Tag Archives: clare champion

THE personalised, customer-focused shopping experience that has become synonymous with the town of Ennis is still continuing despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic has resulted in retail closures throughout the county, with businesses increasingly focusing their efforts online in a bid to meet these new unprecedented challenges. The last few weeks have highlighted the importance of having an online shopping presence, according to Gwen Culligan of the County Boutique in Ennis. While Patrick Burke’s is set to launch a personal shopping service utilising popular apps so people can purchase while still maintaining social distancing. The County Boutique launched its website last year allowing people to buy the latest looks from the comfort of their own home. Gwen tells us they were “incredibly lucky” to already be online when the Covid-19 restrictions were introduced. “We’re selling every day at the moment. I had been spending some time over the last few months putting things on the site, but I’ve been …

A GROUP of Clare artists have been brushing up on their digital skills, bringing their latest exhibition of artworks on-line. The Inis Artists as a group have been in existence for more than 20 years and are noted for their extensive touring art exhibitions. In a normal year they would be involved in up to 14 different group exhibitions all over the country. However, this is not a normal year and all of their art exhibition venues are closed due to Covid-19, except Skycourt in Shannon. In order to bring their artwork to the public, they have come up with the idea of holding a virtual art exhibition. Calling it their ‘Spring Lockdown Exhibition 2020’ it displays the new work of their artists. Tomás O’Maoldomhnaigh PRO Inis Artists explains that much of the work reflects the artists’ emotions in this time of social distancing and lockdown. The virtual exhibition can be viewed on facebook.com/inis.artists Inis Artists were founded back in …

A DOCUMENTARY which followed the final months in the life of Laura Brennan has been given a prestigious international award. Laura Brennan: This is Me has won a Gold Award at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards. The award was presented in the Health / Media Information category. The film which documents Laura’s battle with cervical cancer at just 26 and her campaigning work to increase uptake of the HPV vaccine was made by RTÉ. Reacting to the win, producer Sinead Kennedy commented, “Laura would have been so proud and rightly so! She gave everything to ensure her voice was heard. Well, it’s being heard around the world Laura.” On behalf of the Brennan family, Laura’s brother Kevin expressed congratulations to the team behind the film. “Particular praise goes to Sally Roden (Executive Producer), Sinead Kennedy (Producer) and Kenny Mac Giola Phadraig (Director and Editor). The award relates to the documentary by RTÉ following the final chapters in …

CLARE’S young people are being urged to show they have the write stuff by getting involved in a new county-wide competition. Clare County Library have launched a creative writing competition for children and teenagers. “With schools currently closed and students working remotely on assignments set by teachers Clare County Library would like to offer a different type of exercise to children and teenagers aged between 7 and 15 who like to write stories,” explained a spokesperson. To enter, all you have to do is write a story up to 700 words based on ‘County Clare 2020: A Day in My Life’. Entries must be in before 12 noon on May 12. All entrants are asked to type their name and age at the end of their story and email their entry to library_mailbox@clarecoco.ie When sending entries include the words Creative Writing Competition as the email subject. The shortlisted and winning entries will be posted on www.clarelibrary.ie on June 3 and …

A 17 year old boy reported as missing in Ennis last week has been found safe and well gardai have confirmed. An appeal had been launched for information on the whereabouts of Daniel Ohiku who had been last seen on April 18. A garda spokesperson stated, “Daniel Ohiku, 17 years, missing from Ennis, Co Clare has been located safe and well. We would like to thank the media and the public for their assistance.”

AN Ennis man who has been soldiering on with the compilation of a history of the Old Military Barracks is making a final appeal for information to be included in the publication. William Crowley has been working on the publication since 2016 and it is hoped to be complete later this summer. He has already been inundated with information, as people from all over the world have got in touch with stories about growing up in the area on the Kilrush Road. With the book now nearing completion, William is putting out a last call to anyone who may have photographs, stories or any information they would like to see included in the publication. “I’ve got a good bit of detail over the last few years and I’m just putting the last details together. At this stage I wanted to make a final push for those who may have been sitting on the fence about getting involved to get in …

THE collapse of an historic famine era feat of engineering could “undermine” the flood protection of Ennis the county capital’s mayor has warned. Councillor Johnny Flynn has called for funds to be provided for the repair of the Ballyhee Cut, just north of Ballyalla Lake. Speaking at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District he outlined, “This historic piece of cut stone civil engineering works is in a poor condition and at serious risk of further deterioration.” He sought backing from his fellow councillors to allow for any funding unspent from the General Municipal Allocation to be provided for repairs to the Ballyhee Cut. He commented, “This very important piece of civil engineering is being undermined.” Leonore O’Neill, senior executive office for the Ennis Municipal District agreed that the Ballyhee Cut is a “very important heritage item”. She stated that the structure has been affected by the growth of sycamore and that the repair of defects would require a large …

THE Irish Red Cross in Clare have made an appeal to the public to support an online fundraiser as Covid-19 restrictions have put a stop to their usual collections. During the crisis the local organisation’s community support transports have continued to run for essential medical trips only, along with their HSE assists, however funds have dropped significantly. According to James Lafferty, treasurer of Irish Red Cross Clare, “Our volunteers are working harder than ever to make sure you all stay safe during Covid-19”. He is appealing to the public to continue to support them in maintaining the transport service for people in need by donating to their go fundme page. “During these tough times our collections which help keep our fleet on the road have stopped and we are continuing to help the community. Please help us by making a small donation to keep the vehicles running. We need your support so we can continue supporting the people of County …