Ennis ‘blazing a trail’ towards Purple Flag

THE creator of the Purple Flag programme has stated he is “very impressed” with what he has seen in Ennis as the town’s bid to become one of the first in the country to achieve the accreditation moved a step closer this week.

Paul Davies, Purple Flag consultant to the Association of Town Centre Management in the UK, told The Clare Champion the county town is “blazing a trail” in attempting to gain Purple Flag status, which aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of town centres at night.
Explaining the idea behind the accreditation, he said, “It’s like the Blue Flag that says it’s safe to bathe. With the Purple Flag, it says this place is a great place to come for a night out.”
Both Ennis and Dublin have begun the ‘pathfinder’ process towards achieving a Purple Flag and hopes are high that Ennis’ town centre could be successful by as early as January 2013. Mr Davies was in Ennis this week for the first workshop of the bid, which was held in the Old Ground Hotel.
This was his first visit to Ennis and speaking about his first impressions of the town, he enthused, “What I’ve seen of Ennis looks very special. One of the things I picked up on straight away is the strong dominance of independently-owned premises and business. That’s a real strength. We don’t find that so much back home in the UK. The pubs and bars are very special here too but it’s not just about that, of course. It’s about the shops, restaurants, hotels, the arts and culture – all of the things that come together to make a good night out.
“Before the introduction of the Purple Flag programme, all of this was looked at in a piecemeal way but we are trying to bring all of the mosaic pieces together. From looking at Ennis, it’s a great place, it’s a really memorable location, superb architecture, really interesting pubs and bars and I understand it is very strong culturally.”
He explained the decision to award the Purple Flag is made by a team of assessors. While he insisted he “can’t promise anything,” he added, “I hope the bid goes well and it stands a very good chance”.
Mr Davies outlined that achieving a Purple Flag can benefit tourism and boost business. “There have been places in the UK who have got flags who have used it to promote their business; to say that here’s an independent assessment that has been carried out in our town centre that shows it’s a great place to come out and have a good time. We’ve only been doing this for just over two years but we’ve done surveys and what’s been said is that the Purple Flag has really galvanised the night-time economy and raised their profile.”
It isn’t just Ennis that will benefit if successful. “It would be good for us as well. When Purple Flag started, it was picked up initially in the bigger places in the UK. We want to make sure that it applies just as well to places that aren’t big cities but are smaller market towns or country towns. We are looking for local distinctiveness and specialness. Ennis doesn’t have to be like Dublin. It has to be special in its own way and meet the broad standards we have set. I think small places can be just as special, if not more so.”
Another strength of the Ennis bid is the co-operation between various stakeholders, who have been working together to achieve the accreditation. Those attending the workshop included members of Ennis Town Council, Ennis Chamber, Promote Ennis, Shannon Development, Ennis Vintners, the Irish Taxi Federation, the Irish Hotels Federation, Ennis gardaí and the arts community. Representatives from Dublin’s working group were also in attendance.
“We place a really strong emphasis on having partner backing and if the assessors can see that the entry is backed solidly by everybody, it carries huge weight. This looks like a real strength for Ennis,” said Mr Davies.
Both Ennis and Dublin now have until November 1 to put in their entries for the accreditation, with a decision due to be made in January 2013 and, if successful, a presentation will be made in March in time for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Part of the process includes a period of self-assessment by the Ennis working group, with Mr Davies explaining, “Our view is that the best people to understand how a town centre is performing is the people who live, work and do business there. It’s the people themselves who create the foundation of the programme. Then we come in with our assessors and while we may not agree with everything, the chances are there will be a lot of overlap.”
The meeting saw Rita McInerney of Ennis Chamber and Promote Ennis outline some of the town’s many distinctions.
Ennis Town Councillor Johnny Flynn recalled how he first became aware of the programme in August 2009, putting it before the local authority for support later that year.
“It’s great to see how this has progressed. It’s taken a while to get us here but I’m delighted that we are at this stage,” he said.
He added that the recent Ennis 2020 visioning exercise showed an interest in a wider variety of night time offerings in a safe town.
Superintendent Peter Duff of Ennis gardaí outlined their support for the programme. “Anything that is going to bring increased business and increased footfall to Ennis will be supported by the gardaí. Our function as a police service is to police the area and if we do have a Purple Flag area in the town, we already have a dedicated community garda, Garda Deirdre O’Doherty, for the commercial side of town. We have limited resources as Ennis town centre is not our only policing demand and we have to meet the demands with the resources we have. We do support this programme.”
He stated the town’s modern CCTV system gives good coverage of the town centre and that the gardaí strive to ensure the safety of any commercial centre at night.
Launched by the Association of Town Centre Management in England in October 2009, the scheme is now successful in 25 town and city centres in the UK and there is growing interest from Europe, the USA and Australia.
Purple Flag is run by the Association of Town Centre Management in partnership with industry, licensees, retailers, central and local government, the police and consumers.