Regional

A COVETED Rafael Nadal shirt is now a major item of interest in the Killaloe Ballina Tennis Clubhouse after two local members won this jersey in a recent online charity auction organised by a local coach. Auctioning sports memorabilia has helped Wesley O’Brien to raise €5,133, which will be split between the Access Tennis Foundation and Hit and Hope, Tennis. Signed jerseys from high profile sports stars attracted a lot of interest from sports enthusiasts at home and abroad when they were posted online recently. Tony Head from Kilkee won the Franz Beckenbauer jersey, Jaquie Curness, Surrey, England, won the Lewis Hamilton print, Stephen Monaghan from Cavan, who lives in Slovakia, was awarded the Rory McElroy golf flag, while Kathryn Dennehy from Ardnacrusha, who is a club member, got the Usain Bolt jersey. The Rafael Nadal jersey effectively stays at home in the club, however, after the names of Colleen Donnellan and Daphne Henderson came out of the hat. The …

AFTER 40 years working as an optician in the heart of Ennis, Louise Brogan is retiring. December 31 marked her last day of opening the premises just off O’Connell Street, but she is still doing a little bit of work before concluding. “We closed on the 31st, the last day of last year. Now we’re here for last minute things, people might need to collect prescriptions or whatever, so we’re here by arrangement for the next week or two,” she said on Tuesday. While the business was there since the 1930s, Louise arrived some 40 years ago. “Bernie Maurer and Dr Eileen Kennedy Maurer were here and I came to work for them and when they retired I kept going. It was a lovely business from the point of view of meeting people. “You might only meet them only once a year or once every two years, but you’d develop a friendship with them over the years. That was a …

IT certainly hasn’t been the happiest of New Years at the Shannon Springs Hotel, with the prevalence of Covid-19 forcing closures and reductions in service since Christmas Speaking to The Clare Champion, co-owner Dermot Kelly said that the prevalence of the Omicron variant meant there were few options other than to scale back. “We did everything in our power to keep going but at the end of the day the safety of our team and our customers was most important. This particular variant seems to be really highly transmissible. Before Christmas Eve we had kind of said we wouldn’t open on the 26th and the 27th because they’d be too big, really and truly. “As it transpired we didn’t get to reopen until January 3 for accommodation and we’re not open to the public this coming week. We’re going to start doing take away food from this Thursday evening, we’ll have a certain amount of our team back who’ll be …

TESCO has been granted planning permission for the development of a click and collect facility at its Ennis store, writes Owen Ryan. The development comprises a 50 square metre canopy in its car park for the purpose of providing two click and collect spaces. A letter accompanying the application says, “The development will consist of the construction of a sheltered canopy area (c 50sqm) with two parking bays in the existing Tesco car park at the above mentioned location. “The proposed canopy area will be used for ‘Click and Collect’ purposes to serve the Tesco store and to meet customer demands. The proposal also includes ancillary signage and a pedestrian crossing to facilitate safe pedestrian movements within the car park and all associated site development works.” Outlining the benefits, the document said, “The provision of dedicated spaces within the customer car parking area for ‘Click and Collect’ services is made in response to changing customer habits. “Tesco currently operates a …

A group of Doonbeg residents organised a special commemoration ceremony recently for the 80th anniversary of the crash landing of an RAF flying boat in Doughmore Bay. Dan Danaher chronicles this fascinating tale involving the tragic death of nine airmen, the heroic rescue of two colleagues, an eye witness account of the wreckage, salvaged items such as a 1940 aircraft tool kit box, and relatives’ accounts of the extraordinary bravery of those who risked their own lives to help save the lives of others. HISTORY hung heavily in the Doonbeg air recently as Colm Gowran commemorated the loss of nine airmen following a tragic crash-landing 80 years ago. A hush descended on the crowd gathered on Doughmore Beach during a minute silence after the Ennis Brass Band member played “The Last Post” on his trumpet, marking the end of a soldier’s day. This signalled the finale of a poignant ceremony organised by a local committee remembering the 11 airmen involved …

A STALWART of the Clare athletics scene received a congratulatory phone call from Olympic hero Kellie Harrington after receiving a national award for his work. Ennis Track AC’s Gerry Hayes recently received a SPAR Ireland Mentor Award for his unselfish hard work with the club. The president of the club was one of 10 people to receive this award as each winner scooped €1,000 for their club. The phone call from Harrington came after Hayes expressed his hope some of the young talent coming through can represent the club and their country at an Olympic Games. “I was overjoyed when I got the news. I never expected it. I do what I love. I’ve done volunteer work all my life and all my family have volunteered too so it is unexpected. It’s a huge honour.” He states his love of athletics was something he possessed from an early age. “I have a love of sport especially athletics. I found running …

A PLAN to install a 21-metre mast at the Eir exchange in Scariff is being considered by Clare County Council. If successful, the application from Eircom Limited, trading as Eir, would see the replacement of an existing 12 metre wooden pole with the much higher telecommunications mast with dishes, antennas and other equipment.  The plan has already encountered some opposition locally with objections from a number of residents. To-date, three people living close by have told planners the development will impact negatively on them, in terms of their enjoyment of their homes and gardens. They had also said that the structure will overshadow their family homes, and that they have concerns about the development  being located in the centre of a residential area.  In its letter of application, Eir argues that the new mast would be screened by the exchange building and by mature trees, and that it is essential to 3G and 4G coverage for homes and businesses. The …

THE transformation of a former town dump in Ennis into a “little haven” for the community was praised as calls were made on the local authority to carry out regular maintenance in the area. The “overgrown” walking trails at Fr McNamara Park were raised at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District by Councillor Mary Howard. She stated that she regularly receives representations from the public regarding the amenity. “Is it possible to put a regular programme of maintenance in place as it gets very overgrown and the weeds and briars have become trip hazards,” she asked. Anthony Considine, executive engineer, replied, “Similar to 2020, maintainence works continue to take place to the walking trails around Fr. McNamara park. These works took place in mid November 2021 and again were completed outside of the bird nesting season which runs from March 1 to August 31 each year.” Councillor Howard stated that there is “a little haven out there, but it …