Category: News

THE people of Lahinch are in search of a benefactor to come forward and help fund the purchase of the Lahinch Army Barracks and Sluagh Hall before the property is auctioned by the Department of Defense in May.

The appeal was made at a meeting of the Lahinch Community Council last week, with finances needed urgently if the barracks – which is located on the Liscannor Road beside the Lahinch Castle Course – can be purchased before auction.

According to local councillor and member of the Lahinch Community Council Bill Slattery (FG), the community could purchase the 5.2 acre site for € 380,000 now, a fraction of what it would likely receive at auction.

The property also borders the Lahinch community field, and locals aim to develop a number of additional playing fields as well as a community centre at the site of Sluagh Hall, if the property can be secured.

Cllr Slattery has been in contact with the Department of Defense and believed that if the money can be raised quickly – a deal is possible.

“I am disappointed that the local community do not have the funds available for this project.

“We still have time, there is a small window of opportunity available before this is sold. I know that € 380,000 is a lot of money but this could be a massive investment for the town,” said Cllr Slattery. “If someone can come forward with the financial backing, the community would be able repay the investment over a 10year period.

A spokesperson from the Department of Defense confirmed that the property was being readied for sale but would not confirm a date for the auction. The Clare People understands that the auction will take place in May of his year, giving the local community between four and six weeks to raise the finances needed.

ABSENTEEISM within the health services in the mid-west, which includes County Clare, is almost twice the national target.

While no specific reason was given to explain why the figures in the region are so high, HSE area manager Bernard Gloster said “we have reduced it substantially and there is more to come, because it drives our agency costs through the roof and that is a major cost for us.”

The national target for absenteeism in the HSE is 3.5 per cent, but in the mid-west it is approximately 6.4 per cent, higher than the national average at 4.71 per cent.

“I make no apology for saying to anybody that one of the biggest demands and pressures on the staffing resourses in the mid-west remains the one focusing on absenteeism. First thing I will say on our rate of approximately 6.4 per cent in terms of the measurements and instruments we use to focus on that, is that is down from over 8 per cent and in some cases it was nine per cent so we have had a very significant focus on that,” he said. “We have where appropriate used the application of the disciplinary procedure and that is not something I consider necessarily a badge to wear on the sleeve, but when we are challenged by certain situations we are not shy in dealing with them. We have an increasingly robust focus on absent management.”

The HSE boss said that there were also a number of very genuine longterm absentee cases.

“I equally want to say on the positive balance side to be fair on staff themselves, my experience is that the majority of staff that have been out sick have a very genuine and sincere illness and reason and they don’t have repeat patterns. You would be surprised when I go to look behind some of the absenteeism figures, the number of young staff who have had incidents of cancer,” he said.

“That is why you maintain the balance with sensitivity but I can assure you in relation to the ones that are more challenging we are well on the game, we are reducing the percentage.”

Michael O’CONNELL
, 31Tullyglass Hill, Shannon. Funeral Mass today (Tuesday) at Mary Immaculate Church, Shannon at 11am, followed by burial in Illaunamanagh Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Sean WARD
, Ugoon,Tulla.At Milford Hospice. Service at Smyth’s Funeral Home in Feakle on Tuesday at 11am, with burial afterwards in Feakle Cemetery. Family flowers only please, donations, if desired, to Milford Hospice. May he rest in peace.

Michael CAREW
, Castlebank, Launch Bar, Limerick,Ardnacrusha. Laid to rest in Relig Lua Cemetry Killaloe. Donations if desired to Cancer Research. May he rest in peace.

Patrick (Paddy) KENNEDY
, Parnell Street, Ennis. Funeral Director, Parnell Street, Ennis. Peacefully at the Galway Clinic. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. Donations if desired to a charity of your choice. May he rest in peace.

Patrick (Paddy) MCINERNEY
, Carrowmore, Mullagh. Suddenly. Laid to rest in Clohanes Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Senan RYAN
, Carnacalla, Kilrush. Laid to rest in Old Shanakyle Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Margaret KELLY
, Shannon. Unexpectedly, at Cork University Hospital. Laid to rest in St Finbarr’s Cemetery, Dunmanway. May she rest in peace.

Shirley MCNEVIN (née O’Doherty)
, 11 Corrovorrin Green, Ennis. Peacefully at the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Teresa BLAKE (née McNamara)
, Ennis, Peacefully at home. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

James (Jimmy) BROHAN
, Cloughleigh Road, Ennis. Suddenly. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Margaret COEN (née Flynn)
, London, and Shannon. Formerly of Creevaghbawn,Tuam. laid to rest in Creevaghbawn Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Michael (Mick) ENRIGHT
, Doonbeg, Retired Assistant Commissioner of An Garda Síochána. Peacefully in his 93rd year. Laid to rest Esker Cemetery in Dublin. May he rest in peace.

John ENRIGHT,
Inchmore, Inch, Ennis. Laid to rest in Clarehill Cemetery, Clarecastle. May he rest in peace.

Steven KAVANAGH
, 35 Derryvinna, Clonlara. Laid to rest in Doonass Cemetery. Donations if desired to Search & Rescue. May he rest in peace.

Mary CONSIDINE (née Brody)
, Kilshanny. Laid to rest in Kilshanny Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Vincent (Snr) CROWLEY
, Moyadda and late of Ennis Road, Kilrush. Laid to rest in NewShanakyle Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to Kilrush Community Hospital. May he rest in peace.

Betty McMAHON (née Kelly)
, 11 Derryvinna, Clonlara. Late of Templemore, CoTipperary. Laid to rest in Doonass Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Patrick (Pat) HANRAHAN
,Ard Aoibhinn, Limerick Road, Ennis. Late of Harahan’s Supermarket, Clonroadmore, Ennis. Peacefully at Carrigoran Nursing Home. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. Donations if desired to the Clare branch of Alzheimer’s Society. May he rest in peace.

Mary Bridget HOWARD (née Breen)
, Tarmon, Knockerra, Kilrush. Peacefully at Cahercalla Hospital,Ennis. Laid to rest in Knockerra cemetery. Donations, if desired, to Cahercalla Hospital, Ennis. May she rest in peace.

Sadie McSWEENEY (née Sweeney)
, Wood Road, Cratloe. Laid to rest in Mount Jerome Crematorium, Dublin. May she rest in peace.

Sean O’HALLORAN
, Noughaval, Kilfenora. Peacefully, at home. Laid to rest at Noughaval cemetry. House Private onWednesday morning. May he rest in peace.

James (Jimmy) O’LEARY
, Poplarville, Ballycar, Newmarket-on-Fergus. Peacefully at the MidWestern Regional Hospital Limerick. Laid to rest in Fenloe Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to Clarecastle Day Care Centre. May he rest in peace.

THE late Jimmy Brohan had a simple philosophy when it came to business – be nice and treat people right.

It was a motto that informed his near 50 years working in the heart of Ennis.

A native of Ruan, Jimmy started out at John Roughan’s store just off O’Connell Square in 1963.

He worked there for 20 years before leasing and eventually buying the hardware business in the mideighties.

An incident in the year 2000 damaged the building and forced the relocation of Brohan’s to Parnell Street.

“One secret is that you have to be nice to people. If you’re nice to people and treat them right, they will come back to you. We have people coming to us since I started and now their family are coming [to us].”

That was Jimmy speaking in 2011, months before he retired from running one of the town’s best known and most loved businesses.

The interview took place in the teeth of recession as the town’s business community struggled with the impact of the economic downturn.

Jimmy had never seen it as bad. “Last year was middling but this year is very bad. People just don’t seem to have money. People that would sometimes spend € 40 would only spend € 10. They just haven’t the money to spend,” he said.

A family run business, Brohan’s was known for having a wide and varied collection of stock.

Jimmy explained, “People still come to me with the old spraying cans, copper spraying cans that the farmers would use. They are gone now with the last 30 years. They weren’t made for 30 years or more but I still have bits and piece for those.”

Jimmy typically started work at early in the morning, arranging goods outside the shop front. It’s a job he took great pride in.

“It’s good for the street. Once its nice and tidy and not all over the place. It’s not an eyesore on the street. It looks well,” he recalled.

Times were tough but Jimmy believed strongly in the importance of supporting local businesses.

He said, “If they only sold periwinkles, its better to have a door open. The worst thing you can have is to have shops closed.”

IN WHAT has been hailed as a “hugely significant week” for the independent Shannon, nine new routes are starting operating out of Clare’s international airport over a five-day period.

Ryanair has added nine new routes to its Shannon services, while Aer Lingus has commenced a new service to Malaga as well as having a year-round transatlantic presence at the airport.

All in all, the 2014 summer season, which officially begins in April, will see 16 service enhancements at Shannon, including the nine new routes.

Less than 15 months after the airport was made independent, Shannon will enjoy its biggest week in almost a decade in terms of new route start-ups as Ryanair launches new services, to Munich, Paris, Faro, Warsaw, Krakow, Nice, Poitiers, Berlin, Fuerteventura, while Aer Lingus Regional kicks-off a new Bristol service.

Among the enhanced services is the now year-round Aer Lingus New York service which commenced on Sunday. This will be a six-times weekly service and is the first time Aer Lingus will have operated yearround on New York since 2009.

Aer Lingus also started a new twice-weekly Malaga service on Sunday, which will add to the significantly expanded European network to and from the airport this year.

“This week is a turning point for Shannon,” said Shannon Airport CEO Neil Pakey. “Not since 2005 has Shannon had a week like this in terms of new routes starting up and we see this as a real reward for the loyalty of our passengers across Ireland. They now have excellent choice from Shannon with 37 attractive destinations in Europe, the UK and North America.”

“Shannon Airport is a catalyst for growth for a region that stretches from Cork right up to the North West,” said Shannon chairperson, Rose Hynes. “We are the only airport across this region with transatlantic services and we worked particularly hard on developing that part of our business in 2013.

“We are delighted that this has paid off with new routes and improved connectivity. The next step for us was to grow our European route network and this week sees our efforts here bearing fruit.

“We listened to what our customers had to say and, with our airline partners, have delivered new services to nine great destinations. These new routes also connect us with destinations that have a strong inbound market and this presents a great opportunity for tourism here on the West Coast,” she added. New r out es commencing t his week fr om Sha nnon a r e:

SARAH Keogh knows better than most the huge impact an organ donation can have on a life.

The young West Clare woman has been through a rollercoaster of emotions and experience since she was diagnosed with renal failure at just 12 years old. Since then she has received a kidney transplant, went into rejection after a few years and is back on dialysis and the transplant list again.

“What I can describe it as, you know the way you grieve for someone. When I heard the news that it had gone into rejection it was like you had nearly lost someone,” said Sarah.

For the years the kidney worked however, the now 22-year-old knew what is was like to be free of dialysis, be able to eat and drink with freedom, have energy to keep up with her friends and have her medication cut from 30 tablets a day to just five.

For the first year after her diagnosis medical professions tried to control her condition with a strict diet and medication, however when she was just 13 years old it became apparent she would have to begin home dialysis and begin the wait for a kidney.

“When I was younger I don’t think I grasped the whole concept of it really I just took it as it was but I understand it more now that I am older – the seriousness of it,” she said.

Then when she was 15 years old she received her first kidney transplant, which changed her life. After four years however, for no apparent reason, the kidney was rejected.

“When I was first in kidney failure I still had a urine output, whereas a lot of people in kidney failure don’t have that. I had the function where my kidneys would get rid of the fluid I was taking in, but it wasn’t clearing my blood. I had a looser diet and I wasn’t on fluid restitution, where as this time around I have no urine output so I am on a fluid restriction of 800 mls to a litre a day, which I find really, really hard. I am on a lot stricter diet because I don’t have any kidney function now,” she explained.

Sarah has also opted for home dialysis, which means she has access to the treatment 24 hours a day.

The Limerick Institute of Technology student uses portable bags for her dialysis. She must drain and replace fluid four times a day, a process that takes between half and hour and 40 minutes.

“If I go away for a day, say I go to Dublin on the train, then I do have to bring those bags with me, so usually I am carrying a bag with four bags in it depending on how much I have to do for the day I am gone,” she said.

Despite some of the setbacks and challenges life has put in her way, the Tullycrine student has a positive outlook for the future.

As she approaches her 23rd birthday, she is determined to live a full independent life irrespective of the constraints imposed on her by dialy- sis, food and liquid restrictions and low energy.

“With the home [dialysis] I have so much more freedom. I am in college, I can go on holidays, I hang out with my friends. I can bring it with me. Whereas Heamo you are that bit more restricted. Three days out of your week is gone really because it drains you completely,” she said. More than 40 people in Clare are on Heamo dialysis. “I sleep a lot. I go for a nap during the day for maybe two or three hours. The diet and the fluid I find very hard as well, especially when you are with friends and they might buy a bottle of water and they are able to gulp it down, where as I have to measure everything I am taking in or at least try. And even food wise as well. I am not really allowed processed food. It is very high in salt and stuff,” explained Sarah.

The second year student has her bag packed and is ready for another call from the kidney transplant team, when another kidney match is found.

She said that people who sign donor cards give people like her a great chance at life, for which she is very grateful.

Sarah looks forward again to a day when her dialysis is gone, her medication is drastically reduced and she has the freedom of a regular diet.

“I have told my family if I do get a transplant I want them to come in with a cup the size of my head, so I can have a massive cup of tea,” she said with a good humoured laugh.

RAHEEN Hospital Support Group said it was satisfied that the 28 beds in the local community hospital would be upgraded to HIQA standards within 18 months.

Following years of requests and a Dáil motion on the issue, senior management from the HSE finally sat down with the group yesterday (Monday) to outline its plans to have the hospital HIQA compliant before the end of next year.

The first phase of the plan will see the upgrade of the current beds, which will entail adding an extension and converting the rooms from fivebed wards to single ensuite rooms.

William McLysaght from the Raheen Hospital Support Group said the meeting was positive and “the HSE were very positive everything was going to be done”.

“Once the architect has drawn up the plans local fundraising will take place for a community donation to the project,” he said.

The money raised by the community will fund an identifiable tangible part of the work.

“We were disappointed it [the meeting] had taken so long but hope now it will be a positive outlook for the hospital,” he said. Work is almost completed in upgrading projects to bring Regina House in Kilrush and Ennistymon Community Hospital to HIQA standards.

SINN Fein and the Labour Party added new candidates this week to contest the Ennis local elections, and both parties are understood to be in talks with potential candidates for the West Clare Municipal Area.

With just over seven weeks until polling day Sinn Fein selected Corrovorian man Cathal O’Reilly to represent the party in the Clare County Council Elections in May.

A butcher by trade his family have been traders in Ennis for generations. “I suppose my grandparents would be the best known of my family. My grandmother was May Lyons whose family owned Lyons’ Bar at the top of Parnell Street and my grandfather was John O’Reilly who owned O’Reilly’s butchers shop at the bottom of Parnell Street,” he said.

“This is the first time I have run for election and I’m really looking for- ward to it. There’s a real buzz around the party and I’ve been delighted with the pledges of support I’ve received already. I’m also grateful to my comrades for selecting me.

“I care strongly about my home place. It’s terrible to see the state of not only Clare but the whole country. I want to be part of the fight back and recovery. I want a better future for my children. I believe Sinn Féin have the best policies to achieve that.”

Mike McKee, Shannon, is the only other Sinn Fein candidate declared to date, but it is understood that a West Clare candidate is to be announced in the coming week.

Meanwhile the Labour Party in Clare has added Dermot Hayes to the party’s list of candidates for the local elections in Clare.

The trade unionist and advocate for people with disabilities will join Seamus Ryan on the Ennis ticket. Mr Ryan was selected ahead of Mr Hayes at the Labour Party conven- tion last November.

Mr Hayes said he is being added to the ticket, as Labour is “getting a very positive response on the canvas and now believe that there is a good opportunity to get two candidates elected.

Mr Hayes comes from Kells, Corofin, from a family of 13 children. He attended Ennis Community College and, as a mature student, he studied Community Development in Galway and Maynooth Universities. He has lived in Ennis since 1974 with his wife Marian and two teenage daughters.

The Labour Party in Clare is also running a candidate in the new look Shannon Municipal Area in the form of County Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald.

There are approximately 25 candidates running in the Ennis municipal Area for eight seats, to date, and an estimated 11 in the Shannon area for six seats.

DOONBEG is hoping for All-Ireland glory this weekend as its drama group is in the All Ireland Drama Final in Claremorris, Co Mayo.

Having reached the top nine of the 34 drama groups doing the “competition circuit” nationally, the group are now in a position to bring national gold to the long village.

The Doonbeg Drama Group is no stranger to the pressures of national competition having come runners up by just one point to the All-Ireland winners in 2012.

Producer and co-founder of the group 34 years ago, Mary Egan said the 22-strong crew and actors were looking forward to taking to the stage in Mayo on Sunday night with The Cavalcaders written by Billy Roche.

The group was reformed in 1980 by Ms Egan and Murt McInerney who also served as producer for the group for numerous years. In 1990 Doonbeg Drama Group began competing in competitions around Ireland and has been one of the stronger groups on the circuit since.

Those wishing to see the play one last time before the set and cast relocate to Claremorris for the All-Ireland Final, can do so in Doonbeg Hall this Thursday, April 3, at 8.30pm.

The winner of the All Ireland will be announced on Saturday, April 12.

MORE than half a million euro has been made available for the upgrade of parking facilities at the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience.

The cliffs, which attracted just under one million visitors to Clare last year, has been operating using a gravel car park since the opening of the € 31 million re-development of the facility in 2007.

Management at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience announced the € 550,000 investment last week which includes an upgrade of the existing public car park, provide additional coach parking as well as an upgrade the centre’s exhibition.

Contracts have already been awarded for the coach parking and exhibition upgrades with works due to commence shortly, while a plan ning application has been submitted in respect of the proposed car park improvements.

“The upgrades to the coach park and car park will provide an improved experience for our group and car-based customers with increased capacity and a better layout including e-car charging points, additional disabled parking and improved pedestrian flow,” said Katherine Webster, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitors experience.

“The new exhibition content will bring fresh exciting new experiences and greater visitor interactivity to the cliffs exhibition. The upgrade is being provided by Dublin-based Rockbrook Engineering and we’re delighted with how their proposals will bring some of the outdoor ex perience of the cliffs inside into the dome area.”

Advanced booking at the Cliffs of Moher for 2014 indicate that the facility is likely to top one million visitors this year for the first time ever.

This follows a 10 per cent increase in 2013, when 960,134 people visited the world famous tourist attraction. This compared to 873,988 visitors in 2012.

The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience has also been identified as one of the three Signature Discovery Points in Clare on the Wild Atlantic Way, alongside the Bridges of Ross and Loop Head Lighthouse.

AMONG those lining up to have their heads shaved or their hair dyed in Cooraclare at the weekend is local man Noel Morrissey who has agreed to lose hair that has been years in the growing, if he gets 1,000 likes on the charity’s facebook page.

The brainchild of local men Declan Meaney, Fergus Conway and Seamus Hehir this one-off event – ‘West Clare Shave or Dye’ – features up to 26 heads from Cree, Cooraclare, Kilmihill, Kilrush, Kilkee, Doonbeg and Quilty that will go under the blade or the hair dryer on Saturday night, March 29, from 9.30pm at the Danganelly Tavern.

A dozen of those signed up are having their hair dyed by stylists from Lover Your Hair, while Jimi’s Barbers in Kilrush will take charge of the razors.

People can also donate on the night for the chance of shaving part of some of the charity raisers’ heads.

All money raised will do to the Shave or Dye Irish Cancer Society Campaign.

Declan has already had his hair dyed for the last three weeks, green, blond and blue, which has proven to be a less than appropriate look as he has had to attend funerals and other more sombre occasions.

“Sure it is all for a good cause,” said the man who will have his head shaved on the night.

Three women are among those lined up to lose their lovely locks.

Tickets for the event are € 5, which includes a raffle and music by In Tune. Masters of Ceremonies on the night are Joe Garry and Bernie Kelly.