Shannon

SHANNON swimmer Chris Bryan has met the criteria for entry to this summer’s World Championships in Shanghai. Chris competes in open water swimming over 10km and at a competition in Israel, he recorded a time of 1.53:01.The 21-year-old trains at the University of Limerick and his coach, Ronald Claes said he performed well.“There are a series of European open water events as part of the overall European competition. Israel is probably one of the bigger ones and it’s the first of the year. Swim Ireland set out two criteria to qualify for Shanghai; he had to finish in under two hours and within 10 minutes of the winner. He did both.”Chris managed this despite having to overcome a significant obstacle. “The field was very big so they split it into two groups and put the entrants from the stronger swimming countries in the first one. There would have been a big advantage in being in the first group, so that …

SHANNON boxer Marty Hannan is going to make his professional debut on June 18 in Galway.The 29-year-old light middleweight is fighting English boxer Ryan Casey and he doesn’t believe he’s too old to be turning pro. “The way I look at it, I took a break from boxing for a few years so I’m still very fresh. I’m always training, I look after my diet. A lot of people might think that at 29, I’m a bit too old but I don’t think like that at all. I’m still flying fit. At the club that I’m training in (Our Lady of Lourdes in Limerick), I’m sparring European champions like Willie Casey. “I’m sparring lads who are great, great boxers, who have been around the world and I’m able to compete with them in the ring. My trainer is Shane Daly and he turned Andy Lee professional, he turned Willie Casey professional. He thought I’d do well at it so he …

Memories of the Shannon Golf Club Pro-Am events in the late ’70s were recalled this week when news of the death of Seve Ballesteros was announced.The Spaniard was one of the leading attractions at the Shannon event that was played on the Monday after the Irish Open. In the mid-’70s, Christy O’Connor Junior was attached to the Shannon club and he was instrumental in getting many of the leading professionals to play in the Shannon Pro-Am, which raised money for various charities.In addition to the late Ballesteros, winner of 87 titles during his career, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Greg Norman also visited and played the Shannon course. Norman holds the record of having the longest drive and a special stone was erected on the 18th fairway to mark this.“Back then, the Irish Open was staged the week prior to the British Open. The field of competitors in the Shannon event would do justice to any of the majors,” recalled …

WITH the election of Tony Mulcahy to the Seanad, opportunity may be about to knock for Sean McLoughlin. Councillor McLoughlin was heavily involved with his party colleague’s bids for election to both the Dáil and the Seanad. Now, with Senator Mulcahy going to the upper house, he may take his seat on Clare County Council.The abolition of the so-called dual mandate some years ago means that a member of the Oireachtas cannot sit on a county council or a town council and so Fine Gael will co-opt new members.Following Mulcahy’s election, McLoughlin threw his hat into the ring. In a statement, the two-time Mayor of Shannon congratulated the new Senator and announced his interest in taking the county council seat.“Seventeen years ago in Shannon the Fine Gael branch reformed. I was proud to be a member of that group. That branch has performed well, subsequently ensuring a greater vote and representation for the party in all elections. This success has …

A NUMBER of councillors backed a call for an investigation into the Cluain Airne saga at this week’s meeting of Shannon Town Council.The affordable housing development at Cluain Airne was controversial before a brick was ever laid but became even more so when work stopped on it last year. Work still hasn’t resumed and at Tuesday’s meeting, a date still could not be provided for the resumption.There were some frank exchanges at the meeting involving town manager, Bernadette Kinsella and Councillor Gerry Flynn, with the independent councillor refusing to withdraw certain comments he made, which she objected to.The meeting heard that €15,000 has been spent on security at the site, with another €75,000 spent on additional costs, including surveying and consultants’ fees.Councillor Flynn and Sinn Féin Councillor Cathy McCafferty both put down motions regarding the situation.In the written response from Ms Kinsella, she outlined where the project stands.“Following liquidation of the initial contracting company and based on the best available …

POPE John Paul II will be beatified this Sunday and it’s a major step along the road towards a possible sainthood.Should he eventually receive the Church’s greatest honour he would be the only saint in modern times to have set foot in Clare, having flown out of Shannon after his visit in 1979.The local parish community will gather for the 10am mass in SS John and Paul Church to celebrate the newly Blessed John Paul. At 6pm that evening they will gather in the Jubilee garden of the Church for rosary and benediction.While at Shannon in 1979, the Pope blessed the foundation stone for Saints John and Paul Church. He also gave every Irish bishop a sapling tree for their diocese to mark his visit. The late Bishop Michael Harty subsequently gave his sapling to the parish of Shannon and the tree now blossoms in the grounds of Ss John and Paul church.In 2005 to celebrate the silver jubilee of …

SHANNON councillors have said they don’t want to see playground equipment being removed from Inis Ealga. County councillors from the Shannon area were recently informed that there is a “real danger” of the area losing its playground, as a group of residents to manage it is not in place.In a discussion on the matter following a recent Shannon area meeting Councillor Gerry Flynn said that removing the playground equipment would be “an awful bad PR exercise”. The independent councillor said that removing it “would be an awful thing to do to the children and the community.”The councillors were urged to use their influence to try and bring about the formation of another residents’ group, that would take control of the playground. Councillor Patricia McCarthy said that it may be possible to make an application for support from the town council’s community fund. She also said that responsibility for the playground should have been more evenly shared. She suggested calling a …

AROUND seven jobs are set to be created following a huge investment by Free Zone company Bustec Limited.