Tag Archives: clare champion

AN announcement by the Minister of Health that the HPV vaccine is to be made available free of charge to all women under 25 has been welcomed by the family of the late Laura Brennan. Since Laura’s passing three years ago the Brennan family have fought tirelessly to increase awareness of, and access to, the life saving vaccine. The Brennans are now stepping away from the campaign with Laura’s father Larry saying, “As a family we feel that we have achieved what we set out to do.” Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has written to the HSE telling it to outline a vaccination programme for women, as well as a catch-up programme for girls and boys in secondary school who missed out for various reasons including the pandemic. In a message posted on social media confirming the move, Minister Donnelly paid tribute to Laura, who died from cervical cancer in 2019, and the Brennan family. “Our goal it to eradicate …

ORGANISERS of this year’s Fleadh Nua say they are “making up for lost time” with a packed schedule of events planned for when the festival returns to Ennis this weekend. After a two-year break Fleadh Nua will be back on the streets of the county capital for a week of traditional music, song, and dance culminating in three headline concerts at glór over the June Bank holiday weekend. An annual event in Ennis for more than four decades, the Fleadh went online for the last two years due to Covid-19 to ensure the continuity of the event. Now, however, with all restrictions lifted, the ‘Fleadh down in Ennis’ is back, bigger and better than ever, as chairman of the organising committee Frank Whelan explains. “With this year’s Fleadh Nua, we’re making up for lost time, so we have a packed programme of events with everything from concerts, céilithe, singing and storytelling to sessions, film, CD launches and workshops in music, …

IN its most ambitious fundraising event to date, the Lap the Lake cycle, organised by the Lough Derg RNLI Fundraising Branch, has been described as “an immense success”. The event, blessed by good weather and good cheer has raised significant funds, essential for the charity’s lifesaving activities. 250 cyclists participated in the event on May 8 which started and finished at the RNLI Lifeboat Station in Dromineer. The 130km route around Lough Derg gave participants the opportunity to delight in the outstanding beauty of the lake and the River Shannon. The riders’ safety and well-being were well catered for with First Aid providers, out-riders, marshals, and bike maintenance stops along the route, as well as comfort and refreshments stations. Niamh McCutcheon, Chairperson of the Lough Derg RNLI Fundraising Committee and the ‘Lap the Lake’ Event Committee, said, “The Inaugural Lap of the Lake cycle around the beautiful Lough Derg covering counties Tipperary, Clare and Galway was enjoyed by cyclists from all over Ireland. The …

CLARECASTLE’S Men’s Shed certainly took a punt when it came to their latest project, the results of which they quite literally launched this week. On Wednesday the members of the shed set a 20 foot punt boat out on the water at Clarecastle Quay having lovingly built the vessel over the last couple of months. A complete photographic record of the construction of the boat has been kept by the  Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group. With Eric Shaw of the group saying, “This will be an important archival record”. The Clarecastle Men’s Shed were commissioned to build the punt boat, with a boat of this design not been built in Clarecastle since the 1960s. It is believed the late Tommy Considine was probably the last man to build a punt boat in Clarecastle and two of his boats still survive. One was donated to the Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group in 2018. The Men’s Shed were delighted to get …

ENNIS is thriving as the social and cultural hub of County Clare and the retail offer in the town centre is robust, a Clare County Council survey has claimed. The Council’s Planning Department conducted an Ennis Town Centre Retail Health Check in September 2021 surveying the ground floor use of units in Ennis town centre. The results of the Health Check were compared with the results from previous years, to allow for comparisons to be drawn and patterns to be identified. The findings from the Ennis Town Centre Retail Health Check 2021 illustrate that retail and retail services account for 35% of the total ground floor use of buildings within the town centre, and leisure services such as restaurants, public houses and gyms encompass 12% of the ground floor usage in Ennis. These findings indicate that Ennis is thriving as the commercial, social and cultural hub of the county. Financial and business services are also well established in the town, accounting for 7.3% of the ground floor usage …

A NORTH Clare student has showcased his skills and scooped a national award. Shane Price, who attends Ennistymon Vocational School, has been named a winner in the 2022 Career Skills Competition. Shane came first place in the Transition Year category of the competition with an impressive career investigation on Computer Programming – Artificial Intelligence and an essay detailing his work experience in a health pharmacy. The aim of the competition is to encourage independent career research among second level students and to foster awareness around the importance of career skills, which can be developed as a result of completing a work experience placement. Shane tells us he “found the whole experience amazing”. He explains, “The competition was all about writing an essay of having a critical view of skills required for careers observed in work experience and the second part of the essay required you to do your own research into another career that you do not have any work experience in. “It requires you …

WOMEN are often driven by a sense of social injustice as a pathway to politics and more women need to support each other as allies in a bid to bring about a cultural shift. That was one of the key messages from the ‘Promoting Gender Equality & Diversity in Local Government’ event hosted by Clare County Council and See Her Elected in glór, Ennis last week. Madeleine Taylor Quinn, the first female TD for County Clare and one of the first women elected to the council in 1979 was the keynote speaker at the event.  She said that finance and childcare issues are still some of the major barriers for women entering politics as well as a lack of maternity leave for county councillors. “My first child was only two weeks old when I got a call to say you better be in Dublin tomorrow for a vote of the Government could fall- imagine being put under that sort of …

DOG owners risk losing thousands of euros in damages claims if their pet is left uncontrolled and causes an accident on the road, the county’s dog warden Frankie Coote has warned saying, “You could lose your house if there was a serious accident”. The stark reminder comes as Éilís Neville, chairperson of the Clare Ladies Cycling Club reveals two of the club’s members have been hurt in recent weeks following incidents involving dogs. According to Mr Coote a dog must be on its owners property unless it is with the owner or a responsible person and under control. He is aware of successful large claims for compensation by people injured on the road as a result of an uncontrolled dog. “There are dogs that chase bikes, dogs that just walk out and even dogs just outside on the road sleeping, but if a dog is outside the property and if there are any injuries or damage caused by them, then the …