RESIDENTS were bracing themselves last night as the lower Shannon threatened to burst its banks for a second day and with Co Clare under a severe flood warning.

A €12m emergency fund for flooding victims was tonight dismissed as too little to cope with the devastation.

RYANAIR has suspended the booking of most flights from Shannon from May as it pushes ahead with plans to cut capacity at the airport by 75%.

Aer France could be set to terminate its 20-year-old scheduled cargo service from Shannon International Airport, according to the Mayor of Clare.

The Government is being urged to help retain the Shannon-Heathrow service by bidding for four pairs of London Heathrow slots that have today been put up for sale by a London Gatwick-based airline.

The heads of the Belgian royal family will finish their three-day state visit to Ireland with a reception at the Cliffs of Moher today.

Mid-West business and tourism leaders tonight formally called on the Minister for Transport to ask the Government to call an EGM of the Aer Lingus board to discuss the axing of Heathrow slots at Shannon Airport.

The number of road traffic accidents attended by the Fire Service in Co Clare tripled in the last five years, it emerged today.