This article is from page 18 of the 2013-11-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
ENNIS Town Council was last week named Town/Borough Council of the Year at the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, held in association with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.
In a further coup for Clare local authorities, the Clare County Councilnominated Celebrate Scattery Island festival was named winner of the Community Gathering of the Year award, sponsored by The Gathering Ireland 2013. The event, which took place in July, was shortlisted from hundreds of Gathering initiatives submitted to the awards scheme.
Commenting on Ennis Town Council’s award success, mayor of Ennis Cllr Mary Coote Ryan said, “In the months since the Local Government Bill to abolish all town councils in 2014 was published by the Minister for the Environment, the staff and elected members of Ennis Town Council have continued to work closely to deliver the wide range of important services that have been provided to the people of Ennis since the late 19th century. I am delighted that this work has been given official recognition at the Excellence in Local Government Awards.”
Ennis town manager Ger Dollard, who attended the ceremony in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel, commented, “This award reflects the important role played by the local authority as a service provider. The fact that the Purple Flag and Friar’s Walk Coach Park initiatives were also shortlisted for other category awards underlines the extensive role played by the local authority in the development of the town.”
Ennis Town Council was presented with a specially-commissioned trophy designed by Tipperary Crystal.
Meanwhile there are hopes that Ennis can benefit from its new twinning arrangement with the German city of Langenfeld.
In October, the mayors of Ennis and Langenfeld signed a twinning charter establishing formal links between the two locations.