Regional

A PAINTING by a young Clare artist and student of the Ennis Art School has been brought to life as part of a new television commercial. The painting by young Laurie Hehir, aged seven, was chosen to illustrate the promotion of the closing date for receipt of entries in the 2020 Texaco Children’s Art Competition. Her teacher, local artist Carmel Doherty told us, “This is a massive achievement for Laurie, her parents are delighted and very proud of her. She’s a very nice kid, full of beans and really creative. It’s marvellous to see her art work on the screen.” Screened here and in Northern Ireland throughout the months of January and February, its purpose will be to notify young artists, parents and teachers that the 66th Competition is underway. The commercial’s storyline centres upon Laurie’s painting of ‘Bobby’, her grandfather’s Friesian cow for which she was awarded a prize in the competition last year. Focusing on the characteristics that …

THE shooting of two men last outside a pub in Sixmilebridge last night has brought “a sense of shock and disbelief’ to the village, according to TD Joe Carey. Two men, aged 21 and 66, were treated on site for apparent gunshot wounds, before being removed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for further treatment. Their injuries are not thought be life threatening. Gardaí have made no arrests and are appealing for information. The scene has been preserved for a forensic examination to take place and an incident room has been established at Shannon Garda Station. Deputy Carey has said the local community are outraged that something like this could happen in their village. He said he has been in contact with local councillors and they will aid the case in any way possible. He also joined the garda call for anyone with information to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact Shannon Garda Station 061-365900 or the …

STORM Brendan has left over 3,000 ESB customers in West Clare without power this afternoon. The ESB Powercheck system is showing widespread outages in West Clare are being measured from the Tullabrack HV substation as well as the Ennistymon equivalent. The ESB say they are working to repair the faults and will restore power to those affected as quickly as possible. There is an unknown estimated restore time as Storm Brendan passed through Clare with little damage this afternoon, but premises in many areas, such as Ennistymon and Miltown Malbay, are without power.

A MAN has been arrested after the car he was driving collided with the front of a house at Lisdeen, on the main Kilrush to Kilkee road earlier today The car crashed into the porch of the house after leaving the road at approximately 1.30pm today and the sole occupant of the house was uninjured. Upon arrival, Gardaí found the vehicle unattended but the driver was found a short distance from the crash site and arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence. A section of the N67 was closed while gardaí, paramedics and members of the fire service carried out examinations and secured the area. The car was taken from the scene by gardaí and the man is currently being detained at Kilrush Garda Station.  

THE body of missing person Zuhair Chowdhury has been located. Zuhair, who was last seen in North Clare on December 17, was 29-years old. Gardaí in Ennistymon had previously sought assistance in locating the man and yesterday thanked everyone involved in the search and said no further action would be required.

GARDAÍ are investigating an incident in which six cars were destroyed and many others were damaged in a fire at a premises in Smithstown Industrial Estate in Shannon last night. The fire, which occurred at roughly 11pm last night, is believed to have been started deliberately. A number of units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene and extinguished the blaze. Gardaí say they are following a definite line of inquiry and appealing for any witnesses, or anyone around Smithstown last night to contact Shannon Garda Station at 061-365900 or the Garda confidential line on 1-800 666111.

TWO kayakers were rescued after getting into difficulty on Lough Derg this morning. The alarm was raised shortly after 9am when they got into difficulty, and the Killaloe Coast Guard, the RNLI, a unit from Shannon’s Rescue 115 and three units of the National Ambulance Service attended the scene. The kayakers, who entered the water in Garrykennedy, were found by Rescue 115 and were later saved by an RNLI lifeboat. It is understood the pair fell victim to the strong currents and were taken way off course from Garrykennedy. The kayakers were treated at the scene once ashore and one of the individuals was taken to hospital for further treatment.

CLARE County Council has received approval in principle for more than €2 million in funding for the construction of eight houses at Roslevan, Tulla Road, Ennis. The development will comprise of two 2-bedroom and six 3-bedroom houses and funding of €2,036,858 is being made available from the Local Authority Housing Construction Programme as part of the Rebuilding Ireland initiative.