Tag Archives: Ann Norton

THE battle to win one of the four Dáil seats in the Clare constituency hotted up this week following the entry into the race of Councillor Ann Norton. “I feel there is a seat for an independent female candidate. It has been a number of years since there has been a Clare woman in the Dáil. “I wouldn’t be entering the race unless I felt I had a chance of winning a Dáil seat in Clare, said Ms Norton “I believe this is one of the reasons why people should vote for me. People shouldn’t vote for me just because I am a woman,” she added. Councillor Norton believes she has a huge amount to offer as a businesswoman, health advocate and a person who has benefited from having a very diverse life. “There are 27 female deputies to date and there has only been 95 women elected to the Dáil. I think I will be a very strong female …

AN ad-hoc group, representing Clare people with disabilities, has secured a compromise as regards their seating accommodation in the plans for the upgrade of Cusack Park. In the plans being prepared by the Clare County GAA Board for the revamp of the stand at the county grounds, areas at either end of the stand were initially earmarked to accommodate wheelchair users. However, people with disabilities, who are loyal GAA supporters, were incensed with this proposed positioning, leading to a meeting on Monday night with officials of the county board at which a compromise was reached. Under the new plans presented to the group, wheelchair users will be facilitated with 22 disability accessible seats and 22 seats for carers in a position between the 21m and 50m line on the Cloister side of the stand. In addition to benefiting from covered accommodation, wheelchair users can now look forward to having a much better viewing point on big match days in Cusack …

THE HSE has come under fire for its decision to spend in the region of €2,500 on the Christmas tree outside the acute hospital in Dooradoyle, Limerick. Councillor Ann Norton highlighted a claim that €2,500 was spent purchasing a massive Christmas tree for University Hospital (UHL). Describing the expenditure as a “waste of money”, Councillor Norton claimed it should be possible to purchase a good Christmas tree for €200. She stated that this money could be put to much better use in hiring nurses to try and reduce the long waiting times for people on trolleys in UHL. While acknowledging that it is important to create Christmas spirit, she said patients would prefer to see a smaller Christmas tree but better care, when they had to attend the emergency department. “I am not against the principle of putting up a Christmas tree but it is important that the HSE gets its priorities right. Which is more important, spending money on …

CLARE GAA players are spending up to 10 hours at University Hospital Limerick’s (UHL) emergency department with injuries, which could easily be treated in Ennis, if opening hours are extended. That’s according to a member of the HSE West Forum, who expressed frustration at the length of time that players are spending in the overcrowded emergency department in Limerick. During a discussion at a forum meeting in Galway, Councillor Ann Norton claimed it had been put to her that arriving in UHL by ambulance would avoid chronic waiting times on trolleys for admission to the hospital. The previous government was subject to sustained criticism over its decision to remove 24-hour emergency services from Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. A minor injury clinic now operates in the two hospitals from 8am to 8pm. Round-the-clock emergency services in Ennis and Nenagh have not been restored by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition, despite public representatives voicing their opposition before services were removed. …

ENNIS Municipal District has backed a call for Clare County Council to freeze commercial rates at their current level in the old Ennis Town Council area for the next three years, to give stability to businesses, in order for them to grow and expand. Councillor Tom McNamara raised the matter at the monthly district meeting, telling members that businesses in the town need a timeframe so they would know exactly where they stand for the next three years, allowing them to “expand their businesses and create growth” and job creation. The Kilmaley councillor asked the meeting to back his motion and to allow it to go to the full council meeting, saying, “We need to give them [Ennis businesses] the security to know that Clare County Council won’t be increasing the rates in the town for three years at least and to hope the economy will improve in that time. Then we can have a relook at it and people …

A paramedic who brought a patient to Dooradoyle had to argue with staff to get his trolley back, so under-resourced was the Regional Hospital, this week’s meeting of Clare County Council heard. Councillors also speculated that overcrowding at the Mid Western Regional Hospital is leading to people dying prematurely. Standing orders at the council meeting were suspended, as the members discussed the current situation at Dooradoyle, which all agreed was unacceptable.They called for A&E services to be restored at Ennis, while they also want urgent action to be taken to put an adequate facility in place at Dooradoyle. Councillor PJ Ryan said when he brought someone to hospital, he saw a “paramedic pleading with staff to give him his trolley back so he could respond to an emergency”. He said someone could have been dying of a heart attack but the driver wasn’t able to leave and it amounted to “a disgraceful situation”. Fianna Fáil Councillor Tom McNamara said the inadequacy of …

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn is the new Mayor of Ennis.  He was elected to the position at the inaugural meeting of the Ennis Municipal District on Tuesday afternoon. While the position of mayor has been abolished in most towns, it can be retained in towns where the population is in excesss of  20,000. The other council members in the Ennis area include Mary Howard and Paul Murphy of Fine Gael, Tom McNamara, Pat Daly and Clare Colleran of Fianna Fáil and Independents, James Breen and Ann Norton. Councillor James Breen was elected as deputy mayor on the proposal of Councillor Tom McNamara and seconded by Councillor Pat Daly. Mayor Flynn said he was “proud” to be elected as the new mayor for the newly aligned municipal district and said he would be “impartial” and treat its members with respect throughout his term. He paid tribute to his family, who were there to support him at the council chamber, and …

By Dan Danaher THE full implementation of an “offensive” Department of Education circular will result in a reduction in special needs assistants (SNAs) for Clare children with disabilities, a local election candidate has claimed. Clare Crusaders’ Clinic managing director, Ann Norton has described the recent DOE instruction to schools on the SNA scheme as “offensive”, “outrageous” and “disgraceful” to parents of children with special needs. Ms Norton warned that implementing this circular would result in the withdrawl of numerous SNAs in Clare schools, unless the DOE withdrew it. However, her assertion was rejected by a DOE spokeswoman who stated there is no question of reducing the number of SNA posts in the school system. In fact, the spokeswoman outlined the department had increased the number of SNAs to its highest level yet with 10,656 Whole Time Equivalent posts currently allocated to schools. In December, 2013 the Government announced it was increasing the number of SNAs available for allocation to schools, …