Ennis Town Council could be ‘wiped out’

Clare County Council has been slammed by one of its own councillors for leaving Ennis Town Council “crippled” and in danger of being “wiped out”.

Councillor Tommy Brennan, a long-serving member of both Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council, was speaking at a special meeting this week to discuss the uncertain future of town councils.

At the meeting, Ennis town councillors highlighted the importance of the local authority as they railed against expected proposals by Minister Phil Hogan to cut the number of town councils.

Councillor Brennan, a former Mayor of Clare, declared, “I firmly believe Clare County Council has crippled this town council. All of our functions have been taken.

We always had an Ennis planner; we no longer do, we have an Ennis and Environs planner. We no longer have a town engineer; we have an area engineer. Have we workers to carry out work in this town? No. Have we street cleaners paid for by the town council? No.

“Anything this town council had been doing has been taken by Clare County Council. Can we go to the county manager and say ‘no’? If we don’t do something, we are going to be wiped out.”

Outlining his fears for the future of the town council, Councillor Brennan stated, “The Government promised they would get rid of the Senate but instead as a sop to the general public they will say ‘sure we got rid of the town councils’.”

He likened the situation to last year’s amalgamation of Clare VEC with Limerick. “There will be no VEC offices here in Clare in the next few years and the same thing will happen to Ennis Town Council unless someone steps up. The town of Ennis is at the heart of this county and we need to sit down and see where we are going and it’s no use depending on the minister and the Government.”

He went on, “It’s time to stand up and be counted and instead of giving money to the county manager we should be using it for the town ourselves.”

Attending the meeting with members of Ennis Town Council and officials were both the president and director of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland (AMAI).

President of the AMAI Councillor Ted Howlin of Wexford commented, “We believe that town government is the very basic of democracy, the one that is closest to the people who are the electors.”