Tag Archives: Ann Norton

The lack of capacity at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) came into focus this week, after it emerged there was no bed to accommodate an Ennis patient in a wheelchair. Councillor Ann Norton has confirmed that there was no bed available to accommodate her daughter, Nicole, who suffers from Cerebal Palsy and a number of other medical conditions, when she attended the new Emergency Department (ED) on Thursday last. With 51 patients on trolleys in the new €24 million state-of-the-art ED at UHL on Tuesday morning, councillors from Clare and Limerick tabled numerous related motions about overcrowding and bed capacity at UHL at a HSE West Forum meeting later that afternoon. In recent days, the UL Hospitals Group outlined that activity has been very high, with 186 attendances in the 24 hours up to midnight on Sunday, September 24; 244 attendances in the 24 hours up to midnight on Monday, September 25 and 214 attendances in the 24 hours up to …

ENNIS Tidy Towns has gone ‘wild’ about biodiversity. The local organisation launched its Wild About Ennis Biodiversity Plan for 2017- 2019 last Friday in the Gordon Drive Community Garden. Mayor of Ennis Ann Norton officially launched the plan with members of the local community in Cloughleigh, Chamber CE Scheme, who manage the Garden, Department of Social Protection, Ennis Chamber, Clare County Council and students from Cloughleigh Primary School in attendance. This community-led plan was developed with the support of local individuals and community groups through online questionnaires and two dedicated workshops. Ennis Tidy Towns also invited groups from throughout the county to assist with the development of the plan, thereby ensuring many of the ideas and skills learned during the process were distributed around the county. “We look forward to implementing this ambitious plan with the help of the local community as well as local stakeholders, including Clare County Council, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Inland Fisheries Ireland.It also …

Clare County Council is open to considering a new twining link for Ennis, according to a local councillor. Commenting on moves to officially link the county town with Ennis in Texas, USA, Mayor Ann Norton said the normal procedure is to build a relationship with a location before a decision on a more formal arrangement is made by the twinning committee. Ennis is currently twinned with Phoenix, Arizona and an official link with the Lone Star State would open possibilities for new cultural, tourism and business links between County Clare and the US. The possibility of a formal tie-up with the two towns emerged this week after Ronan Bradley from Corofin helped to arrange a visit to council headquarters by Texan County Judge Mark Riley on May 25. Having started a new Facebook page entitled Ireland’s Inner Beauty, Mr Bradley said he is looking forward to Mr Riley’s visit to the Banner County, which he hopes will be the start …

LEGALISING the prescription of medicinal cannabis is an idea whose time has come, according to Clare County Council. At Monday’s meeting, Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy put forward a motion that the council “ask the Minister for Health Simon Harris to prioritise legislation legalising the prescribing of medicinal cannabis in Ireland, where those suffering and in need, as highlighted by the recent walk of Vera Twomey across the country, will have their lives hugely improved.” Ms Twomey had walked from Cork to Dublin in an attempt to draw attention to the issue. Her motion was supported by Councillor Ann Norton. “For a lot of people, medication doesn’t take away the severity of the pain,” she noted. Regarding medicinal cannabis, she said it could be “legalised and monitored like other drugs”. She added that many patients already use the drug illegally and can be fined up to €2,500 for a first offence and imprisoned for subsequent transgressions. While she said she wouldn’t …

‘Ennis – A Multi Cultural Town’ is the theme of the 2017 Ennis St Patrick’s Day Parade which takes place on the feastday of our national saint. Among the international visitors lined up are a group of 50 from Langenfeld, Ennis’ German twinning partner, and a 100- strong Russian group. In excess of 10,000 people lined the streets of the county capital during last year’s parade, which featured 50 groups representing the many aspects of life in Ennis and County Clare. The theme for this year’s parade, according to the local authority, provides participating groups, organisations, bands, schools and individuals a broad scope within, which they can reflect the various cultures in their float or group activity. There will be an overall prize for best group or float, while all parade participants will be included in an open draw for prizes. Mayor of Ennis Ann Norton, said, “The parade offers an opportunity to the people of Ennis and Clare to …

ENNIS will soon be switching on to free public wi-fi. Clare County Council has commenced the rollout of free public wi-fi to Ennis town centre as part of a wider plan to introduce open internet access to several other Clare towns. Open wi-fi access was recently introduced to the Upper Market area of Ennis with plans to extend the free service to Parnell Street and Carpark, Abbey Street and carpark, O’Connell Street and O’Connell Square during the coming weeks. Clare County Council, which is funding the initiative, is working with local businesses to install the wi-fi hotspots in an effort to draw shoppers and business people to the town.

A LOCAL woman has questioned if the HSE believes the health and life of her daughter is “worth more than €600”, following a traumatic experience. Nicole Norton (19), who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, requires intrathecal baclofen therapy (IBT) to prevent her from going into possible spasm, internal organ and heart failure. In an interview with The Clare Champion, her mother, Ann Norton, said she got a phonecall from a senior clinician on Wednesday of last week informing her that the HSE would no longer pay for the cost of refilling this pump because it is too expensive. It costs about €600 to provide medication for the pump every five or six weeks. Ms Norton said she was told the medication for the pump is “not being released from the pharmacy due to the cost”. “I felt sick in my stomach that the HSE would put Nicole’s life at risk for the sake of €600.” Councillor Norton said if Nicole goes into …

The Israeli ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, Ze’ev Boker visited Clare County Council’s headquarters at Áras Contae an Chláir in Ennis today (Wednesday). Ambassador Boker was greeted by Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council Bill Chambers; Mayor of Ennis Ann Norton and Gerard Dollard, interim chief executive of Clare County Council. Ambassador Boker was accompanied by Mrs Amira Arnon, director of the Northern European Department in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is visiting Ireland this week.