Tag Archives: Ennis Municipal District

WITH the country moving back to Level 3 restrictions and non-essential retailing re-opening from Tuesday the Christmas spirit has returned to Ennis with shoppers being urged to support local. Alongside free parking and pedestrianised streets, the return of the popular Ennis Street Radio bringing Yuletide cheer has been announced by the Ennis Municipal District in a bid to attract shoppers to the town centre. To promote Christmas and New Year shopping in Clare’s county town, free parking will be available in all public car parks in Ennis town every Monday to Saturday from 2pm to 6pm until Saturday, January 9 inclusive. Parking remains free of charge from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday, at the Cloister/GAA car park. Similar to previous years, for the Christmas period streets will be pedestrianised on Sundays this year between 1pm and 6pm, December 6, 13, 20, 27 and January 3. To add to the festive cheer, Ennis Street Radio will be on air from …

A TOTAL of €150,000 has been spent by Clare County Council to-date on legal costs relating to an illegal encampment on the Kilrush Road in Ennis. The figure was given in response to a series of questions posed by Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy at the November meeting of the authority. Members were also told that the advice from the Department of Housing is not to remove families from unauthorised sites while the Level 5 restrictions remain in place. Councillor Colleran Molloy expressed surprise that all six of the unauthorised encampments are in Ennis. “My purpose in raising this issue is to find out that the council is doing to deal with it,” she said. “I was not previously aware that they are all in the Ennis district and all in a short distance of the Rocky Road roundabout and the Doora exit off the motorway.” A written response from Director of Social Development, Anne Haugh, outlined that the council secured …

THE brakes have been pulled by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on a proposal to install a right turning lane at an Ennis junction despite residents being “in fear of their lives”. The need for a traffic island to accommodate traffic coming from the Ennis side heading to West Clare and reinstatement of a hard shoulder at Kilmorane was highlighted at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. Councillor Pat Daly stated that this junction is close to six residential houses and a business with a “serious health and safety issue there”. He stated that residents are “living on their nerves every day” describing the route as “very, very dangerous”. He added that the new business has seen the creation of 10 jobs, and a right turn is essential in ensuring its sustainability. However, John Gannon, senior executive engineer replied, “The TII have inspected and reviewed this junction and have assessed that the traffic movements do not validate a right …

THE Ennis Municipal District are being urged to put its back into supporting local students. Councillor Ann Norton has proposed that the local authority meet with students to hear first-hand about their experiences of heavy school bags and the effect it has had on their backs. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the council she stated, “There has been an enormous amount of students already suffer injuries and pains due to this issue and it is exactly this situation that will cause long term damage to our children’s backs. There is a body of international medical and academic research that supports the correlation between weight of school bags and lower back pain in adolescents. Can Ennis Municipal District look at supporting students to highlight this issue to the Department of Education and the Minister of Education? We should invite students in to tell us there experiences and look at the best way forward to look at reducing the weight of …

AN Ennis councillor has pledged his portion of General Municipal Allocation funding to finding a solution to the decades-long “dangerous” situation at the Corrovorrin – Tulla Road junction. Councillor Johnny Flynn at a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District vowed that if funding is not forthcoming from central government that his GMA should be used to find an interim measure to improve the junction. Residents of Corrovorrin who have been regularly attending council meetings to stay updated were in the public gallery. Councillor Flynn had sought a progress report on the proposed junction improvement measures being planned and a likely completion date.   John Gannon, Senior Executive Engineer replied, “The Corrovorrin-Tulla Road Junction will be included in Clare County Council’s application for funding under the Departments low cost safety improvement works for regional and local roads to be carried out by Local Authorities during 2021. Subject to departmental approval the expected time fame for completion will be Autumn 2021.” Councillor …

THE concerns of residents in Ennis’ Turnpike about speeding motorists have resulted in plans to develop traffic calming measures. Members of the Ennis Municipal District have agreed to a plan to install traffic calming ramps at the Turnpike Road and Limerick Road. The works include the removal of an existing traffic calming ramp; refurbishment of two existing traffic calming ramps; installation of five new ramps and the provision of all associated signage and road markings. A report furnished to members of the Ennis Municipal District outlines that the traffic calming measures are proposed “due to a number of concerns raised by residents in the area about traffic speeding and traffic volumes”. Following surveys a design was prepared in accordance with the Road Traffic Act, 1994 and associated Regulations, the Traffic Management Guidelines and the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets. Four submissions were received in relation to the proposals, including one by Councillor Johnny Flynn. The councillor outlined his …

A HOUSE which has been derelict for decades in Ennis has been described as a “blight”, while calls have been made for a return to two-way traffic at Upper Cusack Road. Councillor Mark Nestor, speaking at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, branded the current road system as “dangerous” with traffic not stopping at the yield sign. “This is a very, very serious matter”. Responding to the motion, Ian Chaplin, acting senior executive engineer stated, “The installation of the one way system at this location was to facilitate safe passage of pedestrians and cyclists when the Greenway route was installed a number of years ago. The width available did not allow for a two way carriageway and path. To revert to a two way carriageway within the available space would require the removal of the cycle path which would leave an unsafe situation for pedestrians and cyclists. Alternatively if land acquisition was pursued here extra width could be …

A DECISION on whether or not to grant Part 8 planning permission for the development of social housing units in Ennis has been deferred by councillors. At the monthly meeting of Clare County Council, a deferral on the vote was sought by Councillor Paul Murphy on behalf of the seven members of the Ennis Municipal District. He asked that a month be given to address residents’ concerns about issues including overlooking and the removal of existing trees. The request was seconded by Councillor Mark Nestor, who said that would give time for the authority to meet residents of nearby Elm Wood, some of whom attended the council meeting on Monday. Councillor Johnny Flynn added his voice to the deferral request, suggesting that a period of two months might be needed. Contributions were made by a number of other Ennis members with Councillor Colleran Molloy asserting that residents were reasonable and had no objection to social housing. “We need to go …