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THREE BEDROOM

, which formed part of Shannon De- velopment’s proposed 10 year plan from 2005 to 2015 lodged with the Minister, the company sought to develop an At- lantic Economic zone that added Galway city and county to the current area it had responsibility for.

Instead of adopting the plan, Minister Micheal Martin has withdrawn any re- maining enterprise activities operated by Shannon Development, while its tourism promotion activities may also face the chop in a government shake-up of the structures promoting Irish tourism.

In a proposed new mandate for the

company, the company will be given an enhanced, though undefined, regional economic development role with a spe- cific emphasis on addressing the needs of the less developed parts of the Shannon Korea) 0F

Unions at Shannon Development, SIP- TU and the National Union of Journal- ists (NUJ) have agreed not to co-oper- ate with changes to bring about the new rn atW NOEs Kom

In the plan put forward the Board of Shannon Development, the company states that by 2015, it will have attracted an additional two million visitors per an- num, three million passengers through Shannon and Galway airports, along with an additional 25,000 tonnes in freight per annum.

It also states that Shannon will have 40 global destinations by 2015, while output per person will be 100% of the nation- al average and there will be pervasive broadband across the region.

Other highlights of the company’s plan include an international trade centre and international casino in the Limerick/ Shannon area; an international health

clinic in Limerick and a bio-pharma project in Limerick county.

The plan also envisages the establish- ment of an agile logistics hub at Shannon and a series of Burren initiatives, along with other tourism initiatives around Clare.

The company describes its 10 year plan as “an uncompromising drive’ to make sure that the Atlantic Economic Zone 1s recognised as one of the most forward- thinking and exciting regions in the world for people, investors and visitors.

Shannon Development stated that it would use the company’s asset base – without recourse to the Exchequer – to deliver an Atlantic Development Fund of €200m (over ten years) to finance eco- nomic infrastructure, seed strategic flag- ship projects and invest in commercial activities which will replenish the fund.

On the benefits of the plan, the docu- ment states that for people, it will offer challenging work opportunities; high quality of life, global connectivity and an integrated internal transport system, world class services and excellent educa- tional institutions.

SELF CONTAINED

FURIOUS traders in the Merchants Quay area of Ennis are demanding that something be done to improve the upkeep of the area.

They claim that the cobblestone streets are unsafe and have been the cause of accidents. Indeed Ennis Town Council has refused to col- lect rubbish in the area as they also consider is a safety issue with the cobblestone streets. As there is no refuse service for residents living in apartments, rubbish is often dumped in the streets. The overall poor con- dition of the area, traders believe, has led to a downturn in trade and in some instances has forced some businessess to close down.

In May 2001 Ennis Town Council, stated in a letter to solicitors acting on behalf of the traders, that there was safety issues to be resolved in relation to the cobblestreet surface. Mr Desmond Houlihan who is the developer of Merchants Quay, in- dicated to the council the situation would be rectified and that he no longer wished the council to take the scheme into its charge. Local trad- ers point out that very little has been done in the interveening period.

Despite paying rates to both the council and the developer they say

no services are being provided to Weloveee

In 2003 traders were served with enforcement notices for non-compli- ance with planning conditions at- tatched to the granting of planning permission in 1991, by Ennis Town Council. Both the traders and the

developer were threatened with legal action if they failed to comply with the notices. Since these notices were sent out no action has been taken. Traders feel they are being vic- timised as the planning conditions were laid out in 1991 and they only signed the leases for the premises

in 1996. Tony Muffett is the owner of “Patricias International Fashions’ in Merchants Quay which is due to close down.

‘ T ask the question that why is it that the enforcement notice was is- sued in 2003, we are now in 2005 and no action has been taken against the developer by the enforcement section of Clare County Council” he said on Thursday.

He went onto add that the poor condition of the area “is causing a blighting of the street. It 1s expen- sive enough with rates. We are being forced to pay the council and they won’t even come down the street as they consider there is a safety 1s- sue with it. The rubbish overhead 1s being deposited on the streets and somebody needs to take action”’.

The Mayor of Ennis, Frankie Ney- lon, has called on Mr. Houlihan to hold discussions with the traders.

“T would be expecting Mr Houli- han, being the landlord would sit down with the traders. They are the people who are paying the rents and who have the leases. If their busi- nesses aren’t successful there is only one way to go and that is to leave. That would be a huge problem for the centre of the town and I wouldn’t like to see it happen” said Cllr Ney- lon.

bedroom semi detached three to let in Ballycasey Shannon. Contact 087-6856038