Tag Archives: Ennistymon

By Dan Danaher THE development of an Aldi outlet in Ennistymon would result in job losses in local shops, a local supermarket manager has claimed. Supervalu manager, Jackie Crowe told a public meeting organised by Ennistymon IFA it would take 15 people to run a new Aldi store, which wouldn’t result in any new jobs as they would simply be displaced from Supervalu and small shops in the locality. She insisted the population in the Ennistymon catchment area is not big enough to support a large discount store and existing shops in the locality. At the meeting, which took place two days ahead of the announcement of the mart being sold, Ms Crowe  revealed the local Supervalu store paid out €1.4m in wages last year to 70 staff, as well as €400,000 to small independent producers in North Clare. She told the meeting Supervalu paid out  €17,000 in sponsorship to local clubs and charities. Since Supervalu moved to Church Street five years …

CLARE Marts has already sold Ennistymon Mart to discount supermarket, Aldi for a price tag believed to be in the region of €1.5m, despite strong opposition from the local IFA committee and local traders. Members of Ennistymon IFA staged a protest before a Clare Marts Board meeting in Ennis on Tuesday night, but the Clare Champion has learned Clare Marts is proceeding with the controversial deal. Clare Marts would not confirm the identity of the buyer or any of the terms and conditions, which it considers as “commercially sensitive information”. However, it is understood that the mart has been sold to Aldi subject to planning permission, which could take a number of years to secure. Aldi has also declined to comment on the deal. It is also expected that any planning application lodged by Aldi to Clare County Council will be vigorously opposed by some local traders and residents in the North Clare town. Fifteen sales have been held in …

MOTORISTS travelling between Ennis and Ennistymon can expect to face delays over the next number of weeks.  Starting on this Monday morning, there will be delays on the main road between Whelan’s quarry and the landfill site at Inagh for road maintenance works. Motorists on this strategic North Clare route are urged to allow additional journey time, especially for travelling to work and school in the mornings.

THERE was a substantial reduction in the number of people signing on in Clare during September. There were just shy of 9,000 people (8,983) on the live register in Clare during September, compared to 9,613 in August. The drop of 630 equates to a reduction of 6.5%. Most of the people on the live register in Clare are attached to the Social Welfare Office in Ennis and unsurprisingly that’s where most of the reduction was concentrated. While there were 5,535 signing on in Ennis in August, this was down to 5,094 in September, a drop of 441. This was the biggest drop at any of the four Social Welfare Offices in Clare, while the figures also improved at the other three. In Ennistymon it went from 1,369 in August to 1,318 last month. At Kilrush it dropped from 1,310 to 1,279 and in Tulla from 1,399 to 1,292. The number of under 25s signing on in Clare dropped by 154, …

By Dan  Danaher The payment of over €3.6 million for 13.8 acres of land for social housing in Ennistymon has been condemned as “astronomical” by a local councillor. Councillor Bill Slattery has expressed grave concern about the amount of money paid for less than 14 acres of land for social housing in 2007, most of which was never used for the purposes of which it was intended. Councillors agreed to support the transfer of two parcels of land at Glen North, Ennistymon to the Housing and Sustainable Communities Limited under the Land Aggregation Scheme (LAS). It is expected that this decision will be rubber stamped by members at a full Clare County Council meeting on Monday. Clare County Council paid Matt O’Dea €2,634,596 for 9.12 acres at Glen North, which included the purchase price, legal and auctioneering fees. Interest on the loan of €494,822 has been charged to the end of last June. The council is obliged to start making …