Year tour to Barcelona last April had to be called off because of the pandemic. While the airline insists that it was prepared, at all stages, to return the money which the students had paid through an operator called Saffron Travel, a dispute had arisen as to how the refund was to be made. The seat-pricing policy operated by Ryanair means that individual refunds – the method preferred by the airline – would have resulted in some students getting far less money back than the €200 each of them had paid. After intensive efforts on the part of Oireachtas members Deputy Cathal Crowe and Senator Timmy Dooley, a solution has been agreed. The total flight fare of €17,500 will now be paid to the school who will make an equal refund to each of the 80 affected students. “This has been allowed …

A MAJOR outage which affected the Vodafone phone and broadband network over a number of days last week has prompted renewed calls for better services for remote, rural communities. Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District, Councillor Pat Hayes said the lack of coverage had severely impacted hundreds of people over the course of last week. “Obviously, at the moment, we have many more people trying to work from home,” he noted. “Parents are home-schooling and their children have to be able to access the internet. For a lot of third-level students, their phone is their only means of getting online and from Tuesday to Friday of last week, people across East Clare had no reliable coverage. One farmer was telling me about how he relies on his phone to monitor his livestock remotely and that service wasn’t available to him for days. That’s a serious issue.” The Fianna Fáil member said that when contacted the provider had responded, but not …

By Dan Danaher TRANSPORT Minister Eamon Ryan has bowed to considerable political pressure to finally approve the completion of the final phase of a €58 million major road linking Coonagh with Meelick. Questioned several times by Clare and Limerick Dáil deputies from all parties, Minister Ryan had stated he was continuing to consider the recommendation from Limerick County Council regarding the award of the main construction contract for the scheme. This had prompted stinging criticism locally that it meant the final phase of Coonagh to Meelick Distributor road was being effectively shelved. However, Deputy Cathal Crowe has now welcomed Minister Ryan’s confirmation on Limerick’s Live 95 FM that “Phase One of this long-awaited project can finally go ahead”. Deputy Crowe said this news on Wednesday brought an end to a significant amount of doubt over the future of the entire project in recent weeks, which has been 12 years in the making. “I’m grateful that Minister Ryan has taken time …

By Gordon Deegan A mother of two who was subjected to an alleged serious assault in Ennis last month lost her fight for life in hospital on Wednesday. Wexford native, Sharon Bennett (29) died at University Hospital Limerick in the early hours of Wednesday morning 13 days after she was admitted to the hospital. Ms Bennett was brought to hospital suffering serious head injuries after being allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend, Patrick Ballard (34) in Ennis’ Market area on the evening of Thursday, January 28, last. Reacting to the confirmation of Ms Bennett’s death on Wednesday, the Mayor of Clare, Councillor Mary Howard (FG) said, “It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear that two children will be left without their mother.” The Ennis based councillor stated, “It is so sad that they grow up and their Mammy isn’t there.” Ms Bennett had her two children from a previous relationship and Cllr Howard said, “My thoughts and prayers are with her family …

By Fiona McGarry A KILMURRY McMahon native has been appointed as one of two new deputy commissioners of An Garda Síochána. Anne Marie McMahon was appointed to the role on an interim basis last March and, now that she had been formally appointed, makes history as one of the highest ranking female members of the force. Ms McMahon joined the Gardai in 1986 and was stationed at Coolock Garda Station, Dublin and Henry Street in Limerick. In the early ‘90s, she served with a United Nations mission in Cambodia and in 1995 was promoted to sergeant and instructor at the Student Probationer School, Garda College. Between 1997 and 2002, she served as Operational /Community Policing Sergeant in Henry Street District. After being promoted to the rank of inspector in 2002, she served in Newcastle West and Henry Street Districts. In 2007, she rose to the rank of Superintendent and served in Bruff and Roxboro Road Districts. She became Chief Superintendent …

AS a result of routine operations on Tuesday, February 9, Revenue Officers at Shannon Airport seized over 1kg of the drug Kratom. The illegal drugs have an estimated value of €20,000 and were discovered in a parcel originating from the Netherlands. The parcel was declared as ‘moringa extract’ and was destined for an address in County Galway. Investigations are ongoing. This seizure is part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs. Officers have asked that businesses, or members of the public, with any information regarding smuggling,  contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.