Tag Archives: O’Briensbridge

The long running boil water notice for O’Brien’s Bridge has been removed this afternoon by Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann have confirmed that, following consultation with the Health Service Executive, customers can now resume normal use of the public water supply. The notice, which was issued eight weeks ago on August 25, was put in place to protect the health of customers due to an issue with disinfection at the water treatment plant. “Uisce Éireann’s primary focus remains the protection of public health and we worked with our stakeholders to lift the notice as quickly as possible. We are grateful to customers, elected representatives and the media for their assistance in sharing information on the boil water notice in recent weeks,” said Darragh Conneely of Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann is responsible for delivering public drinking water and wastewater services for the people of Ireland. We are committed to enabling communities to thrive by continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support …

Uisce Éireann is still unable to give a projected timeframe for when boil notices affecting the public water supply in Killaloe and O’Brien’s Bridge will be lifted. Frustration is growing in O’Brien’s Bridge where a boil notice was announced on August 25 and in Killaloe where it was applied on September 17. Local residents are still being advised to boil before preparing food, baby formula, drinking water or brushing their teeth. “We would like to assure customers supplied by the Killaloe Public Water Supply that we are working to lift the notice as quickly as possible,” said Darragh Conneely, Uisce Éireann’s Drinking Water Assets lead for Clare. “We are upgrading our chlorine systems and alarms at the water treatment plant. This will provide the plant with greater robustness and safeguard supply. We are also carrying water sample analysis in the network. “We appreciate the impact this is having on the community and we thank them for their patience as we …

A former first citizen has criticised the government decision to establish Uisce Éireann due to the lack of information for householders in two neighbouring communities in South-East Clare who are subject to a boil notice. Almost 1,000 consumers in O’Brien’s Bridge and Bridgetown are affected by a boil notice, which was issued on August 25. Last Friday, almost 1,800 residents in Killaloe, which is in the same parish as O’Brien’s Bridge for GAA purposes, were hit by a similar notice. Councillor Tony O’Brien (FF) has claimed public representatives and consumers received a better service when Clare County Council was managing the public water supply, before this function was taken over by Irish Water, now Uisce Éireann. In an email to Uisce Éireann on Tuesday, Councillor O’Brien stated he was inundated with queries regarding the boil notices issued to consumers in the O’Brien’s Bridge and Killaloe public water supply. “In the case of the O Brien’s Bridge supply the boil notice …

WOODEN replicas of Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer will provide a financial boost to two charities this Christmas, thanks to the efforts of an O’Briensbridge duo. Former O’Briensbridge community group chairman, Jack Byrnes has been busy making wooden Christmas reindeer for charity from his workshop at the rear of his home with the help of young Mark Ryan. They are planning to make 50 wooden reindeer, which are ready to be distributed to people who ordered them. Up to €1,000 will be raised for Focus Ireland and the Clare Ground Search and Rescue team. Focus Ireland is a housing and homelessness charity working to prevent people becoming, remaining or returning to homelessness through the provision of quality services, supported housing, research and advocacy. Jack makes the reindeer, while his ten-year-old helper from Ardnataggle, O’Briensbridge does the polishing, painting and nails the eyes in place. Jack explained that Mark does all the work he can do safely but the plan is he …

COMMUNITY workers in O’Briensbridge have held an official reopening of a popular National Looped Walk to showcase the hard work that has transformed the walkway. A few months ago, the two kilometre walkway from the playground in O’Briensbridge had become so overgrown the gap between both sides had reduced down to about 12 inches in some places. Scrub, briars and branches of trees were making it extremely difficult for two people to walk side by side, particularly any adult with a child buggy. However, now the gap on this walkway is about five foot wide, which provides pedestrians with great comfort as they enjoy the splendid view of the River Shannon. On Friday, the tape was cut by Pat Murtagh, a brother of the late community activist and former Community Group chairman, Mick Murtagh, who spearheaded the initial development work on the walkway. Speaking to the Clare Champion, Pat said he is delighted to see this walkway has been made …

EFFORTS are being made to ease congestion caused by traffic accessing popular water-based activities at Bruach na Sionna in O’Briensbridge. The issue was raised by Councillor Tony O’Brien at the Killaloe Municipal District meeting, when he asked for action to be taken. “€200,000 has been allocated for water-based activities which is welcome,” he said. “At the moment, there are parking issues in the area, especially for households on the lower side of the bridge who have difficulties getting out onto the road. It’s great to see the action on the water but the residents are being discommoded and that’s the last thing we want. There is a carpark there and we need more people to be using that. I would be hopeful that with dialogue between Waterways Ireland and other stakeholders, there will be a solution in the near future.” Seconding the motion, Councillor Joe Cooney said that he had also been contacted by people experiencing difficulties getting in and …

Gardaí have seized almost half a million euro worth of drugs following two searches carried out in Meelick and O’Briensbridge on Tuesday night. The controlled substance has yet to be analysed but is believed to be heroin. The seizure was made by garda in Limerick and Clare arising from an ongoing operation into the sale and supply of controlled substances in the Limerick Division and in neighbouring counties. One man has been arrested and is currently being detained at Roxboro Road Garda Station in Limerick under drug trafficking legislation. He can be held for questioning without charge for up to a week.

THE ripple effect in a weir near O’Briensbridge provided the inspiration for a local video games developer to make his debut as a writer and director for a new psychological horror short, his 11-minute film, Ensnared. It took Paddy Murphy just 20 minutes to write the script for this unusual short, which sees the lead role, John Galloway, played by Kevin Kiely Junior, on a descent into madness, as he battles with the very fabric of reality. “The story came from seeing the ripple in the water on the way to the weir. It came out of nowhere. “At first, I was unsure if it was something useable but, on reflection, a week later, I felt that if it flowed really well, it didn’t have to be structurally sound,” he said. In the film, Mr Galloway has an experience in a river near O’Briensbridge, where most of the movie was shot, which makes him question everything about reality, as the …