This article is from page 32 of the 2007-11-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
A ROW is brewing over the post of- fice field after wildlife experts be- came the latest group to express con- cern over plans for the site.
The Clare Regional Game Council has expressed its opposition to plans to build a new state of the art public library in the centre of Ennis. Ac- cording to the Council, any develop- ment at the site would have a negative impact on the abundance of wildlife inhabiting it.
The proposed development in the Ennis Post Office field will incor- porate a new Public Library, Head- quarters, Local Studies Centre, per- formance arena, community meeting
facilities and a range of ancillary exhibition areas for Clare County L1- brary and the Clare Arts Office.
Council secretary, Jimmy Allard said the post office field is an impor- tant breeding ground for birds.
He said, “We are objecting to any building or development on any part of the field. We stopped a builder building a hotel there before. That field is a wildlife sanctuary, from there out to Doora. There are a lot of ducks and geese in the area where they want to build that use it to nest”.
One of Ireland’s most successful fishermen, Mr Allard is a three time All-Ireland fly fishing champion and international gold medal winner.
He was the first person to introduce ducks to the River Fergus at the post office field in 1990 and the popu- lation has thrived since. He fears though that construction work would damage the delicate eco-system that has developed in the field.
“The ducks hatch along the area Where they are proposing to build. There will be hatching boxes going in there in the spring. You couldn’t start building there. There are a lot of people in the town that aren’t happy with it. Everyone would like to see a new library in the town, but we feel that there is plenty of space on the present site that could be re-devel- oped”
Mr Allard said the Council is also
planning to call a public meeting to discuss the issue.
Last week Minster of State Tony Killeen announced the appointment of a project design team to explore the development of a three-story 45,000 sq ft library building and arts centre.
However members of the arts com- munity in Ennis have questioned the merit of the project given Ennis al- ready has two major arts and cultural venues in glor and the recently rede- veloped Cois na hAbhna.
Library and Council officials have said the need exists for a new library in Ennis and that re-development of the existing De Valera library site is unfeasible.