Shannon

A PROTEST is planned for Shannon Town Council’s next meeting, against the continued closure of the local leisure centre.

MAYOR of Shannon Seán McLoughlin has defended his upcoming visit to New Jersey to attend the Union County St Patrick’s Day Parade.

THE leasing of the playground at Inis Ealga to local residents for a nominal fee provoked lively debate at Tuesday’s Shannon Electoral Area meeting.

SHANNON Area Councillors criticised Avoca Handweavers this week, for failing to make repairs after their building was damaged by fire in October 2007.

MASS immigration into Ireland in the last decade put a strain on schools and one of the new difficulties was dealing with pupils who weren’t fluent in English. However, at St Patrick’s Comprehensive, an after-school English Club was established to help the new arrivals.

WHILE the Shannon Mayor’s Ball was set to be a casualty of the recession, a U-turn has been made and it will now go ahead later this year.The Mayor’s Ball is one of the more notable events on Shannon’s social calendar but before Christmas, Mayor Seán McLoughlin announced that it would not be going ahead in 2010, due to the prevailing economic conditions.Councillor McLoughlin said that instead he was hoping to organise smaller fundraising events to benefit the Shannon Flyers Special Olympics Club and the Shannon Senior Citizens’ Club.However, he has now announced that the ball will go ahead, in part due to the reaction of the local public.“A lot of people came to me and they said it was a shame it wasn’t going ahead. People said that it was one of three main social events in Shannon, along with the St Patrick’s Day Parade and the performance by the Shannon Musical Society. “They are the three events that …

A LACK of finance was the reason put forward for not providing new car-parking spaces at O’Brien Park, by Clare County Council engineer Eugene O’Shea.At the February meeting of Shannon Town Council, Councillor Michael Fleming introduced a motion asking for Clare County Council to look at providing spaces in the area but in his response, Mr O’Shea ruled it out.“Due to financial constraints, it is not possible to provide these car-parking spaces in the current year,” he stated.Councillor Fleming said that there was a real problem in the area. “People come out to go to work and there are three or four cars parked every way, blocking you.”He said he understood that the council’s coffers weren’t overflowing but said that an effort might be made to find some funding.Councillor Tony McMahon said that there had been a failure of long-term planning.“This was designed for families that had one car and it should be obvious to these enlightened people that remedial …

THERE will be an increase in the cost of allotments in Shannon for the coming year but they will still be less than one-third of the price being charged in Ennis.At the February meeting of Shannon Town Council, Councillor Seán McLoughlin asked for a change of dates for tenants to vacate the allotments from January 31-March 1 to November 31-January 1. He said that, if required, each tenant could be asked to sign a waiver that squatters’ rights cannot be claimed due to the change and he requested that the price of renting an allotment be frozen.In reply, Michael McNamara of Clare County Council claimed there was little point in changing the dates.“Given that a practical approach is being taken to issues that have arisen following on from the request to the allotment users to vacate their allotment for a month, it is not deemed necessary to change the dates as suggested in the motion. “In any case, having spoken …