Shannon

The Committee of the Shannon Town Community Wetlands last week welcomed and worked alongside volunteers from SES Ltd, a local aircraft engine leasing company, based in a major practical conservation outing. Prior to Covid the company had been in touch with an offer of assistance, and their offer finally became a reality on a gloriously sunny April morning.  After initial introductions the group were welcomed on site by Olive Carey of the Shannon Town Community Wetlands gave a brief outline of the history of the project. Ruairí Ó Conchúir, Community Water Officer with the Local Authority Waters Programme also gave an overview of the importance of wetland sites and then gave outlined the planned work for the day, keeping in mind health and safety considerations. Working with Ruairí and voluntary members of the Shannon Wetland Committee a group of about 15 broke into work teams and set about a general site clean-up, including litter picking, removal of all materials from …

THE indefinite closure of Shannon Town Hall has been criticised by a local county councillor. The building had to be closed to members of the public after a bizarre incident last Wednesday, when a car struck the building, causing a significant amount of damage. While no-one was seriously injured in the crash, it was a huge shock, given that it is so far back from the road. In the aftermath a local authority statement said, “‘Clare County Council wishes to notify the public that the offices of Shannon Municipal District, Town Hall, Shannon, are temporarily closed until further notice following damage to the building. “While our teams continue to deliver services, our front counter ‘walk-in’ services are closed. Members of the public who need to access Shannon Municipal District services can do so by phone on 061-362319 by email to shannonmunicipaldistrict@clarecoco.ie or online at www.clarecoco.ie. “Full service will resume as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience and thank …

SHANNON Tidy Towns carried out a litter pick in conjunction with the An Taisce National Spring Clean recently which enjoyed a high level of community engagement. Derek Clune of the Tidy Towns said it had gone very well and there had been a good level of support. “It was a great day, an enjoyable day. I’d say we had around 50 people, maybe a few more. There were people from different parts of the town and a group of Ukrainian people came out as well. “We met at the Town Park and from there we headed out north, south, east and west for two hours. Over the course of it we collected 35 bags of rubbish. “We came back again to the band stand and had some refreshments, we had tea, coffee and some cakes and biscuits. “It was a great day, an enjoyable day and it was a successful day that we got that much rubbish collected off the …

THE Shannon Apostolic Work Society held its final display at St Patrick’s Comprehensive last weekend. Mai Farrell was involved with the organisation right throughout its 33 year existence. “We started it in 1989, it was Father Pat Mulcahy who started us off actually, he was here in Shannon at that time.” Speaking about the activities over the years, she said, “We raised money for the missions, we made vestments, we did knitting and crochet, we got people to donate sacred vessels, which we would send to the Missions. They could be dedicated to the dead or the living, if they liked. We’ve done all of that over the years.” She says it doesn’t seem like 33 years since they first got started. “When you look back it seems like no length of time, but it is a long time.” While most of the work was done alone, the members still came together quite regularly. “Everybody worked at home, but we …

FOUR percent of all passengers to Irish airports in 2021 went through Shannon, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show. Obviously Covid-19 was very disruptive to aviation last year, making for a very strange year. Shannon’s 4% was ahead of Cork which had 3%, but Cork was closed for a couple of months due to works on its runway. Dublin was hugely dominant in terms of Irish aviation, with 90% of all passengers. Shannon had 322,162 passengers during the year, only one fifth of the 2019 figure, just before the pandemic. The figure was almost 50,000 ahead of 2020. Shannon dealt with 4,836 different flights over the course of the year. The three most used links with Shannon were all London airports. The busiest route was Stansted with 63,624 passengers, while 33,797 passengers travelled on the London Gatwick route and 24,050 on London Heathrow. The Heathrow services were significantly reduced in 2021 and the figure would presumably have been …

IN light of the current labour market crisis, Shannon Chamber has sought answers on delays in securing work permits for non-EEA nationals. A request was made by members of Shannon Chamber’s HR Forum to meet with Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD, to discuss labour market matters. Minister English was able to assure them that delays being experienced in the processing of employment permits for non-EEA nationals were being reduced. The meeting arranged through Deputy Joe Carey, which was held virtually, enabled Shannon Chamber CEO Helen Downes and members of the HR Forum to discuss these issues in person with Minister English and officials from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The minister acknowledged that the delays to employment permit processing times are not acceptable. He said, “We experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year, impacting on processing times. “From the start of January to the end of …

Two American octogenarians have gone on trial accused of criminal damage and trespass at Shannon Airport on St Patricks Day three years ago, leading to the closure of a runway, writes Isabel Hayes. Ken Mayers (85) and Tarak Kauff (80), both with addresses in the US, are accused of damaging a perimeter fence before allegedly trespassing the lands of the Co Clare airport, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard this Monday. The pair, who were wearing high vis vests bearing the words ‘Veterans for Peace’, walked on to a taxiway at the airport, causing airport personnel to close the runway for a period of time, Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, told the jury. A plane which was due to land at the airport was unable to do so for the course of that warning, the court heard. Mr Mayers and Mr Kauff have each pleaded not guilty to three counts in relation to the alleged incident. Mr Mayers, of Monte Alte Road, …

SHANNON is set to see two festivals this June, one being organised by Damian O’Rourke of Cuppa Tea TV and the other by Chris Walshe of Hippo Sound and Lighting. The Shannon Summer Music Festival, which Chris is working on, will be a one-day event on June 11, while Damian’s one will be over the last week in June, and will be known as the Wings Festival. Both are being supported by Clare County Council and by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Speaking this week about the Shannon Music Festival, Chris said, “It’s taking place on June 11 in the Town Park. It’ll be taking place around the bandstand, early on there’ll be a family fun day with music, children’s entertainment, cultural performances. “In the evening then, from around 6pm onwards, there’ll be a main stage there where bands and local performers will take over, it’ll be live music for the rest of the evening.” …