It is anticipated the potential development of accommodation at the historic Ashfield House will provide an economic boost to the town as part of a reset of Ennis 2040 DAC plans.
Last week it was confirmed Ashfield House, which is on the Record of Protected Structures, has been acquired by the DAC while other strategic sites in the county town are in the process of being secured.
Speaking to The Clare Champion this week, Ennis 2040 DAC Interim COO Padraic McElwee said while the protective status of the 18th century house on the Cusack Road presents challenges they are “confident” on the delivery of this redevelopment project.
He revealed that among the options being considered for the building are the provision of a short term accommodation offering, with the hopes this could bring more business to the town.
He explained, “We see in the large multi-national sector they may have a cohort of people working here for five, or six months on various projects or there might be executives relocating to Ireland who might need accommodation initially until they purchase their own. That is the market we’re trying to attract.”
He said a lack of accommodation is “restricting our ability to grow economically”.
“A few of the large organisations have actually had to acquire premises themselves to house some of their staff. We believe Ashfield House provides an opportunity to maybe alleviate some of that, but equally, its proximity to town means there’s an economic benefit into the town.”
Mr McElwee was speaking to The Clare Champion in the wake of what has been described as a reset of the Ennis 2040 DAC project.
Following a behind-closed- doors briefing with the Ennis Municipal District last week it was announced the proposed developments at Harvey’s Quay, which include plans to redevelop the Parnell Street Carpark, and the Abbey Street project are to be paused “while other projects take precedence”.
It was also confirmed Ennis 2040 DAC has recommenced discussions with the Housing Agency and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on options to progress housing at the Causeway Quarter development on Francis Street Ennis following the withdrawal of a judicial review. Plans for a boardwalk at the Post Office Field are to be reviewed.
Explaining the idea behind this reset of the 2040 plans he said, “When the Chief Executive of Clare County Council assigned me to the role of interim Chief Operating Officer, he asked me to just take a fresh look at what the plans were for Ennis 2040, what sort of engagement was happening.
“Over the last six, seven or eight weeks since I took up the role, I’ve done my best to really get on top of all the projects, understand what the issues were, what the concerns were.
“That prompted me to engage with the elected members of Ennis MD, just to get their sense of where they felt the public were coming from.
“And that is when the decision was taken that we would pause, particularly the two most contentious ones, being Harvey’s Quay and the Abbey Street development.”
Asked if this means some of the originally proposed Ennis 2040 projects may be altered or even might not go ahead, he said, “A reason for the pause is do we reassess? I believe there are going to be a couple of things to progress first. First of all, the development of better car parking facilities at the Cloister, and also the Active Travel plans for the town in terms of moving people around the town. They are key pieces of infrastructure, and once they are in place, I believe that will give us an opportunity to sit down with all relevant stakeholders and just see where do we go forward on what is best for Ennis? The main reason for the pause is we are progressing a number of acquisitions which we believe will be positive. They remain commercially sensitive, but my priority is to try and deliver those acquisitions in the coming weeks and then progress those.”