Tag Archives: Limerick

THE eighth nationwide Adult Learners’ Festival will take place from Monday next to Saturday, March 1.  Shannon Adult Learning Centre, part of the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board has a full week planned of activities and workshops in the centre itself and throughout Shannon to suit everybody. It is open to everybody to get involved  and the organisers are encouraging people to avail of this opportunity to learn about how the organisation serves the community.  For further details visit www.aontas.com / www.clarelearningnetw

KILBAHA woman Yvonne McNamara has been keeping a relentless eye on recent weather forecasts as the orange alerts mount up. She has particular reason to. Yvonne and her husband, Fergal are due their third child come the end of February. However, before they drive 70 miles to Limerick they first have to negotiate the leaving of Kilbaha. An 80 metre stretch of the main road in the village remains closed, although Clare County Council is due to start remedial work on Monday. On top of that the McNamaras live in Fodra, which is west of Kilbaha. The beach there regularly spits stones onto the access road, sometimes making it impassable. “It’s Peig Sayers time really,” Yvonne laughed. “You’d think you wouldn’t have to be thinking of that as well as the difficulty of being so far from Limerick. You’re going 70 miles from here as it is. It’s an added headache you don’t really need,” she said, as the wind …

THE railway line between Limerick and Ennis will remain closed for six weeks, and potentially longer, due to flooding on the line at Ballycar. Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail advised on Tuesday that instead bus transfers will operate between Limerick and Ennis, also serving Sixmilebridge, for the duration of the closure. Buses will depart all stations at the scheduled train time. Train services will, however, continue to operate as normal between Ennis and Galway. The line has flooded following a significant increase in water levels at Ballycar Lough due to the recent sustained heavy rainfall, and the slow draining nature of the karst landscape in the area. Should the recent rainfall patterns persist, this will extend significantly the duration of the closure of the rail line. according to Iarnród Éireann. Iarnród Éireann raised the track level by 60 centimetres at Ballycar in 2003 to mitigate against the effects of flooding. However, the current flood levels are at least 50 centimetres over …

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed that additional funding will be made available to deal with the aftermath of flooding due to the Catherine and Bridget storms. Speaking in Limerick this Monday afternoon, where he viewed flood damage,  he said he expected that the scale of devastation caused in recent weeks would mean that more money would be needed from central Government. Mr Noonan said the funding would come from the national budget and that the amounts required would be affordable in the overall national context. Individual local authorities are estimating the cost of damage and then when the overall Minister of State for the Office of Public Works Brian Hayes said a full assessment of the damage in western counties in January was due this week and a memo would be brought before a Cabinet meeting next week.

LIMERICK City Council is inviting members of the public to have their say on a proposal to rename two of the city’s landmark locations in honour of  Brian Boru and John F Kennedy. The council  wants to gauge public opinion on the renaming of The Shannon Bridge as ‘John Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge’ and the area at Merchant’s Quay in the vicinity of Limerick City Hall and St Mary’s Cathedral, as ‘Brian Boru Square’. JFK, who had close ancestral ties with Limerick, was honoured as a Freeman of Limerick, which he visited during his 1963 trip to Ireland. 2014 marks the 1000th anniversary of Brian Boru’s death following his victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf. The High King of Ireland was also born on the banks of the River Shannon at  Killaloe, a short distance from Limerick.

LEADING Clare artist and academic, Mike Fitzpatrick is taking charge of the City of Culture festival in Limerick on an interim basis following the resignations of its chief executive, Patricia Ryan, and artistic director Karl Wallace. The board of the Limerick National City of Culture 2014 confirmed at press conference today that Mike Fitzpatrick, from the Limerick School of Art and Design, is taking over both positions temporarily pending permanent appointments. In a statement by the board issued today they said “departing CEO, Patricia Ryan, will facilitate a smooth handover to the Interim Head of City of Culture. “At the end of this interim position, Mike Fitzpatrick will take up a non-executive role on the board of Limerick National City of Culture 2014 when he resumes his post as Head of Limerick School of Art & Design. “The board wishes to confirm its decision of Friday last to broaden its membership. This will include the nomination of three directors representing …

LIMERICK  City Museum and Archives (LCMA) is to host a major photographic exhibition featuring rare images of South East Clare and Limerick City, dating back to the early 20th century. “The Street” exhibition, comprising of photographs from The Haselbeck Collection, will be launched at Limerick City Hall on Monday, January 13 by Mayor of Limerick Kathleen Leddin and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan. Franz S. Haselbeck worked as a professional photographer in the Mid-West from 1912 until his death in 1973. He cycled all over Limerick City and throughout South East  Clare to photograph the important events of his time, including the War of Independence and major construction projects, as well as everyday events. Today, The Haselbeck Collection is regarded as one of the most important collections of 20th century Ireland. Some of the earliest photographs featured in the exhibition relate to the Irish Volunteers and the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1913 and 1914 at a time …

By Seamus Hayes The GAA season just keeps getting better for Clare. In a year in which two All-Ireland hurling titles were captured, the county champions in hurling and football are now making their mark in Provincial competition. Sixmilebridge travelled to Pairc Ui Caoimh on Sunday where they proved too strong for their Cork counterparts Midleton. A four point win has sent the Clare champions through to the Munster finalwhere they will face Na Piarsaigh from Limerick on Sunday next in Cusack Park at 2p.m. Adding spice to the final is the fact that former Sixmilebridge captain Sean Stack is manager of the Limerick champions. While the Bridge were maintaining Clare’s dominance over Cork, their neighbours from Cratloe were making their own history. On Saturday they won their first ever Clare senior football title when they defeated Doonbeg who top the roll of honour in the Clare senior championship. Twenty four hours after their 0-10 to 0-7 win over the …