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Shannon

Fitting tribute to true champion of Shannon

A PLAQUE has been erected at the bandstand in the Town Park, in memory of the late Mike McKee. Mr McKee was a member of the Shannon Town Council for many years, while in 2014 he was the first Sinn Féin representative elected to Clare Council Council since the 1970s. While he retained his seat in 2019, he was seriously ill by the time of the election and died that November. Donna McGettigan was co-opted onto the Council in his place, and she said the plaque honouring Mike is a very suitable gesture. “It was proposed by PJ Ryan, just before I came onto the Council, he proposed naming the bandstand after Mike, which was very appropriate considering Mike was involved with music. “Mike worked hard with his Council colleagues to get that park going, so it’s very fitting.” Due to Covid restrictions only a small number of people attending the unveiling of the plaque, but she said it went …

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Ex-Tyrone star to give gambling awareness talk in Clare

FORMER Tyrone footballer Cathal McCarron will be at Wolfe Tones GAA in Shannon at 4pm on Saturday, where he will be speaking about gambling addiction. McCarron was a sub when Tyrone won the 2008 All-Ireland, while he won four Ulster titles and was twice nominated for an All-Star, before his retirement in 2019. Just over five years ago he released his autobiography Out of Control (which was ghost-written by Clare journalist Christy O’Connor), in which he was candid about his gambling addiction and the dark places it brought him to. The book was an explosive read, certainly one of the most memorable GAA autobiographies, in which he recounted what was a chaotic lifestyle. He says he likes to give talks like the one on Saturday, and he feels it’s important to keep drawing attention to problem gambling. “I don’t do as many as I’d like, but hopefully I’ll get more time to do them. The way things are going the …

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Shannon Show must not go on…for now

THE Shannon Musical Society’s annual production has had to be postponed from February until April, due to Covid-19, writes Owen Ryan. Huge numbers attend the shows every year, and this year the Society are set to perform Little Shop of Horrors, but with a massive amount of Covid infections, the show is not set to be put back until the week of April 10-16. This year the group were set to perform Little Shop of Horrors and director Aodán Fox said that the postponement is disappointing, and he hopes the show will be able to go ahead on the new dates. “We kind of started very tentatively and when we were picking a show we picked a small cast, small band musical, because we knew it was going to be a difficult year. Rehearsals have been going on with major social distancing and breaks for air every half an hour, as recommended. It’s gutting to have to postpone it, it’s …

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Unhappy New Year for Clare hotel as Covid takes toll

IT certainly hasn’t been the happiest of New Years at the Shannon Springs Hotel, with the prevalence of Covid-19 forcing closures and reductions in service since Christmas Speaking to The Clare Champion, co-owner Dermot Kelly said that the prevalence of the Omicron variant meant there were few options other than to scale back. “We did everything in our power to keep going but at the end of the day the safety of our team and our customers was most important. This particular variant seems to be really highly transmissible. Before Christmas Eve we had kind of said we wouldn’t open on the 26th and the 27th because they’d be too big, really and truly. “As it transpired we didn’t get to reopen until January 3 for accommodation and we’re not open to the public this coming week. We’re going to start doing take away food from this Thursday evening, we’ll have a certain amount of our team back who’ll be …

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Mum of 2022’s first Clare baby says she was scaring taxi drivers!

THE first Clare baby to be born in the University Maternity Hospital Limerick in 2022, was from Shannon, writes Owen Ryan. Michael Jimmy O’Connell O’Keeffe arrived at 10.47am on January 1, born to mother Treacy O’Connell and father James O’Keeffe. Speaking to The Clare Champion this week Treacy said she was delighted with her newly arrived son and joked she was making taxi drivers nervous that the delivery would occur in their cars, given her size. “Most of the taxi drivers around Shannon thought I’d deliver in their cars because I was so big!” It looked like the little boy, who is called MJ as short for Michael Jimmy, would arrive before the end of 2021. “They called me in on the 29th to have him, but it didn’t work out then. I went down to the Labour ward about 2.30 in the morning and they induced me, and off I went then,” Treacy laughed. She came home on January …

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Damian ensures the band plays on in Shannon

DESPITE the obvious difficulties Damian O’Rourke has made great efforts over the last few years to develop local live music, and to give young people in Shannon an outlet, writes Owen Ryan. Last weekend he was involved with Busker’s Way, an initiative to play live music in the Town Centre, as festive shoppers made their purchases. “It’s something that we had going before Covid, but that kind of stopped it. When there was a bit of a break in that we got it going, but it stopped again,” said Damian, when he spoke to the Champion last Friday afternoon. “I spoke to the manager Brian, he wanted to do something coming up to Christmas so we got a few buskers for last Friday and Saturday.” At that time he was also preparing for a young people’s event to be held in the Town Centre on Wednesday, December 22. “We’ll have seven young musicians in one of the units in the …

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Hotel appeals 48-home project approval in Shannon

A DECISION by Clare County Council to grant planning permission for 48 houses in Shannon, has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Woodhaven Developments was granted planning permission for the Smithstown development, but an appeal has been submitted on behalf of Edward Keena, owner of the Oakwood Hotel. The document notes the site and wider landholding associated with the proposed masterplan area, essentially wraps around the rear of the Treacy’s Oakwood Hotel. “The hotel owner is not satisfied that sufficient consideration has been given to the extent to which the proposed development may impact on the operation and day to day running of the hotel with particular reference to the function room and noise impact.” The document added, “While not averse to development of the subject lands, the primary concern of the hotel owner is the potential for the proposed development to impact on the current operation of the hotel with particular reference to night time use and functions. “The …

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Shannon airport

Jet brakes caught fire after aborted take-off in Shannon

THE Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) has issued a report on an incident at Shannon on August 15 of 2019, in which a fire began in the landing gear of a Boeing 767-33A aircraft, writes Owen Ryan. Synopsising what had happened, the AAIU report says, “During the take-off roll on Runway (RWY) 24 at Shannon Airport (EINN), Ireland, the Commander heard an unusual noise and elected to reject the take-off. Following the rejected take-off, the aircraft was taxied to a holding area for brake cooling. “It was subsequently decided to return to the parking stand. During the taxi back to stand, Shannon ATC observed smoke and then a fire in the area of the left main landing gear. “Airport Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) vehicles were deployed and the fire was extinguished. The passengers and crew evacuated the aircraft via emergency slides. One passenger sustained a minor injury during the evacuation.” It said that the incident was probably caused by …

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