Regional

WHILE Ireland’s absence has left most soccer followers in the Banner County as no more than interested World Cup spectators, excitement among the Ghanaian community in Ennis has been on the rise since mid-June and will reach a new level on Friday as the only remaining African side challenge Uruguay.No African side has ever lifted the World Cup. In fact, Ghana are only the third side from the continent to reach the quarter-finals and none has yet reached the last four. However, Comfort Ofei, who lives in Roslevan, says that will change on Friday. “We are the only African country left and now we have all the African support. We beat the United States and now we’re waiting for Uruguay. We know for sure we’re going to beat them.”There are around 50 natives of the West African country in Ennis, with more living in Limerick and other parts of the Mid-West. Comfort says that many people leave their homeland in …

FINE Gael Ennis town councillor Johnny Flynn is calling on Ennis Town Council to postpone the Saturday pedestrianisation of Abbey Street and O’Connell Street, as traders are experiencing a drop in business since the initiative began five weeks ago.“Recognising the harsh local impact of the recession and in order to protect existing retail and other sector’s permanent and part time summer jobs in the town centre, I am calling on Ennis Town Council to postpone, until a future date, the pedestrianisation of Abbey Street and O’Connell Street,” Councillor Flynn said.He explained that a number of traders have spoken to him about the drop in business that they are experiencing since pedestrianisation began a number of weeks ago. “I attended an emergency meeting in a business premises in Bank Place on Monday evening, where 17 businesses in the area of Abbey Street and O’Connell Square expressed huge concerns over a drop in income and resulting drop in staff hours since Saturday …

CLARE County Fire and Rescue Service took delivery of a new emergency tender vehicle at Shannon Fire Station last Friday.The new €270,000 appliance, which has been funded by the Department of the Environment, almost completes a fairly comprehensive upgrade to Shannon Fire Brigade. The upgrade will conclude with the delivery of a new water tanker to Shannon Fire Station later this month.A €1,225,000 extension and upgrade to Shannon Fire Station was completed in May 2009, while the brigade has also benefited from the delivery of a Class B appliance (€280,000) and a pre-owned Class B appliance (€160,000).Minister Michael Finneran came to Shannon at the time to officially open the refurbished station which included extra bays, a developed drill yard and new accommodation facilities for the crew.Mayor of Shannon Tony Mulcahy welcomed the arrival of the new Emergency Tender. “I am delighted to see that investment in our local fire service is continuing and that personnel are being delivered the necessary …

THERE are problems associated with certain rental properties in Shannon, it was claimed at the June meeting of Shannon Town Council, while existing regulations aren’t strong enough, it was also claimed.Councillor Gerry Flynn proposed that the council write to people involved in letting property to advise them of their obligations. He said that people living near rental properties don’t want an awful lot. “All neighbours want is three things. One is adequate waste disposal. Two, proper appearance of rental property and three is not to have anti-social behaviour.”People renting can have a different outlook to people who have bought houses, Councillor Tony McMahon claimed. “To one person, a rented property can be a very temporary place. To someone else, their house can be a lifetime investment and sometimes, there is only a 2ft wall between them,” the councillor added.He said that there is a need for legislation rather than guidelines and that it should be enforced by the gardaí. Councillor …

RESIDENTS in South-East Clare should be able to escape the inconvenience of public water rationing introduced by Clare County Council in Ennis and Tulla, thanks to a €30 million upgrade of a water treatment plant in Limerick City.The expansion and refurbishment of the Clareville Water Treatment Plant facilitates the daily provision of 660,000 gallons of treated public water for householders in Parteen, Meelick, Westbury, Shannon Banks and Clonlara.Limerick City Council sanitary services engineer, Dave Keane, revealed the treatment plant is designed to cater for the growing needs of Limerick City and parts of Clare over the next 20 years.In fact, Mr Keane confirmed the plant had the capacity to treat an additional 3.74 million gallons of water daily, along with the requirement to provide 19.6 million gallons of water for the city and parts of South-East Clare.Asked if the new plant could supplement public water supplies in parts of Clare where shortages are causing huge problems, he pointed out the …

A specially designed cross, believed to be made in Jerusalem, was presented to a retired Parteen parish priest last week to recognise his great devotion to the annual Lourdes pilgrimage.Lourdes pilgrimage director, Fr Donal McNamara from the Limerick Diocese, gave Fr Liam Kelly the cross to mark his 54th consecutive visit. The former Limerick senior hurler also got a religious artefact from a youth group in Parteen to mark the 50th anniversary of his ordination.His commitment to visiting Lourdes stretches back to his clerical studies where he quickly fostered a love for looking after people with disabilities.He never lost this desire and even managed to maintain his faithful pilgrimage a month after he was “left for dead” as a result of a vicious knife attack, when two people broke into the parochial house on May 24, 1998.The then Bishop of Limerick was very anxious that Fr Kelly could go to Lourdes, even though it was only four weeks after his …

Since Kilkee Marine Rescue Service was established by Manuel Di Lucia in 1982, the voluntary organisation has rescued between 350 to 400 people from the West Clare coast.Currently, the organisation is recruiting new members, up to a dozen of whom are undergoing specialist training. “We’re training about 10 to 12 young local people and people from outside to carry out the functions of the rescue service. We have a trainer coming in from Killaloe. He comes down every Wednesday evening because we have to upskill them to a certain grade,” Manuel, who is the Kilkee Marine Rescue Service PRO, explained. The service has called on approximately 40 volunteers at the moment. “At any one time, when there is an incident here, maybe 20 to 25 members would turn up, including maybe two or three crews. I think we have in the region of a dozen coxens who are capable of taking the boat out. The chief coxen is Kieran de …

FINE Gael’s Brian Keane was unanimously elected Mayor of Kilkee on Monday night. However, there was a hiccup when the chain snapped when placed around his neck but it was quickly sorted.He succeeded Lily Marrinan-Sullivan, who was elected to the position following last summer’s local elections. Elain Haugh-Hayes was elected deputy mayor.As she stepped down, Councillor Marrinan-Sullivan acknowledged all the members for their co-operation over the past year. “I want to thank each and every member here, who have been nothing but supportive, courteous and co-operative,” she said.The outgoing mayor said that the council had got a lot of work done over the last 12 months and she was particularly complimentary to the members who were elected for the first time last summer. “I don’t think the people of Kilkee should have any regrets about putting you in the position,” she commented.Councillor Marrinan-Sullivan addressed a number of issues that have arisen in the town over the last year. “I believe …