Tag Archives: clare champion

THERE was a n-ice surprise for the residents and staff of St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis at the weekend. The family of resident Mary Skerritt came up with a novel way of celebrating her 99th birthday, while keeping socially distanced, by organising for an ice-cream van to pay a visit to the nursing home. Mary was born on May 8, 1922 in Miltown Malbay and is the mother of seven children, along with being a proud grandmother and great grandmother. Her son Michael told The Champion that because of Covid-19 they were unable to celebrate her birthday the way the family would have liked, so came up with this idea to mark the occasion while also saying thank you to the hospital staff for their dedicated care. “It was just a fabulous day and we had great weather for it. We were trying to come up with ideas of what we could do for her birthday and this one was …

CLARE musicians Tara Howley and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin are to feature as part of a new six episode TG4 series of concerts recorded at the Cork Folk Festival in 2020. The episode will be broadcast on Sunday, May 16 at 9.30pm. Tara is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, singer and dancer from Kilfenora. She has spent the last number of years as the piper with Riverdance and is a social media star with her tune a day campaign in 2019. She is also behind her father Pádraic Howley’s runaway Instagram success story ‘Sing and Step with Padraig. She is a two-time senior all Ireland champion on the uilleann pipes. Tara has numerous all Ireland titles in solo competitions and with bands and groups in various instruments such as concertina, fiddle, uilleann pipes and many more. In 2014 Tara toured Britain and Ireland with the group Macalla na hÉireann and The Echoes of Erin. She produced and launched her debut solo album …

AN Ennis hair and beauty salon expects to see 200 people in its first week back trading following a relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions across the country. Monday saw the return of hairdressers and other personal services, alongside other measures including the phased reopening of retail and the resumption of religious services in churches. Bridget Haren Hair and Beauty Salon on Woodquay opened at 9.30am on Monday to welcome its first clients in months, with staff on site since 8am busily preparing to ensure everything was in place. Perspex screens, mask wearing and sanitiser is the new normal when it comes to getting a hair-cut. Bridget told The Champion, “It’s going great so far, there’s a good buzz and everybody is really happy and delighted that Ennis is opening back up again. “It’s great for everybody and next week we’ll have the retailers joining us in bringing a lot more atmosphere to the town. “Everything is by appointments only and we …

THE sister of an Ennis teenager who tragically died in a drowning accident has described as “amazing” the response to a fundraising effort for Water Safety Ireland in memory of her brother. Danielle Kenneally’s brother Jack was just 15 when he and his friend Shay Moloney lost their lives after getting into difficulty swimming in a disused quarry. She decided to raise funds for WSI and create water safety awareness through her new business as she wanted to do “anything to save another family going through what we went through.” Danielle and her best friend Chantell Keane co-founded home fragrance business Wix and Wax last year, and this month they have decided to donate all profits from a specially created ‘Daisy snap-bar’ to WSI in memory of Jack. “I wanted to do something in his memory, and we have a bit of platform with the business to promote awareness of water safety. Now that we have the nice weather there will …

CLARE will provide a “blueprint” for the rollout of Lympoedema Specialist Clinics across the country with the first service of its kind in primary care being piloted in Ennis. The Lymphoedema Specialist Clinic in Clare is opening to support and manage people with this progressive, disabling chronic condition. Lymphoedema is a chronic long-term condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissue. This can lead to pain and a loss of mobility. Lymphoedema can severely impact quality of life and lead to complications if not diagnosed early and managed correctly. The new clinic, opening on May 10, will bring together a nurse, physiotherapist and a therapy assistant to offer lymphoedema assessments, treatment and supported self-care. The clinic will also provide treatment for lipoedema which requires similar management to lymphoedema. The service will be accessible for people in the county of Clare, population 118,800, where there is a potential 308 lymphoedema patients. Children and young people with lymphoedema will also be seen …

Motion to compel food businesses to affix car registrations to food bags likely to fall foul of GDPR A PROPOSAL to oblige Ennis takeaways put the car registration on bags of food ordered from them in a bid to tackle illegal dumping would appear to have had its chips. A meeting of the Ennis Municipal District has heard there is no legislative basis for the plan, proposed by Councillor Ann Norton, while concerns about GDPR were also highlighted. Councillor Norton had urged that the local authority to investigate the possibility of putting the registration of the car on the bag at takeaways and drive-thrus. “When it’s tossed out the window, it can be delivered back to its owners with a fine for littering. This could be a pilot project to deter people from littering,” she proposed. Responding to the motion, Cyril Feeney, senior engineer, stated, “I note the merits of introducing such a scheme but unfortunately I do not believe …

RECENTLY planted trees at a Clare burial grounds have been vandalised. The trees were destroyed at Ballycannon burial grounds in Meelick with their tops cut off and leaving behind only short pieces of trunk. Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks is urging anybody who witnessed this destruction to contact their local garda station. She explained, “Last summer, at the request of concerned members of the local community, the burial grounds unit engaged a tree surgeon to carry out an appraisal of high and mature elm trees on the approach avenue to Ballycannon Burial ground in Meelick. “It was recommended to fell the elm trees as they posed a hazard to adjoining houses. This area was replanted using immature low growing Irish ash over a dozen of which were replanted by Clare County Council. “Last Thursday the Burial Grounds Unit of Clare County Council found that all these trees had been destroyed by cutting the tops off them leaving approximately …

GARDAÍ in Clare have issued a warning to the public after a number of people were victims of scams. Last Tuesday, April 27, at 12 noon a gentleman received a phone call from a person claiming to be from the office of the Attorney General and alleging that he had been involved in money laundering. The caller asked him to transfer a sum of money to an account. It was after he did this that he realised this was a scam. In a separate incident a lady received a phone call from a person pretending to be from her bank and telling her that her account has been used for money laundering. She was asked to transfer her money to another account which she unfortunately did. Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks also outlines that there have also been reports of people getting calls from an 083 number claiming to be from the Department of Social Protection. The recipients of …