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Parade celebrates town of many cultures

ST Patrick’s Day will be celebrated in style this weekend in Ennis, with final arrangements for the festivities now confirmed.The parade, with the theme Ennis – A Town of Many Cultures, will commence at 11am on Saturday from Ennis Courthouse and participating groups are requested to assemble at the courthouse at 10am.The army reserve and Ennis Brass Band will attend the parade and the grand marshall on the day will be the Mayor of Ennis, Michael Guilfoyle. With over 50 groups registered to take part, it promises to be a fun, colourful and entertaining family event. Large crowds of spectators are expected on the day and traffic management arrangements will be put in place in the interest of safety.As in previous years, the Civil Defence volunteers will attend the parade and will manage the spectators along the route.The traditional blessing of the shamrock will take place at the 12.15pm mass in the Cathedral. The reviewing stand will be based in …

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Councillor highlights need for bus service

THE provision of a bus service for Ennis was back on the agenda for Ennis Town Council recently with one local councillor saying that some locals could be “cut off” from the town centre because of a lack of transport.At a recent meeting of the council, Councillor Johnny Flynn urged the local authority, in co-operation with Clare County Council, to prepare a transport and mobility plan for Ennis and its environs to include consideration of, among other items, a town bus system and an Ennis Bike Scheme. The councillor also suggested that the bus system could possibly be electric.Councillor Flynn told the meeting, “Up to 40% of the population of the town don’t have access to private cars and with the economic decline, a lot of people are living in areas that are cut off”.He said results from the Ennis 2020 hub strategy visioning exercise highlight the need for a bus service and he insisted Ennis would be an ideal …

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Ennis one of two towns to bid for Purple Flag status

LOCAL campaigners for Ennis to become one of the first locations in Ireland to achieve Purple Flag accreditation are set to travel to Dublin this week to begin the ‘Pathfinder’ process. Hopes are high that this process will pave the way for the town to be successful in its bid and receive a flag as soon as 2013. Ennis and Dublin are the first locations in Ireland exploring Purple Flag accreditation for night-time economies that are clean, safe, vibrant and convivial. Over the next few months, the Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM) will work with Ennis and Dublin in preparing their entries. Brian O’Neill of Promote Ennis and Ennis Chamber and Richard Guiney for Dublin City BID have agreed to become the Pathfinders for this exciting new programme in the Republic of Ireland.An initial meeting to launch the programme will take place in Dublin this Thursday and more locations are invited to attend with a view to joining the …

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Clarecastle community full of ideas for development

FITNESS facilities for young and old, cultural activities, a farmers’ market and the development of the River Fergus are just some of the innovative suggestions made by the community of Clarecastle as part of Clarecastle Community Development’s two-month consultation to establish a vision for the village’s future.The new Clarecastle Community Development company held its first public meeting in the Abbey Hall in January at which the interim board of Clarecastle Community Development undertook to consult with the community of Clarecastle. Since then, they have been very busy contacting sectors in the community to gather their thoughts. A contact information form was delivered to each household in the parish of Clarecastle encouraging individuals to provide details of particular skills and services they could offer the new development company and seeking their views on potential projects they deemed necessary for the improvement of Clarecastle.  The opportunity was also given to feed input and comments to Clarecastle Community Development through its website www.clarecastledev.com.  …

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Seven-star alumnus returns to college

ONE of the Shannon College of Hotel Management’s most illustrious alumnus, Gerald Lawless, came back to his alma mater last Thursday, for this year’s graduation ceremony.Mr Lawless is currently Executive Chairman of one of the world’s top hotel groups, the Jumeriah Group. Based in Dubai, the group is regarded as one of the most luxurious and innovative hotel and resort groups in the world and among its flagship operations is the renowned Burj Al Arab, the world’s most luxurious hotel, which is regularly described as the world’s only seven-star hotel.He said that his years in Shannon had been very positive for his career. “One thing I’ve always said about Shannon, and I was here from ’71-’75, is it instilled great self belief and confidence in the students. At that time we had to be a year out of school before coming then we worked in the airport kitchens for the summer. Then we had a year in Shannon, I spent …

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Huge drop in industrial estate crime

CRIME in Shannon’s industrial estates has experienced a huge drop since the establishment of Shannon Business Watch, while the value of goods stolen dropped by €100,000 last year.A letter from the Gardai and Shannon Business Watch to last week’s town council meeting sought funding for CCTV and outlined some of the benefits that have accrued since the establishment of Business Watch.“Business Watch is a crime prevention programme designed by An Garda Siochána and was established in Shannon in 2009. It is founded on the same principles as Neighbourhood Watch and Community Alert which is the practice of the Gardai and the community coming together to prevent and reduce crime, the only difference being that the community which this scheme targets is the business community.“The Business Watch Schemes in Shannon has been widely recognised by garda authorities as being one of the best practice examples of Business Watch in the country and the benefits of this can be seen in a …

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