Shannon

Shannon Musical Society has been nominated for six national awards for its recent stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The society hasn’t had so many nominations for the Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) awards since 1993, when they presented Half a Sixpence to the Shannon audiences. This year, the Shannon group has been nominated for best overall show, against stiff competition from around the country. The last time they were nominated for this award, it was for their production of The Wiz in 2006 and, prior to that, they were nominated for Hot Mikado in 2000. That show was directed by twins Sean and Brian Power. This year, Sean Power stepped out of the family partnership and directed on his own for the first time and he was delighted to be nominated in the best director category. The Shannon group has also been nominated for best visuals. This award encompasses costumes, props, hair and make-up. Jesus Christ Superstar relies …

Speaking at a Shannon Chamber organised event last Friday, Minister Phil Hogan claimed credit for making changes to local government, and staunchly defended the establishment of Irish Water. Regarding changes to local authorities, he said, “We have in difficult times, and in difficult political times for myself, brought about the most radical reform of local government in 100 years.” While there has been criticism, not least in Clare, of his move to bring Local Development Companies under the auspices of county councils, he said it is the right move. “It’s not acceptable that 29% of the money that I give out in the social inclusion measures that are essential for frontline services and communities are spent on administration. We have to reduce that. We also want to ensure that we have greater financial autonomy and greater financial management in relation to the money that we give and we’re going to do that through an existing public service organisation called local …

ST Caimin’s Community School, Shannon student Aláine Ní Laoi was celebrating on the double at this year’s SciFest 2014 in Limerick Institute of Technology, when she not alone won her category prize but scooped the top accolade with her project. Aláine won the intermediate/senior physical sciences category of SciFest 2014 with her project ‘A Study Into Flight Strategy Efficiency In Raptors’. The six adjudicators voted her project as best overall project in the competition. The aim of Aláine’s entry was to devise a comparative model of different species of raptors. The topic was formulated after three years of raptor observations. These observations influenced the experimental procedure used in the project. The procedure involved finding wing aspect ratio of the raptors, as well as their energy expenditure and comparing these values to find which variety was the most efficient. The varieties studied were the Peregrine Falcon, Common Kestrel and Falco Peregrinus. Projects from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary were on display at …

By Dan Danaher THE last meeting of Shannon Town Council ended in disarray this week, after a row erupted over the distribution of €111,000 in funding for community projects. Claim and counter-claim were levelled by councillors, who left the meeting early on Tuesday night, after a divisive split emerged concerning counter-proposals over where the last major tranche of funding should be spent in the county’s second largest town. Mayor of Shannon, Councillor Greg Duff was subjected to stinging criticism from Councillor Gerry Flynn and Councillor Michael Fleming, after he used his casting vote to ensure a proposal from Councillor Patricia McCarthy, Mary Brennan and Vincent Coleman was passed by a four-to-three margin. Before he left the meeting, Councillor Flynn declared to Mayor Duff, “Well done, you got your way.” Having supported Councillor Duff in the mayoral election, Councillor Fleming stated he was “disappointed” with the mayor and condemned his decision to use his casting vote as a “disgrace”. However, Mayor …

By Owen Ryan MICHAEL Fleming, who served as Mayor of Shannon between the summers of 2012 and 2013 has announced he will be seeking election to Clare  County Council in next month’s local elections. Elected to the Town Council as a Fine Gael representative five years ago, he left the party subsequently. He will also be running as an independent in next month’s elections and he said that not being in a party will allow him to speak his mind to a greater extent. “As an independent I have more of an opportunity to voice my opinion. I worked hard for the people of the community and I intend to continue to be loyal to the people of the community.” When he spoke to The Clare Champion on Monday, he acknowledged that he has yet to start canvassing. “I haven’t really (started yet) because I only decided last Thursday that I decided I was going to run as an independent. …

SINN Féin’s Shannon election candidate Mike McKee has proposed to Clare County Council that they apply a new commercial rates scheme for the Skycourt Shopping Centre.  He suggests it should be based on guidelines such as how long a premises has been vacant. Mr. McKee delivered a policy proposal document to the council and explained, “We need to develop Skycourt as a commercial and social hub for Shannon. That will encourage local people to shop locally and workers who visit Shannon every day to stop and shop here too. Lower rates will potentially provide more revenue as currently empty shells are opened up again. The weekly footfall in the centre is 50,000. That should be producing a far more vibrant shopping centre. The rents are actually amongst the lowest in the region but anyone we’ve talked to agrees that high commercial rates are a major problem”. “Senator Trevor O’Clochartaigh has asked the council on our behalf for an explanation about …

By Owen Ryan FIFTY new jobs are coming to Shannon as Pepper has announced it will create the positions at its servicing centre in Westpark. The company has invested €500,000 in expanding its premises and the additional space would provide capacity for another 30 workers after 50 are recruited. There are currently 120 people working there. Pepper has signed an addendum to its existing ten year lease which will see its office space increased to 19,000 square feet. This follows a €2 million investment in new systems and office facilities undertaken last year. The new jobs will be in mortgage arrears handling, customer service, real estate expertise and legal expertise. News of the jobs comes a week after Zimmer confirmed it has taken on 30 new staff since the start of the year in Shannon. Paul Doddrell, CEO of Pepper Ireland said the significant change to the lease terms is due to a requirement to facilitate its rapidly expanding operation. …

ST Caimin’s Community,  School recently held a Friendship Week aimed at promoting positive relationships between students and tackling bullying. The approach adopted was for LC1 students to give presentations to junior cycle students. The older students reminded the younger ones to speak out about situations before they escalate and they offered advice on how to deal with bullying and its effects. Other activities during the week included a ‘Thought of the Day’ which was communicated over the school’s intercom. The objective of this was to give students a positive thought to keep their spirits up during the day. During the week LC1 students were visited by Colm Fagan from Aware. Colm spoke to students about how to recognise anxiety and about how to cope with it effectively. Posters, created by the students, were displayed around St Caimin’s to remind them to be aware of the support systems available in the school. There was positive feedback from both staff and students …