Tag Archives: clare

TWO men are due to appear in court this morning in connection with a €50,000 drug seizure in Clarecastle last Friday. The men have been charged in relation to the investigation and are due to appear before Limerick City District Court this morning.

TRIBUTES have been paid to the late Maureen Cronin who passed away at her home in Ennis in her 105th year this week. The pioneering educator, talented musician and avid writer was not only well-known in her adopted home-town of Ennis, but she also rose to national prominence. She appeared on radio and television including RTÉ’s Nationwide in 2014, as well as 2015’s The Local Eye where she was seen on one of her regular visits to The Clare Champion offices. She was born Maureen O’Carroll on Christmas night 1916 in Toureenfineen, Rockchapel, County Cork and grew up in a house surrounded by music. After school she trained as a teacher, and on marrying her beloved husband Seán she blazed a trail by defying the marriage ban on women teachers. In 2014, she was honoured at the 2014 Hidden Hearing Heroes Awards for the part she played in getting the ban lifted, becoming a test case for the INTO Teachers’ …

THE village of Clarecastle will feature in this Monday’s episode of the popular RTÉ show Nationwide. The RTÉ Nationwide team with Anne Cassin filmed the programme in Clarecastle last November with the Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group and other Clarecastle residents. Among those to feature are Pat Considine, the son of Anthony Considine who was the owner of 1950s cine-film featuring scenes around Clarecastle. Pat gave the Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group access to hundreds of feet of the old cine-film and they found footage of ships being unloaded at Clarecastle Quay and scenes from the annual Regatta in the 1950s. They entered an edited 10 minute film – ‘Clarecastle in the 1950s’ from the Considine cine-films as their event for Heritage Week 2020 and won the Clare award for the film. The film was later featured on the main RTÉ evening news. The Nationwide team followed up on the story and decided to come to …

THE road in the Tobarteascáin area of Ennis is being used as a ‘rat run’ prompting calls from residents for speed ramps to be installed in the area. The Ennis Municipal District has confirmed that traffic and speed surveys are to be carried out in the location. Highlighting the matter at the monthly meeting of the local authority, Councillor Mary Howard stated, “I have received numerous complaints from residents from Tobarteascáin regarding ongoing traffic issues.” She said, “There are certain sections of the road where people can’t cross because of the speed of the traffic. It’s being used as a rat run and it’s only getting worse.” She added that drivers are “going around corners at speed” and she urged that more speed ramps be installed. The motion was seconded by Councillor Johnny Flynn who acknowledged the improvement works that have been carried out in the area in recent years. “Unfortunately with upgrades to roads some drivers don’t take into …

THE University of Limerick has got a five star rating in an influential global ranking. UL has achieved the highest possible standard in the new QS Stars Rating System, the only university in Ireland to achieve this in 2021. UL joins an exclusive group of universities worldwide to receive the overall five-star status in the ranking, which is considered one of the most influential and credible ratings for universities globally. The QS Stars Rating System was launched in 2009 to assess higher education institutions more broadly than rankings alone and five stars is the maximum score that can be achieved. It is compiled by education analysts Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, and insight to the global higher education sector. The five-star rating is valid until March 2024 and follows a rigorous and independent data collection process and analysis of performance metrics by QS. The evaluation process at UL lasted five months and focused on the …

THE face of Ennis journalist and television presenter Colm Flynn is being used by scam artists to target victims on Facebook, it has emerged. Colm, who is currently based in Rome and working as the Vatican correspondent for a global news network, has warned people to beware of the scam which is being used to obtain people’s credit card details. While the fraudsters have used the name ‘Colm Fllyn’ for the Facebook page, they have used a number of photographs of the real Colm alongside many videos of his various television reports in order to make the page seem legitimate. Under the profile photograph the page states it belongs to the “broadcaster from Ireland based in Rome, Italy! I love people and their stories.” The page goes on to state that ‘Colm’ wants to share his joy with followers on Facebook by randomly choosing somebody to win €1,000. It then urges people to follow a separate link to enter a …

ENNIS’ Temporary Covid-19 Town Centre Mobility Plan, resulting in parts of the town closed to traffic, has been described as “very conservative” with calls being made for restrictions to be lessened. The Ennis Municipal District have confirmed that a review of the plan is scheduled to take place after the current lock-down measures are eased. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the local authority, Councillor Pat Daly urged that the council and the mobility stakeholder group keep the traffic situation under constant review with a view to re-opening selected streets if the county’s Covid numbers continue to improve. He said that many business owners are “tired and upset” over the ongoing street closures. “The pandemic has caused severe damage to their livelihoods” he said, expressing the hope that there may be “light at the end of the tunnel” in the near future. Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy voiced her support to the motion, saying the pandemic has been “very, very hard …

THERE was shock in Ennis this week with the confirmation that one of the county town’s most popular establishments would be closing its doors for good. The multi-award winning Food Heaven has been a firm favourite since it was first opened on Market Street in 2006. However on Friday it was confirmed that the cafe and delicatessen had closed permanently. Since the announcement owner Noirin Furey has been “overwhelmed” with the number of good wishes which have been described as “very humbling”. A post on Food Heaven’s social media page stated, “I am very saddened to announce that Food Heaven will close on a permanent basis, on Saturday, April 3 2021. I sincerely thank all those who over the last 14 and a half years have worked closely with me, and have made such a positive contribution to the success and reputation of the business. It was a pleasure having you on this journey.” The statement continued, “I would like …