Ennis

THREE of Ennis’ longest-serving public representatives will not be contesting this May’s local elections. Councillors Tommy Brennan, Peter Considine and Mary Coote Ryan are retiring from politics. Independent Councillor Brennan, a member of Ennis Town Council for 35 years and Clare County Council for 29 years, said he made the decision to bow out as a result of changes to local government. “Our function as councillors has been taken away and it’s pointless. It has completely changed. It started in about 2001 with Better Local Government and then the recent changes by Minister Hogan. It leaves the council with no function whatsoever,” he stated. He said the decision not to stand was not made lightly, particularly given the high level of support from the public over the years. “The people of Ennis have given me great support over the last 30 years and I thank them for that. I look forward to retiring and, if I can be of any …

THE Labour Party and Sinn Féin have added further candidates to the upcoming local elections. The Labour Party have decided to run a second candidate, Dermot Hayes, in Ennis area. Seamus Ryan was already selected by the party. According to the party, they have been getting a positive response on the canvas and believe there is a good opportunity for two candidates to be elected to Clare County Council. Dermot Hayes comes from Kells, Corofin from a family of 13 children. He attended Ennis Community College and, as a mature student, studied Community Development in Galway and Maynooth Universities. He has lived in Ennis since 1974, is married to Marian and they have two teenage daughters. He worked in Belvedere Carpets, Studio Eyewear and Interton Electronics and more recently in a number of community and voluntary organisations, including The Disabled People of Clare, Clare Supported Employment and People With Disabilities in Ireland. Dermot has been unemployed on three occasions and …

CLARE Music Maker’s will host their 15th non-competitive festival in the Temple Gate Hotel this weekend. This event gives all Clare Music Maker’s students an opportunity to perform for families, friends and an adjudicator. Each student receives a certificate from the adjudicator. The festival, on Sunday, welcomes violinist Áine Kelly as adjudicator this year. Over her 20 years as a teacher and performer Áine has created, developed and directed two children’s orchestras, one of which received a national award during the children’s Orchestra Music Festival held annually in the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Áine is now based in Galway and performs on a regular basis with her String Quartet “Strings Serenade” and she also works as a deputy player with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Con Tempo, the Galway Music in Residency String Quartet. All members of the public are invited to ‘drop in’ to the Temple Gate at any time during the festival and hear the talented children perform. …

AN annual initiative that will see members of the local community in Ennis spring into action in clean-up events around the town takes place this Saturday, between 10am and 2pm. Model and National Spring Clean ambassador Sarah McGovern was  joined by Mayor of Ennis Mary Coote Ryan for the launch of the ‘Ennis Clean-Up Day’, which is being held as part An Taisce’s National Spring Clean. Ennis Town Council, in conjunction with the Ennis Tidy Towns Committee and other local voluntary organisations, is organising the event during which volunteers will be involved in the clean-up of approach roads to the town, along with green areas, footpaths, roads and streets in both residential areas and housing estates. Mayor Coote Ryan called on members of the community to lend their support to this Saturday’s event. “The National Spring Clean campaign is now in its 15th year and it is a testament to the community spirit all over Ireland that the participation rates …

THE children of Clarecastle came together last weekend to prepare the ground for the new playground in the heart of the village. They agreed that many hands make light work and that they would do what they could to get things moving in advance of the big machinery arriving on-site on Monday. It has been a long road but Clarecastle Community Development Ltd (CCDL) is delighted to see the physical work on the Clarecastle community playground commence at last. “There were a number of unforeseen problems with the project, which caused major delays,” said Marie Clare Gorman, spokeswoman for CCDL, “but with the support of Clare County Council, Leader and the local community, we have overcome the difficulties and a playground is in sight.” The playground is expected to be completed and in full use in June, just in time for the school summer holidays. Most of the finance required from the community has been raised and it is hoped …

AN Ennis hairdresser has come up with an idea that’s a cut above the rest in a bid to ease the trauma of cancer patients who have lost their hair. Ken Bradley, based at Barracks Court on Barrack Street in Ennis, is asking people to donate good unwanted wigs which will be restyled and given to cancer sufferers. Ken said he and the rest of his team at the salon were inspired by the recent wave of ‘no make-up’ selfies that have raised money for the Irish Cancer Society. Having survived cancer himself, Ken told us he was “shocked” at the cost of good wigs, describing the price as “atrocious”. He explained, “I’m three years free of cancer now but, since I had it, I have met through my salon a lot of people who are cancer survivors, mostly women. Unfortunately, hair loss is a side-effect of chemotherapy. I didn’t have to go through that, I had radiotherapy. But the …

The Residents Association of Aughanteeroe Estate on the Gort Road in Ennis have been making tree-mendous efforts to ensure the area is looking good. The association has just completed an extensive tree planting programme, designed to give a greener look to the estate. Over the past few weekends, members of the Residents Association have been busy planting saplings of native Mountain Ash and Flowering Cherry which were supplied by Coillte through the Environment Section of Clare County Council. Secretary of the Residents Association, Róisín Browne, said that they were indebted to both Coillte and The County Council for making the trees available. “They will help to make the estate more attractive visually and highlight the green areas” she said. She paid special tribute to Brendan Moroney of Clare County Council Environment for his help and advice for the planting programme, which is hoped to be continued in the years to come. The planting was done against the backdrop of recent …

THE history behind one of the oldest areas in Ennis has been explored in the newest booklet to be launched by the Clare Roots Society. On Thursday, April 3 at 7pm at the Junction in Cloughleigh Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Mary Coote Ryan, will launch Clare Roots Society latest booklet on Cloughleigh. The book entitled Old Cloughleigh Road has been edited by Kathleen Barry and Nora Shanahan and gives the historical background to the area. The booklet shows that the original 33 Cloughleigh houses consisted of a mixture of thatched and galvanized roofs with two rooms and two windows and were subject to annual flooding. These were replaced in the mid 1950s with a new scheme of 24 houses costing £37,000 to construct, consisting of three bedrooms, with two bedrooms having fireplaces and a separate front sitting room, which had the advantage that it could be used as an additional bedroom for the larger families. The major advantage of these …