News

Clare County Council has received confirmation that recoupment of costs incurred by the council during its response to a series of damaging storms during the period  January 27  to  February 17 last will now be dealt with by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The Council said that it incurred costs totalling €779,870 in its response to the severe weather and the clean-up works and necessary immediate works carried out during the period. Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, John Crowe said, “My colleagues and I have relentlessly pursued recoupment of these costs and I am delighted that the department is now in a position to recoup these costs to the Council. We will continue to progress the programmes necessary to deal with the effects of the storms on communities particularly along the western seaboard.” Clare County Council chief executive, Tom Coughlan confirmed that the local authority “will now proceed to submit a claim as requested by the …

Forty-seven patients were waiting on trolleys, with no available beds, at University Hospital Limerick early this Monday morning. Following on from this, the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation is calling for the implementation of the Major Emergency Plan at University Hospital Limerick to bring about “a level of control and safety at the emergency department.” “At 8am this morning 47 patients, who were admitted in the last 24-48 hours for care, but for whom no beds were available, have been left on trolleys in the emergency department. This is catastrophic and the Major Emergency Plan should have been utilised by management at the hospital to protect the patients, the staff and to assist to make the hospital safe, said Mary Fogarty, INMO industrial relations officer. Ms Fogarty noted that despite the fact that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in June 2014 detailed a range of risks resulting from the overcrowding in UHL, it still continues. “The INMO has …

Following another tragic farm accident involving children, ICSA president Patrick Kent has again called for health and safety education to be included in the primary school curriculum. An eight-year-old girl died and an 11-year-old girl was critically injured in a farm accident near Newtownshandrum in north Cork on Sunday evening. The two children, who were not sisters, were staying with friends of their parents for the weekend when the incident occurred. The eight-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 11-year-old was brought to Cork University Hospital. “No child should leave primary school without an awareness of health and safety issues including farm safety and road safety,” said Mr. Kent. “We have previously called on Minister Coveney to explore this proposal with his counterpart in the Department of Education and Skills, and our call has also been supported by the Board of Education of the Church of Ireland. However, as there is no evidence of any progress on the …

Gardaí at Mayorstone in Limerick are continuing their investigation into a fatal accident involving a pedestrian on the main Ennis to Limerick road at Meelick on Saturday morning. A 27-year-old man, who was walking along the hard shoulder of the road, was struck by a truck at 6.45am. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck was not injured. It is understood the deceased had been a guest at a wedding at the Radisson Hotel. A section of the road, between the Radisson hotel and the Coonagh roundabout,was closed for a Garda technical examination of the scene.

The Adult and Community Education Service in County Clare are continuing their community music project this autumn. Following a highly successful first year in 2013, it is hoped to spread the word and get as many people as possible involved in this volunteer project. An information evening will take place on this Wednesday from 7.30-8.30pm at the organisation’s centre on Clonroad Business Park, Ennis for people interested in both music teaching and music learning. The project aims to provide introductory music lessons for adults who have had little or no interaction with music and to share the satisfaction that participation in music can bring. The project enables and fosters new relationships between tutors and learners over a period of 12 weeks or so and gives learners the confidence to pursue further potential involvement in music. “We are interested in all types and aspects of music, song and dance from traditional Irish fiddle playing to a basic introduction to reading music to …

A PROTEST letter, which included claims about the “detrimental effect Inland Fisheries Ireland’s current regime” is having on recreational angling, was delivered to the organisation’s CEO, Ciaran Byrne, before a recent conference. More than 60 anglers attended the protest, including retired ESB fishery staff and anglers from West Limerick, Kerry and Ennis, before the EU Mulkearlife Conference, at the Castle Oaks House Hotel in Castleconnell. Two security guards manned the gate of the hotel with a crowd barrier, for what the organisers described as a very civilised protest, organised by the Limerick and District Anglers Association (LDAA). Attendees and speakers from Europe came out to talk to the anglers but IFI management stayed out of sight. The LDAA claimed it was completely “snubbed” by both MulkearLife and Inland Fisheries Ireland for this conference. “The association did not even receive a reply or acknowledgement to applications submitted by two of our members to attend, despite being the oldest and largest stakeholder …

BÓTHAR founder, Peter Ireton was thrilled to present a €22,000 cheque this week to his own charity, the proceeds of a 62km walk from Limerick to Killaloe and back. The funds that Peter and his fellow walkers raised will be going to fund Bóthar’s fourth African creamery in Rusizi, Rwanda. The creamery is now at the final stages of completion. Aideen O’Leary, from Cork, is currently on the ground in Rusizi, working with local community groups and getting the creamery ready to open later this year. Creameries are an important part of providing sustainable futures for the recipient families, who have received an Irish dairy cow through Bóthar. They become the lifeblood of the local community and start a positive economic cycle of growth and will have a tremendous impact on the lives of the entire community. “This was the third year the walk has taken place and every year it gets better and better. We start out early and …

CLARE-based artist, Nóirín Williams Mooney has recently gifted a collection of 14 batik paintings on the life of Christ to Mary Immaculate College (MIC) in Limerick. Professor Michael A Hayes, president of Mary Immaculate College (MIC), accepted the collection of paintings, entitled Story of a Life, on behalf of the college. Nóirín Williams Mooney was born in County Galway but has spent most of her growing and working life in County Clare. Having graduated from Galway University, she went on to take her ATC degree under McEvoy and Mannering at the College of Art in Limerick. She taught in Scoil Carmel, before becoming lecturer of art in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. During these years, she held two joint exhibitions with Eileen Egan and participated individually in several Irish Winter Artists’ Exhibitions. In 1969, she married the poet, Brian Mooney, and together they moved to the Burren in County Clare, where they ran the Vincent Perfumery. The poet, John O’Donohue …