The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
ENNIS has been successful in its bid to become the first town in Ireland to achieve the coveted Purple Flag. Ennis, alongside Dublin’s Creative Quarter and Dame District, received the prestigious international accolade this week. Ennis’ flag is now flying high on O’Connell Square after being raised at a ceremony on Monday evening. It is now hoped that achieving the Purple Flag, recognising safe and well-managed night-time economies, will lead to a boost in tourism to the town.
At the flag raising, Mayor of Ennis Peter Considine, congratulated all involved in bringing the Purple Flag to the town.
“This just goes to show you what collaborating with various agencies can do. This award complements Ennis’ growing reputation as an attractive location to visit, work and live in and is the result of a unique collaborative approach to promoting the town by the local business community, Ennis Town Council, Shannon Development and Án Garda Siochána.
“The Purple Flag will help to inform the wider public that Ennis town is a vibrant, appealing, well managed and safe town to visit and enjoy.”
Brian O’Neill, chairman of Promote Ennis, the county town’s tourism collaboration body, stated the award is proof of Ennis’ claim to be Ireland’s friendliest town. He pointed out that Purple Flag cities and towns see an average 10% increase in footfall numbers, leading to increased revenue. He added that work has already begun with Fáilte Ireland to capitalise on the award.
“In addition to the acknowledgement of our vibrant, appealing, safe and well-managed evening and night-time economy, this award brings with it huge tourism potential for Ennis and it means we are joining the ranks of more than 25 towns and cities in the UK who are proudly flying Purple Flag, many of which have direct connections into Shannon Airport.
“The past 10 months leading up to the application for Purple Flag were a huge experience for all involved and Ennis has learned about its strengths and also found out about areas for improvement in our evening and night-time economy.
“In particular, we see great opportunities in strengthening our early evening entertainment. In the spirit of this international accreditation, we are committed to continually maintain and improve all the town has to offer.”
The proposal to bid for the Purple Flag was first suggested by Councillor Johnny Flynn back in 2009. Speaking this week, he said, “In 2011, Ennis people spoke their mind about their vision for the future of the county town in a public participation initiative called Ennis 2020, which was led by Ennis Town Council and supported by the University of Limerick. One of their requests was a more diverse and well-managed evening and night-time economy.
“With the award of Purple Flag, Ennis has shown that it can offer just that.”
He continued , “I was honoured to represent our community as part of the Ennis Purple Flag Working Group, which already implemented several upgrades in Ennis at the end of last year.
“In addition to celebrating Purple Flag today and again in September during Purple Flag Week, the working group has committed to regular overnight assessments, a strategy for the evening and night-time economy as well as further involvement from the public in the form of footfall and perception surveys.
“Our county town of Ennis is thriving and we are excited to welcome new and return visitors in 2013 and beyond.”
Similar to the Blue Flag given to our finest beaches and the Green Flag that flies in our most eco-friendly schools, the Purple Flag is an accreditation scheme that honours excellence in the appeal and management of a town or city centre area between the hours of 5pm and 5am.
Purple Flag centres offer the highest quality in shopping, dining, pubs and entertainment ensuring a visitor has all they need for a great evening out.
The Purple Flag accreditation required excellence in the area of five criteria. The town centre that receives the award must score highly in wellbeing (safety and cleanliness), movement (traffic flow and public transport), broad appeal (appeal for people of all ages and interests), place (vitality and cultural stimulation), and policy envelope (clear aim).
The final criterion is the most important – policy and planning.
A key part of the success of Ennis’ application for this award was the partnership approach taken. Ennis saw a partnership of Ennis Town Council, Promote Ennis, Shannon Development, Ennis gardaí and the business community represented by Ennis Chamber and Ennis taxis.
Martin Blackwell, CEO, The Association of Town Centre Management, UK commented, “We are delighted to award the Purple Flag accreditation to both Dublin and Ennis.
Analysis of visitor numbers in towns and cities that hold the Purple Flag status on average see a 10% increase in footfall numbers and as a result this can lead to increased revenue for the area.
With 35 cities in the UK holding the coveted status, Dublin and Ennis are the first locations outside of the UK to win the award, it’s a great achievement and we hope to see more towns and cities in Ireland following in their footsteps in the future.”
As a follow-on from being awarded Purple Flag, Dublin City BID is hosting a conference on February 19 in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre located in the heart of Dublin’s Creative Quarter.
Here, people from around the country will gather to discuss the importance of proactive town centre management, including Councillor Flynn, who will speaking about the expected benefits from Ennis’ efforts to achieve the Purple Flag.
The awarding of the Purple Flag has been described as a “welcome boost” for Clare tourism by Pat Breen TD.
“This is a major boost for Ennis and Clare, particularly in the year of The Gathering, as we are trying to attract more and more people into the county.
“Tourism is hugely important to the local economy and anything that encourages people to visit Ennis for a weekend or even just a night out, should be seen as a welcome boost. I’m delighted to see that Ennis has become the first and only location outside of the capital city in the country to be awarded a Purple Flag.”
