This article is from page 6 of the 2009-09-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
AN TAOISEACH Brian Cowen will make his first trip to the county town as leader of the country on Monday next.
The Fianna Fail leader was criti- cised during the local election cam- paign for not stopping in Ennis as part of his tour of the county, favour- ing Shannon and Kilmaley instead.
He denied at the time that he avoid- ed the county town as he did not want to engage lobby groups on the closure of 24-accident and emergen- cy services at the hospital.
“The schedule has been fixed and there is no problem meeting people as I go around. And I think it is im- portant to point out, regarding Ennis Hospital, the ward block construc- tion is going to take place (later in the year) we hope. I would be ex- pecting that it would be taking place then,” he said at the time.
More than three months on and Mr Cowen has agreed to a walk around in Ennis.
The Taoiseach will begin his sec- ond official visit to Clare in Shannon, where he has accepted an invitation from Shannon Chamber President, Jan Barrett, to speak at his annual lunch for the business community.
Announcing the event, Chamber President Jan Barrett said, “The chamber is delighted to get an op- portunity to directly represent its members’ interests in these chal- lenging times to An Taoiseach, and
to support the case for the passing of the second referendum on the Lisbon sbi iAee
After lunch, Mr Cowen will begin his visit to Ennis by launching the CCTV (Close Circuit Television) service at Ennis Garda Station. With “big brother” watching over him he will then walk through the winding streets of the town from 2.45pm be- fore meeting the party faithful in a local hotel.
Mr Cowen will then travel west to Lissycasey to the new water plant.
Derma deta oD NNTca CoM AOU Beh ( ome Kirush for the official opening of a community creche.
The childcare facility, Cuan Samh, serves the Adult and Community Learning Centre on Cooraclare Road. The ceremony is timed for 5pm. The purpose-built unit replaces earlier childcare facilities housed in a pre- fabricated building at the centre.