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Tag Archives: market

Christmas market is on but lights switch-on stays virtual

ORGANISERS of this year’s Christmas Market in Ennis have stated the event is going ahead. Confirmation comes after the official switch-on of Ennis’ Christmas lights, planned for this Friday in Abbey Street, has been replaced with a virtual switch-on. From December 2 to 5 Abbey Street Carpark will be transformed into a festive Christmas Village with live entertainment, creative crafts and food along with a vintage carousel, Christmas-themed amusements and other festive surprises. An estimated 10,000 people visited over the three-day event in 2019. Organisers say they are hopeful that by extending the event by an extra day this year, it will facilitate an anticipated increase in numbers. The appetite for live events has increased and to comply with government and public health guidelines an extra day is likely to be necessary. Thousands of people had been expected to turn out for the official switch-on of the county capital’s Christmas lights this Friday. However Clare County Council made the “difficult …

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Business people want new purpose for Ennis market building

THE future of the Ennis market building, built at substantial cost for little return, was discussed at last week’s meeting of local councillors, and business people in the Market area are appealing that it not be forgotten about. Michael McGrath of Safeway Tyres said that the building, which was designed to accommodate market traders, isn’t cutting it as a car park. “It’s not fit for purpose. Even as a car park there’s too little space, if it was going to be a car park it should have been a few storeys high. Also it’s too tight, there isn’t a day that goes by that there isn’t an accident, that someone hits off someone else because the spaces are so tight. The colour of the walls-white-from a design point of view it might be beautiful, but if you’re reversing back into a space its next to impossible to judge. Just look at the walls and you’ll see how much damage has …

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Five vehicle crash in Ennis

TRAFFIC was blocked for a period of time in the Market in Ennis this afternoon, after a crash which involved five vehicles. While an ambulance was present at the scene, a Garda spokesman said that there were no serious injuries. The incident occurred at around 3pm, when a Toyota Corolla came off the road and struck a Toyota Avensis, which was in a parking space right in front of Taylor’s pub. The Avensis then struck a vehicle in front of it, and the knock on effect resulted in another two vehicles being damaged. Both the Corolla and the Avensis were very badly damaged, but the impact on the other vehicles didn’t seem to be anywhere near as serious. Speaking to the Champion shortly after the incident, the owner of the Avensis said she hadn’t been in the vehicle when the crash happened. “I was above around the corner and we heard an unmerciful bang,” she commented. The woman was quite emotional and …

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House prices up, supply down

House prices in Ennis have begun to rise again after losing more than half their value over the past seven years and may be up by 20% this year. But the number of properties for sale are falling, as the supply of houses coming to the market contracts. “We’ve seen a significant change since the beginning of August. There was a change from March or April on but from August on – particularly in Ennis – quite a lot of housing supply was snapped up and the available stock has contracted significantly. Houses are selling but the supply is just not being replaced,” said Diarmuid McMahon of Sherry FitzGerald McMahon. “There are more people buying than selling and there’s no new supply. There has been nothing built in five or six years, and that’s starting to bite,” he said. Much of the impetus for rising prices comes from the rise in confidence in the economy this year; and also from …

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Covered Ennis market a step closer

THE redevelopment of Ennis’ market has moved a step closer this week with members of Ennis Town Council agreeing to seek a loan for the proposed plan for Garraunakilla. The council will be looking for a loan of €1.75 million from the government to facilitate the proposed works, with the construction of the covered market itself expected to cost less than half a million while much of the funding would also be spent on improvements to the general area. Members of the council gave their backing to the planned re-vamp of the market on Monday evening, with council officials stressing that this is just “one step in a process”. According to town manager Ger Dollard there will be full consultation, funding will have to be sourced and a tender process will have to be gone through before any works are carried out. He emphasised, “the users of the market will have to be happy with the facility, we want this …

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