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Late Laura Brennan honoured with Dublin portrait

A PORTRAIT of the late Ennis health campaigner Laura Brennan has been unveiled at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Laura, who died in 2019 of cervical cancer aged just 26, worked tirelessly in her final months to promote the HPV vaccine. Laura’s portrait is the first of a health advocate who is not a doctor to be added to the RCPI’s collection. Laura’s family travelled to Dublin for the unveiling, describing the portrait as a “fitting tribute to Laura who was a truly wonderful person and is testament to her outstanding contribution to boosting the take up of the HPV vaccine in Ireland. Her legacy will continue  into the future and we are delighted to be here today in this historic building for this very special occasion.” The portrait was launched at the start of the RCPI annual flagship event, St Luke’s Symposium that focuses this year on Global Vaccination. The painting has been hung in the Stearne room in No 6 …

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Witness appeal as boy threatened and robbed in Ennis park

GARDAI are appealing for witnesses after money was robbed from a young teenager in Ennis at the end of last week. On Thursday evening at 5.10pm, a 13-year-old boy who was in the Tim Smyth Park, Lifford was verbally threatened by a young male to hand over money. The boy handed money over to the man. The boy was not physically injured in the incident, but this was very traumatic for him. A garda spokesperson said, “This is usually a busy time in the Park and if anyone saw this incident or anyone who has any information we would ask them to contact Ennis Garda Station on 6848100.”

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Community in mourning after Clare man’s death in holiday accident

COMMUNITIES in South-East Clare were united in mourning last weekend when news filtered through of the sudden death of young Ogonnelloe man, writes Dan Danaher. A serving soldier, Private Gerard McMahon (24), had just returned home from a six-month tour of duty with the 63rd Infantry Group in Syria. The death of Mr McMahon following a tragic accident while on holidays in Spain has left his heartbroken family and Ogonnelloe residents devastated. A postmortem is expected to take place at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Malaga. Gerard was a skilled marksman, winning brigade and all army competitions during his military career. Described as a keen sportsman, he participated in a number of sports notably hurling, football and rugby. At the time of writing, no definitive date was known for the arrival of the deceased’s body back to his residence in Ballyloughnane, Ogonnelloe, which is located a short distance from St Mary’s Church where it is expected a military funeral …

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Clare man charged over seizure of cocaine

A MAN has appeared in court charged in connection with the seizure of suspected drugs in Doonbeg last weekend, writes Ronan Judge. David Rogers (33), with an address at Baltard, Doonbeg, appeared before Kilrush District Court on Tuesday, October 19, charged with two offences contrary to the misuse of drugs act. Detective Garda Paul Heaslip of the Clare garda division’s drugs unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. Detective Heaslip told the court he arrested Rogers last Saturday at Baltard, Doonbeg, before conveying him to Kilrush Garda Station. The accused made no reply to either of the two charges after caution. Detective Heaslip confirmed to counsel for Rogers that he was happy for the accused to be remanded on bail. Sergeant Aiden Lonergan said the court would see from the charges that this is a very recent matter and directions as to how the case is to proceed are yet to be obtained from the director of public prosecutions …

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Coveney defends record of support for Shannon Airport

Foreign Minister open to full-time role for Padraig Ó Ceidigh in Shannon Group, writes Dan Danaher FOREIGN Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has defended the government’s record on supporting Shannon Airport in the wake of claims it could be doing more to assist the Shannon Group and airport from the havoc wreaked by Covid-19. “This has been a devastating period for the aviation industry. The Shannon region is so impacted by the activity or the non-activity in the airport. “We have seen this in Cork Airport too, but more so in Shannon because of the linkage between the connectivity at the airport and so many businesses in a very wide radius of the airport. “Transatlantic traffic has collapsed because the US has effectively banned EU citizens from flying to the US. For a period US citizens were not allowed into Ireland either without Covid-19 certification,” he said. Although Pádraig Ó Céidigh is being appointed as part-time non executive chair of Shannon …

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Vision for future of Ennis to be unveiled by Tánaiste

A VISION for the future of Ennis will be launched this Friday by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD. The much anticipated Ennis 2040 Economic and Spatial Strategy is, according to Clare County Council, “a bold vision to deliver economic investment and make housing, jobs, amenity and services easier to access for all. The strategy is about building communities and creating one of the best places in the world to live, work and visit.” The strategy has set out ambitious growth targets and proposes the prioritisation of sustainable economic activities that will grow its population on average by 1.6% per annum and deliver an additional 5,000 jobs by 2040. Nine transformational projects have been identified through which the Ennis 2040 vision can be realised. The projects deliver on the concept of the ‘10-minute town’, attracting investment and delivering quality of life. In the implementation of this strategy Ennis will become Ireland’s first Climate Adaptive …

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Youth Service and Ezra push positive mental health through calisthenics

FOR many years, Clare Youth Service has been using the ‘Natural Highs’ approach to promote positive mental health and self-esteem through exercise and outdoor activity. Now, the Drugs Education and Prevention Project (DEPP) at CYS has teamed up with Ezra Zane Fitness to provide beginner calisthenics programmes for young people in Ennis. An integral part of the DEPP is to promote healthier lifestyle choices and provide young people with the opportunity to engage in physical exercise. Calisthenics is a form of bodyweight resistance training that focuses on strength, balance and flexibility and it is the most recent addition to the activities on offer at CYS. A new programme will start on October 21 and Eve Wood Hennessy of Clare Youth Service is encouraging young people to give it a try. “Ezra will works closely with a group of young people and youth workers, teaching them the basics of calisthenics,” said Eve. “Throughout the programme, the group will practice fundamental movement …

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Ennis retains third spot in post-lockdown IBAL litter rankings

THE first post-lockdown survey by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Ennis again in third position in the ranking of 40 areas nationwide. While the majority of surveyed towns have cleaned up over the past 12 months, litter in the country’s main cities has worsened to levels not seen in ten years. Portlaoise emerged as cleanest town. The study found no fall-off in PPE litter across the country. The An Taisce report for Ennis stated, “Another excellent showing for Ennis, cementing its position among the cleanest towns in the country. There were no heavily littered sites. Woohoo… Ranking THIRD NATIONALLY in the @IrishLitter IBAL survey. Well done to all our volunteers and @ClareCoCo staff 👍🚮♻️@GreenerClare @SuperValuIRL @TidyTownsIre @mrstidytowns @ClareEcho @RTENationwide https://t.co/mFZ9MsqNnB — Ennis Tidy Towns (@EnnisTidyTowns) October 18, 2021 There was plenty of repaving of the town centre sites (e.g., Parnell Street, see below), including many of the laneways off the main shopping streets – these laneways looked great. Despite …

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