News

The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD has today (Friday 10 April 2020) announced a series of changes to the 2020 State Examinations as part of measures to respond to Covid-19, including postponement of the Leaving Certificate examinations. The decisions have been taken on foot of updated advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). Minister McHugh said plans were being put in place for the postponed Leaving Certificate examinations to begin in the last week of July or early August, subject to public health advice. Junior Cycle final examinations due to take place in June will be replaced by school-based exams and assessments held early in the new school year. A series of other decisions has also been taken – · As part of the wider public health measures, schools are closed until further notice. · Practical examinations for Leaving Certificate students which were due to have been held in May are deferred. They will be …

NURSING home operators in Clare have spoken of their fears after a dramatic rise in the number of Covid-19 clusters in such settings nationally. Some have revealed that they have had to introduce infection control procedures and cover the rising cost of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) themselves, while waiting for the recently-announced government supports to come on stream. Figures published on Wednesday by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) showed a total of 86 clusters at nursing homes across the country. The data, which was collected up to midnight on Sunday, shows three of these are in the Midwest and ten in the West, with the majority in the East of the country. “Clearly, nursing homes look after very immunocompromised people,” said Dr Billy O’Connell of Miltown Malbay. “An outbreak of Covid-19 could have terrible consequences.” While he welcomed the new Department of Health fund for PPE, training, advice and staff-testing, as well as the support of Health Information and …

A Garda investigation is underway after posters and letters warning holiday home owners in Kilkee to stay away were discovered this week. The warnings were displayed near holiday home sites in the West Clare resort after rising tensions over holiday makers descended on the town for the Easter break, breaking government guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The letters discovered were headed ‘Kilkee Residents Health Defence’, and stated: “Holiday home owners. Stay at home does not mean your holiday pad. We would like you to return to your home. Do the right thing, F**k out of Kilkee NOW! If you do not leave, when the crisis is over, you may not have a holiday home to return to this summer.” Local councillor Cillian Murphy is among those who has condemned the move and insisted that it was not representative of the views of the majority of people in the area. Councillor Murphy also urged those who own holiday homes …

IN what is believed to be a first, the Kilkee Playwright Festival will be bringing an award winning play directly into people’s homes using the increasingly popular app Zoom. Hot Potato Production’s play Just Guff by Jim Ward has been adapted for audio with script development and direction by Jenny Bassett. It will be broadcast into homes via Zoom this Saturday, April 11, at 8pm. And the good news for people looking for entertainment during the lock-down is the broadcast can be accessed for free. Director Jenny Bassett explains, “I used Zoom prior to Covid-19 and was amazed just how easy it was to use. No downloading, just click on a link just before the scheduled time and a page opened up and I was in a virtual meeting with people from around the world. I was also surprised at the sound quality, I immediately thought how it could be used for broadcasting a performance. “Shortly afterwards we were  restricted …

An Garda Síochána at the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau have become aware of a ‘fraud’ where criminals are trying to obtain the personal banking or credit details of people under the guise of a request to update personal Netflix accounts with banking and/or credit card details. Gardai say this is a fake email and any financial information disclosed will be used to commit fraud offences, including account take over, where bank accounts are taken over and all funds withdrawn. Detective Chief Superintendent Lordan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau is warning the public to never reveal their personal banking or credit card details in response to unsolicited emails, text messages, SMS messages or phone calls. “Where a person is concerned at contact from what appears to be a genuine entity such as Netflix or their Bank, they should look up that entity independently and make contact to check if this contact is genuine,” he says. Detective Chief Superintendent …

A second Qatar Airways cargo plane carrying vital medical equipment from China landed at Shannon Airport yesterday afternoon. The cargo was the second consignment to arrive in Shannon in under a week. Among the medical equipment on board were ICU ventilators, masks and thermometers for distribution to frontline workers around Ireland in the fight against COVID-19. This follows a delivery of ICU ventilators and hospital beds which arrived in Shannon on a Qatar plane on April 3. Qatar Airways is one of the world’s largest cargo operators and has an extensive network of more than 160 destinations using both freight and passenger flights. The airline resumed flights to China at the end of last month to support the global supply chain, which includes the transportation of urgent medical relief aid, essential to the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Commenting on this latest consignment Mary Considine, CEO Shannon Group, which operates Shannon Airport said: “As an essential service our airport …

A YOUNG Ennis man faces an uncertain few days as he waits to find out if he can leave a Vietnamese quarantine facility, where he has been kept for almost a fortnight. Darragh Collins, from Shanaway Road in Ennis, has been teaching English in the country for the last two years. He attended St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Buddha Bar in Ho Chi Min which were deemed to be linked to a Coronavirus cluster. Days after the event, health authorities arrived at his apartment and took him on a quarantine bus to the Hoc Mon University campus, 17km away. “People were quite agitated about the situation, especially on the way to the centre,” Darragh told The Champion. “I wasn’t tested until the second day. I feel fine and have tested negative, but the information is that we will be here for 14 days and may need a second negative test before we can leave.” Darragh now faces an anxious wait …

COCOONING and leaving home only in limited circumstances is a new phenomenon in Ireland due to the Covid 19 pandemic, but it is a way of life for members of the Poor Clares’ community in Ennis. The nine sisters are engaged in daily prayer and contemplation and go outside of the walls of their Francis Street convent only for medical appointment or attend courses relating to their vocation or social issue. In earlier times, once a young woman joined the Poor Clares she remained in cloister for her entire life. “We have a constant quite atmosphere here in the convent but do not have a vow of silence,” said Abbess Bernardine Meskell. After five years as boarder at St Joseph’s Convent in Spanish Point, the Castleconnell, County Limerick woman joined the order in Ennis in 1963. “Our day is full, broken into seven different ceremonies, such as mass celebrated by one of the friars, morning and evening Divine Office and …