Tag Archives: Covid-19

LIMITS on the number of passengers who can safely use public transport could have implications for the ability of Clare Bus to tender for nine local transport routes. Earlier this month, the National Transport Authority (NTA) sought Expressions of Interest for the routes, which had been operated by Clare Bus until the end of March. Due to a funding dispute, the Feakle-based accessible transport service lost a total of 12 routes and is hopeful of being able to tender again for nine of them. The chairperson of Clare Accessible Transport (CAT), which trades as Clare Bus, told The Champion the board would have to examine the tender documents in detail before making an application. “We have expressed our interest and the next step is that the NTA will issue nine individual tender calls,” he said. “We expect to receive those this week, but until we look at them, we don’t know exactly what will be required. Once the management team …

THE plight of childcare providers coping with insurance issues and increased regulation, as they get set to re-open, was highlighted this week by Deputy Michael McNamara, Chair of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. The Scariff-based TD handed over the role of chair for part of last Tuesday’s hearings so that he could pose questions to sector representatives. He noted that in Clare, many childcare providers with whom he spoke during his General Election campaign flagged “huge difficulties” because of the burden of costs and administration. Deputy McNamara asserted that this was “primarily because of the Department and its policies”. On the issue of increased red-tape for the sector, the Independent TD said providers in Clare had spoken of spending long hours on paperwork. He was responding to testimony from Paula Donohoe of the Association of Childhood Professionals, who had been forced to work full-time on administration. “My favourite part of the day was the three hours I spent in the …

RYANAIR will resume 16 services at Shannon Airport from July 1, as the airport reopens to passengers. While the airport remained open for essential services to facilitate cargo, repatriation and emergency flights during the COVID-19 crisis, scheduled passenger services were suspended since the onset of the pandemic. Ryanair is due to recommence services from Shannon Airport from July 1 to Alicante, Barcelona-Reus, Faro, Fuerteventura, Kaunas, Krakow, Lanzarote, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Malaga, Manchester, Palma, Tenerife, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Vienna. Commenting on the new measures being taken at the airport, a spokesperson for Shannon Group said: “The health and safety of our passengers and employees is our number one priority. We have remained open throughout the pandemic, facilitating the arrival into Ireland of vital PPE equipment and were proud to do so. Preparations are now underway to ensure that our passengers returning to Shannon Airport can feel confident with the COVID-19 measures we have put in place throughout the airport. “We are aiming …

AS it stands now, Peter Walsh, principal of St Conaire’s National School in Shannon, expects that he will be welcoming children back to school in September and to be making plans for the return quite soon. “At the moment, we are watching for guidelines from the Department of Education and Skills. They have said that they are going to issue guidelines sometimes towards the third week of June. We’re talking to each other, watching the unions to see what they say and the INTO have published a very good piece on it. Locally, we’re watching and we’re doing a deep clean at the moment. We’ve invested in a lot of sanitisers for the entrances and we’re talking to staff as well.” At the moment, it is a little early to do very much, as any measures could be overtaken by events and what the guidelines will ultimately say. St Conaire’s is one of the larger national schools in Clare and …

Concern has been expressed about the scale of a €30 million overdraft for Clare County Council, which was approved at a recent local authority meeting. This comes as the council has to deal with a potential deficit of €19.7 million as a result of the collapse of economic activity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Having raised questions about the financial impact of Covid-19 on the local authority’s income, Councillor Pat Hayes said the size of this overdraft showed how the authority’s finances are under serious threat. Councillor Hayes is concerned the council will lose a lot of income as a result of the lockdown from commercial rates, the Cliffs of Moher and parking, which should result in equivalent funding from the government to prevent cutbacks. He said continuing with a €30 million overdraft over the coming years is not sustainable on an ongoing basis without additional government financial support. “There is a major headache for local authorities in the future in …

A CLARE-born Capuchin priest has produced a series of on-line reflections with messages of support and hope in challenging times. Fr Flann Lynch is a native of Quin and celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his priesthood earlier this month. A member of the Capuchin community, he spent much of his life in ministry overseas and worked with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, before returning to Ireland where he now lives at the Ards Friary in Creeslough, County Donegal. Inspired by the difficulties of the lockdown and ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Fr Lynch has most recently created a meditation for those experiencing grief. “I’ve called it ‘Grief, A Stepping Stone’ and it’s a response to the huge amount of suffering that is in the country at this time,” Fr Lynch said. “We have had a situation where people haven’t been able to be present at the death of loved ones, or to attend funerals in some cases. People have been telling their stories …

Although born and raised in Connecticut, Dr Brian P. Monahan, the physician who recommended the measures to be implemented in Capitol Hill, the seat of the US Government, in the battle to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, has family ties firmly embedded in West Clare. Both his parents emigrated from Clare in the mid 1950s, his mother Mary (Troy) from Doonaha West and his father Martin from Glaunagonee in Lissycasey. Although less that 40 miles separate both villages, the couple actually travelled half way round the world before meeting up, getting married and setting up home in the States. A 59 year-old Navy rear admiral and the attending physician of Congress, Dr Monahan was described as the calm and professional voice of reason during the pandemic. He is known in the halls of the Capitol as much for his meticulous attention to medical detail as he is for his efforts to stay completely out of politics. His first …

Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe has expressed alarm at today’s (Friday) announcement by Aer Lingus that 500 jobs are to go at the airline. The flag carrier has blamed the global halt in air traffic due to COVID-19 on the move and Deputy Crowe is seriously concerned for workers at Shannon Airport. In a statement to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Aer Lingus outlined plans for redundancies for these workers, pointing to the fact that they are operating at less than 5% their usual capacity. “Management at Aer Lingus has been cavalier with Shannon staff,” Deputy Crowe said. “Unions haven’t been given sufficient time to engage with the workers here and to date, no acknowledgement has been made of the fact that many of the Shannon-based staff rank higher in seniority than their counterparts in Cork and Dublin. “The process appears not to be ‘last in, first out’, but rather a targeting of Shannon-based staff. “My …