Clare County Council has been urged to consider the provision of a new public car park in the centre of Tulla and to support a new elderly daycare centre and creche for the benefit of residents in six new housing estates totalling 180 dwellings.
That’s according to businesswoman Ann Reidy, who runs the Reflections Hair Salon at Main Street, Tulla.
Ms Reidy has urged anyone living in Tulla, regardless of whether they are newcomers or residents for a long period, to contact Yoursay.clarecoco.ie and put themselves forward for chairperson, secretary, financial officer, and public relations officer for the new Tulla Towm Team.
The closing date for expressions of interest is July 1. The council hopes to select a core committee of eight to ten people who will also need associated working groups to support the committee.
While Ms Reidy has expressed an interest in becoming a community member, she is not interested in any of the main officer roles.
“It would be great if more people with ideas and enthusiasm came on board for the Tulla Town Team to formulate a plan and drive it forward. Some of the retired people who were driving organisations for years with a great passion want to step back now.
“Anyone who has been living or working in Tulla for one week or the past 50 years is part of the local community who can have their say in this inclusive process. There is no “I” in a team effort,” she said.
It is up to Clare County Council to select members of the new Tulla Town Team. Happy to become a team member, if selected, she hopes the local authority will choose the best people for the job to drive further improvements in the town for businesses and residents.
Even though the number of licensed premises in Tulla have dramatically reduced from about 11 to three, new businesses have set up in the town in recent years.
In total, there are 45 businesses, 17 clubs, and 15 facilities in the town.
Back in the 1800s, Tulla was a market town and the Reflections Hair Salon where Ms Reidy is operating was a market house that was built in the late 1700’s.
In 1923, her grandparents purchased what was then an RIC Barracks and turned it into a hardware shop.
There has been a huge increase in residential accommodation in Tulla and its environs in recent decades.
When Ms Reidy was growing up the council built a housing estate O’Reilly Park with about 30 houses. In the nineties, Aràs Muire, a retirement complex was built for the elderly.
During the construction boom in the so-called Celtic Tiger from 2001, Powerscourt and the Forge provided 91 dwellings in total.
The influx of new people at the time brought vibrancy to the village as people set up various new clubs and community organisations.
In 2012, another 12 dwellings were provided. From 2020 to the present time, the local planning authority has granted planning permission for six new housing estates totalling 180 new houses.
The council built 23 new state-of-the-art dwellings, 17 houses were built on the old secondary school site, with another two in an extension, eight luxury houses in the Canon’s Field costing in the region of €450,000, construction has started on 35 new houses behind O’Halloran’s petrol station, and 35 houses are under construction on the old Ennis road. Planning permission has been granted for 60 houses near the playground, which was advertised for sale with planning approval for €1.075 million.
While customers attending the salon can avail of four spaces outside the premises and 32 space up a nearby hill, she believes that a new car park is needed to sustain existing business that in turn generate vital revenue for the council in commercial rates and other charges.
If the council entered into an agreement with a former publican, Eddie Murphy to purchase and knock his unused pub and every building on site that extends out on to the courthouse road, she believes it could be transformed into a public car park with at least 40 spaces.
Acknowledging this will involve a significant investment, she points out the council could raise money by charging a €1 parking fee in the new car park and commercial rates through new businesses.
If motor vehicles entering Tulla had the option of parking on this site, she says it would facilitate the provision of a one-way traffic management system.
Apart from the Cnoc na Gaoithe car park, which is used by a lot of people working in the town, she stressed there is a lack of adequate car parking for visitors who may opt not to stop if they can’t parking.
If each of the new 180 houses that are under construction or are in the pipeline are built, this will bring an extra 360 cars who will need parking.
She doesn’t want the council to wait for the new town team to endorse the town team, which needs to be supported now by local councillors, public representatives, and the council executive.
Dan Danaher
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.