Shannon

THE prospect of a crematorium being built in Shannon is back on the agenda again, after a number of years of silence on the issue. Some years ago, former Clare county councillors Tony McMahon and the late Sean Hillery proposed the development of a crematorium at Illaunmanagh. Nothing has been heard about it for some time but at the very end of this week’s meeting of Shannon electoral area councillors, town manager Bernadette Kinsella said while the original parties are not involved, another party is now interested in proceeding and it will be proposed that the lands in question be disposed of. Ms Kinsella also said the third party is in the process of applying for an extension of planning permission. Attending the meeting, Councillor Gerry Flynn, who had opposed the development, restated his opposition to it. After originally getting the green light from Clare county planners, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála and in 2009 it granted …

In a three-part series, Owen Ryan speaks to some of Clare’s leading business figures, beginning with Shannon Airport chief executive Neil Pakey. Next week, Irish Hotels Federation president Michael Vaughan of Lahinch will be featured   SHANNON’S performance is important for everyone in Clare. Many of us wouldn’t even live in the county but for it. If it weren’t for the tourists it brings to the county, huge numbers of jobs and businesses wouldn’t exist. Its Heathrow and US links have helped make the Mid-West of Ireland a hub for multi-national companies. The decline of the airport, which had its worst year since the ’80s in 2012, is a serious problem and a Scot has been brought in to get it back on track, 52-year-old Neil Pakey, the new chief executive, who was appointed in May. At the moment, he is commuting to Clare and heading back to Britain at the weekends, where his family are based. “My two boys …

Shannon Airport’s steady recovery in passenger numbers continued for a third consecutive month in August, figures revealed by the airport today show. Passenger numbers for the month show that 170,000 people travelled through Shannon in August, a 3% increase on August 2012. The increase comes on the back of strong gains also in June – the first time in five years growth was seen in month-over-month figures – and July. Transatlantic services again showed the greatest uplift in August, with 35% more passengers travelling between Shannon and the US/Canada compared to 12 months ago.

“RATS the size of cats” are making themselves known and are causing issues for residents in various parts of  Shannon. The town council heard this week of one case where a child can’t be let play on a lawn because of the amount of vermin, while there are issues in a few parts of the town. The matter was raised by Councillor Cathy McCafferty, who called on Clare County Council to “take urgent and immediate action to address the rodent problem in Aidan Park  and Finian Park that is a cause of much concern for residents.” She said that several people had contacted her about the issue. “Over the summer we had a number of complaints over the rat infestation in Aidan and Finian Parks and nothing appears to have been done.”

FOR the last 40 years, children have been receiving education in prefabs at St Conaire’s Primary School but that’s coming to an end this week. A new extension has been built, removing the need for them. Speaking on Monday, headmaster Peter Walsh gave some details of the new extension. “We’re opening it on Thursday. There’ll be three new classrooms and I suppose we’ll have been 60 and 70 children there, about 22 or 23 in each room. They’ll be replacing three prefabs that we had rented for about seven years.” He said he is very pleased with the standard of the new classrooms. “They’re fantastic, built to the highest spec. They were designed by Paul Conway and built by Dermot Custy Construction. They’re excellent. They have the best of insulation and they were designed for modern education needs. They were designed to fit an awkward site as well, so there was a lot of work done between the school and …

FOR the last 40 years, children have been receiving education in prefabs at St Conaire’s Primary School but that’s coming to an end this week. A new extension has been built, removing the need for them.

TWO Shannon youngsters recently represented their country in chess.

A NEW civic and arts centre for Shannon has been sought for years and it looks like it may be on the way.