Ennis street pedestrianisation up in the air

A MONTH before the busiest shopping period of the year in the lead-up to Christmas, it remains unclear whether the streets of Ennis will be pedestrianised at any stage.
At this week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, town clerk Eddie Power told councillors that consideration is now being given to the implementation of a pedestrianisation initiative on December 18 and 24. He reminded members that the pedestrianisation of the Abbey Street, O’Connell Street and O’Connell Square earlier this year was abandoned following concerns expressed by the business community of reductions in business which, it was claimed, was as a result of pedestrianisation.
He added, “The purpose of the pedestrianisation of these streets on the dates specified is to facilitate shoppers and the general public in terms of ease of movement”.
He explained that before proceeding further, consultation would take place with the gardaí in relation to traffic management and related issues and with representatives of the business community to determine their views on the proposal.
Councillors Johnny Flynn and Michael Guilfoyle were in favour of the council making an executive decision to proceed with pedestrianisation on December 18 and on Christmas Eve and formally proposed this.
But town manager, Ger Dollard explained there is a statutory process which council must adhere to, allowing people to have their say before making a decision.
Councillor Frankie Neylon said the council needs to be sure there is public consultation on the matter and that it would not be enough to simply place an ad in the local paper. Mr Dollard said it is a standard process and asked councillors to make people aware of the public consultation phase as well as contacting various parties.
Councillor Flynn said he is concerned that the tone seemed to indicate that there won’t be pre-Christmas pedestrianisation.
Rita McInerney of Ennis Chamber told The Clare Champion they are currently compiling a survey of businesses in the town to determine what the preferred option is regarding pre-Christmas pedestrianisation.
“In this survey, we have presented businesses with four options for pedestrianisation – no pedestrianisation; Christmas Eve only; Saturday, December 18 and Christmas Eve; or December 11, 18 and Christmas Eve.
“The Chamber will provide Ennis town councillors and Ennis Town Council with their findings. We will submit this to the public consultation phase of the proposal for pre-Christmas pedestrianisation,” she said.
She added that there is a big difference in opinion among businesses in Ennis regarding pre-Christmas pedestrianisation but she did not think that the negative experience with the trial pedestrianisation in the early summer is impacting on how traders viewed pre-Christmas pedestrianisation.