Tag Archives: cycle

HIS room in St Theresa’s Nursing Home, Kilrush is neatly dotted with photographs and postcards. The photos include local GAA teams and shots of Michael McMahon with his brother, Stephen, who has lived and worked in England for 50 years. Until he was robbed and abruptly left his dilapidated home in Cree six years ago, Michael lived without electricity or running water. He had to leave his front door permanently ajar. Otherwise, his house would fill with a dense smoke from the turf fire. He kept to himself and didn’t mix, not realising what he was missing out on. Now, he is certain that he could never return to that lifestyle. “I’d be dead in a week. The cold was immense. When I’d be going to bed, my fingers would be stiff with ice after handling the clothes on the bed. I’d have to go up to the fire to try and loosen them. I was looking at a bleak …

A SPOKE has been put in the wheel of plans to improve cycling and pedestrian facilities in Ennis, with claims that it will make the county capital less attractive for business and may even lead to job losses. Clare County Council has lodged part eight plans in relation to three Ennis Active Travel Town schemes at various locations and are currently inviting submissions from the public. The controversial plans are increasing concerns about how the proposals will effect businesses. Prominent Ennis businessman, Brian O’Neill, owner of the Rowan Tree, is objecting to proposals under the Clareabbey to Ballymaley section of the scheme, which involves the loss of nine parking spaces for the development of an “active travel amenity hub” close to his business. In a submission to the council, he voices his “full support” for the development of safe and defined cycling routes and amenities in Ennis and the county. However, Mr O’Neill argues that the plans “will negatively effect …

Coláiste Muire in Ennis will launch its ‘Fresh Air Friday’ initiative this Friday, as part of efforts to secure a Green-Schools Travel Flag. The Travel Flag encourages students, parents and teachers to walk, cycle, car-pool, Park N’ Stride or use public transport on the school run. Staff , as well as parents of students being driven to school, will be leaving the car at home or a distance away to participate in the initiative, which is being facilitated by An Taisce Green-Schools and supported by Clare County Council. Having saved 2,650,000 litres of water from 2011 to 2014 while working on the Green-Schools Water Flag, one of three Flags held by Coláiste Muire, the school is now working on securing the Travel Flag. “At present over 65% of their 860 pupils at Coláiste Muire are arriving to school in a car, so the school has taken on the Green-Schools Travel flag with great enthusiasm,” commented Róisín Garvey, travel education officer …

THE annual Tour De Munster charity cycle will see cyclists from across the province take to the roads in Clare on this Friday. While the route does not extend into the north of the county, Dysart’s Conrad McCullough is taking part in the event, which is raising money for Down Syndrome Ireland. The 23-year-old has Down Syndrome himself and loves cycling, so he will participate alongside the likes of Seán Kelly for the Clare leg of the event, when it leaves Killaloe on Friday. About 120 amateur cyclists will take off from the City Hall in Waterford on a 640km charity cycle around Munster over the course of four days from Thursday to Sunday. Conrad’s love of cycling came from his parents. He is a member of Burren Cycling Club with his mother, Breda and his father, Brendan. “We were always involved in sport and when Conrad was very young, he was always on a bike with his brother and …

HUNDREDS of cyclists will set off from Ennis this month for a very special fundraising event and to remember an avid member of a local cycling club, who died suddenly last year. This year’s Dolmen Challenge Tour is being dedicated to the memory of the late Seamus Mullane, a keen cyclist and member of Dolmen Cycle Club. The father-of-four was also known to many through his work with Aer Lingus in Shannon and, more recently, the court service in Ennis. As part of the cycle, the participants will pass the Mullane family home in Kilnaboy and will mark a minute’s remembrance at the nearby graveyard. The cycle will take place on April 27, leaving from the Woodstock Golf and Country Club on the Shanaway Road at 10am. As well as honouring the life of the late Mr Mullane, the event will also raise money for the valuable work of Doolin Search and Rescue. According to John Colleran of Dolmen Cycle …

THEY provide the sweat and gears – but it is up to you to provide the blood. Over five days from May 12 to May 16, a group of around 20 garda including Sergeant John Ryan and Chief Superintendent John Kerin, Ennis Garda Station will undertake a gruelling 1,000-kilometre cycle that will bring them to each one of the 26 counties. The Garda Blood4Life 2014 Cycle is a novel charity event. It’s not a fundraiser, instead, it aims to recruit blood donors and to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation in communities in every county. People are asked to pledge a unit of blood on the IBTS website www.giveblood.ie or call 021-4807400. Better still, attend a local clinic and turn your pledge into a donation. Last year, many of those who pledged a unit of blood, have since returned to give second and third donations.

THREE Clare men have been sentenced for their part in the robbery of a pensioner who left his home by bicycle following the ordeal and continues to live in a nursing home. Noel Garry, aged 20 of Cooraclare, was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to his involvement in a second robbery at 68 year old Michael McMahon’s home in West Clare. Mr Garry was described as the “most culpable of the three” involved in the case before Ennis Circuit Court this week. The Circuit Court was told that Mr McMahon cycled through the night from his home after it was targetted by around five criminals in two separate robberies on February 21 and 25, 2012 in which a total of between €7,000 and €8,000 was stolen. 21 year old Joseph Lernihan of Finnuremore Park, Mullagh, who admitted involvement in both robberies, was given a three year suspended sentence and ordered to pay the victim compensation of €3,790. 20 …