News

Post mortem examinations of the bodies of a South African couple found dead in Kildysart yesterday are taking place at University Hospital Limerick this evening. The individuals, who died in the Shannon Estuary village on Wednesday night, have been named locally as Angelique (27) and Cornelius Billing (44). Mrs Billing was seen collapsing in the street at approximately 6.50pm on Wednesday by a local garda, who was attending the scene of a fire. She is understood to have sustained injuries to her upper body. Fire crew who were dealing with a fire at the hardware store across the street from where Mrs Billing collapsed came to her aid and provided medical assistance, but her injuries proved fatal. While the fire crew were attending to Mrs Billing, the local garda went into the apartment that she shared with her husband and two children, aged two and three and found Mr Billing with serious neck injuries. The couple had been renting the apartment, which …

A 40-year-old Galway man has been sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court, charged with murdering his brother. Declan Ó Cualain, with an address at An Caoran Beag, An Cheathru Rua, appeared before a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday charged with the murder of Adrian Folan (Ó Cualain) on July 4, 2014 at Lislorkin North, Liscannor. Garda Ruth O’Sullivan gave evidence of serving a copy of the Book of Evidence on the defendant’s solicitor, Adrian MacLynn, for his client, Declan Ó Cualain. Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecuting, outlined that the Director of Public Prosecutions consented to the defendant being returned for trial to the next session of the Central Criminal Court sitting in Dublin, in custody. An application was made by Mr MacLynn to extend free legal aid to cover one senior counsel and one junior counsel.Man facing Mr Ó Cualain was remanded in custody to Limerick Prison, pending his trial. By Carol Byrne

AS nurses in the Mid-West prepare to ballot for industrial action in the new year, an Ennis councillor has hit out at the HSE over plans to move patients from the overcrowded emergency department at the flagship hospital in Limerick, to ‘clinical assessment’ rooms at the downgraded University Hospital Ennis. Also, an Ennis man, whose 87-year-old mother was sent into University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to have a ‘racing-heart’ condition calmed down, has spoken of his horror at the conditions that she endured while she spent more than 57 hours on a trolley and a chair in a hallway and the “living hell” of patients and staff in the corridors of the hospital. “We went to our local GP last Tuesday and they were worried about her heart, which was racing, so they sent her into Limerick to maybe get them to slow it down with a beta blocker and calm it a bit,” he said. “We arrived at the emergency …

Growing up, I was always distantly aware of Nellie Galvin’s war record. My father’s Aunt, she served as a nurse in France during World War One and was awarded a medal for bravery. After completing her nursing career, she ran The Clare Champion for many years until her death in 1967. Beyond that, I had little information about her. I’m told she never talked about her wartime experiences and was famously reluctant to even have her picture taken. I didn’t know if we even still had the medal until a couple of years ago, when on a visit to my aunt Maura, she showed me a couple of medals in a drawer. She knew nothing of their story, beyond the fact that the medals had belonged to Nellie and her brother, Michael, who also served in the war as a chaplain. Although she was in great spirits that day, within a fortnight, a sudden heart attack took Maura from us …

The voting shares in Irish Water should  be handed over to the people of Ireland, Clare TD, Michael McNamara has said. Speaking in the Dáil the Labour TD argued that the deciding shares in the future of the company should belong to its customers, therefore guaranteeing its public ownership. “No matter what we do here today, is subject to statute and future Government can change a statute, but if the Minister really wants to make it harder [to privatise Irish Water] then I would suggest that the shareholding held by Ervia be transferred at a given time,” he said. Deputy McNamara suggested handing the shares over to a “consumer co-operative” made up of all the customers of Irish Water. “They are the people that will be most affected by the privatisation, or not, of Irish Water and they are the ones that should control it,” he said. Deputy McNamara also questioned the necessity of increasing the number on the board of …

The tragic deaths of a South African couple in Kildysart on Wednesday night has sent shockwaves through the small community. Senior garda sources have confirmed that the woman, aged 27, and her husband, aged 44, “died by violence” but are not in a position to state the cause of death until post mortem examinations have been carried out. The couple had been living in Kildysart since March of this year. Gardaí are treating the investigation as a tragic domestic incident. They are not looking for a third party but are anxious to hear from any witnesses or anybody who may have been in the general area between 6pm and 7.30pm, when the tragedy unfolded on Kildysart’s Main Street. The woman was seen running into the street by a garda, who was attending the scene of a fire at a local hardware shop. She collapsed on the street and despite efforts to revive her by fire services personnel, who were already …

The European Commission has adopted the 2014 – 2020 Operational Programmes for the Southern and Eastern region [encompassing Clare] worth €498.2 million. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is providing €249.1 million of the total. The Border, Midlands and West can expect €320.2m, – with €160.1m coming from the ERDF. The investments will benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular, spearheading entrepreneurship initiatives to boost the growth potential and competitiveness of Ireland’s small business. The programmes aim to complement wider investment programmes in targeted high growth and innovative sectors to support the creation of new quality jobs and boost innovation as well as helping to grow the local economies in these Irish regions. The programmes focus on specific growth opportunities and targeted growth in innovative sectors identified in Ireland’s smart specialisation strategy, building on the regions’ strengths.

The Oireachtas Joint Committee Agriculture, Food and the Marine agreed of Tuesday evening to progress farmers’ concerns around the designation of Special Conservation Area to protect the hen harrier. In addition to Clare and Galway, there are hen harrier protection areas in Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Kerry, Laois, Offaly and Monaghan. As part of the process to deal with farmers’ concerns, the committee intends to call officials from the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The committee was meeting with representatives from Irish Farmers with Designated Land (IFDL), who outlined how changes of designation under EU Directives have served to dramatically devalue the land of about 4,000 farmers. Committee chairman, Deputy Andrew Doyle said, “The meeting with IFDL representatives illuminated the difficulties that many farmers have endured in light of the designation of 169,000 hectares of land to protect the hen harrier. The committee heard that farming and the hen harrier have coexisted for …