Tag Archives: Ballina Killaloe

THE indelible mark left by the late Joss Lowry on sporting and community groups in Killaloe and Ballina has been acknowledged this week. The former Coillte forester from Killestry, Killaloe, died peacefully surrounded by his devoted family in the tender care of the staff of Milford Care Centre towards the end of last month. The 75-year-old’s legacy included decades of voluntary work to a plethora of groups including Clarisford Park Committee, Killaloe Ballina RFC, Killaloe-Ballina Tennis Club, Smith O’Brien’s GAA and Camogie Club as well as fundraising for Milford Hospice in Limerick. Leading the tributes, Clare County Council chairman, Tony O’Brien recalled Joss was a very proactive community activist who immediately immersed himself in community activities when he came to Killaloe in 1980. Councillor O’Brien said Joss quickly joined Killaloe Ballina RFC where he volunteered as a staunch member. “Joss initially started playing rugby and then got involved in the committee at officer level. “He went on to become the …

TWO local authorities have defended allowing a contractor to temporarily take over public car parking spaces in one of the most popular amenity areas on the banks of Lough Derg. Tipperary County Council has confirmed it gave Coir Infrastructure permission to use a “limited number” of car parking spaces in Ballina Riverside Park to store materials for the essential laying of a sewer from Roolagh to Ballina Wastewater Treatment Plant, as part of enabling works ahead of the River Shannon Crossing project. Approximately 18 spaces were taken up with sewerage pipes and materials on Sunday, April 18, which was reduced to about eight on Tuesday night after one section was cleared last week. Six cars were parked indiscriminately on double yellow lines, two cars were blocking vehicular access for emergency vehicles to the riverside walk, and four cars were double parked outside the compound on Sunday. The council stated any “minor inconvenience caused is regretted but necessary” in the interests …

Gardaí were called to disperse a group of young people who had were allegedly drinking and gathering together contrary to public health guidelines in a Clare town on Saturday night. Once gardaí arrived on the scene in Killaloe, young people fled before they could be cautioned, leaving a picnic table full of empty bottles of alcohol. A spokesman for Killaloe Gardaí confirmed there were about 20 youths when gardaí arrived in the Ballina Quay area around 7.30pm in response to complaints from members of the public. He said the young teenagers ran off in different directions and gardaí carried out further mobile patrols, which ensured there was no further incidents of this kind. While no on-the-spot fines were issued to youths following this incident, he confirmed gardaí have issued fines to people who refused to comply with public health guidelines in other parts of the county. He said gardaí normally issued fines when people refused to comply with their instructions …

A WELL known hotel on the banks of Lough Derg has moved to clear the waters over confusion surrounding its location in view of national guidelines for people to remain in their own county during Level Three Covid-19 restrictions. The Lakeside Hotel, Ballina, Killaloe has confirmed their registered address with Fáilte Ireland is Killaloe, County Clare, even though the hotel are located just inside the Tipperary border and pay their commercial rates to Tipperary County Council. Straddling two counties and located just a short distance from the historic bridge linking Ballina and Killaloe, the hotel created something of a social media flurry when it posted government advice for people to stay in their own county. Manager, Eoin Little is a bit bemused by this “unusual situation” for the town, as he believes Killaloe and Ballina work together as one community, apart from Gaelic Games. “It is what you get from being in a twin town. Before I moved to this …

A dementia specific respite and daycare centre in Ballina/Killaloe, has been shortlisted for a prestigious Irish Healthcare Award, 2015. Waterman’s Lodge, which has been nominated under the Specialist Centre of the Year category, is one of two national respite centres run by the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland. A former hotel, the premises was acquired by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland in 2008 and extensively modernised and converted into a dementia specific care centre. The purpose of the respite centre is to provide dementia specific person-centred care to the person with dementia and their carers in the community. The centre can accommodate up to 11 respite clients per week. Currently there is 35 staff employed at Waterman’s Lodge all of whom have received dementia specific training. The Irish Healthcare Centre Awards 2015 will be presented on March 27.

A hearbroken mother has spoken out her frantic efforts to resuscitate her newborn baby daughter before she died from suspected heart failure at their home in Ballina-Killaloe. Sophie O’Brien, who was born on May 6 last with a serious defect in the left side of her heart, died less than four weeks later on June 2 with her family. Despite the best efforts of Darren O’Brien (31), Scariff, and his wife, Pamela (32), Sophie was pronounced dead within a short period of time at the University Hospital, Limerick. In an emotional interview, Pamela recalled how her husband, Darren, sought her assistance after noticing a change in the colour of Sophie’s face around 11am. “I held her in my arms, looked at her and thought she is not fine. I put her on her lovely fleecy blanket on her changing unit. I tapped the end of her feet. I called her name, she didn’t open her eyes. I knew there was …