Category: News

THE Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI) should be about paving the way for new businesses to come into Ennis, rather than using vacant building in the county capital as a vehicle for promoting and cultivating artistic endeavour.

Calls for this business-led approach to the EASI project that was launched at a public meeting in Ennis was championed by a spokesperson for Limerick City Council that has pioneered the ‘Occupy Limerick Space’ initiative for artists.

“We are looking at evolving our scheme more into pop-up-shop type scenarios where people would sell arts and crafts,” Mary Grace revealed.

“It would allow people to go in and test the market with low overheads and they may potentially become a rent paying tenant of that landlord down the road.

“That’s where this scheme needs to go if we want to keep our towns and cities vibrant. The requirement is for a business-led focus. We have to be looking at creating sustainable business models.

“It’s fine having a place that’s tem- porarily active in the current climate, but we need to get business models in there that can sustain themselves in the future.

“We need someone with a business mind who’s saying ‘can I set up a business out of this in a couple of months time’. ‘Can I be a future tenant for this landlord’. ‘Am I in a position to pay him a rent if I can make a go out of this’,” added Ms Grace in outlining her vision of what the longterm goals of the Ennis initiative should be.

In backing EASI, Ms Grace said it was up to landlords to see “potential in their vacant properties” rather than looking on them as a problem. “We had to decide to be innovative and come up with a solution,” she said, “and we were very lucky to get one landlord, who was a huge fan of the scheme.

“He promoted it to everybody else. He went to talk to his fellow landlords to get them on board. If you can get someone like that, that’s an asset.

“If you can get estate agents who are committed to it, that’s another major asset because we did find that there was one particular firm in Limerick – Rooney Auctioneers who were very good at selling and very good at encouraging landlords to come on board with the scheme.

“The next challenge is finding suitable vacant properties. All properties out there aren’t immediately suitable. Some of them need work to be done to them. Just because properties are vacant doesn’t mean you can take it straight away.

“Creatives need to be reminded of their duties: active occupancy – to keep the place clean and tidy. It’s always important that people remember their responsibilities.

“The responsibility in all cases is to the landlord. We have to ensure that their asset is protected,” she added.

THE first ever Ennis Food Festival is among the proposals being considered for the next phase of the Create the Magic Initiative.

The initiative was launched last year as part of a push to make Ennis the friendliest town in Ireland. Around 40 businesses have so far backed the campaign which, through a series of seminars of workshops and seminars, focused on improving standards of customer service.

The next stage of Create the Magic will be launched in Ennis next week. Business people have met in recent weeks to develop new iniatives to help Ennis rebound from the recession.

These include plans to promote Ennis as the culinary capital of the Mid West by capitalizing on the town’s market history and popular cafés and restaurants.

According to one local businessperson, the idea was one of several put forward in light of the recent decision not to put Ennis forward for the 2013 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.

“After losing out on the Fleadh, it was just one of the ideas raised. Food festivals have been very popular and there hasn’t been one in Ennis before. We have a lot of cafes and restaurants. It would be ideal to have a food festival in Ennis.”

A new Create the Magic committee has been selected to guide the initiative in 2012. They are Mary Kelly, Mary Kelly Newsagents (Chair); Ciara Mulhern, Rowan Tree Café Bar & Hostel; Kathleen Sullivan, KT Sullivan & Associates; Marie Dillane, Banner Motor Factors; Mary O’Halloran, An Binsin Luachra; Sarah Malone, Zest; and Rita Mc Inerney, Ennis Chamber.

A Create the Magic information evening for the launch of the initia- tive for the coming months has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 7 at the Temple Gate Hotel, O’Connell Square, Ennis. Businesses are being urged to attend to maintain the energy of the initiative.

Members of Ennis Chamber and Ennis Development Forum, along with customer service expert Kathleen O’Sullivan, launched Create the Magic last March.

Members were also involved in the production of Ennis Share the Feeling, a promotional DVD that showcased Ennis at Christmas. The film drew over 11,000 views on sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

ENNIS Chamber of Commerce are in negotiations with a number of landlords about allowing their vacant properties to be used by artists as exhibition and studio spaces, the business group’s new president has revealed.

Meanwhile, while Ennis Town Council has pledged to negotiate with landlords wishing to be part of Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI) when it comes to striking a different rate for use of unoccupied buildings under the new scheme.

This twin-track approach to bringing the ground-breaking project into being on the streets of Ennis emerged after a number of artists present at the launch in the Temple Gate Hotel pressed the promoters for specifics.

“Are there shops willing to take part,” asked Ennis-based artist Carmel Doherty. “Have you talked to owners who have said they are willing to give over their shop window or premises to a venture like this.

“We are in negotiations at the moment,” revealed Ennis Chamber of Commerce president Brian O’Neill (right), “and negotiations are positive and we are hoping to access some (buildings) in the near future.

“It will be about twinning artists and units, not just letting everyone go willy-nilly everywhere. It will be about twinning certain artists with certain units. That would be my feeling on it at the moment. The feed back from the landlords is positive.

“The overall point is that we need some property owners to take the leadership and take that risk and be the first one to lead, so that others will follow. Certainly we would expect an announcement from one or two property owners and something concrete,” he added.

“In relation to the question of rates,” said Town Clerk, Leonard Cleary, “what we’d ask is that individual property owners would come and discuss with the local authority, sit down on a one-to-one basis and discuss concerns in that area. There’s no blanket solution, but obviously there’s practical approach being taken so that individual owners would come and discuss it directly.

“What we’re asking is that artists and craftworkers would liaise through Siobhan Mulcahy as the Arts Office for a co-ordination point and we will ensure then that the business community and the local authority is linking in through one co-ordination point.

“If you are a property owner, if you would contact the local authority (Ennis Town Council) or the Arts Officer and then we would to try and create a situation where we would engage both parties in the process,” he added.

“We live in a big town in Ennis and I think it is very sad for this number of years that we have no studio places,” said artist, Shelagh Honan.

“I am a working artist from Ennis and travel to a studio in Tulla to work as an artist. There are also great studios in Ennistymon and it is a great pity that we don’t have those facilities in Ennis. This is a way to do it,” she added.

AN AMERICAN man is appealing to the people of West Clare to help him track down his Irish ancestors, and reunite a family that has been split apart since the Great Famine, more than 150 years ago. The Minnesota native is hoping that the people of Clare can help him track down any relatives of Mathias Breen, who hailed from the area of Kilofin in Labasheeda, and emigrated to America in 1851. Mathias Breen was born in 1833. His father’s name was Thomas Breen of Laghkil and it is thought that his father was probably Mathias Breen (Snr) of Ballina. Mathias (Jnr), who is the American’s great-grandfather, emigrated to the city of St Paul in America in 1951, just after the Great Famine. The American ancestor has contacted the Ireland Reaching Out project, asking them to assist him in tracing his Clare cousins. “The project is about connecting members of the Irish diaspora from all over the world, with people from the own parish and where their ancestors actually came from. We have volunteers in a number of parishes all over Ireland and they are researching their parishes and finding out who have gone abroad from their parish for the last 150 years. We are tracing those people and trying to reconnect the descendants of the people abroad with their parish back home,” said Paula Kennedy of the Ireland Reaching Out Project “While we normally look for people in foreign countries to connect with, we were contacted by a man in America who is looking for Breens in West Clare. He is looking for any descendants of his family and is very keen to make some sort of connections. At the moment, we have only one or two parishes in Clare who are part of the Reaching Out Project but we are hoping that more will come on board in the next little while.” Anyone who has information on the Breen family from West Clare and, specifically, any relatives of Mathias Breen is asked to visit www. irelandxo.com and make themselves known or ring 091 842013.

FACELESS landlords from national corporations have emerged as a potential stumbling block to ensuring that some of the biggest vacant building in the heart of Ennis are made available to promoters of the Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI).

This warning has been sounded out by a leading estate agent in Ennis, who told last week’s public meeting that launched the new project that appealing to the “civic responsibility” of banking institutions that have left town was key to opening some prime locations to EASI.

“One of the biggest problems that we have is that some of the properties are not occupied by the owners,” said Paddy Darmody, of Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon in Ennis.

“We have three properties in the centre of town – the banks. They’re owned by people who don’t have possession of them. The banks are not trading there anymore but are still the tenants. They can’t get out of the lease that they’re in and can’t sub-let it because the rents are much lower than they were paying in the past.

“The problem with the three biggest properties in the centre of town with the biggest floor areas is that you’re dealing with faceless people and trying to get to people who make the decisions and take the responsibility.

“You might have to appeal to the civic responsibility and duties of national corporations who came into town and set up businesses and then up and left and are leaving us with these vacant properties. How we get to those I don’t know,” added Mr Darmody, who represented the longest standing estate agent in the county at the meeting.

However, while outlining these fears, Mr Darmody also pledged “support any initiative that would enhance our town” and pointed out that “everyone would like to work with such an initiative to get it off the ground”.

“The big thing for us is that our job is to let the property, so that whatever would happen, that it’s important from the owner’s perspective that the property is still clearly available to let.

“We would have properties that belong to local landlords and they are probably the easiest people to deal with as they are here and see the properties and would like to see them maintained and kept. For people not in town it’s as easy for them not to engage, because it’s a case of out of sight, out of mind,” added Mr Darmody.

CLARE County Council should seek to tap into the wealth of expertise that exists among retired workers in order to generate ideas for job creation.

The idea was put forward by West Clare councillor Gabriel Keating at the February meeting of Clare County Council. Cllr Keating (FG) proposed that the council seek to tap into the “wealth of experience and knowledge” amassed by the “many active retired, highly qualified and talented individuals residing in Clare”.

Cllr Keating said the council should engage with people who are willing to volunteer, advice, mentor or share their skills. He told the meeting that people with ideas for job creation should be encouraged to bring their proposals to the council. He said 30 good ideas could generate 300 jobs over a period of 10 years.

Cllr Keating said people would also be encouraged to provide some financial backing to their proposals. He added that he did not want the initiative to become a “talking shop”.

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) encouraged the council to facilitate people who can provide a role commensurate with their skills.

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said a broad invitation should be given to a wide section of the community. “There is a wealth of talent that can be tapped into,” he added.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said Cllr Keating’s motion should be sent to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to see if grant funding is available for the proposal.

In his reply, Director of Service Ger Dollard pointed to the high number of people who volunteered in Clare last year. He stated, “By the end of 2011, 731 volunteers were registered with Clare Volunteer Centre and had volunteered for 9,342 hours. The Clare Volunteer Centre, which opened in 2008 as part of a national network of volunteer centres, confirms that reduced opportunities had resulted in community and voluntary sector organisations focusing on more innovative ways to involve volunteers.”

Mr Dollard continued, “Clare County Council has a tradition of engaging volunteers in an advisory capacity with the community and voluntary sector such as voluntary housing, development of community recreation and sporting facilities including playgrounds, tourism initiatives, consultation process’ through focus groups when developing policy and identifying actions to implement policy.”

Mr Dollard told the meeting that the high number of retired people seeking to volunteer their time and expertise has emerged as a significant issue. He said the council would examine Cllr Keating’s proposal.

CONSERVATION work on a section of what is believed to be Ireland’s oldest house is nearing completion in Ennis. Scaffolding was taken down from Ms Irene Clune’s house (better known as McParlands) last week to reveal the building’s historic triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney for full viewing for the first time in three years.

The building’s triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney has been an icon of medieval Ennis for centuries. The house has undergone necessary structural repair work in recent months. It has been estimated that the works will cost € 170,000 to complete.

Conservation and repair work at the site has revealed that the building’s timber frame interior dates back to the 1500s.

Conservation officer Dick Cronin explained that work on the building’s exterior is almost complete. He said, “We believe it’s the only half-timber frame house left in Ireland. We have to do dendrochronological analysis of the timber. Once it is tested, we will be able to trace it back to the exact year when the tree was cut down.”

Mr Cronin added, “They are doing work on the shopfront which dates back to the 1800s and that is almost finished.”

It has been suggested that the building could be used as a museum but, according to Town Manager, Ger Dollard, the building will be returned to its former use as a home. He explained, “Our priority is to complete the works under the Dangerous Structures legislation and allow Ms Clune go back to her home as soon as possible. There are no other plans for the use of the building other than returning it to its former use as a dwelling.”

During October 2011, the gable and chimney were carefully taken down and stored. The Conservation Contractor, Tom Howard, claims it was “the most dangerous and precarious job I have ever undertaken as a builder but thankfully everything went to plan”.

CLARE Fine Gael backbencher Pat Breen yesterday questioned the credentials of Fianna Fáil when it comes to their recent protestations regarding the Government’s programme of asset disposal.

The West Clare TD said that concerns by members of the Fianna Fáil party, particularily concerning the workers in Moneypoint and Ardnacrusha, as “ringing very hollow”.

“It was Fianna Fáil who engaged Dermot McCarthy in July 2010 to undertake a review to consider the potential for the sale of state assets, including Commercial State Bodies, so any protestations now about this Government’s programme of asset disposal by Fianna Fail rings very hollow,” he said. “Our Government has reached an agreement on an asset disposal programme, as required under the EU/IMF Programme and provided for in our Programme for Government. The targeted proceeds from the programme is € 3 billion; and we have secured agreement from the Troika that a third of this € 3 billion can be reinvested into the economy to stimulate growth and jobs.

“The sale of a minority stake in the ESB will not now go ahead and the Government is committed to the retention of the ESB as a vertically integrated utility in State ownership, in spite of our decision to dispose of some of its non-strategic assets.”

“Both Ardnacrusha and Moneypoint are strategic power generating stations here in the County Clare. Ardnacrusha was the ESB’s first power station, opening in 1929, and today it continues to provide two per cent of the ESB’s total capacity.

“Moneypoint is one of the largest employers in West Clare, employ- ing up to 600 people depending on the number of contractors on site at any one time. The entire economy in West Clare benefits from having the ESB’s largest generating station based in the West.

“The workers live in Kilrush and the surrounding areas and this has a knock-on beneficial affect for local businesses and is helping to keep jobs in West Clare. Following the oil crisis in the 1970s, the generating station at Moneypoint was built in order to increase the level of ESB output and ensure that the country could become less reliant on oil imports.”

A MAN is due to appear in court again today in connection with a seizure of drugs near Ennis last week.

Trevor Gargan (31) with an address at 179 Cregayn Street, Belfast, Antrim, Bt6 8NI, was brought before Ennis District Court on Friday.

Detective Garda Seamus McMahon gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told the court that he arrested Gargan in Ennis on Thursday February 23. He said the accused made no reply after caution.

According to court documents, it is alleged that Gargan was in possession of cannabis for the purposes of selling or otherwise supply to another at Ballymaconna, Barefield on Wednesday, February 22.

Gargan is also charged with the unlawful possession of a controlled drug, to wit, cannabis, at Ballymaconna, Barefield on Wednesday February 22. An estimated value of the drugs was not given in court or outlined in court documents. Solicitor John Casey told the court that he had no questions at the moment. An application for legal aid for Gargan was approved.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the accused to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 28.

Asked by Judge McCarthy if was going to make a bail application, Mr Casey said he was not. Mr Casey explained, “Hopefully we’ll be in a position to make a bail application” at the next court appearance.

PLANS are underway to recognise three Clare people who were passengers on Titanic.

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Belfast built cruise liner.

Over 1,000 people died in the tragedy and now an Ennis councillor has called on Clare County Council to commemorate the Clare people who were on board the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

In a motion submitted to last Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Mulqueen called on the council to mark the “memory of the two Clare men who lost their lives on board the Titanic and also remembers the relations of Mary Agatha Glynn who survived this huge loss of life 100 years ago.”

Cllr Tony Mulqueen told the February meeting of Clare County Council that two men – Martin McMahon from Cragbrien, Ennis, and Daniel Keane lost their lives when the ship went down in the North Atlantic.

However, one Clare woman, 18year-old Mary Agatha Glynn from Flagmount, survived the sinking after being rescued from one of the ship’s lifeboats.

Cllr Mulqueen told the meeting that the council should commemorate Clare’s links with the Titanic by erecting a plaque in memory of the passengers.

Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), said plans are already under- way in east Clare to remember Mary Agatha Glynn. Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) backed proposals to erect a memorial plaque.

West Clare councillor, Christy Curtin (Ind) said recognition for the three Clare passengers would be appropriate.

He said Clare is a maritime county with a strong association with the sea. County Secretary Michael McNamara said the council is open to receiving suggestions about how best to mark Clare’s link to the Titanic.