Council to create exclusion zone for Ennis headshops

ENNIS Town Council has moved to make it much more difficult for headshops to open in the town area.
The council has passed a notice of motion, proposed by Councillor Brian Meaney, calling on Clare County Council to amend the town retail strategy and Ennis and Environs Development Plan to confine headshops to locations at least 10 kilometres from schools. Ennis Town Council appears to be the first council in the country to pass such a motion.
The councillor is to propose a similar notice of motion at next week’s meeting of Clare County Council. The move will, within a number of months, prohibit operators of headshops from trading within 10 kilometres of any school, effectively creating an exclusion zone restricting the operation of headshops.
Councillor Meaney said that there is a need for creative thinking to “close down” headshops. “We have to be careful how we approach this issue, because legally a council cannot ban anything. There is no supporting legislation for a council to ban. We understand that Ennis Town Council is the first council to use this approach to tackle headshops. This is the first approach. If it doesn’t completely work, we’ll try something else,” he commented.
A number of councillors suggested that he change his notice of motion for Clare County Council to create a 20km distance from schools but Councillor Meaney does not agree. “20km from a school would amount to a de facto ban. We can justifiably argue for a 10km restriction from schools because of the risk to young people, in particular, from the substances being sold in headshops,” he added.
Ennis town manager, Ger Dollard said that the proposal would be dealt with as a variation to the retail strategy, which is currently being drawn up for the county and the region. “The current retail strategy is under preparation and will be completed within two months. Any variations will then have to be considered by the relevant councils. So, all in all, we would be looking at this proposal coming into effect in at least five months,” he said.
This comes in a week when both headshops in Ennis were broken into and substances stolen from the two premises.
A senior garda source confirmed that the Laughing Buddha headshop on Chapel Lane, Ennis was broken into on Monday.
“The break-in was reported to us at 11.45pm on Monday, April 5. The front door of the shop had been forced open and broken. Approximately €700 worth of substances sold in the shop were taken. There was not much damage done to the property,” he said.
The Laughing Buddha ceased trading last week, after the owner of the premises, Desmond Houlihan, successfully had a temporary injunction granted by the circuit court in Limerick, ordering Conor Doyle to cease trading at the headshop.
The garda also confirmed that the Harmonisation headshop on Parnell Street was also broken into.
“We received a report of a break-in to the premises at 4.30am on Tuesday. Entry to the premises was gained through the window in the front door, which was smashed. Some products were also taken from the shop,” he said.
He said that both premises have been forensically examined and CCTV footage is being examined.
“The two break-ins are being examined as part and parcel of the same investigation. At this stage we feel that the focus of the break-ins was getting access to the substances and not a statement of objection to the operation of headshops, as the amount of damage to both properties is relatively small. Our enquiries are ongoing and we are appealing for anyone with information to contact gardaí in Ennis,” the garda added.
Meanwhile, parents in Clare concerned at the presence of headshops in Ennis are to approach the owner of the Harmonisation premises in Parnell Street to appeal to him to consider a legal route to make the tenant of the property cease trading, as happened in the case of the Laughing Buddha.
“We feel very strongly about this. It worked in the case of the other headshop, so there is no reason why it won’t work this time too. We need a multi-faceted approach, exploring all legal avenues, to stop headshops from operating,” a spokesman for the group said.
Representatives of the concerned parents last week brought their objections to the Dáil. The delegation, led by the chairperson of the parents’ association of Coláiste Muire, Maria Ryan, Councillor Paul O’Shea of Labour, Sinn Féin’s Seán Hayes and Christy Murphy, brought a petition against headshops signed by more than 2,000 people, to hand to Minister Mary Harney. Ms Ryan said that they had decided not to leave the petition in the Dáil because no-one from the minister’s office agreed to come out and accept it.
“We were disappointed officials didn’t come out but it shows us we have to fight harder. We have 2,000 signatures and we will collect more and return in a few weeks and we’ll rally outside the Dáil then.”
The group of parents are concerned at speculation that the operators of the Laughing Buddha intend renting a different premises and setting up again.
“The public need to make it clear to the owners of premises in the county that they don’t want headshops setting up. These owners are our neighbours and they ought to consider our feelings before leasing out to anyone with enough money,” she said.