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THERE has been a dramatic reduction in the 14-day incidence of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Clare, according to the latest figures. A few weeks ago, Clare had the fourth highest 14-day incidence rate of the virus in the country with 303 per 100,000 compared to just 77 in Tipperary and 183 in Limerick. This rate, which has rocketed from about 70% from September 17 to September 30, was very high and was way above the national average of 279%. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time in the county when 1,030 were notified on October 17. Thirty-three more cases were confirmed a day later bringing the county total to 1,063 on October 18. This overall figure increased to 1,311 on November 1. As Clare people continue to endure Level Five restrictions, the spread of the virus is slowing in Clare compared to other counties and is now the eighth lowest in the country. According …

CLARECASTLE’S Brian Hogan is celebrating after being named an Inspirational Hero following a nationwide search to uncover Ireland’s most inspirational people. Nominated by family and friends for the Gala Retail and Virgin Media Inspiration Awards, Brian stood out for this determination and positive attitude. In 2009 Brian suffered severe brain damage after an unprovoked attack left him blind and partially paralysed. However, he hasn’t let that stop him. Originally from Ballykeeffe in County Limerick Brian who lives in Acquired Brain Injury’s (ABI) residential service in Clarecastle went from needing to use a wheelchair to taking on a mammoth walkathon challenge. Unable to see his family Brian set himself a goal of walking the equivalent of 20 laps of Thomond Park before the end of May and raise funds for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland Clarecastle. Brian surpassed his fundraising target, raising over €10,000 for the Clarecastle services. Speaking to us about the fundraiser earlier this year, he said, “Acquired Brain Injury Ireland are …

A PRIVATE testing centre for Covid-19 is to come on stream in the Clare/Limerick area, with a drive-through facility, as well as mobile testing units for large organisations. The development by healthcare company RocDoc was announced this week, as the company expands its operations. The company will also create 200 new jobs at the facilities in the Midwest, as well as in counties Meath and Cork. While specific details of the location in the Clare/Limerick area were not released, plans for its opening are said to be well advanced. At its existing clinic in Ashbourne, County Meath, the private company offers molecular tests using what is referred to as Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) technology. Results are available within a few hours, depending on what kind of service is requested. Currently, in order to attend a State-run Covid-19 testing centre, patients must have a referral from a doctor. However, people can attend the private RocDoc centres and get tested without the …

CLARE’S Green Senator has shared her experience of trying to help a woman who was experiencing suicidal feelings during the lockdown earlier this year. Speaking at the meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), Senator Róisín Garvey said she was concerned for the woman, as well as the time it took to access emergency support services. She called for more detailed figures to be made available to members on the number of mental health issues Gardaí had responded to. “There has been an increase in the number of people experiencing mental health crises because of Covid-19,” she native said. “I met a woman who was suicidal and after speaking to hear for an hour, I phoned the Gardaí. I rang one of those stations that we have spent a lot of money on. The Garda couldn’t come out for 40 minutes and after that, the woman was seen by a GP. I found the whole situation deeply disturbing.” Senator Garvey …

EMERGENCY measures, to manage overcrowding, has been used at the region’s main hospital, on average, every second day of the year to the end of September. The situation has been compared, by a member of the HSE West forum, to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Figures, obtained by the Irish Patients’ Association, show that the Full Capacity Protocol was deployed at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on 184 days. The protocol involves putting extra beds on wards and in corridors, and only the acute facility in Waterford invoked this so called ‘last resort’ more often. Councillor Cillian Murphy described the protocol as “a nice fancy name for overcrowding”. “When I hear of a solution being described as ‘low cost, high impact’, my cynicism button lights up,” he said. “When something is low cost, it is rarely high impact in a positive way. We need to get to the root of the problem and, in my view, that means getting more …

IF there is one thing to take from this pandemic, according to Father Harry Bohan, it’s that we cannot return to what was ‘normal’, the future has to be different from the past. Rearing The Future: Is The Future Our Responsibility? Reflections on Irish Society and its Institutions During And Post Pandemic is the title of a new publication from Fr Bohan. A distinguished observer of Irish society for many years, he feels that Covid-19 has thrown the country off the path it was on, and that it was necessary. “Covid-19 was an unwelcome visitor in the spring of this year. This long later it looks like it’s going to continue for some time to come. Any attempt to fully interpret it is premature, but something that struck me straight away is that our post Covid world should be very different to what we came from. I think most people would agree that the future has to be different from …

OVER 5,000 penalty point notices were issued to Clare drivers last year, with close to two-thirds of those being incurred by male drivers. The figures, released this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), show that the vast majority of points notices issued to Clare motorists in 2019 – 71% – were for speeding. The second most common offence incurring points, at 14%, was driving while holding a mobile phone. In relation to both of these motoring offences, men incurred a higher percentage of the points. A total of 3,620 points notices were issued last year in Clare for speeding. 60% of those were incurred by men and 40% by women. The data, which is outlined in the CSO’s latest Transport Omnibus, show that 4,838 Clare drivers got penalty points last year. The vast majority of those motorists, at 84%, clocked up three points. However, there were four drivers who incurred a total of 12 points over the course of …

A CLARE woman parted with a “substantial” sum of money after falling for a fraudster, sparking local gardaí to warn the public to be on the look out for potential ‘romance scams’ while looking for love. It has emerged that the woman met a man purporting to be a German engineer living in Galway on an online dating site. The relationship developed and they began privately messaging each other. The man told her he was involved in a project for work and needed money for materials which he would repay, however it emerged that this was a scam. Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks explains, “Between September and October this year a lady developed an online relationship with a man who said he was a German engineer living in Galway – the relationship started on a dating site and progressed to What’s App messages. He was very persuasive and told the lady that he was involved in a project …