Tag Archives: Ennis

AN Ennis GAA club have started their own YouTube channel as well as launching a search for their greatest hurling team of all time. With matches on hold due to Covid-19 Éire Óg Inis have set up Townie TV featuring videos of old matches to be viewed online. According to a spokesperson for Éire Óg the YouTube channel has been developed “in a bid to provide alternative methods of getting our match fix in during the current restrictions”. Some videos of old games have been provided by Eddie Lough and converted to digital by Gerry and Oran Cahill. “It’s an arduous process and all efforts are greatly appreciated.” Among the matches featured on the channel are the 1989 junior hurling final against Kilnamona and also the 1990 senior Munster hurling final against Patrickswel. Members of of the club with recordings of games they would like to share on the channel are asked to contact the committee. The club have also …

CLARE has been ranked fifth highest of Irish counties most exposed to “significant economic disruption” caused by the Covid-19 outbreak with more than half of the commercial units in the county likely to be affected. Cooraclare economist John Daly has conducted a study for the three Regional Assemblies of Ireland which found 50.5% of Clare’s commercial units were operating in sectors likely to be worst affected by Covid-19. This represents just over 2,500 businesses in Clare. The analysis found that 51% of units in Newmarket-on-Fergus were at risk, 47.7% in Ennis, 43.8% Kilrush, 42.6% Sixmilebridge and 32.6% in Shannon. Coastal and rural counties are more likely to be exposed due to their reliance on commercial units that generally require human interaction and cannot be operated remotely, the study outlines. The GeoDirectory commercial database has been used in identifying each area’s reliance on sectors likely to be affected by measures designed to curtail the spread of Covid-19. Sectors determined as likely …

The National Lottery has revealed that the winning ticket for Saturday’s Lotto jackpot worth over €4,041,306 was sold in a town in the wider Ennis region. It was also confirmed that the winning ticketholder has yet to make contact so the National Lottery is still urging people in Clare to check their Lotto tickets very carefully to see if they are Ireland’s newest multi-millionaire. A National Lottery spokesperson said it will announce the name of the winning store tomorrow and said: “We can reveal that this winning ticket worth more than €4 million was sold in a town in the wider Ennis region and we will announce the lucky store which sold this ticket tomorrow. While there will no doubt be a lot of excitement for the entire community in this town, we are urging everybody to continue to heed the advice of Government and the HSE and maintain social distancing and not to make any unnecessary visits to the …

A NEW survey carried out by Ennis Chamber of Commerce has provided a localised view of how businesses across Clare have been impacted by COVID-19. The COVID-19 Business Survey, conducted in conjunction with Clare FM, also gauges reaction to the suggestion that the town centre be pedestrianised to facilitate social distancing. Ennis Chamber CEO, Margaret O’Brien said the response reveals just how stressed and anxious business owners are. “Although we now have a government roadmap for reopening our economy,” she said, “the level of uncertainty evident from the responses by business owners in County Clare, suggests that those fears, rooted in uncertainty, are set to continue. Shops, cafés, pubs, hotels, hairdressers and beauticians now know when they can open, but that knowledge does little to quell the fear that co-existing with COVID-19 restrictions could mean trading to break even, as opposed to turning a profit.” The strongest sectoral response to the survey, came from retail, representing 42% of all respondents, with hospitality and tourism accounting …

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 …