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Regional

No washout for The Gathering

WITH the summer a washout, it seems those behind ideas for next year’s Gathering believe it’s a case of if you can’t beat it, join it. A celebration of the county’s rain, or Fliuch Fest, was just one of the many proposals that has been generated for next year’s event.

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€7m in place for flood-relief scheme

MINISTER of State with special responsibility for the OPW Brian Hayes has confirmed that €7 million has been ringfenced for phase two of the Ennis Flood Relief Scheme. On Friday, the minister visited Ennis where he inspected the first phase of the flood-protection works. He confirmed the e-tendering process has moved to the assessment phase, with hopes that the OPW will be in a position to award the contract and begin works before the end of the year.

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Road to good health leads to Lees Road

THE people of Clare are being urged to get out and get active with the opening of new outdoor public recreational facilities at Lees Road Sports and Amenity Park.Mayor of Ennis Peter Considine officially unveiled the Active Trail equipment, which can be used to aid rehabilitation from injury or ill health, as well as encouraging people of all ages to take personal fitness to the next level.The Active Trail offers 16 challenging climbing, rope and balance landscapes, which are available in differing degrees of difficulties. The equipment was installed by Crawford Contracts Group Ltd, while the National Lottery and the Department of Transport and Sport and Ennis Town Council funded the project. Speaking at the official opening, Mayor of Ennis Peter Considine said, “Lees Road Sports and Amenity Park provides a range of facilities and recreational opportunities for the people of Ennis and County Clare. The addition of the Active Trail equipment will supplement and enhance the facilities already available …

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Local shops in national top 100

TWO Ennis businesses have been named among the top 100 stores in Ireland. Both Madden Furniture, on Station Road, and Willow, on O’Connell Street, have made Retail Excellence Ireland’s list of the best stores in the country. The Ennis businesses are also the only stores in Clare to make the prestigious list. As part of the Top 100 selection process, all store entrants were visited by a mystery shopper, with those exceeding service and standards criteria making it to the Top 100 stores.Aoife Madden of Madden Furniture told us, “We are also thrilled to have made it onto this list. We had no idea when the mystery shopper was here but we got huge marks from them for our customer service – that is the main focus of this part of the awards. Because of our square footage, we are in the superstore category, that means we are up against the likes of Harvey Nichols that also made the list. …

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Hopes for Purple Flag to aid town’s economy

THE key to success in making Ennis one of the first locations in the republic of Ireland to attain Purple Flag status is strong involvement from the business community, extended opening hours and pedestrianisation, according to the local authority. It is hoped that achieving the accreditation could contribute “in a very real way” to the town’s tourism economy.Both Ennis and Dublin are the first places in the country to explore the accreditation recognising night-time economies that are clean, safe and vibrant. They are currently undergoing a ‘Pathfinder’ process and hopes are high this will pave the way to a successful bid by as soon as 2013.Five members of Ennis Town Council and one official recently travelled to Liverpool to examine the success of the designation in the city’s centre.Ennis Town Council has been working with the gardaí, business community and Promote Ennis in recent months exploring the feasibility of making a formal application for designation of a specific part of …

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Fowl play evident at Ennis Street Festival

THE people of Ennis went ‘quackers’ for family fun at the weekend as part of the annual Ennis Street Festival. The ever-popular duck race on Sunday proved a big draw with 300 duckies launched down the river Fergus. The winning duck on the day was owned by Ronan Daly from the eMobile Meteor Shop.It wasn’t just the fowl play that attracted the crowds with a host of colourful events taking place throughout the town all weekend. Everything from acrobatics to art, theatre to puppet shows was on show in Ennis. Ana Bela Alvarez of the festival organising committee explained, “The theme for this year’s festival was commitment, celebrating our commitment to our community and its fantastic diversity of arts and culture. This was certainly achieved. Every year, this festival brings all the local community out onto the streets of the town together to celebrate the many cultures and artistic ways that make Ennis such a special place.”She described this year’s …

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