Tag Archives: bunratty

Searches are to resume this morning for a man missing in the Bunratty area since Saturday. Gardaí have expressed concerned for the well being of the man in his late 50’s, originally from the Bunratty area but living in Sixmilebridge, who was last seen on Saturday. Volunteers from Bunratty Search and Rescue and locals mounted a search on Saturday evening and they were joined on Sunday morning by the Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter. Volunteers walked the banks of the Ratty River as the operation focused on the river and surrounding waterways. The search also involved Gardaí, the Killaloe, Kilkee and Doolin units of the Irish Coast Guard, Clare Civil Defence and Kilrush RNLI. The Limerick Land Search Team have also been assisting in the search.

THE Garda Ombudsman has come under fire from a local family over its refusal to initiate an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 23-year-old banqueting manager in Bunratty 32 years ago. The criticism of the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) comes in a week when the authority is under the spotlight over its surveillance of journalists’ phones. The family of the late Patrick Nugent of Feenagh, Sixmilebridge have expressed their disappointment and bewilderment at GSOC’s decision not to commission an investigation into their complaint. In a letter to Patrick Nugent’s brother, John, GSOC advised him that his complaint is inadmissible on the grounds that it is “out of time”, not having been made within a period of 12 months beginning on the date of the conduct giving rise to their complaint. “GSOC having considered your complaint finds, based on the information provided by you, that there is not a good reason to extend the time limit in …

A Clare family has won a drawn-out campaign to secure a State inquiry into the death of a 23-year-old banqueting manager in Bunratty in 1984. The terms of reference for the inquiry into the death of Patrick Nugent, Feenagh, Sixmilebridge  are still to be determined, but his family has called on the Department of Justice to set up a wide-ranging sworn public inquiry as quickly as possible. Mr Nugent died at Bunratty Folk Park in the early hours of February 11, 1984. His late parents, Joe and Nellie, and his brothers, Martin and John, have been campaigning for justice since then. The death of Mr Nugent was one of the cases examined by the Independent Review Mechanism set up by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, in June 2014, after a complaint made by the family relating to alleged Garda misconduct. Minister Fitzgerald appointed a panel of barristers to conduct a review. Their role was to review the correspondence and other documentation in each …

A BID to have the proposed National Diaspora Centre based in Bunratty has come to nothing, after the Government announced  that the project will not go ahead. Clare County Council had worked in partnership with Shannon Heritage and tourism advisers Sherwood and Associates to prepare what it called “an ambitious and detailed bid” for the project, which it wanted to build in Bunratty, which it claimed was an ideal site close to Shannon Airport and the M18 with an established tourism infrastructure. After learning this week that the Government has decided not to proceed with the project, Council Director of Services for Planning, Community, Enterprise and Economic Development Ger Dollard said, “The council has been advised that the process underway for the selection of a National Diaspora Centre has now been terminated. “This is disappointing in that a very detailed proposal had been prepared by the council, supported by Shannon Heritage and the Shannon Group. We will continue to work in …

CLARE County Council has passed the first selection stage, following a submission made to Fáilte Ireland, for Bunratty to be the location for the proposed National Diaspora Centre. However, the council is awaiting already postponed information meetings with Fáilte Ireland, which were due to take place at the end of July. It was envisaged in the circulated tender documentation that a meeting would take place between the selected county councils and Fáilte Ireland. Last March, the Government announced that it was seeking expressions of interest from potential partners to develop and operate a National Diaspora Centre. A Fáilte Ireland study had concluded that a diaspora centre could be viable and self-financing. The study found that a National Diaspora Centre has the potential to be a major tourism attraction, with particularly strong appeal for the Irish diaspora. However, the study found that it would also have to be of interest to people living in Ireland, as well as to overseas visitors, …

Production remains shut down this Wednesday at Roadstone, Bunratty following the continuation of a nationwide strike against cuts to general operatives’ wages. An official SIPTU picket was placed on the  Bunratty plant on Monday by its employees, as part of a nationwide dispute affecting 20 of the firm’s facilities across the country. General operatives and truck drivers have been  protesting outside the Bunratty plant with official SIPTU placards According to SIPTU, workers will lose almost €20,000 in their wages over the next five years if a new cost-cutting plan is introduced against the wishes of workers. The union claims that the parent company, Cement Roadstone Holdings Limited are trying to implement unsustainable cost savings for Roadstone totalling €10 million over the next five years. The company has been in talks with union officials in recent times. Both parties were also involved in a Labour Court recommendation that urged both sides to resume negotiations. However, these negotiations broke down over the weekend. Management at the …

An official picket was placed  Roadstone, Bunratty quarry again on this Tuesday morning following the continuation of a nationwide strike against cuts to general operatives’ wages. An official SIPTU picket was placed on the Roadstone Woods Limited in Bunratty plant on Monday by its employees, as part of a nationwide dispute affecting 20 of the firm’s locations across the country. Six general operatives and truck drivers protested outside the Bunratty plant with official SIPTU placards this Tuesday morning. According to SIPTU, workers will lose almost €20,000 in their wages over the next five years if a new cost-cutting plan is introduced against the wishes of workers. The union claims that the parent company, Cement Roadstone Holdings Limited are trying to implement unsustainable cost savings for Roadstone totalling €10 million over the next five years. The company, which makes building materials for the construction sector, has been in talks with union officials in recent times. Both parties were also involved in …

  Come to our facebook page to enter our competition for a family ticket for 4 to a Hallowe’en fun day out at Bunratty Folk Park on Bank Holiday Monday, October 28.