Tag Archives: shannon

THERE is nothing stronger than the paternal bond and when a child is sick there is an inherent instinct as a parent to do whatever it takes to fight for them. That was never more true for the O’Shaughnessy family in Shannon because it was the most subtle of behavioural and physical changes that led them to Accident and Emergency with their 10 year old son Alex. Their gut instincts told them something just wasn’t right and their persistence to get to the root of it led to the diagnosis of a rare form of cancer, a one in a million case, normally only detected when the condition is at an advanced stage. “The first time we were worried was Paddy’s Weekend [2019]. We went away to Galway for Alex’s twin brothers 21st. Alex wasn’t himself and was tired. He was just misery, we could see he was trying but he physically couldn’t. We took him to Shannondoc the Tuesday …

SHANNON Group got a share of stick at Monday’s meeting with the County Council, but at least one element of it was undue. In his speech to the meeting, Mayor of Clare Cathal Crowe criticised various decisions made, and also claimed that Clare’s local representatives had been ignored at a recent celebration. “It was disappointing that the airport held a significant event just last week to mark the 80th anniversary of its operations and didn’t invite the Chief Executive Pat Dowling, Councillor Gerry Flynn (Chairman of the Shannon District) or myself, as Mayor of Clare, to attend. “Shannon Group must do better to improve its working relationship with this County Council.” However some time later when Acting Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine responded to questions raised by members, she said that there actually had not been a celebratory event to mark the 80th anniversary, although Shannon had used the date to help with its own promotion.   Owen Ryan

THERE will be a Fittest Family style competition held at St Conaire’s National School on this Saturday. Speaking this week, teacher Stephen McNamara explained what is planned. “We’re hosting a fittest family event to mark 50 years of the school being opened. Also, it’s to mark the official opening of the field behind the school. “It’s basically a fun event with a competitive edge and we have 54 families entered. The challenges are kind of in line with the fittest family programme, but they are adapted for the young children. We’re getting a special guest on the evening to come and present the winners with their prizes. Really, we want to highlight the importance of exercise and fitness in the lives of young children growing up.” The teams taking part have to meet certain criteria. “Its basically that there are four members per team, one member must be enrolled in the school, a maximum of two adults per team, one …

SHANNON Group has acknowledged that its already disappointing passenger numbers will dip further in 2019. In a statement on Wednesday, low-cost airline Norwegian said it won’t run any services from Shannon for the rest of this year. “Due to the continued grounding of the Boeing 737 Max by the European aviation authorities, our flights to and from Cork and Shannon will be re-routed via Dublin for the remainder of the summer season. Cork is a seasonal route and the reduced availability of aircraft has led to the removal of Shannon services this winter.” Later on Wednesday, Shannon Group also released a statement, which said, “The worldwide grounding of the 737 Max aircraft is having a serious impact for Shannon passengers. “Proportionally, no other Irish airport has such a high level of activity operated by the 737 Max aircraft. At peak, this aircraft type would have operated 13 weekly flights from Shannon to North America. “We now estimate that the loss …

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s visit to Clare began on Wednesday afternoon, as he arrived at Shannon Airport on Air Force One from the UK, held a meeting that lasted less than an hour with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, before travelling by helicopter to Doonbeg. The US President was characteristially outspoken when he addressed the media at the airport, claiming that Brexit will “work out very well” and comparing the Irish border with the one between the US and Mexico. He claimed that he had been unaware of President Michael D Higgins’ criticism of his record on environmental issues and, in fact, countered that “we have the cleanest air in the world in the United States and it’s gotten better since I’m President”. President Trump is due to fly to France on Thursday, return to Doonbeg and spend the night there, play a game of golf on Friday morning before leaving Ireland again later in the day. Security is currently very tight at …

IF Leo Varadkar had been hoping for a mild, diplomatic press conference with Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon, he would have been disappointed. While Brexit is almost universally seen as a historic and catastrophic mistake in Ireland, one which Mr Varadkar and his Government are vehemently opposed to, Mr Trump wasted almost no time before talking it up, as the two spoke to the press in the Shannon Airport terminal. “It’s an honour to be here, we’ll discuss various things, probably you’ll (Varadkar) ask me about Brexit, because I just left some very good people who are very much involved with Brexit as you know. I think it’ll all work out, all work out very well and also for you, with your wall, your border. We have a border situation in the United States and you have one over here. I think they’re both going to work out well. “Both the military and trade are a very big factor and …

CLARE’S first citizen, Councillor Michael Begley said that greeting President Trump is the right thing to do for the count Justa few hours before he was due to welcome Trump at Shannon Airport, he said that the visit of Trump is good for Clare. “I do think it’s good for the county. They have a very substantial project in Doonbeg, employing a couple of hundred people, probably one of the biggest employers in West Clare. I think that it’s something that is good for the county. His visit here, from a tourist view, there will be more people who want to see Doonbeg and what it’s all about. I can’t see it being anything other than good for the county.” Of course President Trump is very unpopular in this country, many are taking to the streets to protest his visit and few of those people would agree that the Donald should get a céad míle fáilte. However Councillor Begley is …

  GARDAI have said that traffic restrictions for the Presidential visit will be kept to the minimum required and at this time should not impact greatly on normal traffic in Shannon and the Doonbeg environs. Shannon Town: It is not anticipated that any significant disruption will be caused to Shannon Town which remains open for business.  Shannon Airport: Normal operations will continue at Shannon Airport and updates will be available on Shannon Airport and Shannon Group social media channels. Additional security checks and Garda presence are ongoing within the environs of Shannon Airport.  No on street parking is allowed anywhere within the Shannon Airport environs except in designated areas. Passengers travelling to the airport are advised to allow extra travel time for the duration of the President’s visit, as additional security measures will be in place on the approach road to the airport and car parks until Friday, June 7. All visitors to the airport during the period are advised …