Ennis’ main street open for business as water works continue

THERE may be Men at Work, but its still very much open for business on Ennis’ O’Connell Street with one fashion retailer even putting up a ‘Women at Work’ sign in the shop window.

Water infrastructure upgrading works described as “vital” by Irish Water have been taking place as part of a project which involves replacing aged watermains at High Street, Bank Place, O’Connell Square and O’Connell Street. Irish Water say this will “provide a more reliable water supply, reduce high levels of leakage and improve water quality.”

Margaret O’Brien, CEO of Ennis Chamber whose offices are based on O’Connell Street says some businesses have been affected by the works more than others, with some suggesting a discount on rates due to the disruption. However, the Chamber believe that in the long term the upgrades “are what’s needed for the good of the town”.

“The works are moving at speed and that is good to see. The timing however could have been better, to have this in the Autumn. We run a co-working space here on O’Connell Street and the noise levels have proved tricky, but the work that is being done by Irish Water really needs to be done, the piping system was antiquated.

“Some of our members have genuine concerns and we understand some businesses are affected more than others, while there are also businesses who are seeing customers still coming in their doors. At the end of the day these works are important and we need to take the short, sharp pain and at the end have great gain.”

Gwen Culligan of the County Boutique tells us the water upgrade works hasn’t negatively affected her business and she believes the Irish Water works are a “positive” for the town. However she couldn’t resist putting a ‘Women at Work sign in her window and taking a photograph for the store’s popular Instagram page.

The works are being carried out in phases along Ennis’ main thoroughfare with barricades arriving at O’Connell Street South in recent weeks. It appears the barriers aren’t stopping those looking for some retail therapy in the County Boutique with Gwen telling us business has been good and on a par with 2019 figures.

She believes having the works at a later stage in the year may have been more beneficial, however she adds, “having said that, maybe there is no good time”.

“It’s a positive thing for the town to have the water pipes upgraded. I suppose we have to take a small bit of pain to get that done and then they will move on. They will be gone quick enough and we are very much open for business here on O’Connell Street.

“We have had good weather and people have been able to move around pretty freely. We have been very lucky, it has been a good year so far. I don’t think the works on the street are going to affect business really over the next number of months, I think the biggest thing will be energy costs, so that will be all to play for in the winter time.”

These works come ahead of the Ennis Public Realm Regeneration Project which is set to begin in January.

The project is being carried out as part of Irish Water’s National Leakage Reduction Programme, and involves the replacement of over 680m of aged cast iron watermains with new modern pipes and is a continuation of the works successfully completed on Parnell Street in 2019.

A spokesperson for Irish Water told the Clare Champion this week, “The improvement project to upgrade the water network is nearing completion with sub surface services and complexity causing a slight delay to the original programme.

“This upgrade of the water network, being carried out by Shareridge Ltd. on behalf of Irish Water, was required to be completed ahead of the Clare County Council public realm regeneration works in the area.

“The areas of work have been limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers and businesses near the works. We would like to thank all stakeholders for their patience while these critical upgrades are being delivered.”