Regional

A GORT Community School graduate this week launched a scholarship competition for a course the young entrepreneur has set up to encourage pupils to examine their relationship with maths.

PROPOSALS for the historic Ennis Friary, including the purchasing of adjoining lands to provide coach parking and opening up the venue for wider use, are set to be examined by Minister Brian Hayes, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works.The minister visited Ennis last week to examine the flood-alleviation works being carried out in the town. He met with members of Ennis Chamber of Commerce and Ennis Development Forum and they discussed the potential of the Friary in generating tourism. The OPW is currently overseeing a major conservation project of the Friary and during the visit the minister indicated that the attraction will be reopened in April 2012. The minister outlined that the department is working on proposals that would allow local organisations work with the OPW in improving the tourism potential in their area and he invited interested parties to make submissions and be a part of the scheme.Ennis councillor and member of the …

Ennis Farmers’ Market will celebrate its seventh anniversary on Friday, July 29 and plans are already in place to make it a memorable occasion. Held every Friday in the car park in Upper Market Street from 8.30am to 2pm, Ennis Farmers’ Market encompasses 22 stalls featuring an array of local produce.Next Friday, in addition to the regular fare on offer, including fresh vegetables, plants, flowers, eggs, baked goods, preserves and jams, local cheeses, organic meat, herbal remedies and home made chocolate, there will also be a series of demonstrations.At 11am, stallholder Liz Griffith will show the public how to make butter the old-fashioned way, using a churn, while at 12 noon, renowned herbalist Vivienne Campbell will demonstrate how to make Meadowsweet Cordial (as seen on RTÉ’s Corrigan Cooks Naturally). Vivienne will also include a talk on the therapeutic properties of Meadowsweet.Other events planned throughout the morning include children’s entertainment and a hazel-weaving demonstration. There will also be a display of …

ENNIS Chamber and Ennis Development Forum are to take planning and legal advice in relation to the proposed variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.Members of both Ennis Chamber and the Ennis Development have stated they are seeking the advice as they expressed “grave concern” at reports that members of Ennis Town Council have supported out-of-town development, which the business community believe will be to the detriment of the town.Last week, councillors at a meeting to discuss the proposed variation of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan suggested that a development site on the Limerick Road and Clonroadmore be a suitable location for a district centre scheme or large foodstore, subject to assessment of retail impact. This area is currently the subject of a planning application for a 7,000m2 retail development by Michael Lynch Ltd. Speaking in relation to the proposed out-of-town development, president of Ennis Chamber, John Dillane said, “Ennis Chamber actively supports the encouragement of new business …

PLANS to extend the burial ground at Templemaley have been given the go-ahead by An Bord Pleanála. Fr Jerry Carey of Doora-Barefield Parish has welcomed the board’s decision to grant permission to the extension of the graveyard, which is close to capacity, saying, “We are very thrilled that the process has been seen through the end and we have procured this permission. This is a growing area and this extension will be needed for the future.”The site of the proposed development is located directly east of Templemaley Graveyard comprising .230 hectares of a greenfield site. It is envisaged that the extension will allow for 96 burial plots.The Department of the Environment appealed to An Bord Pleanála the decision of Clare County Council to grant permission to the extension. The application was made by a voluntary group in the growing Doora-Barefield Parish, with Fr Jerry Carey making the application. The permission was granted in February by Clare County Council, subject to …

ILLEGAL dumping and the burning out of vehicles at Ballybeg Woods has led to calls for the installation of CCTV cameras at the adjacent car park. At a recent meeting of Ennis East Electoral Area Councillors, Councillor Pat Daly requested Clare County Council to install the cameras in a bid to stamp out the anti-social behaviour.Robert Burns, executive engineer for the environment section of Clare County Council informed the meeting that the area had been subject to a “significant level of illegal waste activity” in the first half of 2009.However, the waste enforcement section, in conjunction with the Ennis Area office, implemented a number of measures at that time to counteract this illegal waste activity, including: removal of waste illegally dumped in the area; erection of ‘No Dumping’ and CCTV warning signs; use of CCTV surveillance over a three to four-week period and increased frequency of environmental patrols by the warden covering the area.From reviewing the council’s own complaints system …

DEPRECIATION of residential property and noise pollution are some of the key concerns of residents living on the six potential routes for the proposed €40 million ring road of Limerick City.That’s according to Councillor Cathal Crowe, who claimed he has been inundated with queries from concerned residents since details of the route options went on public display.Once the route options are whittled down to a single preferred route, Councillor Crowe argued this should be the route that impacts least on residential areas.He said people are worried about the visual impact the new road could have on their homes. Depreciation of property prices and noise pollution concerns also rank highly in dealings he has had with constituents.Clare County Council, in conjunction with Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council, has commenced the planning process to advance the development of the Limerick Northern Distributor Road and associated infrastructure from a location in the vicinity of the eastern end of the proposed Coonagh-Knockalisheen …

THREE midwives based at the Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick have volunteered their services to help improve maternity services in Haiti, which has one of the highest death rates for women giving birth in the western hemisphere.Midwives For Haiti educates Haitian women in providing prenatal care and skilled birth assistance.Róisín Browne qualified as a midwife in 1991 in England before returning home to work in St Munchin’s in 2000. The Ennis woman, who now lives in Shannon, raised over €2,000 for the charity before she went to work for a week in Haiti last February. With one in 17 women dying in childbirth in Haiti, Róisín found her first trip very fulfilling. She is delighted that two of her colleagues, martina Keogh and Mary Bolger, have decided to come with her for a second trip in September.She recalled working in what was effectively an old stable converted into a hospital and noted pregnant women only had what they brought with them …