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DEPUTY Michael McNamara is to wait to see how members of the three coalition parties vote on the Programme for Government before making his mind up on whether to support the history-making arrangement. The view of grassroots members of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, who will be balloted individually by post, are expected to be made public by June 26. In the meantime, the Independent Clare TD said he saw very little in the 126-page document which would benefit the midwestern region. “There would appear to be no input from this region in the document,” he said. “I would have to ask what influence, if any, TDs from Fianna Fáil, the Greens or Fine Gael have. There are lots of details about planned infrastructure for Dublin, but no definite details for many projects outside of it. There’s no reference to Shannon Airport or to balancing aviation policy. When it comes to farming, there seems to be great …

Gardai from the Clare Garda Division are involved in a major search operation across counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperary targeting organised criminality in Limerick City and its environs. Currently nine people are in custody in relation to this operation. As part of Operation Coronation, in excess of 170 members of gardaí from Limerick, Clare and Tipperary Divisions supported by the Criminal Assets Bureau, Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Emergency Response Unit, the Armed Response Unit and Regional Dog Unit commenced a search operation at over 60 premises this morning at 6am. The operation is also supported by three teams of  Irish Army Search Engineers, the Army EOD team and the Army Helicopter. Operation Coronation is targeting organised extended criminality, drug trafficking and the financial returns achieved from this type of activity through money laundering. This operation is being co-ordinated by Limerick Gardaí to address the accumulation of wealth by those engaged in serious …

EXTREME thunder showers last Monday evening have prompted a ban on swimming in Ballyalla Lake, because of a spike in bacteria levels. Clare County Council and the HSE have issued the temporary swimming ban, which will remain in place until levels of bacteria drop. “The situation is being monitored regularly,” a council statement said. “The probation on swimming will be removed when the bacterial levels recede to acceptable levels. The elevated bacterial levels are as result of the extreme thunder showers which took place on Monday evening last.”

As the world adjusts to new travel norms and expectations, The Flynn Hotel Collection has created a specifically designed programme to enhance the already stringent procedures in place in their response to Covid-19. A family owned hotel group with four exceptional properties, The Flynn Hotel Collection is comprised of The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, The Imperial Hotel in Cork City, The Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny City and The Park Hotel in Dungarvan, Waterford The new programme entitled “Because We Care” is not only redefining cleanliness standards but also aims to support the guest’s personal wellbeing by using new, science-led protocols and service measures. New technologies will include electrostatic sprayers with hospital-grade disinfectant to sanitize surfaces throughout the hotels. Electrostatic spraying technology uses the highest classification of disinfectant recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat known pathogens. The sprayers will rapidly clean and disinfect entire areas and can be used in a hotel setting to clean and disinfect guest …

UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick (UHL) will be able to cope with a second wave of Covid-19, according to a senior clinician. Professor Paul Burke, chief academic officer at UL Hospitals’ Group believes Ireland may experience new clusters of the virus like other countries. Speaking at a recent media briefing in the University of Limerick, Professor predicted there will be a “relative surge” of coronavirus. “I think there will be a relative surge. There may be clusters like Seoul in South Korea. We do have a good contact tracing system in place. If we identify things quickly we will be able to curb it. “I think we will have a consistent number of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals on an ongoing basis. The threat will continue to remain. “I would be confident that UHL will cope with another surge. It has been remarkable over the last three months. The first notifiable case was in the Mid-West. We instituted our close down a …

AN appeal has been made for support for the East Clare business community, as Ireland moves into the second phase of the re-opening of the economy. Addressing the May meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District, Councillor Pat Hayes asked that the local authority might look to the example set in County Cork where a plan had been devised to support 28 towns in re-opening for business. “We depend on rate payers,” the Fianna Fáil member pointed out, “and they depend on public services. Almost every business has had to close and they’re now slowly re-opening. I would ask that the council officials speak to the business community in East Clare to see what they need to get them back on track, with so many restrictions continuing around public health.” The Caher-based councillor noted that Cork County Council had been making strong efforts in supporting its urban centres to resume economic activity after the lockdown. “When you look around the country, …

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been informed that one more person with COVID-19 has died. There have now been a total of 1,706 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight Saturday 13 June the HPSC has been notified of 8 confirmed cases of COVID-19. None of the new cases were in Clare with the figure here remaining at 369. There is now a total of 25,303 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread. Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Friday 12 June (25,295 cases), reveals: · 57% are female and 43% are male · the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years · 3,279 cases (13%) have been hospitalised · Of those hospitalised, 416 cases have been admitted to ICU · 8,130 cases are associated with healthcare workers · Dublin has …

CONCERN has been raised by the Chairperson of the Covid-19 Committee that restrictions associated with the coronavirus have disproportionately impacted on small business and driven economic activity “into the hands of multinationals”. Deputy Michael McNamara made his remarks this week as the committee heard from representatives of the business sector. The Scariff-based deputy handed over the chairperson’s role to Deputy Mary Butler, in order to question witnesses Danny McCoy of IBEC and Neil McDonnell of ISME. He noted that a concerning trend during lockdown had been a boost in business for multinationals at the expense of small business. “One of the most worrying economic or financial aspects of the restrictions was the extent to which all economic activity was driven into the hands of multinationals, many of which are headquartered outside of Ireland and pay their taxes elsewhere,” he told the committee. “Farmers’ markets, for example, were inexplicably shut down and people had to go to supermarkets, all of which …