Tag Archives: clare

There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today. The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland is 1,606. As of today the HPSC has been notified of 59 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 24,698 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread. Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Saturday 23 May (24,593 cases), reveals: · 57% are female and 43% are male · the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years · 3,225 cases (13%) have been hospitalised · Of those hospitalised, 394 cases have been admitted to ICU · 7,842 cases are associated with healthcare workers · Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,876 (48% of all cases) followed by Cork with 1,438 cases (6%) and then Kildare with 1,390 …

CLARE Gardaí have warned that farms can be a dangerous, and even lethal, place for children, urging people never to leave their child alone in a farmyard. Crime Prevention Officer Triona Brooks says, “Now that schools are over and the weather is good kids are out and about on farms but farms are a workplace and unfortunately children are killed every year on farms.” She adds, “Never allow a child onto a farmyard unless they are closely supervised by an adult. It’s not possible to safely look after your child and work on the farm at the same time. Dangers on farms include falls, drowning, farm machinery, chemical and poison and farm animals.” Those who live on a farm are being advised to keep children out of work areas and have a fenced off safe play area in view of your home. “Have easy to read danger signs and tell children what they mean. Lock unattended vehicles and leave vehicles …

EMBRACING creative urban design, community engagement and best practice will help ensure that Ennis emerges from the Covid-19 crisis as an even better town in which to live. That’s according to a new local community group, Better Ennis, which is advocating for “healthy and happy streets”. The group’s first campaign centres on the allocation of space for people walking and cycling in Ennis. They say the pandemic has highlighted the impact of the public realm on public health and they are aiming to help reimagine Ennis’ public space to ensure that people stay healthy and keep connected. . Inspired by a number of national and international initiatives during the pandemic, the Better Ennis is looking to Clare County Council to ensure people have safe streets to enjoy while still maintaining physical distancing when moving about the town. This week saw the council implement the first stage of a Mobility Plan for the town, diverting traffic from a number of streets …

THERE is a feeling that the country has the Covid-19 tiger by the tail already but Marty Morrissey is calling on everyone to keep their guard up now, to avoid squandering a very good response to the crisis. “I think we need to be very careful. On my travels in the last couple of days I’ve seen lots of young people gathering at corners. I’d be worried. Whatever chance we have, we really need to be careful coming out of lockdown. “I think there’s a danger we’ll say ‘ah we’re grand now’ and we’re not. In most countries, there’s been a second wave and the second wave is often worse. So, I would urge people to really abide by the rules,” he told The Clare Champion on Monday. “It’s easy to forget a lot of people have died from this and a lot of people are sick from it. I think it needs to be re-emphasised, I’d be worried about …

AN Ennis primary school has been taking homeschooling to another level, keeping connected to students by launching its own online channel. Like all schools across the country, Holy Family Ennis has been deeply impacted by the arrival of Covid-19. A group of teachers at the school came together to formulate an online learning plan to support their students and from this, Progress TV was born. Co-ordinator and fifth class teacher, Darryl Eade explains, “Social media was inundated with homemade videos when the lockdown began. There were cooks, fitness instructors, health experts and musicians posting recordings from their living rooms. We wondered could a few of us record some simple educational lessons and present them in a fun and light-hearted way. Our hope was that the students would be naturally motivated to engage with each activity. We assembled a team and got started on episode one.” Progress TV has grown into a weekly video classroom with staff from Holy Family Senior …

A CLARE teenager is proving to be a cut above with her fundraising efforts for the Irish Cancer Society. Ella Fitzpatrick, a transition year student at Colaiste Muire in Ennis is going to shave off her 14 inch long hair for the charity. The 16-year-old has been be joined by her father Tadhg and family friend John Galvin who will also both have their heads shaved. While two other Colaiste students, Rebecca Meaney and Emma Foxx have agreed to dye their hair pink for the cause. Already the fundraising drive has surpassed its €3,000 target, a delighted Ella tells us. She had planned to shave her head at an event at the Inn at Dromoland, however this had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. Instead, she will cut her hair this Saturday from the socially distant location of her Newmarket-on-Fergus home, and will video the occasion and put on social media. She explains that she had wanted to take part …

BROADCASTER and author Rachael English is still on the radio regularly but hasn’t been into RTÉ for over two months. “I think the last time I was in the building was on March 18. Ever since then, I have a little box that uses the wifi and it came from Radio Sport. They ordinarily are the users, it even has a link to Croke Park on it, they’re unlikely to be able to use that for a while,” the Shannon woman says. Presenting Morning Ireland to hundreds of thousands of listeners isn’t the kind of thing one normally does from home but Rachael has got into the habit of it. “It takes a little bit of getting used to, but a lot less than I thought it would. It was a great relief there for a few weeks that it was possible to do it like that. There was one day that the wifi went down, not during the programme …

WITH massive numbers of people out of work, even the language about the economic shock seems jaded, according to UL-based economist Stephen Kinsella. “The first thing to note is that we need to come up with new words for unprecedented,” he jokes. “The only time I can compare this to is the Second World War, the Emergency, when everything was rationed.” So many people who were contributing to the State’s coffers just a few months ago are drawing from them now but can this continue? “You could conceivably keep doing it. It costs something like €200 million a week. Every long month, that’s a billion quid. The stock of debt is slightly over €200bn and we can borrow very, very cheaply. “If it’s a question of keeping the wolf from the door for lots and lots of people or allowing them to go on the dole, then you should just keep spending the money. Forever isn’t possible but to the …