Ennis

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

THERE has been “huge demand” for first year places at St Flannan’s College in Ennis, with the school confirming that extra places have now been made available. An additional 24 first year places are being offered at the secondary school, principal Fr Ignatius McCormack confirmed this week. In a statement, he said, “Due to the huge demand for first year places at St Flannan’s Killaloe Diocesan College the Patron and Board of Management of St Flannan’s College has revised our intake for this year. “Following a careful review of our teacher allocation and our accommodation provision we are in a position to offer a further 24 places in the first year class, bringing the total number to 240. “These extra places will be allocated in line with our admissions policy which can be viewed on our school website www.stflannanscollege.ie.”

AIR pollution levels in Ennis were higher than in Beijing at the weekend with the EPA’s air quality monitoring station showing a significant spike in pollutants, despite a smoky coal ban being in place in the county capital since 2011. Fears this “very harmful” pollution will result in “significant adverse health impacts” has sparked renewed calls from a former Mayor of Ennis for the establishment of an Ennis Clean Air Strategy. On Sunday evening at 7pm the EPA recorded a sharp rise in the levels of particulate matter associated with the burning of solid fuels, almost ten times higher than the EPA’s daily limit. 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 on Sunday along with sulphar dioxide measuring 67.22ug/m3. On the same day, China’s capital city experienced moderate to good levels of air pollution. Councillor Johnny Flynn …

THE chair of an Ennis retailers group has warned against “blanket pedestrianisation” of the county capital’s town centre saying it would lead to “commercial apartheid”. John O’Connor of Retailers of Ennis was reacting to the release of a survey by Clare County Council this week which showed more than 70% of respondents would like to see some form of pedestrianisation in Ennis ‘immediately’. (See Clare Champion story here) He believes compromise is needed if there are any future plans to make Ennis’ streets car-free. He insists it would need to be carefully planned out, with the needs of business owners and those who need to access those businesses taken into consideration along with increasing parking. Mr O’Connor fears that full pedestrianisation of the town centre would drive people out to the peripheries resulting in a “business desert” in the town. “We have always maintained if you continue with blanket pedestrianisation you reach a situation where you have, in essence, commercial …