This article is from page 22 of the 2012-02-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
THE mayor of Ennis will not travel to New York this year for the St Patrick’s Day parade, as councillors disagreed on the appropriateness of the trip.
Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (FF) said that while he would not be attending, he saw merit in someone going.
Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) told the February meeting of the council, “It is a very advantageous position to send our mayor over to America.”
He said the town had a lot coming up in the next two years that needed to be highlighted.
Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said that he believed that it was not appropriate for the mayor to travel this year and that he should be in Ennis to welcome the delegation from Langenfeld, Germany, who would be in Ennis for the festivities.
He was supported in his view by Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind).
It was also agreed that the biggest parade in the county would take place on March 17, St Patrick’s Day, in Ennis.
The local town council agreed to host the parade on the national day of celebration after Cllr Brennan (Ind) stated, “I don’t eat my Christmas dinner on St Stephen’s Day.”
Special plans have to be put in place this year, however, as St Patrick’s Day falls on a Saturday.
Special consultations and planning will now begin in relation to the impact the parade will have on street closures and on businesses during the busiest shopping day of the week.
“It is also an opportunity to maximise the economic and social benefits of this festive weekend, including the bank holiday Monday,” explained Ennis Town Clerk Leonard Cleary.
“As this is a bank holiday weekend, it is proposed to try and maximise the economic benefits of the St Patrick’s Day Weekend for the town. Saturday is an important trading day for businesses. In this regard, it is hoped that the increased footfall from visitors to the town for the parade could be converted to an afternoon shopping experience and weekend social event,” he said.
“In order to heighten awareness of this initiative, it is proposed to implement a parking incentive on Saturday if it is linked to pedestrianisation of the streets.
“It is viewed as important that some piloting of pedestrianisation would occur on festive occasions to provide the customer with an alternative experience,” he added.
The theme of this year’s parade is ‘Ennis – A Town of Many Cultures’.
It will begin at 11am sharp and is expected to take up to an hour and a half to pass the viewing stand in the square.
Mayor Guilfoyle has called on all organisations to get involved with the parade on the day.