Regional

LISCANNOR ladies came together in recent weeks to form a new Irish Countrywomen’s Association guild in the North Clare village.

Vodafone Ireland Ltd has been successful in receiving retention planning permission for an existing 27m high telecommunications support structure at Drewsborough Road, Scariff.

AN Ennis woman’s inspiring weight loss has led her to be selected as one of the 10 finalists of the UniSlimmer of the Year 2012 competition. Ursula Guilfoyle from Roslevan has lost over five stone, going from a size 20 down to a 12.“I am thrilled, I never expected to make it to the finals. There are plenty of people who have done just as good as I have, I’m just chuffed,” said Ursula.She recalled how her weight-loss journey began. “I had wanted to lose weight for a long time, I wanted to get my BMI down to be more healthy but you have to physically and mentally want to do it and I had made a few half-hearted attempts. Then my sister announced in October 2010 that she was getting married the following June.“I thought to myself ‘this is the time to lose the weight’ but I still didn’t do anything about it. Then at the end of January, …

HE’S come all the way back from Ecuador, so a little bit of tonsillitis isn’t going to stop Fr John Molloy from taking part in this year’s Dublin City Marathon.The former Ennis priest spoke to The Clare Champion during his recent stay in the town. While here, he caught up with some friends before this Monday’s marathon to raise funds for the ongoing work in his parish in Ecuador. After the marathon, which he will run with Fr Colm Hogan, he will then heading back to South America. “I’m on target with the training and I’m disciplined, I’ve been doing quite a bit most days I do an hour or two. But I had to go to the doctor’s for what I call my annual NCT and everything was going well ’til he checked my throat and said I had tonsillitis. He said, ‘you should be resting’, and I told him I’m doing a marathon but it will be all …

WHILE garda statistics presented at this week’s public meeting of the Shannon Joint Policing Committee showed a general decrease in reported crime, some of those in attendance painted a disturbing picture of teenagers causing havoc, without any fear of the law.People spoke about teenagers causing havoc outside their homes and intimidating small children, while one woman said there is an element now that shows no respect for the law. “There’s a different breed of teenagers out there and they’re not afraid of anyone or anything.”There was also some criticism of local gardaí from the attendance with one local man, Chris Price, saying that when reporting an incident, a guard had replied by saying the matter was “outside my pay grade”.One woman said the lives of herself, her husband and daughter had been ruined because of persistent and violent harassment by neighbours. She said she had to go on medication because of it, while her daughter had to go to counselling …

SHANNON Camera Club had 11 entries for the 30th Irish National Audiovisual Championships, which was held in Dublin last weekend.Shannon had three entries in the novice category, seven in the advanced category and one in the club category.The local entrants enjoyed success as Ann Fitzmaurice received an honourable mention for her sequence The Clare 10k run, while Larry Stewart also got an honourable mention for his sequence The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke. Corrie Thorn won a bronze medal for her sequence The Rescue and he also won the George and Doreen Pollock medal, cup and certificate for best first-time entrant. Noel Ryan received a silver medal for his sequence entitled The Fertile Rock and he also won an honourable mention in the All-Ireland section. He took the best overall prize in the national section and was presented with the Kieran O’Loughlin Memorial Trophy. This trophy is named after a former member of the Shannon Camera Club.In the club category, …

PUBLIC Transport and Commuter Affairs Minister Alan Kelly has received confirmation that the National Roads Authority (NRA) will not be objecting to the proposed €40 million Shannon crossing at Ballina/Killaloe. There were fears the NRA would lodge a formal objection due to the potential loss of revenue to the Shannon Tunnel toll bridge near Limerick City. However, Minister Kelly believes these concerns are ill-founded and should not prevent progress on the project. The minister’s intervention can be viewed as a boost to the project promoters, in light of the NRA’s submission to the county council about possible impact on the Shannon Tunnel, which is already being heavily subsidised by the taxpayer.The nine-day oral hearing concerning the proposed development of a new River Shannon crossing, Killaloe bypass and upgrading of the Ballina to Birdhill regional road concluded at the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh on Thursday.Minister Kelly has received an assurance from the State’s principal roads body that the project should go …

THE results of an audit into a proposed new signage programme for the Lough Derg area will be unveiled at two public meetings in Portumna and Killaloe and Ballina on Monday, November 5.The audit, which has been carried out by consultants URS Ireland on behalf of the Lough Derg Marketing Strategy Group (LDMSG), focuses on the need for and benefits of tourism signage, including orientation, interpretative and information boards.The signage strategy meetings will be held on Monday, November 5 at Portumna Town and Community Hall from 5pm to 6.30pm and at the Lakeside Hotel, Killaloe/Ballina from 8pm to 9.30pm.North Tipperary county manager and LDMSG chairman, Joe McGrath, emphasised the importance of branding Lough Derg to avoid confusion with the other place of worship in Donegal, to help it reach its tourism potential.Speaking to The Clare Champion recently, Mr McGrath said he is concerned about the name recognition for the lake and its surrounding attractions because it gets continuously confused with …