This article is from page 2 of the 2011-08-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A NEW two-day Ennis market has been forced to limit trading to Saturdays only after falling foul of planning regulations.
The Market bazaar was started by former general election candidate Ann Cronin in May. The bazaar has been open on Fridays and Saturdays at Cronin’s Yard on Market street.
However the decision to limit trading days at the bazaar comes after Ennis Town Council wrote to Ms Cronin stating that she did not have planning permission to operate a market in the area.
Under planning laws, Ms Cronin faced a possible maximum fine of € 12.5 million euros or a prison sentence.
The Ennis woman had availed of a loophole that allows markets or fairs to operate for a period of 30 days without planning permission.
The market has now been in operation for 22 days so Ms Cronin has decided to halve trading to extend the lifespan of the bazaar.
She explained “It will stretch it out a bit into September. There are a couple of traders relying on it for their week’s income so that’s why we want to try and stretch it out for as long as possible”.
She said she had hoped to fight the planning laws and claimed she was willing to go to prison. However, Ms Cronin said she is planning to emi- grate and fears a criminal conviction could prevent her from entering some countries.
She added, “I can’t beat the system…. Hopefully it will continue on into something more permanent. I think we did something good. I will definitely do it (the bazaar) again next summer if I’m still around”.
The bazaar was founded as a means of supporting small enterprises. 60% of the goods sold at the bazaar had to be made by Clare based businesses.
Ms Cronin estimates that as many as 500 different traders have taken up stalls at the bazaar since it opened three months ago.
She said, “These are people who are coming into town, spending money on parking, buying cups of coffee. They are not spending massive money but they are contributing to the local economy”.
In her blog (ennisbazaar.wordpress. com), Ms Cronin writes “I set the Market Bazaar up in response to the protracted death knell of Ennis as I knew it. My father is a signwriter, we grew up in the middle of the Market and watched it change from a vibrant buzzing centre of commerce and social support to a giant car park with fewer and fewer shops, replaced by the betting shops and empty lots which pepper our towns and villages”