Regional

A NEW Irish hotel group with its head office in the Quin Road Business Park, Ennis is recruiting 50 new staff. Great National Hotels was formed at the end of 2009 and five three and four-star hotels in Ireland, including the Woodstock Golf and Spa Resort in Ennis, joined the group in February and March. Four three and four-star hotels in the UK’s Midlands also joined Great National Hotels.Managing director of Great National Hotels, David Byrne, explained that the company is a new Irish hotel brand. “Independent hotels can avail of a number of services from Great National Hotels, including a reservation call centre, on and offline marketing, national advertising and promotions, as well as group discounts, all enabling economies of scale making it possible for hotels to reduce their costs and offer a real competitive edge,” he said. Mr Byrne said that the concept of the hotel group is “quite unique”. “The hotels are part of our group, but …

SIX months of Saturday pedestrianisation on some of Ennis’ ­shopping streets begins this week, as part of a joint Ennis Town Council and Ennis Chamber Saturday Shopping promotional campaign.Consultation and discussion has been ongoing between the council and business representatives in recent months and the decision was made to pedestrianise Abbey Street, O’Connell Square and O’Connell Street on Saturdays from 12 until 6pm.Welcoming the initiative, Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Frankie Neylon, said, “This joint initiative involves the promotion of Ennis as a great place to shop and the traffic-free streets will create a pleasant atmosphere in which people can move more freely and enjoy what Ennis has to offer.  “All public car parks will be accessible and these car parks are conveniently located adjacent to pedestrianised streets,” he commented.Guy Flouch, president of Ennis Chamber, underlined the importance to local businesses of regenerating Saturday shopping in the town. He said the promotional campaign for Saturday shopping in Ennis includes a regional …

THE old baptismal font from Ennis Cathedral has been reinstated in its rightful place after an absence of 98 years. Fr Tom Hogan, administrator of Ennis Parish, unveiled the reinstated baptismal font in the cathedral last Thursday, to coincide with the launch of the Ennis Baptismal and Marriage Records (1837-1900) online. The font had been lost for years but was discovered around 1964 during construction work at the property of Paddy Brennan, late sacristan, of 62 O’Connell Street, Ennis.  “The font later made its way to Clonroadmore, where Paddy’s son, Pat, has been its custodian ever since. The font functioned as a floral garden ornament at Pat’s property. This use seems to have maintained it in perfect condition. During judging of the best garden competition as part of Ennis Tidy Towns, Fr John Molloy, a judge, queried the flower pot and Pat Brennan was quick to give the historical background to the pot,” a spokeswoman for the Clare Roots Society …

THE Alitalia plane crash of 1960, in which 34 people were killed, was commemorated at Clonloghan Cemetery on Wednesday evening.The Italian ambassador to Ireland was represented at the event by Dr Fabio Bartolozzi, while Canon Reuben Butler gave a talk on the history behind the event.The crash occurred in the early hours of February 26. The plane had made a 45-minute stop at Shannon, having been en route from Naples and Rome to New York. However, shortly after leaving the tarmac in Shannon, it crashed at the cemetery in Clonloghan, killing most of those on board.Vincent McInerney of Stonehall is a member of the Clonloghan Cemetery Group but he was just a schoolboy at the time of the crash, which he remembers well.“The plane must have come in very low because it hit the top of the headstones and it went through the graveyard and crashed into the next field. There was a lot of wreckage and it was burned …

ST Senan’s hoisted their sixth green flag last week, for work done on environmentally-friendly travel.School principal, Sally O’Neill said it was a proud moment for the school. “Róisín Ní Gháirbhith of An Taisce would have visited a few times during the year. In other years, we wouldn’t have had a representative coming, just the assessors. In the last two terms, we were doing Walk on Wednesday. Teachers would have met children at different points and walked to school with them. Parents were involved in it too. We had a bike shelter installed in front of the school and there is a cycling event taking place on June 16 and we’ll be involved in it.”Parents and grandparents of the children were also involved in the work, while retired teacher Mrs Kirby, who was involved in getting the Green Schools Programme going at the school, was invited back for the flag-raising last Thursday.Ms O’Neill said that there was a great atmosphere at …

SMALL and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need to be supported and can be a vital part of economic recovery, according to Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher.Deputy Kelleher was in Westpark, Shannon on Tuesday morning, where he addressed a seminar organised by Shannon Chamber on accessing and using EU Innovation supports.In his address, he said, “SMEs are the backbone of the Irish economy. Over 97% of businesses operating in Ireland today are small, operating over half of the total workforce in this country. The ability of small companies to compete and grow is something that merits a lot of attention, as Ireland’s future economic growth relies on the development of our indigenous enterprise sector.”The minister claimed that promoting innovation is a priority for the Government. “Over the past 10 years, the Government has trebled the level of investment in research and development and is working towards reaching its target of achieving a national R&D investment of 3% of GDP, public …

RESIDENTS in 244 houses in one of the largest private housing estates in the Mid-West will be asked to contribute €40 apiece to fund grass-cutting, even though it has not been taken in charge by Clare County Council.It was decided at a residents’ meeting in Westbury Church on Tuesday night, following a recent decision by Chieftain Construction Limited not to continue its grass cutting programme on green areas in Clonard and Riverdale.However, a local county councillor has warned he will request Clare County  Council pay for the cost of the grass cutting, by recouping the money from the bond attached to the planning conditions for these estates.Chieftain Construction Limited are continuing to cut grass in green areas in Bruach Lawn and An Grianán estates, which are not fully completed yet.Senior executive engineer, Sean Lenihan, has confirmed that condition 24 of the permission for Clonard sought a bond to be put in place “to secure the provision and satisfactory completion and …

LATE night drinking by young people in Shannon Banks has prompted calls for the establishment of a community garda sub office.Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald said he has received complaints from residents claiming youths are congregating in amenity areas on the banks of the River Shannon at weekends and on some week nights.Claiming that Ardnacrusha Garda Station is undermanned, Councillor Fitzgerald expressed disappointment that no garda has been appointed to replace Garda John Kelleher, who retired from the station last year. He said local gardaí are doing their best to police the area but could use the benefit of having a physical presence in Westbury and Shannon Banks. He pointed out the population of the area including Parteen, Meelick, Clonlara, Ardnacrusha, Shannon Banks, Westbury, Carraig Midhe, Athlunkard and Gillogue is now in the region of 10,000.“What was once a rural part of Clare has over the years taken on an urban look particularly in the Westbury, Shannon Banks, Carraig Midhe and Athlunkard …