Tag Archives: Joe Carey

MAJOR works to prevent serious flooding in Ennis are now almost complete, OPW Minister Patrick O’Donovan has confirmed. Minister O’Donovan has revealed two of the major elements of the Ennis South Flood Relief Scheme, at St Flannan’s College and Ballybeg, are “substantially complete with only minor snagging remaining”. The minister has also accepted an invitation to visit Clare where he is set to explore a proposal to develop a greenway between Ennis and Clarecastle. He said flood works at Clareabbey suffered a delay in recent weeks “due to unforeseen difficult ground conditions”. These difficulties, the minister added, meant the original embankments proposal at Clareabbey had to be redesigned. However, he said this redesign has now been completed and that the additional works are “progressing more rapidly than initially expected” and have “largely been brought back into line with the original programme”. The minister was speaking in response to a parliamentary question from Clare TD Joe Carey. The minister also told …

CLARE TD Cathal Crowe has this morning said he is stunned at the Ryanair decision to close its Shannon base for the winter. “Last week Ryanair’s Eddie Wilson came before the Oireachtas Transport Committee demanding that Ireland fully adopt the EU ‘traffic light system’ for a safe return to international flying. It was understood that this would allow Ryanair to begin to more properly plan routes and schedules for the months ahead. “The ‘traffic light system’ and Ryanair’s major ask has been met; but now, within a few short hours, they are announcing this closure. They clearly intend to use the new EU protocols to fly the more lucrative routes in/out of Dublin, Stansted, but not Shannon and Cork,” concluded Deputy Crowe. Fine Gael’s Joe Carey said ““This is extremely disappointing news and yet another blow for Shannon Airport. Ryanair’s decision will result in job losses at Shannon Airport and will further reduce our connectivity as a region.”

A SIGNIFICANT allocation of funding to assist third level institutions to reopen and help end the digital divide will benefit students in Clare, Deputy Joe Carey has said.  Deputy Carey said the €168 million package will ensure third level institutions have the necessary tools to return to education in a safe manner and ensure all students can access remote learning. The Clare Fine Gael TD said: “Throughout the pandemic, further and higher education never closed. Even during the most restricted period of the pandemic, institutions and providers continued to provide education through emergency remote learning. “We need to support them now as students seek to return in September. This significant financial package for our third level institutions will assist with their safe re-opening.” Students will receive new supports, he added. “In addition, significant further supports are being put in place for students, including increasing student supports, access to mental health services and a new scheme aimed at helping students with …

The new Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, is “considering” a wide range of financial supports for Shannon Airport. Deputy Joe Carey, who is also the chair of the all-party Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group, raised the ongoing challenges facing the airport with Minister Ryan in the Dáil. The Clare TD also called for Shannon Heritage sites, including Bunratty Castle, Knappogue Castle, Craggaunowen, Dunguaire Castle and King John’s Castle to be provided with support to allow them to remain open for the whole year. Deputy Carey said: “These attractions bring people to Clare and the Mid-West. It is crazy and ridiculous that the Shannon Group would close these sites, especially when we are pushing the whole idea of staycations. “There is a major opportunity here: We simply need to embrace and support it. I appealed to the Minister to do precisely that.” Deputy Carey told Minister Ryan in the Dáil: “We need state aid now, and we need the Minister to roll …

WITH a range of challenges mounting for Clare, there was disappointment this week, as not only was the county denied a seat at the Cabinet table, there won’t even be a representative from the wider Mid-West Region. Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council Mary Howard said that while ability should be the first criteria, the lack of West of Ireland representation in the new Cabinet is striking. “The other night, when you looked at the map and there wasn’t a senior minister from Donegal down to Limerick, it wasn’t a nice thing to see. I’m hoping that the west of Ireland will have the majority of the junior ministries now. “It was glaring when you saw there was two ministers in Wicklow, three in Cork, six in Dublin and nothing at all from Donegal down to Limerick.” At the moment the Mid-West’s health services are a shambles, Shannon Airport seems to lurch from crisis to crisis, while there are fears that …

SHANNON Airport will receive €6.1 million in emergency funding in a boost to the airport as it prepares to reopen on a full-time basis next week, Clare TD Joe Carey confirmed this evening. The emergency funding was agreed at a Cabinet meeting in Dublin today. Deputy Carey, who recently convened the all-party Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group, confirmed Shannon is the only airport to benefit from this funding. The Clare TD said: “This is a hugely welcome development for Shannon Airport, especially in light of recent developments as a result of the pandemic. The airport faces significant challenges, and this funding will provide an important lifeline to Shannon as it prepares to reopen on a 24-hour basis from July 1.” Today’s announcement will come as welcome news as Shannon Airport prepares to resume scheduled passenger operations from next Wednesday. Deputy Carey added: “The return of passenger flights in and out of Shannon is obviously vital for the airport and all its …

Since the call for people to sign up to support the community response to Covid-19 in Clare went out in March, 386 people from across the county have registered to volunteer through the I-VOL app, Clare TD Joe Carey has said. Deputy Carey said: “Volunteers in Clare have been directly linked by the local Volunteer Centres to local organisations responding to Covid-19, conducting a wide range of very important work, from delivering food and medicines to older people who are self-isolating, to volunteering in Covid test centres. “There are also many more volunteers on the ground, helping out family, friends and neighbours. The response to the Covid crisis shows once again what a fantastic resource we have in our volunteers and the wonderful community spirit that prevails here in Clare even during these challenging times,” he stated. Deputy Carey added: “We have always depended greatly on the cohort of volunteers that give so generously of their time and energy year …

HEALTH Minister Simon Harris is coming under pressure to ease some of the Covid-19 restrictions in Clare following official confirmation the incidence of the virus is the second lowest in Munster. According to official figures, Waterford has the lowest number of confirmed cases in Munster on Wednesday with 138 compared to 229 in Clare, 288 in Kerry, 370 in Tipperary, 518 in Limerick and 1,126 in Cork. Even when population is taken into account, Clare has the second lowest incidence of Covid-19 per head in the province. As frustration grows over how many weeks Clare people will be forced to remain in a restrictive national lockdown, Deputy Michael McNamara has presented a strong case for the need to apply a different level of restrictions in different regions subject to public health guidance. New EU guidelines for the control of Covid-19 have proposed that national lockdowns could be replaced by targeted regional measures. However, the new EU guidelines also recommend that …