Tag Archives: Ennis

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 …

AN elderly woman was scammed by two bogus tradesmen in Ennis last week, with gardaí appealing to anybody who may have seen them to contact them. Last Tuesday at 12.20pm two men called to the home of the elderly lady on Considine Road. They told her that her attic needed to be insulated and asked could they go up and have a look. The lady showed them the attic opening and when they came down they said that it would cost a substantial amount of money to do the job. She gave them some of the money and they then said they would need the rest before they did the job. She left and went to the credit union and these two males waited outside for her to return, when she did they took the money from her and left. These males were seen in the area in a white van with roof ladders on the top between 12.20 and …

A CHRISTMAS shopping experience with a difference takes place in Ennis this weekend. A group of local students are coming together to highlight that poverty effects people throughout the country every day of the year by running the St Vincent de Paul’s Ennis charity shop for 24 hours. The 16 members of the 4GC class at Gaelcholáiste an Chláir will completely manage the Vincent’s shop on Parnell Street from 9am on Friday until 9am the following day with bargains galore promised. Teacher Martina McNamara tells us that the students are all looking forward to doing their bit to support the work of St Vincent de Paul in Clare, taking on all of the tasks involved in the management of the charity shop. She explains, “Our Transition Years annually organise a fundraising campaign for local charities. This year the 4GC class at Gaelcholáiste an Chláir will manage and run the local St Vincent de Paul charity shop here in Ennis for …

THE show must go on for the Ennis Players despite Covid-19. This would normally the time of year when the Players would be tidying up from another year of Supper Theatre Productions. This year has been a very different year but in the true spirit of the Ennis Players, and with adherence to social guidelines, they have come through with a play which will be available to view on their new and reworked website page this Thursday. “It was an opportunity that could not be ignored,” says the newly appointed Chairman of the Ennis Players Committee Paul Corey. “We wanted to do a little give back for all those who have supported us throughout the years. Obviously it was not without its challenges due mainly to the Covid crisis but it was a chance to simply say ‘Thank You’  to everyone from our patrons to those who gave us raffle prizes and our audience in general.” Mrs Sorken written by Christopher …

THE chairman of the Retailers of Ennis group has slammed Clare County Council’s policy of keeping O’Connell Street and Abbey Street closed in peak trading hours, something he says is killing business in the town centre, and will not help stop the spread of Covid-19. The streets have been closed to vehicles to allow more room for pedestrians, which the Council claims will help limit the spread of Covid-19, but business owner John O’Connor says it is a nonsense. “The rationale the Council used is based on a fallacy, that if you walk a normal street landscape you have every chance of transmitting or contracting the virus. The logic behind that is a total fallacy. At the start there was an element of fear and total ignorance, “What the Council have been doing is continuing with that ignorant discourse and trying to convince people, and they have a lot of people convinced, that if you walk the streets of Ennis …

GARDAI seized of over €60,000 worth of suspected drugs and cash on Wednesday evening. As part of an operation targeting the sale and supply of drugs, Gardaí from the Clare Divisional Drugs Unit carried out a search of a yard in the Clarecastle area. There they seized suspected cannabis herb with a street value of €40,000 along with €17,000 cash. Follow up searches were also carried at fields in Ennis and Tiermaclane where Gardaí seized over €2,500 cash and €700 of suspected cannabis herb. All of the suspected drugs will now be sent for analysis. Two men, both aged in their 40s, were arrested and detained at Ennis and Shannon Garda Stations under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996 and have since been released. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

IT isn’t pine needles that make up a very special Christmas tree which has gone on display in Ennis recently. Ennis National School’s knitting and crafting club ‘The Crafty Crew’ have been busy using their knitting needles to create a community Christmas tree over the past few months. The tree and accompanying festive display is made of hundreds of squares of knitting created by the young students along with members of their families. It is now standing proudly in the window of Insomnia in the Ennis Shopping Centre on Francis Street for all to see. Teacher Ciara Harding explains that the club for third to sixth class pupils had been meeting during their lunch-time breaks for the past two years. “Due to Covid restrictions our club cannot go ahead as normal so we have tried to encourage the children to continue in a new way. This year from lock-down in March up to last week children, parents and grandparents have …

THE Mid-West Health Service Executive has confirmed a new Covid-19 testing centre will open on the outskirts of Ennis on November 16. This announcement comes in the wake of increasing concern about the number of people from West Clare who have been referred for Covid-19 testing in Limerick and North Tipperary in recent weeks due to capacity issues. A new Covid-19 testing centre will open in the Ballymaley Business Park, Gort Road, Ennis, on November 16. This will replace the existing test centre, which was provided at Clare GAA’s headquarters in Cusack Park. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne has expressed concern about official statistics confirming more than 600 planned Covid-19 tests were marked as no-shows across the Mid-West from October 19th to 25th. “I am deeply concerned about the continued trend of no-shows for Covid-19 tests across Clare, Limerick and Tipperary in recent days. “The HSE have said that up to late last week there has been around 600 missed appointments for …