Clare Echo editor STUART HOLLY delves into the archives to bring you the biggest stories from a year which continued to be dominated by Covid-19
JANUARY
BISHOP SORRY OVER KILRUSH NURSERY REPORT
Bishop of Killaloe Fintan Monohan issued an apology following the Commission of the Mother & Baby Homes report found that 168 children died at the County Clare Nursery in Kilrush, where conditions were described as “even worse than Tuam”. The facility was owned and financed by Clare County Council and run by the Sisters of Mercy between 1922 and 1928, and by directly employed lay staff from 1928 to 1932 when it closed.
Meanwhile, our first front page of 2021 would set the tone for the year, with a story on Clare experiencing its highest level of infection since the pandemic began, with over 800 people being diagnosed in the fortnight leading up to January 7. Alongside this was a picture of Ennis Hospital porter David Crowe receiving the first Clare staff member to receive the vaccine, as the programme began to roll out. Later in the month, the Army were deployed to Cahercalla Hospital to help deal with a Covid outbreak.
FEBRUARY
SHANNON CHAIR MAKES TWEET OF HIMSELF
A six hour turnaround which saw the appointment and then cancellation of the new Chairperson of Shannon Group plc was coined as a “fiasco” and “a sorry saga”.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, February 16, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan (GP) announced the ex-CEO of Aurivo, Aaron Forde as Rose Hynes’ successor. Later that night he confirmed he was not proceeding with the appointment.
Numerous tweets from Forde’s Twitter account prompted the reversal. Previous tweets criticised the Traveller community, social welfare recipients and called the Tanáiste Leo Varadkar (FG) a leak.
In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy Joe Carey (FG) labelled the episode as “a sorry saga”.
Speaking in Dáil Éireann, Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) described it as a “fiasco” and said Forde has “no ostensible experience” to lead either Shannon Airport, Shannon Commercial Properties or Shannon Heritage.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) said three candidates were identified with Forde selected following the public appointments service. “Then it emerged of tweets that were unacceptable and the Minister took very quick action to deal with that and the Minister will be dealing with the successor”.
MARCH
MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN ENNIS
On March 24, an Ennis man was charged with the murder of mother of two, Sharon Bennett.
At Ennis District Court, Patrick Ballard (34) appeared after being charged with the murder of Wexford native, Ms Bennett.
Mr Ballard has been on remand in prison after being initially charged with the assault causing harm of Ms Bennett (29) in the Market area of Ennis on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
Ms Bennett died 13 days later at University Hospital Limerick.
At Ennis District Court, Det Garda Noelle Bergin gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution of Mr Ballard at 10.30am on Wednesday morning (March 24) before court.
Det Garda Bergin told the court that Mr Ballard of Ashford Court Hotel, Ennis made “no reply” in response to caution and charge.
Sgt Aiden Lonergan applied that the initial charge of assault causing harm against Mr Ballard be withdrawn as the murder charge has been made.
Judge Durcan granted legal aid to solicitor, Tara Godfrey concerning the murder charge.
Ms Godfrey applied that Mr Ballard be psychiatrically assessed while on remand in prison and Judge Durcan granted that application.
Mr Ballard and Ms Bennett were in a relationship at the time of the alleged murder and Ms Bennett was a mother of two girls, aged nine and six from a previous relationship.
APRIL
69% WANT ENNIS PEDESTRIAN PLAN
THE Clare Echo conducted a public and business survery in April to guage attitudes towards pedestrianisation in Ennis.
The Covid-19 Mobility Plan was introduced the previous year to enable safe shopping for members of the public, however it led to a wider debate around the advantages of pedestrianisation.
Some 69 per cent of people surveyed said they would like to see some form of pedestrianisation in Ennis planned for in the long term, 26 per cent were against it with a further five per cent undecided. Of those within the business community, some 49 per cent were in favour of a long-term plan for pedestrianisation versus 40 per cent who were against.
However an overwhelming majority of both shoppers and business people believed Ennis was unprepared to deal with the logistics of a pedestrian plan, with 74 per cent of businesses and 57 per cent of the public respondents saying Ennis does not have the parking and traffic infrastructure to accommodate pedestrianisation.
MAY
PÚCA PLANS POOH-POOHED
Plans for a Púca of Ennistymon sculpture were scrapped in mid May following local backlash over Clare County Council’s plans for the sculpture which had an estimated price tag of €30,000 and formed part of the Destination Towns Programme.
Clare County Council confirmed that the process to put the sculpture in place was paused with a full review to be published in the near future. The Púca was selected by a panel comprising a community representative, an independent artist, the project manager for the Ennistymon scheme and Clare Co Council’s Arts Office. It was inspired by the Irish folklore of Ennistymon.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Denis Vaughan of Save Ennistymon’s Heritage described the proposal as “a monstrosity, it is a ghostly figure, we’ve had enough ghosts and don’t need anymore”.
Meanwhile, a Clare direct provision resident told The Clare Echo in May that he feared for his family in Afghanistan as the Taliban began a military offensive which would ultimately lead to the fall of the republic in Kabul. Sayed Farid Sanai (32) was one of the most recognised news anchors in Afghanistan but was forced to flee his country in October 2019 after gun and bomb attempts on his life by the Taliban.
Due to COVID-19, international protection applications were delayed. Just this month, Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that the Afghan Admission Programme would open for applications on December 16.
JUNE
SURFERS SAVE THE DAY
A group of surfers were responsible for saving dozens of lives at a chaotic Lahinch as hot weather and an influx of domestic tourists arrived in Clare.
Scenes at Lahinch saw thousands of visitors visit the beach with no lifeguards on duty when it was reported that two toddlers went missing, a heart attack scare occurred and over twenty rescues from the water were carried out by volunteer lifeguards and surf instructors.
Local surfers were hailed for their bravery in carrying out life-saving rescues on members of the public that got into difficulty. The group of men included Mike Paige, Aaron McGettigan, Ollie O’Flaherty, Ben Bennett, Ollie Welsh, Stephen Hanna, Liam Posener and Bradley Skidmore. Richard Brangwyn spent over four hours in the water and carried out numerous rescues and assists while James Monohan was responsible for two serious rescues.
Meanwhile, an easing of Covid-19 restrictions saw a return to outdoor dining for groups of up to six people, while cinemas, theatres, and gyms were also able to reopen under social distancing conditions.
JULY
COUNCILLORS BREACH EXPENSES RULES
Normally known as silly season in the media industry, it was a busy July news cycle in Clare as businesses experienced their busiest summer in decades with temperatures breaching 30 degrees while staycationers came to Clare in their droves.
Two Clare councillors, Mary Howard (FG) and Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) came under fire for breaching expenses rules. As part of an RTÉ investigation, it was revealed that hundreds of councillors contravened law by failing to declare expenses they received from external organisations, many elected representatives also received double payments by incorrectly claiming expenses from their own local authority and from an external organisation for the same official absence.
Meanwhile, Clare was in mourning as local lifeguard Fionn O’Brien (20), from Knockanean, lost his life near Quilty in a tragic surfing accident on July 5.
AUGUST
NIGHTMARE AT UHL
A Corofin native shared details of what he described as “a nightmare” stint at University Hospital Limerick in August.
Dermot Hayes was admitted to UHL after complaining of pain around his naval area. The Clare Echo previously documented how the Ennis resident has undergone dialysis treatment at home since July of last year. After undergoing a cat scan, he was put on a trolley in A&E. “I was left in a corridor, it was choc-a-bloc. It was like a warzone. I was getting anxious, no one was telling me when I would be out of here, there no indication if it was one hour or ten hours that I’d be left there for”.
The well-known activist claimed that COVID-19 guidelines were not being adhered to in the A&E. “We were all pale to pale on trolleys and we’re supposed to be talking about COVID but yet we were up on top of each other”.
In a statement to The Clare Echo, a UL Hospitals spokesperson admitted that complying with social distancing had become difficult due to the volume of presentations.
Meanwhile family members of the late Pat Nugent described their search for answers into his 1984 death as “never-ending” and “cruel”.
An inquiry into how Gardaí investigated the death of Pat Nugent in Bunratty 37 years ago was completed by former judge Patrick Clyne and issued to the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee (FG) in November of last year.
Despite Minister McEntee issuing commitments that the report would be published fairly soon after, the Nugent family have yet to receive the report.
SEPTEMBER
PYRITE PROBLEMS
The Clare Echo reveals that Clare County Council official were made aware of pyrite problems in the county as far back as 2018, but no action was taken.
Joe Carey TD (FG) first raised the matter with Clare County Council Chief Executive, Pat Dowling in April 2018 having submitted a parliamentary question before Dáil Éireann in February of that year.
Efforts in Limerick to be included in a pyrite remediation scheme were brought to the attention of Clare County Council as they were encouraged to put together a similar application.
No response was issued to the Clarecastle TD by May 2018 when subsequent correspondence was issued to Mr Dowling.
An application was submitted to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage by Clare County Council on 29th July 2021, three years later.
Meanwhile Clare TDs said findings from a political rich list which reported that two of them were millionaires are “misleading”.
The Irish Independent published its political rich list a two month investigation. Figures from the report show that the county’s four TDs are worth a combined €2,610,798 with both Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) and Deputy Joe Carey (FG) included among the country’s 68 TDs who were allegedly millionaires.
OCTOBER
ENNIS ‘ENVY OF EVERY TOWN’
The Ennis 2040 plan is published at an officially unveiling by An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. Included in the economic and spatial strategy is provision for 5,000 additional jobs and a population increase of 1.6 percent per annum, along with the provision of an urban bus and making the town “more pedestrian friendly”.
Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling was defiant in his ambitions for the county town, “Ennis can be the envy of every town and community in Ireland”.
While it appeared to be good news for the county town, concerns were raised separately by councillors for the future viability of rural Clare with plans to dezone lands in areas without wastewater infrastructure touted in the upcoming County Development Plan.
NOVEMBER
LIVES AT RISK IN DOOLIN
The Clare Echo reported in early November that “lives are at risk” after the Doolin Coast Guard Unit was stood down amid an ongoing dispute. One of the busiest coast guard units in the country, the Doolin unit was stood down from operations after six of the 18 volunteers announced their resignation from the unit. According to the Irish Coast Guard, divisions “have unfortunately existed” within the unit for years.
Meanwhile, the rate of Covid-19 infection was on the rise again, with 1.027 cases in Clare alone over a 14-day period.
DECEMBER
STORM BARRA BLOWS HARD
A Red Status weather warning sent everyone home from work early on December 7, with schools closing for two days. At the height of Storm Barra, 3720 homes and businesses were without power across Co Clare.
Meanwhile, huge crowds of mourners attended the funeral of Peggy Morrissey at St Mary’s Church in Mullagh who lost her life in a traffic incident. Speaking at her funeral, her son Marty said, “In my humble opinion, the greatest Irish mother in the history of motherhood.”
