Tag Archives: clare champion

A FORMER St Flannan’s College student has been awarded a prestigious €20,000 scholarship to support his continuing studies. Jack Browne, who is now studying Electronic and Computer Engineering at the University of Limerick, has been named as a winner of the Naughton Foundation Scholarship Awards. Reacting to the award, Jack told The Champion, “I am delighted to receive this amazing opportunity from the Naughton family. I am also so grateful for the support, interest and encouragement of my family and my teachers, in both Inch National school and St Flannan’s College, especially the outstanding science department in St Flannan’s.” This isn’t the only time that Jack’s out of this world talents have been acknowledged. He was a member of the St Flannan’s College Design team which won a major international prize in the NASA Ames Space settlement Design Competition in 2019. St Flannan’s teacher John Conneely said, “The staff and students at St Flannan’s College have sent their congratulations this …

ENNIS students Aodha Marrinan and Sarah O’Rourke were among sixteen University of Limerick students to recently receive scholarships at a virtual awards ceremony as part of the Johnson & Johnson Ireland Women in STEM2D (WiSTEM2D) Award Programme. Both Aodha and Sarah study Biomedical Engineering at UL. Now in its sixth year at UL, the WiSTEM2D programme is run in collaboration with Lero – the Science Foundation Research Centre for Software, and will provide the scholarship recipients with extensive industry mentoring and leadership training. WiSTEM2D refers to Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Manufacturing and Design. The WiSTEM2D programme underlines J&J’s commitment to developing and implementing high-impact strategies to support female students undertaking STEM2D degree courses at UL and in universities around the world.  Currently, there are approximately 117,800 people across Ireland who are working in jobs that require STEM skills. However, the CSO reports that just 25% of these roles are performed by women, with just 5% in leadership roles.Whilst there has been a general …

A PRIZE-WINNING artwork by 13-year-old Clare student Emily Barrow, from Colaìste Muire, Ennis, has been chosen to illustrate the 2022 Texaco Children’s Art Competition Calendar just published. One of 13 selected to illustrate the publication, her piece, entitled ‘The Forge’s Flowers’, right, will appear on the August page and will be seen in thousands of homes in Ireland during the coming year. Winning a Special Merit Award in the 2021 competition, it was one of a number said by a competition adjudicator to illustrate perfectly the outstanding talent, creativity and imagination that many of our young artists possess and the important role schools have in encouraging and inspiring their students through art education. Calendars are currently available through a select number of service stations and Texaco branded distributors countrywide and through Texoil home heating oil division.

A CLARE man who set up a CPR unit and accompanying Facebook page in his village has been named as one of Ireland’s Inspirational heroes. Following a nationwide search to uncover Ireland’s most inspirational people, Padraig Lordan from Ruan is celebrating after being honoured in the Gala Retail and Virgin Media Inspiration Awards. Established to shine a light on those individuals who make Ireland a better place with their selfless acts and inspirational deeds, Padraig stood out to the judges for his services to community and dedication to others. A paramedic, who often goes above and beyond his call of duty, Padraig set up the local Ruan CPR unit and Facebook page. Speaking about his nomination, one community member commented, “Padraig, or Podge as we call him has attended many local call outs beyond the call of his duty. He is a gentleman who deserves some recognition as I believe he is a true Irish warrior. “In May 2021, he …

BROADCASTER Marty Morrissey remembered his beloved mother Peggy as “The greatest Irish mother in the history of motherhood” as she was laid to rest in Mullagh at the weekend. Mrs Morrissey passed away following a road accident last week in a moment her only son described as “the greatest tragedy of my life”. Mourners gathered on Sunday at St Mary’s Church in Mullagh to say their last goodbyes to the popular member of the local community. As well as family, neighbours and friends the funeral mass was attended by representatives from both Irish President Michael D Higgins as well as Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Family photos, rosary beads and her prayer book, red lipstick, drivers license, a Cork flag as well as the Statue of Liberty were among just some of the items placed at the altar as symbols of her life. Addressing those gathered at the funeral mass in an emotional tribute to his mother, Mr Morrissey said he was …

A LANDMARK scheme to regularise long-term undocumented migrants will transform the lives of many individuals and families living in Clare and all over Ireland, according to the Clare Immigrant Support Centre. The centre have welcomed the announcement of the scheme which will launch early in  2022 and be open for six months. The scheme proposes to regularise the immigration statuses of individuals with dependent children after three years of being undocumented in the State and individuals living in Ireland undocumented for at least four years by the time the scheme opens in 2022. Successful applicants will have the right to live, work engage in education and will also have a pathway to becoming Irish citizens. The scheme will also be open to individuals who have been in the international protection process for two years or more. According to Orla Ní Eilí from Clare Immigrant Support Centre this will be of great benefit to  reducing the large backlog of asylum seekers living …

FEARS that the County Development Plan could be “hindered” by an absence of updated flood maps, and with that future development in Ennis, were expressed at a meeting of Ennis councillors. The issue was highlighted by Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy who urged that the Office of Public Works issue up to date maps to represent the Ennis South Flood Relief Works. She said this is necessary to ensure the council is not impeded in zoning lands for the development of the county capital. “We want to ensure we have adequate zoning of lands for all of our needs, most especially there is a huge demand for housing of all types, not just social housing. I am concerned that in our efforts in drawing up the plan we will be impeded from adequately zoning land because of a lack of maps.” Sean Lenihan, Senior Engineer, responded, “As the Ennis South Flood Relief Scheme is not yet officially completed, the updated Flood …

PROPOSALS for the refurbishment of a forecourt on the outskirts of Ennis have been refused planning permission over the potential “adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Ennis and Clarecastle”. Maxol Limited had applied for planning permission to refurbish and rearrange the internal area of the foodhall of the existing forecourt on the Ennis Road, Clarecastle. According to the application the plans would allow for an expansion of the existing deli offering to include a branded hot-food takeaway, with 20 people to be employed. Under the proposal an existing children’s play area, closed since March 2020 due to Covid “and difficulties of ensuring safe sanitation levels for future use” would have been removed to allow for a reallocation of foodhall space to provide a new layout. Clare County Council planners assessing the proposal expressed concerns that the development would result in “intensification of the existing use on site”. “I consider the development would become a destination in its own …