This article is from page 26 of the 2007-03-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
CAMPAIGNERS are confident En- nis will achieve Fair Trade status providing there is greater support from the local business community.
A number of businesses and schools in the town have already committed to stocking Fair Trade products.
In order for any town to be granted Fair Trade status a flagship business must pledge its support to the ven- ture. Ennis Fair Trade Committee member Mairead Sheedy explained Ennis has already met with much of the criteria required to achieve Fair Trade status.
‘We presented the statutory report
on Ennis to the national organisation and we were congratulated for that. Some businesses have supported us and are carrying the products but we still need a flagship business. Ideally that would be a hotel, but we are hop- ing to get a local factory. They have already said they would stock Fair Trade coffee so we just have to final- ise a few things.”
A two-week global campaign aimed at creating awareness about Fair Trade products drew to a close last week.
Ennis also took part during that pe- riod with a number of events held in schools and other locations around i eTom KO), 2 08
Last Thursday students at Colaiste Muire organised an information day at which they sold products which carried the Fair Trade logo.
The school also held a hot choco- late morning with money raised to be donated to a former student who plans to travel to Sri Lanka with the Fair Trade organisation.
Ms Sheedy said, “We were look- ing at ways to raise awareness and through schools have shown a great interest. Some of them went out on the street and did a survey with lo- cal people about their attitudes to Fair Trade. We held a tea and cof- fee morning in the Friary and that was very successful. We had a lot of
people coming in who showed a lot of interest. We also held one in the Adult Education Centre”
The Fair Trade Mark is an inde- pendent consumer label, which ap- pears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged pro- ducers in the developing world are getting a better deal.