Tag Archives: clare champion

A MINUTE’S silence was held at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District this week following the tragic death of young lifeguard Fionn O’Brien. Meanwhile, the chaplain of Fionn’s former secondary school in Ennis has offered its support to past and present students affected by the loss. The 20-year-old, who was from a well-known Ennis family and lived on the Tulla Road, died after getting into difficulty while surfing off Lough Donnell beach on Monday. Fionn has been remembered as a “wonderful, smiling and talented young man” by his former school Rice College. A statement issued on behalf of the school states, “The Staff and Board of Management of Rice College would like to extend our deepest and heartfelt sympathies to the O’Brien family on the tragic death of their beautiful son, our past pupil, Fionn. To Fionn’s parents, Pat and Michelle, and his siblings Niall, Conor and Saidhbh, you are in our thoughts and prayers at this most …

GLÓR re-opens its doors to the public from this Thursday, July 8 when the Ennis venue’s gallery will host a new exhibition. There are also plans for the return of theatre with an outdoor performance set to take place in the glór carpark later this month. Management at glór have said they are “delighted” to be able to share details of the arts centre’s reopening with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. The gallery opens at 2pm on Thursday with the group exhibition Sinterella by Martha Cashman, Annita McKee and Insaf Yalcinkaya. “ We are delighted to be able to present this exhibition featuring three exciting female artists,” said a spokesperson for the venue. The walk-in box office will be open once again on Friday, July 9. Glór also has a new mural to show off, The Studio from Mark Cronin. On Thursday, July 29, there will be a performance of In Middletown from the Gate Theatre and Mikel Murfi. The show …

BANK of Ireland has issued a warning to the public advising extra caution around fraudulent text messages in circulation this week.  There has been a spike in ‘smishing’, where fraudsters send fake text messages, which appear to come from Bank of Ireland, and direct customers to fake websites imitating Bank of Ireland websites.  Since last month, the number of new ‘phishing’ websites detected by Bank of Ireland’s Fraud Prevention team has doubled, with an unprecedented increase in activity in the last week and up to 20 new fraudulent sites appearing per day. Bank of Ireland advice to customers in response to the current activity: Do not click on links or to respond to SMS text messages, which are designed to appear as if sent by the bank and look like originating from a genuine phone number. Bank of Ireland will never send you a text with a link to a website that asks you for your online banking login details …

GARDAÍ are following “a definite line of enquiry” following two separate drugs seizures in Clare. As part of an ongoing operation targeting the cultivation of drugs in West Clare last Monday evening, June 28, uniformed Gardaí from Kilrush Garda Station executed a search warrant in a house in Liscannor. During the course of the search four cannabis plants with a value of €3,200 were seized. Later the same evening the Divisional Drugs Unit searched a house in Lahinch and seized cannabis plants worth €8,800. No arrests were made on the day but gardaí say they are following a definite line of enquiry and files will be prepared for submission to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

GARDAÍ in Clare are urging people to stay cautious on their staycation. With holiday makers looking forward to a summer break at home, the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána have launched a campaign urging road users to ensure that they stay safe on the road. “We want people to enjoy their summer holidays. If you are planning a staycation, please ensure you plan your journey in advance, take frequent breaks and do not allow any distractions while driving. Ensure everyone in your vehicle is wearing their safety belt and make sure all children are in a suitable safety seat,” says Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks. “Be mindful of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, horse riders, cyclists and motor cyclists. Park safely and legally when visiting beaches, beauty spots as well as other public amenities. Parking illegally can lead to unnecessary risk and dangers such as forcing pedestrians to walk on busy roads. It is important …

THE Ennistymon Púca may have been hitting the headlines all over the world, but Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group believes it has fished out a magical tale to rival that. The local group has been compiling information about the once famous Mermaid of Newhall Lake, with the aim of bringing the mystical figure back into the public consciousness. As part of this members have gathered stories from various sources over centuries about the mermaid and made them available on the group’s website. There has also been a watercolour painting of the mermaid completed, and local composer Seán Lyons has recorded a song inspired by the legend. Eric Shaw of Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group said, “Reading through the Clare section of the 1937 Schools’ Project now held in Dúchas, there are 92 stories of mermaids and 26 of these relate to our Mermaid of Newhall. “In the 1930s, most school children in Clare knew of the …

AN Ennis man has completed a mammoth ultra-cycling race of 804km, taking second place after a gruelling 31 hours non-stop in the saddle. Noel Cusack took part in the Joe Barr 500, an 800km race around Donegal and Northern Ireland with a three-person crew following behind to give him food and hep with navigation along the way. He described the race as an “epic battle”, which saw him break his previous 800km record by more than six hours. The race started in Derry at 9.23am on Saturday, June 12, with each competitor leaving at three minute intervals. “We raced over to Donegal before tackling all the coast line and mountains areas before finally sprinting through Sperrin mountains in Derry to finish,” Noel told The Champion. “The riders cannot race together, we have to be a certain distance apart from each other until you make your move to overtake or pull away if possible,” he said. His support crew kept him …

PHARMACIES in Clare have been helping to give a shot in the arm to the national vaccine roll out effort. A number of pharmacies throughout the county have recently started administering the Covid-19 vaccines as part of the national programme. A total of 17 pharmacies spanning across the entire county from Kilkee to Corbally have begun offering the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine, also known as Janssen. Among them is Rochford’s Pharmacies with branches in Ennis and Corofin. Pharmacist Brendan Rochford said there has already been a lot of interest from the public in getting the jab. He says that the vaccination service was quick to take off at the pharmacy. “We already had a list of people who booked their appointment before we even received the vaccines last Thursday evening, so we started our first administrations as soon as possible on Friday morning.” He added, “We are delighted to be able to play our small part in the rollout …