News

THE crew of Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, were on standby during the early hours of Monday morning to assist the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. After the launch, Brendan Meehan, Chief Crewman Standards with Rescue 115, told The Clare Champion, that the Shannon crew were prepared to rescue the four astronauts on board in the event the mission was forced to abort before making it into orbit, and touchdown in the Atlantic Ocean anywhere between 50 and 200km off the Clare coast. “It’s quite an unusual event, and I suppose the chances of us being called to action were probably slim. Nonetheless, we were ready to fly out to rescue the astronauts on board. We had been briefed on the make-up of the capsule, how the hatches open and how it would be sitting in the water. “Our job would be to fly out to the capsule, collect the astronauts and bring …

INDIVIDUAL booths could be installed in cattle marts with access to television screens for buyers to facilitate a resumption of live cattle sales in marts, according to a local farm leader. Difficulties with broadband caused huge anger amongst farmers throughout the country recently when on line cattle sales crashed leaving sellers without an outlet to sell their livestock. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe believes the installation of individual booths with access to television screens should be considered as this would be one way to comply with social distancing in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines. Mr Woulfe stressed new measures were needed to safeguard a multi billion meat industry as the online system of selling and buying cattle was proving to be too problematic. Mr Woulfe said farmers were not looking for a special exemption as food production was always categorised as an essential service since the start of the lockdown. This is illustrated by the fact that meat factories have …

A CHAMPION swimmer aiming for Olympic glory and an RTÉ presenter are just some of those who have gone back to school to take part in a virtual open night next week. As a result of Covid-19 the usual open night for Ennis Community College / Gaelcholáiste an Chláir is unable to go ahead. However that has not stopped plans to showcase the schools to prospective students with a virtual event going live at 12 noon on Monday. Principal Brian O’Donoghue revealed moving to an online platform has had advantages, giving the schools an opportunity to highlight the paths some past pupils have taken. Former students have created videos for the virtual event telling their own school experiences. Among those are Ruairí Mac Giolla Bhuidhe, professional swimmer aiming towards the Tokyo Olympics 2021, Zainab Boladale presenter on RTÉ Nationwide, Roisin O Fhallúin who achieved maximum points in the Leaving Cert, Donnie O’Keeffe local business man and software engineer Rezvee Sikder. …

MINISTER for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue has pledged to keep restrictions on mart access under review, following a major outage with the online system, which affected sales nationwide, including those in Clare. Raising the issue in Dáil Éireann, Deputy Cathal Crowe told the minister there had been anger and confusion among local farmers over the issue that arose at the end of last month. “The system crashed for about two hours at Sixmilebridge mart,” the Fianna Fáil TD outlined, “with the result that many of the cattle already in pens in the back yard had to be loaded back onto trailers and returned to their home farms. There was consternation in the marts and considerable anger and frustration among farmers.” The Meelick-based TD said that while sales had managed to resume on the day in question, many farmers were unable to sell their animals. “The mart in Sixmilebridge continued and some sales took place, including the sale of my uncle’s yearlings, …

AN alternative to repeated lockdowns, in response to the pandemic, could lie in the promotion of ventilation and air filtration systems in homes and businesses, according to a West Clare member of Clare County Council. Addressing the November council meeting, Councillor Cillian Murphy asked the authority to undertake a campaign and to contact other councils “to build awareness at a national level of the impact better indoor air quality has in reducing the spread of Covid-19”. His motion was seconded by Councillor Patrick O’Gorman. Noting a written response from Senior Engineer Cyril Feeney saying that responsibility lay with the HSE, Councillor Murphy urged the authority to consider what it could do to promote the message. “To-date the health promotion message had focused on social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing, but there is now an increasing understanding of air-borne transmission and proper ventilation of buildings,” the Fianna Fáil member said. “Clare County Council has been instrumental in delivering HSE recommendations …

COVID-19 may have pulled the brakes on the annual When In Doubt – Pedal It Out charity cycle in Clare, but organisers are continuing to be in the picture when it comes to supporting mental health services. A novel photograph competition has been instigated, with people from throughout County Clare being urged to submit images of what they are doing to exercise during these Level 5 restrictions. Mayor of Ennis Councillor Paul Murphy, one of the organisers behind the annual cycle explains it is hoped this will motivate people and their families to get out and do exercise, which will support their physical and mental well being. He says that while the annual fundraiser is based around cycling, people can send photographs of any kind of exercise to get involved. “Running, walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, walking the dog, whatever they may be doing outside within the 5kms of their home can be posted to the When In Doubt – Pedal …

GAMBLING online was described as being “out of control” in Clare, at the monthly meeting of the county council. Calling on the minister for justice to update the legislation and appoint a regulator, Councillor PJ Ryan outlined how he had been contacted by the mother of someone who spent all of his money, overnight, by gambling online. “The woman who has a son in college forwarded him money on a Friday night and by the next day at 9.15am, he had used all of it for online gambling,” the Independent member said. “Online gambling is a serious, serious problem and there has been not update to the law on gambling since 1931. Another woman told me that her husband, who is working from home, is gambling most of his wages online and she never realised it. It is too easy to do it. If a ten year old child gets their father’s credit card, they can gamble online. It’s a …

THERE has been a 25% increase in the amount of glass collected at local authority bottle banks across the county this year, already surpassing last year’s figures, Clare County Council have revealed. Details of the county’s recycling habits have been unveiled ahead of Clare Waste Awareness Week. Other statistics show that while almost every householder in Clare has a three bin collection service, only 75% use the brown bin. More than 156 tonnes of textiles are thrown away in County Clare every year, and in 2019, 65 tonnes of paint and 30 tonnes of waste mineral oils and filters were collected at civic amenity sites in the county. The awareness week to provide information and tips that will help the Banner County reduce its waste production will take place from November 16 to 20. Clare Waste Awareness Week is a five-day virtual event organised by Clare County Council, in association with the Southern Regional Waste Management Planning Office, to highlight …