Tag Archives: clare

Public compliance ‘undoubtedly saved lives’ CLARE all but closed down on Tuesday afternoon as Storm Barra saw a red alert imposed across the county. Schools across Clare were shut on both Tuesday and Wednesday, while thousands of people, especially in the North and West of the county, were without power for a period of time. While there were a number of trees down, the level of damage wasn’t as severe as many had feared, and certainly didn’t rival Storms Christine and Darwin, which wreaked havoc in 2014. However, Chief Fire Officer with Clare County Council Adrian Kelly said that the precautions taken by the public had been crucial in preventing loss of life. “The widespread compliance with the ‘stay at home’ Status Red alert in Clare alert undoubtedly saved lives given the extent of fallen trees and flying debris around the county. The closing of schools and businesses, together with the safety messaging both locally and nationally greatly helped to …

Poignant Christmas song hits number 2 on iTunes, just behind Mariah MOVE over Mariah Carey, it looks like there is a new queen of the Christmas song – and she lives in County Clare. Ennis-based Deirdre Devally, an MA Creative Writing student, has penned a new song ‘Christmas in Dublin’ in a collaboration with Niall Teague which is proving to be a festive hit. Sung by Anne Brennan the track is 60-year-old Deirdre’s first song release and recently reached number two in the iTunes holiday song chart for Ireland. “It was behind Mariah Carey, in front of Michael Bublé, Bruce Springsteen and other huge names. It has got USA and Irish airplay,” she told The Champion. She described the reaction to the song as “phenomenal” saying she couldn’t believe it when she saw its position in the Irish charts. “It’s so thrilling and exciting.” Deirdre, who is originally from Dublin but has lived in Ennis for 24 years, explained that …

A GROUP of Ennis students will brave the elements this Friday in a bid to highlight the plight of those who have been ‘Locked Out of Education’. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir Transition Year students have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the barriers to education many young people face because of rising rents and other costs, while also raising funds for the St Vincent de Paul. As part of this, on Thursday, December 9 from 9am to 6pm they will be taking over the running of the St Vincent de Paul shop in Ennis while on Friday night the students will be sleeping out at the school. The campaign is part of the students’ Young Social Innovators project and money raised will go towards the St Vincent de Paul’s work in supporting struggling students. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir Transition Year Co-ordinator Martina McNamara explains that the students were moved to act when they discovered that over 230,000 students attend third level …

A TOTAL of 17,610 penalty points were issued to drivers in Clare during 2020, according to the Central Statistics Office. The number of points issued in Clare was down by 6.7% on 2019. While that might not be surprising given the lower levels of activity during the year, the numbers didn’t drop in most counties and across the Republic of Ireland there was actually a small increase. In total 4,920 endorsement notices were issued around the Banner during the year, with 1,704 going to women, 3,131 to men and in 74 cases the gender was not recorded. Among the Clare men, 2,402 of the 3,131 of the endorsement notices were issued for speeding. With Clare women, 1,355 of the 1,704 notices were in relation to speeding. One Clare motorists picked up 12 points within 2020, but over 85% of offenders received just three points over the course of the year. At the end of 2020 a total of 13,994 Clare …

AN Ennis girl who touched the hearts of the nation with an appearance on last weekend’s Late Late Toy Show has described the experience as “amazing”. 12-year-old Isabella Sydney Mulvey was born with Lumbosacral Agenesis which necessitates her using a wheelchair as her legs were amputated at the age of seven. On the show, which has been watched by 1.8 million people all over the world, Isabella spoke with host Ryan Tubridy about her favourite sensory toys and her ‘Adventure Book’ which includes all her favourite wishes including a dream to visit the Louvre in Paris. She was then surprised by Ryan who revealed she and her family would be going on a magical trip of a lifetime to the French capital including a visit to Disneyland Paris. Speaking to The Clare Champion this week Isabella said, “Being on the show was great, it was amazing. Ryan was really lovely and nice.” She said she is “very much looking forward” …

WORKS are underway to provide updated maps outlining the areas benefiting from the Ennis South Flood Relief Scheme, the Ennis Municipal District has confirmed. The flood maps may be used to assist the insurance industry in determining the cost and provision of flood cover to homes and businesses in the local area. Details of the works were outlined at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District following a notice of motion by Councillor Paul Murphy. The councillor had sought on update on a response received in February after requesting the municipal district and Clare County Council collaborate  with stakeholders such as Ennis Chamber of Commerce, Ennis Traders Group and Retail Excellence Ireland in preparing a document, detailing the improvements to the flood defence system and outlining how the risk of flooding has been minimised as a result of the works completed. “Information provided in the requested document was to meet the requirements of Insurance providers from a risk management …

WOOL might be more closely associated with Christmas jumpers at this time of year, but one Ennis school has used their knitting skills to create a very special addition to the festive season. Ennis National School’s ‘Crafty Crew’ have created a community Christmas tree with the help of parents, grandparents and others. The tree is now standing proudly in the window of Insomnia in the Ennis Shopping Centre on Francis Street for all to see. The tree and accompanying festive display is made of hundreds of squares of knitting. Earlier this year the school put out a call to the public to donate squares of knitting which have joined the patches created by the students. Teacher Ciara Harding tells us they were delighted with the response, and the students were thrilled to see their tree put on display. “Over the past three years we have combined our work at school with squares from parents, grandparents and friends of Ennis National School …

Following the official opening on Friday 30th November 2001 by Minister Síle de Valera before a specially invited audience, over 60 great Clare performers – three generations of the best players of Clare music took to the glór stage, including Tony McMahon, Paddy Canny, James Cullinan, Tony Linnane, Noel Hill, Siobhan Peoples, Martin Hayes, Josephine Marsh, Maura O’Connell, the Tulla Ceili Band, and the Kilfenora Ceili Band, to present a night of music such as has never been heard before. With Martin Hayes and the Sawdoctors performing over the next two nights, without doubt the opening weekend of glór was one of the best three nights of music ever staged in County Clare. The opening night concert was broadcast in full by Clare FM, and RTÉ Radio One transmitted the second half. Built at a cost of €8.5m, glór was the largest investment in the Arts in County Clare. With two auditoria, seating 485 and 65 people respectively, glór hosts …