Tag Archives: Meelick

FOLLOWING a series of false dawns, it looks like works are finally on track to replace a 40-year-old sewerage treatment plant in South-East Clare that is causing foul odours for local residents. Householders in Ballycannon Heights, Meelick, have campaigned for years to get Clare County Council, and in more recent years Irish Water, to replace a waste water treatment plant that is no longer fit for purpose. Responding to Clare Champion queries, Irish Water confirmed land acquisition for this project is underway and it is expected that a CPO will be submitted in the coming weeks. “The construction start date will be subject to the completion of this process and planning approval,” said an Irish Water spokesman. Fianna Fáil TD for Clare Cathal Crowe is insisting that works to put in place a proper wastewater treatment plant for Ballycannon Heights should be separated from the ongoing Limerick Northern Distributor Road project. Temporary infrastructure was put in place back in the …

A MEELICK family’s dazzling light show which brought festive cheer to the community has raised €3,300 for charity. Childline has extended a huge thanks to the Hunt family and the wider community of Meelick and beyond for the role they have played in helping to keep its active listening service available to every child and young person in Clare, Limerick and across Ireland. The Hunt family’s spectacular light show ran at their Meelick home for the second year over the Christmas period, with its dazzling colourful lights and crisp music sequences attracting interest and intrigue from near and far. (See Champion story with video here) An 18 foot mega tree, eight mini trees, candy canes and an animated singing Christmas tree were just some of the magical lights which the Hunt family used to festoon their home at the festive period, providing a real treat for the senses to all who visited. The innovative hosts once again generously harnessed the …

THE notorious Brennan’s Cross in Meelick is an “accident waiting to happen”, a local Dáil Deputy has claimed. Deputy Joe Carey has called on Clare County Council to realign Brennan’s Cross in the interest of road safety as well as providing public lighting, footpaths and infrastructure from the Knockalisheen Centre back into Meelick. The Fine Gael Deputy has made representations to the council for road improvement works in Meelick following a recent visit to the area with Councillor John Crowe. Several residents had been in touch with Deputy Carey in relation to the dangers posed to pedestrians, cyclist and motorist using both Brennan’s Cross and the Knockalisheen Road. Deputy Carey warned these issues will be exacerbated when the new road linking Coonagh to the Knockalisheen Road, which is currently under construction as part of Phase One of the Limerick Northern Distributor Road, is open to traffic. “It’s my understanding that a section of the Knockalisheen Road is planned to close …

THE centenary of the Glenwood Ambush will be celebrated on Sunday next (October 31). Proceedings will begin with a centenary mass in Kilkishen church at 1pm and this will be followed with the unveiling of a Sculptured Plaque at the ambush memorial site in Glenwood immediately after the Mass at around 2.15pm. Free bus transport will be provided from the church to Glenwood directly after mass. A Glenwood Centenary Book will also launched. This 150-page publication will provide detailed accounts of the ambush by different people and including the reprisals by British forces in its aftermath. The plan is to have it on sale over the weekend, after masses, and at the commemorative event in Glenwood The ambush marks the 100th year since the ambush in January of 1921. Because of the lockdown at the start of this year, ceremonies were deferred. Sunday’s events will mark the incident in which a motorised patrol of ten armed Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) …

RESIDENTS of a Clare community will hope foul smells from outdated sewerage works will soon be just a bad memory. Final site investigation works were undertaken by Irish Water, working with Clare County Council, as part of the planned upgrade to the existing wastewater infrastructure in Ballycannon, Meelick, last week. Local residents have been forced to endure foul smells from the existing sewage treatment plant for decades. This project will ensure that there is adequate treatment of wastewater, for now and into the future, as well as protecting human health and safeguarding the environment. There are plans to construct a new sewage pumping station, replacing the existing wastewater treatment infrastructure. A new sewer will also be constructed to transfer the sewerage flows from Ballycannon to the existing Wastewater Treatment Plant in Limerick City. These works will be subject to statutory requirements such as planning permission, land acquisition, appropriate assessment and road opening licences. In a statement issued to the Clare …

CONCERN about the high turnover of staff in a Meelick nursing home has been expressed by a health watchdog. Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) found Ennis Road Care Facility (ERCF) was non-compliant with four standards: records, governance and management, fire precautions, as well as training and staff development following a recent inspection. The long-stay residential facility was compliant with standards on persons in charge, staffing, statement of purpose, notification of incidents, complaints’ procedure, visits, personal possessions, end of life, premises and food and nutrition. Eight breaches of national health regulations were detected following a previous unannounced inspection last September. The latest inspection report related to an unannounced risk-based inspection undertaken on February 25 to follow up on previous inspection findings in 2020, all of which had identified issues with the governance and management of the service. This had resulted in the chief inspection reducing the number of beds registered from 84 to 45 to allow for …

RECENTLY planted trees at a Clare burial grounds have been vandalised. The trees were destroyed at Ballycannon burial grounds in Meelick with their tops cut off and leaving behind only short pieces of trunk. Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks is urging anybody who witnessed this destruction to contact their local garda station. She explained, “Last summer, at the request of concerned members of the local community, the burial grounds unit engaged a tree surgeon to carry out an appraisal of high and mature elm trees on the approach avenue to Ballycannon Burial ground in Meelick. “It was recommended to fell the elm trees as they posed a hazard to adjoining houses. This area was replanted using immature low growing Irish ash over a dozen of which were replanted by Clare County Council. “Last Thursday the Burial Grounds Unit of Clare County Council found that all these trees had been destroyed by cutting the tops off them leaving approximately …

AN increase in traffic volumes in the vicinity of both the Ennis and Meelick Centres is expected over the coming weeks. People attending for their vaccination are advised that they should only attend within five or 10 minutes of their appointment time. Gardaí have advised that at the Ennis Centre, once the numbers attending increase there will be no right turns into the hotel site. People coming from the Ennis side will need to continue past the hotel to the next roundabout and then enter the site with a left hand turn. There will also be no right turn out of the Abbey Court / Abbey Ville estates,and people exiting from this development will need to go left down to the roundabout and then continue. Sergeant Triona Brooks, Crime Prevention Officer said, “At the  Meelick Centre as the traffic volumes to the Vaccination Centre will probably affect the normal flow of traffic at the roundabout close to the Radisson, people …