Tag Archives: shannon

BUS Éireann services at Shannon have been very poor in the recent past, with buses sometimes not coming at all, but management have promised improvements are on the way. At this week’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District members, a deputation from Bus Éireann attended and were told in no uncertain terms that local service users have had serious problems. Sinn Féin’s Councillor Mike McKee said that he has had numerous messages from local people about the standard of service. While he said there have been many efforts to get people to use public transport, for these to succeed, the services “must be efficient, punctual and affordable and it is none of those”. Regarding affordability, he said what Bus Éireann offers is far too expensive. “It’s absolutely ridiculous, the price of it. It’s over €10 return from Shannon to Limerick and back.” An equivalent journey on the continent would be far less pricey, he added. Councillor McKee said that what he …

  In this weeks Champion Report we discuss the sad passing of HPV vaccine campaigner Laura Brennan, the stepping down of Shannon Group CEO Matthew Thomas, an unusual confession practice which had been operating in Cratloe, and our special guest this week is Shannon resident but Derry native, Charlie Morrison who discusses Bloody Sunday.

Check out the latest episode of our podcast, featuring interviews with Liam Alford and Michael Vaughan.

Check out the latest episode of our news and current affairs podcast, The Champion Report.

AROUND 150 people came to the Oakwood Hotel on Wednesday night for a public meeting on the Shannon Venue, the planned multipurpose Community, Civic & Creative Centre for the town. The meeting was chaired by RTE presenter Rachael English, while it was attended by several local county councillors. There was some annoyance among the crowd that none of Clare’s four TDs were in attendance. Those present heard from Kevin Thompstone and Derek Barrett, who, in a voluntary capacity, have put a significant amount of work into trying to deliver the facility over several years. Both men spoke about the difficulties involved in securing funding over a long spell, and it was said that promises were once made that a sum of €5 million would be delivered through the 2017 and 2018 budgets. This commitment never came to anything, with the money not allocated subsequently. Several times throughout the night there were expressions of frustration at the lack of investment in …

THE latest news and views from Clare Champion journalists Carol Byrne and Owen Ryan. This week they discuss the inquest into last May’s double drowning in Ennis, the plight of Shannon Airport, the Kilkee murder trial, LIT opening a Clare campus and the impact of smartphone use on young minds.

ONE of the only planned towns in the country, somehow Shannon has developed without a conventional centre or streetscape, and it is something locals have been seeking for years. Only recently the group behind the Venue (a proposed multi-functional Community, Civic and Arts Centre for the town) stepped away, after several years of unsuccessfully seeking funding. Derek Barrett was part of that group and has lived in Shannon since he was a child, arriving in the late 1960s. A former member of Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council, Sean McLoughlin has been in the town since 1970. The two met with the Clare Champion on Monday, and Derek said in his view the town is missing something important, which was there in his youth. “Shannon was well planned, it had the community hall, the shopping centre, all around Drumgeely Hill. There was a focal point. I know a streetscape is now being mentioned as the thing that Shannon needs, …

In the first edition of our new current affairs podcast The Champion Report, Carol Byrne and Owen Ryan discuss the inquest into the death of Gerard Tubridy, why Shannon Airport is being left behind and the sky high prices being sought for Lahinch accommodation during the Irish Open.