Tag Archives: Ennis

THE final litter survey of 2020 by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Ennis taking third place in the ranking of 37 towns and cities, behind Kilkenny, which took the crown for a record fifth time, and Killarney. For the first time in 13 years, fewer than half of the towns surveyed nationwide were deemed clean. The An Taisce report for Ennis stated, “A typically strong performance by Ennis has placed it among only 4 towns to be deemed Cleaner than European Norms. Eight out of the ten sites surveyed received the top litter grade. Only Gort Rd Business Park was heavily littered. Both O’Connell Street and Abbey Street were pedestrianised, creating an enhanced shopping environment. There were some vacant / closed down outlets on Abbey Street but there was no litter directly associated with them. Other top-ranking sites in Ennis included Tim Smythe Park, Ennis Friary and Ennis Recycle Centre – not only were they very good …

“NOT only are we frightened for our exams, but we are frightened for our lives, and the lives of those around us.” Those are the words of Ennis Leaving Certificate student Jake O’Loughlin who is pleading with the Taoiseach Mícheál Martin and the Minister for Education Norma Foley to listen to students’ worries about how Covid-19 will affect this year’s state examinations. The Gaelcholáiste an Chláir student believes that the government have up until now “been extremely hesitant to listen to the pleas of my fellow students” and he is calling for clarity on plans for the Leaving Cert this year. He says there is “intense worry” among students. He expresses appreciation to the Taoiseach and Minister for Education for “finally addressing the physical health of me, my fellow students and our families, by not forcing us to return to school on January 11”. However, he insists that the government needs to address the mental health of students immediately. “The …

A TEENAGE girl who has gone missing is believed to be in the Ennis area. 16 year old Teagan Ward has been missing since last week and was last seen in the Ballymena area of County Antrim. She is described as being approximately 5’2″, of slim to average build with light waist length brown hair with blonde highlights. Police in Northern Ireland and her family are said to be growing increasingly concerned for her welfare. She was last seen at approximately 2.15pm on Friday, January 15 in Ballymena wearing a dark grey Gym King tracksuit consisting of a crop jumper and jogging bottoms. PSNI Sergeant Michelle Adams has appealed to Teagan or anyone who knows of her whereabouts to contact police at Ballymena on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 871 15/01/21.

TWO ultra-fit Clare families will put their strength and stamina to the test on national television over the coming weeks in a bid to be crowned Ireland’s Fittest Family. The hit TV show, which already features Clare man and Wexford hurling boss, Davy Fitzgerald, will see the Kulczynski family from Ennis and the O’Halloran family from Newpark, Kilkishen go through extreme endurance challenges in settings from ski slopes to bogs. Over the course of the series, which started last Sunday on RTÉ One, a total of 16 families will be whittled down to four for a gruelling final contest, from which only one winning team can emerge. With highly impressive fitness credentials, the Kulczynski family are hotly tipped to stay in contention until the very end. Elite junior triathlete, Sabian has multiple national titles in triathlons, aquathons and duathlons and represents Ireland in competitions across Europe. He is a swimmer, mountain biker, road biker and used to run cross country. …

Confirmation last week that the re-arranged Olympic Games will go ahead in Tokyo this summer has provided a timely boost to Ennis swimmer Rory McEvoy, he spoke to Ronan Judge. 22-year-old Rory McEvoy is at the start of an intensive block of training at the Sports Ireland campus in Dublin as he bids to to book a place on the plane to Japan.  The postponed Irish Olympic Trials are just around the corner and after the uncertainty of the last 12 months, McEvoy is fully focused on the task at hand. After a welcome visit home to see family at Christmas, McEvoy is back in the pool with fellow members of Swim Ireland’s high performance unit as Olympic preparations step up a notch. “Since we came back last week, it’s full steam ahead for the next two weeks. I’m based in Dublin and training out of the Sports Ireland campus in Blanchardstown. We’re in the thick of one of the …

THE EuroMillions winner who bought their ticket in Ennis has made contact with the National Lottery, it has been confirmed. The identity of the €500,000 winner still remains a mystery with more details expected to be released once the claim is fully processed. According to the National Lottery, due to the current restrictions on non-essential travel, the Clare player will be claiming their prize via an approved process, receiving their €500,000 cheque by post. The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at The Paper Chase store in Ennis town centre. Store owner Sharon Casey has revealed that the EuroMillions top prize wasn’t the only big win for the lucky store in recent days. “We also had a winning ticket sharing the full house in Telly Bingo with a prize of €5,000 which is great. We are hoping for three in a row now, all we need is the jackpot.” She continued, “There’s been a lot of buzz since it was …

By Gordon Deegan A Lahinch surfer has saved an ‘exhausted’ sheep from drowning after the sheep had fallen off a cliff edge at the Clare seaside resort. Johnny Casey was out surfing waves at Lahinch at the southern end of the beach when he spotted the ‘marooned’ sheep in a little cave on a ledge at the cliffs. Mr Casey said today that with the tide coming in, there was a real fear that the sheep would drown and he went about rescuing the female sheep. Recalling the recent rescue effort for the ewe, Mr Casey – who celebrates his 30th birthday this weekend – stated that he saw the sheep was “standing there motionless on the ledge. She ended up there after falling down the cliff”. He stated: “I paddled in when I saw the sheep. I got one more wave and off I went. I went over to her and she was quite shaken.” Mr Casey then went to the family home …

ANYONE who picked up a EuroMillions ticket at Paper Chase in Ennis is being urged to check their numbers as they could be half a million euro richer. The National Lottery has confirmed the winning location for Tuesday night’s €500,000 EuroMillions Plus top prize win. The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold on December 29 at Paper Chase in Ennis town centre. The all-important winning numbers are: 01, 02, 06, 09 and 19. Paper Chase newsagents first opened its doors in Ennis in 1992 and owner, Sharon Casey started her career as a shop assistant when the store first opened before becoming manager and finally taking over the business in 2008. Celebrating her first big National Lottery win as the store’s owner, Sharon has now called on her customers to check their tickets to see if they have won this life-changing priz. “It’s absolutely incredible, we still cannot believe it! I got the call from the National Lottery late last night and …