Ennis

PLANS to extend a national school in the town have received the go-ahead by Ennis Town Council with the school being asked to pay €25,0000 in a special development contribution.Gaelscoil Mhichíl Cíosóg, Glenina, Gort Road, have been granted planning permission to provide an extension to the school containing four classrooms and a boiler house extension. Permission was also granted for other alterations. The development is to be sited to the east of the existing school building and is the first phase of a planned larger development that will see the school extend to 16 classrooms. There are currently 278 pupils enrolled in the school and it is proposed this will increase from 304 in September 2012 to 484 in September 2018. During the planning process, it was outlined that the school has been oversubscribed “for over six years”.The planning authority received a submission from the Glenina Residents’ Association as part of the planning process. The submission noted they had no …

THE wet weather on Friday meant it was an ideal ‘duvet day’ but there was no rest for the staff and volunteers at Cahercalla Hospice, who didn’t stay in bed but instead pushed it.The annual bed push through Ennis raised much-needed funds for Cahercalla and despite the rain, there was still plenty of support for the effort.According to fundraising manager Mary Maloney, “We don’t have a final figure yet for the amount raised but people were very good to us. With the weather, everything was wet when it came back to us, so it will take a while to sort out but people were very generous.“It was hard work for everyone involved pushing that bed and we had lots of volunteers with their collection buckets as the bed made its way through Ennis. It was absolutely fantastic to see the support out there for the wonderful service that is provided by Cahercalla.”She paid tribute to Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald …

AN Ennis councillor behind moves to install defibrillators throughout the town has called on the Minister for Justice to implement training for every garda in the country in how to use the potentially life-saving device after being “shocked” to discover a national training programme does not exist.Councillor Paul O’Shea, who spearheaded the committee that last week unveiled two defibrillators in the town centre, said, “I was shocked to discover this week that gardaí throughout the country, with the exception of Kilkenny and Sligo, are untrained in the use of these life-saving devices. Gardaí and paramedics are usually the first on the scene of an incident, yet they would not know how to respond if the emergency was of a cardiac nature.”The Clare Red Cross has offered to train Clare gardaí on the use of defibrillators. “This is a sad reflection on our Government when a voluntary organisation has to come forward to train our frontline gardaí. Training for gardaí must …

BAREFIELD’S Ann Norton has been hailed a local hero, making the shortlist of the national Community Champion 2012 initiative.

TWO 24-hour accessible defibrillators have now been installed in Ennis’ town centre after months of fundraising and planning.

ENNIS man Peadar White is getting ready for a massive drive throughout the country in August, which he’s doing to raise awareness of the Samaritans.

THE Ennis branch of Permanent TSB will be spared in the upcoming round of closures.

THE “scourge of unemployment” in Ennis and its environs needs to be tackled, with 6,000 unemployed and a further 6,000 jobs needed in the town by 2020, according to one local councillor.