Tag Archives: clare champion

Deputy English praises the hard work of Clare LEO for supportive role THE “determination of the indigenous SME sector to succeed in the Mid-West” has been praised by a Minister of State on a visit to Clare. Damien English, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, met with the Clare Local Enterprise Office (LEO), as part of a series of nationwide visits to meet the LEO teams and engage with some of their client companies. Minister English said, “The Local Enterprise Office in Clare have worked hard with businesses across the county over the past 18 months and have continued to offer exceptional services such as mentoring, training, upskilling and financial supports during the pandemic. “I am grateful to Padraic McElwee and the LEO team for helping local firms stay afloat and protecting local job opportunities, and especially for their commitment in assisting businesses to make the transition to online trading. “People have shown that by ‘Looking for Local’ …

PLANS to improve the accessibility of Ennis’ town centre, including upgrading disabled parking spaces, have been approved by the Ennis Municipal District. The proposals involve works at Friary Carpark, Abbey Street Carpark and Lower Market Street. Discussions had been held at the design stage with the local branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association whose views were taken on board. According to Barry Conway, executive engineer, “The progression of this scheme will be of great benefit to the local community and visitors to the town and will make the area safe in terms of accessibility and safety of travel.” Details of the plans were outlined at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, with councillors giving their backing to the proposals. The works involve: upgrading of disabled parking spaces to meet current standards; adjustment to footways; provision of kerbing and dropped kerbs; provision of uncontrolled pedestrian crossing; provision of all associated signage and road markings, and associated drainage and ancillary …

A FURTHER expansion of the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in Ennis Hospital is underway with a staff recruitment process ongoing, writes Jessica Quinn. A non-consultant hospital doctor, clerical staff member, and additional members of staff in cardiology services are in situ, while three additional nursing staff are scheduled to take up their posts within the next fortnight. Additional resources in allied health, general support and radiology are also at various stages of an ongoing recruitment process, the HSE confirmed in a response to representations made on the matter by Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara. “The first phase of the expansion was effected in December 2020 with four additional slots being provided from Monday to Friday,” said Deputy McNamara. “Once the personnel that are currently being recruited are in place, the HSE says it will be in a position to increase the number of weekly slots in the MAU by a further 32 between Monday and Friday and 20 at weekends …

AN historic area of Ennis with the highest vacancy rate in the town “risks further decline” unless regeneration action is taken, a meeting of the local authority has been warned. Calls have been made on the Ennis Municipal District by Councillors Johnny Flynn, Ann Norton and Clare Colleran Molloy to “urgently” develop an action plan for Chapel Lane. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the local authority Councillor Flynn suggested that Chapel Lane could be redeveloped to facilitate artists to live and work in the area, spearheading further regeneration of the town. “With the public realm upgrade of Parnell Street and the 29 lanes and bow-ways I believe that developing a regeneration of Chapel Lane to, for example assist artists and crafters working and living in the lane, could be a blueprint for regeneration of other areas of the historic town centre,” he said. Recalling the history of the lane he outlined that the Historic Town Atlas of Ennis map …

AN award winning Ennis restaurant has announced it is closing its doors for good. The owners of the Rowan Tree Cafe Bar on Harmony Row confirmed they have made the “difficult decision” to cease trading as of Monday of this week. According to a social media post the decision to close was made “due to increasing and unsustainable operational costs”. “We would like to thank all our loyal guests and customers for their valued custom over the years and most importantly thanks to our fantastic employees many of whom have been with us since the beginning, for their loyalty and dedicated hard work, we will miss the interactions with you all on a daily basis but we feel now is the right time to end this chapter,” stated Brian and Marianne O’Neill. They have urged anybody with a gift voucher to contact them by email at info@rowantreecafebar.ie before Friday.

THE family of the late Tim Smythe has described the development of a new dressing room building at the Ennis park which bears his name as “amazing”. On Tuesday the new development, costing in the region of €500,000, was officially launched by the local authority at Tim Smythe Park. Michael Smythe, son of the late athlete and politician, told The Clare Champion he believes his father would have been thrilled at what has been done in his name. “It is absolutely amazing. He was never a person that sought out thanks or praise, but he would absolutely have been happy with this. “The dressing rooms are just a fantastic addition to what has already been done here. I remember when I used to come here to play with Lifford, this is just so amazing to see.” Michael, now based in the US, added that his father would have been particularly delighted with the park’s running track. “That was his love …

Author’s collaboration with CBS Primary pupils results in a fantastic flight of fantasy set in Ennis THE students of CBS Primary in Ennis and writer Chris Judge have joined forces to create a magical new book with the county capital very much at its heart. CBS Primary, Ennis is launching A Town Called Ennis, written by Chris and the students of CBS Primary and also illustrated by Chris. This Friday will see the official launch of the book as well as the unveiling of specially commissioned artworks throughout the school, based on the illustrations created by Chris in the book. The school community is eagerly anticipating the launch of the book, which is notable at national level as the very first fiction book created in collaboration between an author and the students of a school, through the Per Cent for Art scheme. The scheme, associated with the capital construction of CBS Primary’s new school building, enabled the school to commission …

ENNIS’ Market building, described this week as a “glorified car park”, should be put in the hands of trustees operating independently from the local authority, a meeting of councillors has heard. Councillor Pat Daly believes that Limerick’s Milk Market may provide the inspiration for “positive ideas for the future promotion of the Market Building at Market Street, Ennis.” Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District he urged that a visit be organised for councillors and staff within the local authority to the market in Limerick. Backing the proposal, Councillor Johnny Flynn suggested that the market building could be leased out by the council to a group of public/private trustees. He estimated the Council could charge between €25,000 and €30,000 a year for use of the building giving “a good return” to the local authority. The market building was constructed at a cost of €500,000 as part of a €1.75m redevelopment of the market area in 2016. Councillor …