Tag Archives: shannon

AT the age of 18, Jack (not his real name) has been through rehab twice, and now attends four or five meetings of Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous each week. The Shannon teenager started taking drugs aged 15, beginning a very rapid descent, after which he admits he is lucky to be alive. Now clean and sober for well over a year, he says his hometown is awash with drugs. Disturbingly, he believes the majority of teenagers in Shannon consume illegal substances. “If you went out and walked down the road and asked 10 people under 18 if they smoke weed or not – if they were being honest with you – I’d say at least six or seven of them would say yes.” The drugs are available from dozens of dealers, all over the town. “There are so many (dealers), I couldn’t even name them all. Literally every estate you go into four or five people are selling drugs. …

The communities of Spanish Point, Kilkishen, Shannon and Quin are busily preparing for the adjudication stage of 2018 IPB Pride of Place competition, which takes place next Tuesday and Wednesday. The four communities have been nominated by the Rural Development Directorate of Clare County Council to participate in annual all-island competition, which is run by Co-operation Ireland and aims to recognise and celebrate the vital contributions that communities make to society. The Castle Bog Walk project in Kilkishen, which features in the ‘Community Wellbeing Initiative’ category, will be visited by Pride of Places judges on Tuesday morning. The judges will then move on to Shannon which is representing the county in Population Category 5 (Population over 5,000) in recognition of its many leisure, sporting, social and educational facilities built by an active, vibrant and engaged community. On Wednesday morning, judges will visit Spanish Point which is included in the Islands & Coastal Communities Category of the competition in recognition of …

THE Rome-Chicago flight which diverted to Shannon yesterday is set to continue onwards at 3pm this afternoon, after no explosive device was found. Emergency services spent hours searching luggage on the runway at Shannon yesterday afternoon, while passengers were also forced to spend long spells outside, having disembarked from the aircraft. It is understood that messages were written on a mirror and a door in the toilets of the plane, warning of a bomb. Once the passengers were taken off, sniffer dogs searched the luggage while a subsequent visual search was carried out. Samples of handwriting were also taken from those on board. Passengers spent the night in local hotels and it is understood many of them missed onward connections as a result of the delay. Owen Ryan

A UNITED Airlines flight from Rome to Chicago has diverted to Shannon this afternoon due to a bomb scare. It is understood that an anti American slogan was written on a mirror in a bathroom of the aircraft. Furthermore, there was a mention of a bomb being on board. The airport has remained open. At the time of writing the passengers have left the aircraft and many of them are on the tarmac outside the plane. The plane has been parked some distance away from the terminal building.

CERTAIN unsolved crimes echo in Ireland’s consciousness over decades, with names like Philip Cairns, Raonaid Murray and Trevor Deely still recognisable long after their deaths or disappearances. What happens when a crime goes unsolved for far too long is the theme of Rachael English’s new novel, The Night of the Party, set in Clare during the heavy snow of 1982. In her fictional village of Kilmitten, parish priest Fr Galvin is killed, and the crime remains still unsolved a generation later. “Even though it starts with a crime, I wouldn’t really call it a crime novel. You could probably call it a mystery in the old-fashioned way. It’s not a modern thriller, with fingerprints and DNA and serial killers,” says the author and RTÉ presenter, who hails from Shannon. The story shows how being close to a terrible event, but not talking about it, can reverberate through a life, with one of the main characters carrying a dark secret from …

AN elderly person in Shannon was tricked into parting with €3,000 to solve a non-existent problem on their computer. On Tuesday, April 10, the individual, in their late 70s, received a phone call from an unknown person, who told them that their computer had been hacked and corrupted. The caller then told them the situation could be rectified, if they provided iTunes vouchers to the value of €3,000. At this stage, the caller went and purchased six iTunes vouchers to the value of €500 each and passed on the codes to the caller. Also, on April 7 in the Sixmilebridge area, an elderly person was using a computer in their home when it crashed. A message appeared on the screen, asking them to call a number in the USA. When they did so, they were told that the problem could be fixed if credit card details were provided. These details were then provided and they were subsequently used fraudulently. Thankfully, …

AER LINGUS has opted to reverse a pattern of recent years at Shannon, opting to continue with its New York service in the opening months of 2019, while suspending its Boston service. A spokesperson for Shannon said that in the final analysis Aer Lingus will now be able to accommodate more passengers travelling between Shannon and the US due to this move. “On balance we are pleased with the extra transatlantic capacity that this service switch creates. This change strengthens Aer Lingus’s commitment to Shannon by adding an extra 2,500 (seats) and restores a year-round service from New York to Shannon, but we are disappointed that the Boston market can only be accessed via New York for this two month winter period.” While the statement said that Shannon would continue to work with Aer Lingus on the Boston service, there are extra benefits to maintaining a link with a major global hub like JFK. “The benefits of the restoration and …

THE Clare launch of Darkness Into Light 2018 took place in Shannon this week, with walks set to take place in Doolin, Sixmilebridge, Killaloe-Ballina, Ennis and Shannon on May 12. This is Pieta House’s flagship annual fundraising and awareness event and, last year, 180,000 people took part. Nora Conway is clinical manager of the Pieta House Centre in Mungret and she says the event has grown dramatically, showing how people feel about removing any remaining stigma around mental health. “It’s the 10th anniversary of Darkness into Light and, I suppose, from the days when 100 or 150 people would come out, compared to 120,000 nationally, it’s phenomenal. I think it’s a statement, really, that the people of Ireland are making. A statement by coming together, walking shoulder to shoulder and doing what they can to lift the stigma around suicide and self-harm. The more we promote the service, the more we encourage people to ask for help, and the more …