Ennis twinning budget cut

THE money to be spent on Ennis’ town twinning initiatives has been almost halved in this year’s budget for the county town.

While acknowledging the importance of maintaining relationships abroad, town manager Ger Dollard outlined at last week’s budget meeting of Ennis Town Council that the budget for town twinning will be reduced from €9,000 to €5,000.
Referring to the importance of marketing and promoting Ennis, Mr Dollard stated, “I consider it is essential that the council continues to undertake this activity both in the domestic market and in the wider international market. The council has long-established links with St Paul de Fenouillet in France and these links were further consolidated through a visit of representatives of Ennis Town Council during 2011. It is important that such relationships are maintained and utilised to best effect in terms of the wider promotion of the town. I have, however, reduced the budget from €9,000 in 2011 to €5,000 in 2012.”
He added that invitations have been extended to Ennis’ sister town in Phoenix, Arizona, through the Ennis-Phoenix twinning board for a formal visit to Ennis in 2013. Arrangements are also being made through the twinning board to have participation of a band from Phoenix in the Ennis St Patrick’s Day parade in 2013.
Through the relationship established with Phoenix, Ennis Town Council was invited to participate and present at a UN conference on emergency management in Chengdu, China in August 2011.
“This presented an opportunity for the council to promote a number of areas, including the potential for Shannon Airport as a global logistics centre for humanitarian aid in the context of international emergency management arrangements,” he said.
The meeting also heard about the success of the Regional Innovation Centre at the Information Age Park in Ennis, with funding of €12,500 provided for the centre in the budget.
The project, a joint initiative between NUI Galway, University of Limerick, Shannon Development, Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council, was put in place in mid-2011.
“It is a very innovative concept and is the first off-campus innovation centre to be put in place. The initiative was funded jointly by the participating partners and the sum of €12,500 has been provided in the draft budget for 2012 to continue the initiative for a further year.
“While the initiative is very much at the early stage, it has exceeded expectations of the partners in terms of the take-up of the programme. The links established through this project will assist in growing and encouraging enterprise development in the town and wider area,” stated Mr Dollard.
In relation to recreation and amenity projects, the budget meeting was told that Lees Road Sports and Amenity Park continues to be a major amenity for the town and county, with very heavy usage of facilities evident in 2011.
Facilities at Lees Road have been earmarked for further expansion, with the addition of a Trim Trail due to be installed in the coming months.
The addition of this active trail equipment, which includes a trail crossing, rope post crossing, cross beam crossing, rope crossing and hand-over-hand ladder will supplement and enhance the facilities already available in the park. This has been part-funded by a grant of €34,000 from the Government.
“The significant maintenance activity during 2010, to ensure facilities were to the required standard, has coped well with the usage and poor weather conditions of 2011. The management of the amenity is currently examining ways to further market the excellent facilities in 2012,” said Mr Dollard.
He also informed the councillors that the financial performance of the Ennis Leisure Complex was “restricted due to the slowdown in the economic climate and the availability of other quality facilities throughout the county”.
The complex management is implementing a number of initiatives in conjunction with other bodies, including Clare Sports Partnership, to maximise usage and encourage a healthy lifestyle among the population, Mr Dollard stated.
“The complex hopes to progress further initiatives in 2012 with a continued strong focus on providing a value-for-money offer,” he said.
In 2011, the complex again achieved White Flag status for the 11th year in succession and received further recognition for service to the disabled community.