Car Tourismo Banner
Home » Regional » Ennis (page 36)

Ennis

Clare students raise more than €4,000 for SVP

ENNIS students have raised more than €4,000 for charity, while also highlighting barriers to education which have left some youngsters ‘Locked Out of Education’. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir Transition Year students recently presented the St Vincent de Paul with a cheque for €4,259.45, the proceeds of a fundraising and awareness raising campaign last December. The campaign highlighted that many young people face being ‘Locked Out of Education’ because of rising rents and other costs while also raising funds for the St Vincent de Paul and was organised as part of their Young Social Innovators project. As part of their fundraising, the students camped out for a night at the school, and operated the St Vincent de Paul shop in Ennis for a day. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir Transition Year Co-ordinator Martina McNamara has expressed appreciation to all of those who supported the students in their fundraising efforts and awareness campaign. She explained that the students were moved to act when they discovered …

Read More »

Ennis developers win appeal against Clare County Council

CONTROVERSIAL plans to increase the size of the development of a primary healthcare facility have been given approved by An Bord Pleanala. Valley Healthcare Fund Infrastructure Investment Fund ICAV had lodged an appeal after Clare County Council refused permission for the plans at the former Braids site on Station Road. Last year in a split decision, the local authority refused to amend planning permission previously granted for a mixed use development that would increase the floor area from 7,250sqm to 8,008sqm with the provision of an additional floor set back at roof top level. The plans had initially included an additional deck of car parking which was later omitted by the developers. While refusing to allow the increase in size, the local authority gave the go-ahead to other aspects of the application seeking to amend the initial health care facility plans. During the local authority planning process the proposals had been the subject of a number of objections from local …

Read More »

Money for old roads – former N18 to get some TLC

A NEW funding stream for works on former national roads will be exploited by the local authority for an upgrade of the old N18, writes Jessica Quinn. A meeting of the Ennis Municipal District heard calls by Councillor Pat Daly for an upgrade of the road from Kelly’s Corner out to Cois na hAbhaine on the Gort Road. Barry Conway, A/Senior Executive Engineer, responded, “In 2021 the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport introduced a new funding stream which allows local authorities to apply for funding to resurface the former national road network. “Funding has been sought by this office for the former national roads in the district including the R458 Gort Road (formerly the N18). “Members will be updated in the coming months as soon as the 2022 grants have been awarded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.” Councillor Daly welcomed the response, saying when the funding is available he would like to see some works done …

Read More »

Council gives cold shoulder to request for Ennis footpath

THE lack of a footpath and street lights near a popular local sports grounds used by hundreds of children and adults is “a serious accident waiting to happen”, an Ennis councillor has warned. Those attending events at Frank Healy Park, Ballaghboy, have to walk on a grass verge alongside a road if they want to get to a local shop, a meeting of Ennis Municipal District heard. Councillor Mary Howard has seen children walking on the grass verge close to the road where cars were speeding by, saying, “it frightens me to see”. While the Ennis Municipal District has said the proposal “has merit”, the local authority says it cannot be done as part of the annual works programme. Land acquisition, construction of embankments and the diversion of large culverts would need to be completed to allow the footpath go ahead. The municipal district office has said they will liaise with the council’s design office with a view to including …

Read More »

Ennis Musical Society parks Legally Blonde until 2023

THE Ennis Musical Society has confirmed that this year’s production of Legally Blonde has been postponed until next year, writes Jessica Quinn. However, the local group has said there are plans for a smaller scale project for this April or May. The society had planned to hold auditions for the popular musical production of Legally Blonde earlier this month. However, a spokesperson for EMS has said that the society has made “the difficult decision to officially postpone Legally Blonde until 2023”. Just last November the society announced plans for the much anticipated show which was set to run in glór from the end of March and into early April. The society had been unable to put on a show in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, and their 2020 production was cancelled after just two performances. Society chairperson Rachael Culligan at the time had said they were looking forward to getting back on stage in 2022. She also made an appeal …

Read More »

EPA concerned at home heating systems’ impact on Ennis air

ELEVATED particulate matter levels from domestic home heating systems during cold weather, as experienced in Ennis earlier this month, “is a cause of concern”, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency said it is working with Clare County Council “to better understand the causes of poor air quality in Ennis”. The Clare Champion contacted the EPA for comment after concerns were raised about the town’s air quality following the detection of a spike in air pollution levels on the night of January 16. Particulate matter (PM) are minute particles of dust, soot and smoke and the daily limit for PM10 is 50 ug/m3. PM10 of 485.38ug/m3 and PM2.5 of 467.58ug/m3 was recorded in Ennis, January 16, at 7pm, along with sulphur dioxide measuring 67.22ug/m3. On the same day, China’s notoriously smoggy capital city Beijing experienced moderate to good levels of air pollution. According to the EPA the daily average PM10 at the Ennis monitoring station for  January 16, …

Read More »

Clare tenor to help celebrate Joyce’s 140th birthday

CLARECASTLE tenor Dean Power will be among those performing at a special concert next month to celebrate James Joyce’s 140th birthday and the centenary of the publication of Ulysses. The concert on February 1  in the Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire will feature for the first time in Ireland, Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer’s settings of Joyce’s Chamber Music. As well as Dean’s singing, the performance will also feature Mairéad Hurley on piano and Susie Kennedy as the narrator. In 1907, the year of its publication, Palmer wrote to Joyce asking permission to set some poems from Chamber Music. Joyce enthusiastically received the ten songs he was sent and wrote, “I hope you will set all of Chamber Music in time” and “I shall be glad to hear from you and to know that your delicate music is meeting at last with the appreciation it deserves” Joyce tried to arrange publication of the songs on several occasions but Palmer was hesitant and it never happened. The reason for …

Read More »

Housing development for older people in Ennis scaled back

THE developers behind a proposed gated community for older people in the heart of Ennis’ town centre have scaled back their initial plans after concerns were raised by the local authority. According to documents lodged with the planning authority, if given the go-ahead the units on Upper O’Connell Street will be managed by D Madigan Properties Ltd and discussions have been held with both the Peter McVerry Group and Cluid Housing about their long-term lease. A planning application lodged by Alan Cummins Ltd had originally sought to construct a two-storey building incorporating six one-bedroom apartments, and a single storey building incorporating six storage sheds to be used in conjunction with the apartments at Upper O’Connell Street. However, these plans have now been reduced to a proposed one-storey building with three one-bed apartments. This comes after Clare County Council sought further information from the developers after highlighting “serious concerns” in relation to the proposed development’s design and its relationship with the …

Read More »