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Tag Archives: Ireland

Royal departure from Shannon

PRINCE Charles departed Shannon Airport this morning following his and the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles’ visit to the West of Ireland expressing his delight with the two days. Boarding the jet for Belfast at Shannon, Prince Charles uttered three words that summed up his experience:  “special, very special,” he stated. On hand to greet Prince Charles before his departure were Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald, Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan, Shannon Group Chairman Rose Hynes, Shannon Group CEO Neil Pakey, Irish Ambassador to the UK Dan Mulhall and Clare County Council Deputy Mayor Joe Cooney. After speaking briefly with the royal couple ahead of their departure, Justice and Equality Minister Fitzgerald said that the visit had further strengthened relationships between Ireland and the UK.   “They said they really enjoyed their visit, both of them. The Duchess said they were very sad to leave. Prince Charles said there were a few more counties took visit and that he …

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Shannon airport

Chinese Prime Minister touches down at Shannon

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang touched down at Shannon Airport this afternoon, where he was met by Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Shannon Group officials. Speaking shortly after welcoming him, Mr Noonan said,”It’s a very important visit. The Chinese Prime Minister is on his way to an extensive visit of South America where he is visiting four countries. We’re very pleased that as part of that trip they decided to stop over in Ireland and I’m particularly pleased that the stop over is in Shannon. Premier Li is the second most powerful man in China, President Xi Jinping when he visited Ireland also came to Shannon and he concentrated on this part of the country. There’s no doubt for historic reasons they have a particular interest in the Shannon Region, in Clare and in the west of Ireland.” There was a significant Garda presence at Shannon as the Chinese Premier arrived and there will also be a major security operation …

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Irish house price increases top in EU

Ireland’s house prices were 16.3% higher in the last quarter of 2014 than in the last quarter of 2013, according to Eurostat estimates released today (Wednesday) This is the highest annual house price increase in the EU. The estimates also show that the rate at which Irish house prices increased over the year in 2014 was by far the fastest in the EU. However, the rate of increase slowed down as the year passed; from being up by 6.8% in Q2, then up by 6.2% in Q3, followed by a lower rate of increase of 3.8% for Q4. The year-on-year increase in Ireland is the largest among the EU Member States (for which data are available) for this period, and is followed by Malta (+11.0%), Sweden (+10.4%), Estonia (+10.1%) and the United Kingdom (+10.0%). The average house price increase in the EU for the same period was 2.6% in the EU, and 1.1% in the euro area. The largest falls …

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Odran calls time on 22-year club career

HAVING represented his club on the football fields of Clare for 22 years, Odran O’Dwyer is acclimatising to life on the sidelines. The self-employed Mullagh man made his debut as a Kilmurry Ibrickane senior selector in the side’s one-point Cusack Cup win over Lissycasey last week. A Kilmurry senior footballer since 1993, O’Dwyer retires from playing with seven senior championship medals in his pocket, accompanied by two Munster club and six Cusack Cup medals. He represented Clare at every level, while he also played for Ireland in 2003, when they travelled to take on Australia in the compromise rules series. O’Dwyer had six pins inserted in his shoulder, when he underwent shoulder reconstruction surgery recently, which will take several months to heal fully. “Time catches up with you and the legs get slower. There’s nothing you can do. I had said to the family that 2014 was my last year,” he told The Clare Champion this week. O’Dwyer cites 2004 …

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Eimear sets her sights on Rio

FOLLOWING confirmation at the weekend that she has been awarded a full-time contract with the Irish Rugby 7s side, 23-year-old Kilmihil girl, Eimear Considine, has taken a step closer to participating in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. An Irish and PE teacher in Glasnevin, Considine has been playing senior football for Clare since she was 16 and has also represented the county senior camogie team for several years. “You’d never even imagine, that you might be in the Olympics,” she told The Clare Champion this week. Considine had not played rugby before and, incredibly, she was approached to try out via a message on LinkedIn, which she almost missed completely. “I have never played rugby. I’d heard of a lot of people who have transferred over to it and I always wanted to try it but I didn’t know how to go about it. I got a message on LinkedIn, which I only joined because we were …

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US frequently brought arms through Shannon, court hears

GUNS have routinely been carried through Shannon by the US military, it was claimed at Tuesday’s hearing into a case against TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly. Also at the hearing a former Irish army officer warned that missiles brought through the airport on one occasion could have resulted in it being blown up, along with much of the neighbouring industiral estate. Deputy Mick Wallace of Clontarf Road, Dublin 3 and Clare Daly of Elmwood Drive, Swords, Dublin are both accused of climbing a perimeter fence at Shannon Airport and entering a part of the airport to which they were not permitted on July 22 of last year, contrary to the Airport Byelaws of 1994.                 While the case is being contested neither have denied that they did enter restricted parts of the airport by climbing a fence, indeed at one point in Tuesday’s sitting Mr Wallace jokingly asked for the return of …

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Varley calls time on rugby career

An injury to his left foot during a training session in July 2013 has finally caught up with Munster’s Damien Varley. The 31-year-old hooker has three caps for Ireland and made 121 appearances for the province, scoring 12 tries. Damien, who lives near Killaloe, has only made one substitute appearance for the province this season in the victory over Leinster in October. He underwent surgery three months ago on the injury but has decided to retire after exhausting all possible avenues to a return. He played club rugby with Garryowen before joining the Munster set-up. He joined London Wasps in 2008 but returned to Munster the following year and shared in some of the provinces greatest moments. He started in Munster’s historic win over Australia in Thomond Park in November 2010 and was the starting hooker in the province’s Magners League winning Grand Final against Leinster in May 2011. Varley first represented Ireland against Australia in June 2010, and his …

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Michael Waugh pictured at his grandmother's house near Barefield. Photograph by Arthur Ellis.

US Tour Company seeks to expand in Clare

ALTHOUGH born and bred in The Bronx, New York, Michael Waugh feels a deep attachment to his late grandmothers home in Trinaderry, Barefield. In practical terms he is using his emotional link to Clare to help further develop US based Wild West Irish Tours which he operates with his wife Trish. Now living in Richmond, Virginia, Michael called Sligo home for five years but is hoping to spend a sizeable portion of 2015 in Clare in the company of his various tour groups. “We have tours from April right up to November 1. Around this time of the year I’m normally over in the US promoting our tours and going to Irish festivals. Then around April 1, I’ll be in Ireland and the tours start. We’ll pick up the people, who signed up over the winter, at Shannon or Dublin. Then we show them the real, authentic Ireland that I know from living here. The thing is while I do …

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