Tag Archives: Pat O’Donoghue

DESPITE numerous local objections, Aldi Stores Ireland Ltd have been granted planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings at Ennistymon mart and the construction of a new discount foodstore, including off-licence, with a gross floor area of 1,590m2. Clare County Council granted their application subject to 21 conditions. These include a requirement that the development only operates between 9am and 8pm between Monday and Saturday and only between 10am and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays. There is also a requirement that there be no deliveries between 11am and 7am. The decision will be appealed to An Bord Pleanála, Pat O’Donoghue, chairman of the Save Ennistymon Mart Committee, confirmed on Wednesday. “We have decided to appeal and we have applied for an open forum because it’s much bigger than a farmers’ mart issue, there’s a lot of local residents quite unhappy with the location. There’s a lot of people who are employed in the town who are concerned about …

Officers of the Ennistymon branch of the Irish Farmers’ Association, in an unprecedented move in the county, have resigned their positions. They took the decision to give up their roles in protest over the sale of the local mart to an international retailer and what they see as a lack of support from Clare IFA. The branch committee members took the united action “to highlight our frustration with the IFA on their approach to the sale of Ennistymon Mart”. Ennistymon Mart is run by Clare Marts Ltd, the farmer-owned co-operative, which also runs livestock marts in Ennis, Kilrush, Scariff and Kilfenora. It sold the mart site in Ennistymon to Aldi, subject to planning permission, provoking anger among the farming community in the mart’s catchment areas of Ennistymon, Kilshanny, Doolin, Liscannor, Miltown Malbay, Mullagh and Inagh. The Ennistymon branch of the IFA met last Wednesday and the committee resigned their positions but urged people to retain their association membership. “We feel …