Tag Archives: Ennis

EVEN as the country continues in lockdown, new babies are arriving into the world every single day and their parents are doing their best in very unusual circumstances. Kilrush-man Charlie Glynn became a father when his wife Dee gave birth to Ida Mae on April 11. They have a base in Dublin, where their daughter was born, and the slowdown in the economy allowed Charlie the opportunity to spend more time there ahead of Ida’s arrival. “It’s been a learning curve, the last couple of weeks. Our company, Glynn Technical Diamonds, we were on a bit of a go-slow for the last couple of weeks before Ida was born. It allowed me an opportunity to work from home in Dublin before Ida’s birth, so I suppose you take the good and bad from the Covid-19 scenario. We’re getting there. We’re nearly three weeks into it and we’re getting there. Everybody is safe and well, that’s the main thing.” Unfortunately, he …

ITS doors may be closed, but glór has been doing its bit to meet the challenges of Covid-19 by bringing people together – from the safety of their own homes. Director of the Ennis arts venue Orla Flanagan believes that shared experiences are an important way of bringing light into these uncertain times. With that in mind, the venue has launched glór sa Bhaile a new series of premier performances, bringing Clare’s finest artists direct from their homes to yours every Thursday evening at 8pm. Steo Wall and Jacinta Sheerin have already featured live from their home in Ennistymon with Katie Theasby set to feature this week. Orla explains, “We wanted to create something unique to glór, where essentially by providing this platform for artists, we could pay them and support them in this particularly challenging time, whilst also importantly connecting with our great and loyal audiences in Clare and beyond, to promote the wonderful talent we have on our …

THE national Tidy Towns competitions may be cancelled, but that hasn’t stopped the dedicated band of volunteers who have been keeping Ennis looking its best all year round. Just one of a number of initiatives underway locally has seen Ennis Tidy Towns join forces with the little ninjas of Ennis Coderdojo, asking them to develop Tidy Towns themed games and apps. The local Tidy Towns committee are looking forward to adjudicating what the youngsters come up with later this month. “If we don’t have actual Tidy Towns, we have virtual Tidy Towns,” smiles chairman of Ennis Tidy Towns Cormac McCarthy. He admits that there was disappointment in the community when it was announced this year’s contest would not be going ahead. The Ennis team, who have been hugely successful in the national contest, put in a “very strong submission” this year having worked right through the year. However, Cormac believes it was the right decision given the current Covid-19 crisis. …

THE personalised, customer-focused shopping experience that has become synonymous with the town of Ennis is still continuing despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic has resulted in retail closures throughout the county, with businesses increasingly focusing their efforts online in a bid to meet these new unprecedented challenges. The last few weeks have highlighted the importance of having an online shopping presence, according to Gwen Culligan of the County Boutique in Ennis. While Patrick Burke’s is set to launch a personal shopping service utilising popular apps so people can purchase while still maintaining social distancing. The County Boutique launched its website last year allowing people to buy the latest looks from the comfort of their own home. Gwen tells us they were “incredibly lucky” to already be online when the Covid-19 restrictions were introduced. “We’re selling every day at the moment. I had been spending some time over the last few months putting things on the site, but I’ve been …

ZIMMER Biomet Shannon and Galway delivered much needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Rehabilitation Unit at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis recently. The Rehabilitation Unit in St Joseph’s provides a multi-disciplinary in-patient service to older people who have experienced deterioration in function following recent illness or surgery. PPE is necessary to help protect residents and staff from COVID-19 and Zimmer Biomet are delighted make this donation in light of national PPE shortages. It is understood about 5,000 items of PPE were donated including shoe covers, masks, googles, visors, protective gowns and other equipment. A Mid-West HSE spokesman said the health authority are are delighted to receive donations of PPE, which is used in accordance with Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C) standards, protecting both the residents and the staff. Asked how long this PEE will last for staff and residents in St Joseph’s, the HSE outlined PPE is used according to National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) guidelines, some of …

The railine between Limerick and Ennis reopened from first service this Tuesday morning. The line had been closed since late February due to flooding at Ballycar in Newmarket-on-Fergus.  Iarnród Éireann is advising customers that due to Covid-19 a revised timetable is in place and only essential travel is permitted. For those who must travel, they should check www.irishrail.ie before travelling for times. The railway track at Ballycar Lough has flooded on a number of occasions in recent years. This flooding has led to temporary closures of the railway line for extended periods of up to 20 weeks at a time, although this closure was not as prolonged. Flood waters rose to a maximum height of 1.6 metre above the railway track during some flood events, despite works, which saw Iarnród Éireann  raise the track level by 60 centimetres at Ballycar in 2003 to mitigate against the effects of flooding. This time flood waters reached 1metre above the track. Work is ongoing on …

A 17 year old boy reported as missing in Ennis last week has been found safe and well gardai have confirmed. An appeal had been launched for information on the whereabouts of Daniel Ohiku who had been last seen on April 18. A garda spokesperson stated, “Daniel Ohiku, 17 years, missing from Ennis, Co Clare has been located safe and well. We would like to thank the media and the public for their assistance.”

AN Ennis man who has been soldiering on with the compilation of a history of the Old Military Barracks is making a final appeal for information to be included in the publication. William Crowley has been working on the publication since 2016 and it is hoped to be complete later this summer. He has already been inundated with information, as people from all over the world have got in touch with stories about growing up in the area on the Kilrush Road. With the book now nearing completion, William is putting out a last call to anyone who may have photographs, stories or any information they would like to see included in the publication. “I’ve got a good bit of detail over the last few years and I’m just putting the last details together. At this stage I wanted to make a final push for those who may have been sitting on the fence about getting involved to get in …