Ennis

MORE than 70 court summonses have been issued by Ennis Town Council in respect of uncollected rates, it has emerged, with the local authority vowing that “every effort” will be made to recover outstanding monies owed. At this week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, it was revealed that €2,427,374 in rates is temporarily uncollectable by the local authority as of March 23 of this year. This represents more than one-third of the rate demand, at 33.73%.As of December 31, 2011 the amount of temporary uncollectable rates balance stood at €2,901,374, representing 40.32% of the rate demand for 2011. However, €474,000 has been collected in rates to March 23, 2012.In 2011, Ennis Town Council had irrecoverable rates, of €502,755 which represented 6.99% of the rate demand for that year. These irrecoverable rates related to rates which were not legally collectable, such as demolished/vacant properties, charitable organisations and properties owned by the HSE.According to town clerk, Leonard Cleary, the current temporary uncollectable …

The old Franciscans seem to have built the Ennis Franciscan Abbey quicker than the Office of Public Works ongoing conservation works, a local county councillor has claimed.Clare County Councillor Tony Mulqueen has criticised the OPW for its failure to complete conservation works on the historic 13th century abbey, branding it a “disgrace”.Councillor Mulqueen expressed grave concern about the closure of the abbey for the last three years to facilitate works being completed by the OPW.The Fine Gael councillor told an Ennis East Electoral Area meeting the whole abbey was boarded up, which meant that tourists who wanted to stop off in a visit to a medieval site in the centre of town couldn’t even see the building.His late father, Frank, had the keys to the abbey at his adjoining flower business during the 50s and would open the abbey for visitors.Councillor Mulqueen said the amount of tourists standing outside the building was amazing yet they couldn’t even take a photograph …

Clare County Council has been requested to clarify whether a planning bond will cover an unspecified list of outstanding issues concerning a relatively new housing estate in Clarecastle.Concern about the delay in resolving a number of problems affecting Inis Clair, Kildysart Road, Clarecastle, were highlighted by Councillor Paul Murphy at a recent Ennis East Electoral Area meeting.With 59 houses and a large number of apartments in this estate, the Fine Gael councillor considers the issue is a matter of urgency.Councillor Murphy requested the council to brief him on any attempts that may have been made by the developer or receiver in having this estate publicly taken in charge. “I am led to believe that this has been a problem for over two years and that there are several issues to be resolved, such as public lighting, sewerage problems and general work within the development. “The residents committee has contacted the receiver on several occasions, trying to get these works carried …

NEW plans for the pedestrianisation of the main streets in Ennis at weekends will not work unless there is a visible garda presence, Councillor Tony Mulqueen has warned.“If you close the streets to traffic, you need a visible garda presence. You also need to have parking for shops to facilitate deliveries and collections,” he said.Councillor Mulqueen said some shops in Ennis had to close their premises on St Patrick’s Day because of children engaging in anti-social behaviour, using spray paint and shaving foam.His comments came following a proposal from Councillor James Breen to pedestrianise the streets in Ennis for the month of June and July between 5 to 10pm on Fridays; 5pm to 9pm on Saturdays and 11am to 6pm on Sundays.Councillor Breen explained that most shops in Ennis are closed at 6pm, which provides ample time to facilitate collections or deliveries.Even in large cities in other counties, he explained that local authorities had managed to remove all cars to …

WHEN it comes to spelling, first-class pupils at Scoil Chríost Rí in Cloughleigh are top of the class.The pupils came up trumps by scoring excellently in the recent World Spelling Day event, earning the accolade of Ireland’s ‘Top Class’ at spelling.World Spelling Day is a competition where children can play 100 games, 20 games at each level and then answer as many questions in 60 seconds. This year, 5.3 million children from 218 countries, including hundreds of schools from all over Ireland, participated. The event encourages pupils of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to have a go at spelling in a fun, interactive and accessible way. Best of all participation in World Spelling Day is free, all pupils need is internet access.Cloughleigh pupils competed in real time against others from around the world playing spelling games on the World Spelling Day website www.worldspellingday.com. In the lead-up, pupils in Scoil Chríost Rí were very busy practising their spelling skills. All classes …

TALKS on the potential to package Ennis and Clare for the tourism market in Germany have taken place between members of Ennis Town Council and local government officials from Germany.

A local initiative using sport to bring multi-cultural communities together has been widely praised by an American academic who has travelled to Ennis to research the project and its ongoing success in promoting integration.