Category: News

BUSKERS could soon have to go through X-Factor-style auditions in order to perform on the streets of Ennis. Ennis Town Council will today discuss a proposal to introduce new on-street entertainment byelaws.

In a notice of motion, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) is calling on Ennis Town Council to “draw up street entertainment bye-laws to deal with busking and the provision of small street public performance spaces (spotaí ceol) to enable performers book a targeted time”.

Cllr Flynn says similar byelaws have been introduced to much success in several other towns around Ireland.

He explains. “It’s about bringing opportunities to quality young performers and to people who have busked in certain locations in town. It’s to try and enhance the experience on the streets, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays from 4pm on. It would provide opportunities for local groups to perform in areas like the Temple Gate or up in the Square, or in Abbey Street.

“There are one or two corners that could be developed to suit bands playing from around 4pm to 7pm on Saturday afternoons. It’s trying to bring a bit of music and culture to the streets of Ennis, a bit like there is in Galway.”

Cllr Flynn says the byelaws would be aimed at improving the on-street experience of customers and businesses alike.

He says the byelaws could include a requirement for buskers to audition in order to a secure a designated performance space.

He explains. “You can see the huge improvements that are happening in coach parking where we are trying to make the town a more go-to place for coach tours. It’s taken a number of years to get agreement and provide facilities. Once you provide facilities, you have to manage them.

“Likewise, if you make the streets of Ennis more open and available for street performers, you have to manage them in a way to ensure there is high-quality busking. Some businesses might not want buskers outside their premises, blaring music all the time. You would have to manage that and see how different towns and cities manage them.”

Cllr Flynn continues, “You could have an X-Factor-style audition process for busking in Ennis. You can’t very well have somebody pelting away poor quality music and driving people off the streets. It’s to improve the experience in and around the street of Ennis, both for businesses and the customers coming.

“It would give an opportunity for prime busking locations or prime performance spaces for young as well as experienced performers.”

ENNIS Town Council will today announce details of plans to pedestrianise parts of the town centre in the run up to Christmas.

The council has been urged to follows last year’s system, which saw O’Connell Street closed to vehicular traffic from 12 noon to 6pm.

Parking charges were also suspended for certain days, a move credited with helping to attract more shoppers to Ennis.

Free parking was applicable to the town’s 759 off-street and 783 on- street public car parking spaces up to 12pm daily on Saturdays during the festive period.

Councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) believes the council should adopt a similar approach to pedestrianisation again this year.

He said, “Last year, it seemed to have been very successful where they pedestrianised only O’Connell Street and only from 12 noon to 6pm and offered free parking for that period. Hopefully it will be a similar approach.

“I believe pedestrianisation of Abbey Street is a total failure. It closes off the town. It gives the impression to people that the town is closed down.”

Cllr Flynn continued, “You need to bring people to the Square. You need to be able to bring people into the middle of the town to do their shopping. In the morning time, you have people from the suburbs and the outlying areas of Ennis coming in to do their shopping before 12. I think last year’s solution was very successful, just O’Connell Street until 6pm. I would hope that they bring that in again, along with the free parking.”

Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber, said pedestrianisation on Saturday should be again introduced along with free parking.

She added, “It was a real benefit in terms of bringing people into town. It was nice to be able to come into Ennis and relax and not have to worry about paying for parking.

“The Christmas lights went on a week earlier as well, which helped. I think that they should even be switched on a week earlier this time. It gets people into the spirit that bit earlier.

“For businesses, Christmas is the most important time of the year. They can do up to 50 to 60 per cent of their business in December so it really is a crucial time for businesses.”

Ennis Town Council members are also expected to discuss an updated report on efforts to develop the town’s night-time economy.

The council is working with the local business community, Gardaí and Promote Ennis on plans that could see part of the town receive a Purple Flag status.

The Purple Flag is run by the Association of Town Centre Management (UK) and is awarded to towns based on the quality of its nightlife and the types facilities and services in place at night.

ENNIS Courthouse was witness to some chaotic scenes last week as fighting broke out on several occasions in the foyer of the building as cases were being heard inside the courtroom.

An eyewitness described the scenes as “something out of the wild west” as people attacked each other as court cases were being heard just yards away on the other side of the courtroom door.

The noise and screaming from the incidents required the court to be stopped as gardaí rushed outside to intervene.

The court was interrupted on three separate occasions as a result and 29 gardaí were forced to deal with con- frontations between various families in the foyer of the courthouse. Three people appeared in court on Tuesday charged in connection with the events. Insp Kennedy told the court subsequently that there were indications that more people could be charged in connection with the disturbances.

Judge Patrick Durcan said the business of the court had been greatly disturbed on Tuesday.

He said, “Twenty nine members of the gardaí on three occasions had to leave at speed and stop a melee that was audibly evident.”

He added; “This kind of behaviour around courthouses will not be tolerated.”

THE break-up of Shannon Development will be put on a legislative footing by the end of the year in a move that will pave the way for Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority to take over the running of the Shannon Free Zone.

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, made the announcement on Friday after it was revealed that an agreement had been reached with Shannon Development to enable the two State bodies to take over the enterprise development functions in the Shannon Free Zone.

In announcing this decision, Minister Bruton said, “This Government is committed to securing a bright future for the Shannon region. We have decided to make swift legislative change to ensure that Enterprise Ireland and IDA can, as soon as possible start delivering enterprise support services in the Shannon Free Zone.”

This move follows on from the decision taken in May by Minister Bruton and Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar to create a new world-class aviation industry at Shannon as part of a series of reforms of Government agencies operating in the region.

Central to that plan was the decision to merge Shannon Airport and Shannon Development into a new entity and to transfer Shannon Development’s functions in relation to indigenous enterprise and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Free Zone to Enterprise Ireland and IDA.

Part of the reforms previously announced was to task IDA and Enterprise Ireland with carrying out enterprise development functions in the Shannon Free Zone, in addition to their existing enterprise development functions throughout the Shannon region.

The agencies will also develop a plan for the delivery of enterprise supports in the Shannon region. This will mean that indigenous and foreign businesses throughout the region will have direct access to the comprehensive range of supports from the State enterprise agencies, as well as to a dynamic international airport with extensive property holdings.

The legislative process made it nec- essary to remove the restriction contained in the Industrial Development Act 1986 on Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland carrying out enterprise development functions in the Shannon Free Zone (SFZ).

This legislation will be published before the end of the year and then put before the two houses of the Oireachtas for enactment in the new year.

“This represents a step along the road to creating a new future for Shannon,” said Minister Bruton. “Much important work remains to be done, and that work is continuing. I am convinced that with the right reforms properly implemented, that a bright future can be delivered, and Government will continue to work hard to ensure that happens.” We will h a ve w in d a n d p le n t y o f ra in e a rly in t h e we e k b u t t h e we e ke n d lo o ks p le a sa n t , fin g e rs c ro sse d .

PRELIMINARY discussions have taken place between Ennis Town Council and landowners about the future development of the current site of Ennis National School.

It is understood that the council met with representatives of Eircom and other stakeholders located near the Kilrush Road site last month.

The site is zoned for commercial purposes under the current Ennis and Environs Development Plan. The land is owned by Ennis Parish.

Council officials, landowners and representatives of Ennis Parish have held preliminary discussions with the aim of developing an integrated plan for the overall development of the site. It is thought that individual planning applications would not receive approval.

A spokesperson for Killaloe Diocese said that these discussions would also involve the Department of Education and Skills, who own the school buildings.

Ennis parish administrator Fr Tom Hogan said the discussions between all parties are at a “very preliminary stage”.

Local councillor Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) said he would be concerned about the impact any development would have on the Kilrush Road area.

He said, “I know myself from parents trying to drop off kids at the school, it’s impossible to get back out onto the road with the traffic. You have a lot of residents too living on that road and they would have to be consulted as well. The residents there have expressed concerns over traffic.”

Ennis National School has been located at its current site since 1971. The school is expected to move to a new building at Ashline within the next two years.

The new site is a 2.34 hectare, fully-serviced, green-field site. The works project involves the construction of a new 32-classroom school including ancillary accommodation in an 18-month building programme. An extended school hall, dressing rooms, shower facilities and a pitch have also been incorporated into the plans.

These extra facilities will not be funded by the department so the school has set up a fundraising committee. Construction work has started at the site and is expected to be completed by September 2013.

THE Department of Education and Skills has raised a number of queries regarding the possible lease of land from a Killaloe school to a local community development group.

The Ballina Killaloe Sports and Community Development Company Ltd are seeking to lease land from Clare VEC at St Anne’s Community College for the development of new sports facilities.

The September meeting of Clare VEC heard that the Department has now written back to the group with a “significant” number of queries.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that the Department had concerns over a number of aspects of the proposed agreement, including the length of the lease and the amount of land being sought by the company.

Mr O’Callaghan said the Department also has concerns over the impact any arrangement might have on the future development of the school.

Mr O’Callaghan told the meeting that the company had requested some time to consider the Department’s requests. He said the company had also requested time to look at “other options”.

The meeting heard that the VEC must first receive the approval of the minister before entering into any agreement.

Mr O’Callaghan said the Department had indicated a desire to work with the Ballina Killaloe Sports Development Company.

Committee member Cllr Peter Considine (FF) urged the company to work with the Department on the project.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC expect to reach agreement with a Kildysart-based community group about the lease of lands at St John Bosco Community College in the next few weeks.

He said that the heads of agreement had been sent to the Department of Education and Skills.

He said the group had been able to address the queries raised by the Department.

Mr O’Callaghan added, “We would expect to be able to sort it out in the next couple of weeks.”

STRIKE action will take place at Shannon Airport later this month if “meaningful” progress on the issue of pensions is not made in the coming week. That was the SIPTU warning after the union announced it was to temporarily suspend planning rolling strikes at Shannon, Cork and Dublin airports.

Strike action was due to begin at Shannon Airport yesterday, October 1, but this has been put on ice to allow for further negotiations to take place.

Union bosses say they will “reluctantly” re-enter talks at Labour Relations Commission (LRC) with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and Aer Lingus this week.

This comes following warnings from the Aer Lingus top brass that they would sue the union officials personally for any revenue lost as a result of the strike.

Despite the mini breakthrough in the dispute, SIPTU officials warned that they have merely removed the strike notice temporarily and still have a mandate to strike at Shannon if progress is not made.

The dispute centres on a € 170 million shortfall in Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme, a pension jointly operated by DAA, Aer Lingus and SR Technics. The dispute involves a large number of SIPTU members but Impact, Unite, Mandate and the TEEU members are also involved.

Meanwhile, new figures released by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) show that number of flights using Shannon Airport continued to fall in August, despite an overall increase nationally.

An average of 56 flights used Shannon Airport each day in August, a 4.7 per cent drop on the previous year. There was also a 1.7 per cent drop at Cork Airport, but these figures were offset by a 2.7 per cent increase in the number of flights using Dublin Airport.

Nationally, the August figures are encouraging for Ireland as it was the first time this year that en-route traffic movements, North Atlantic communications flights and international arrivals and departures have all shown an increase.

THEY’RE the sounds that have made Clare a haven for traditional music lovers around the world and now they’ve been made accessible to everyone thanks to a new online initiative called the Music of Clare Project.

Clare County Library and the Clare Arts Office have joined forces in the venture, the first stage of which concentrates on the traditional music of the county and featuring the biographies and music of some of Clare’s best known traditional music artists.

These include Martin Hayes, Micho Russell, Willie Clancy, Sharon Shannon, Chris Droney, Dennis Cahill, The Kilfenora Céilí Band, Martin Junior Crehan, Elizabeth Crotty, Kevin Crawford, Kieran Hanrahan, The Tulla Céilí Band and Kitty Hayes.

“This new online project will allow immediate access to all those interested in the music of County Clare, and will greatly enhance the existing historical and cultural resources on the library website itself,” said Clare County Librarian, Helen Walsh in launching the initiative.

“We want members of the public to be able to listen to traditional tunes associated with Clare, played by musicians who are from the county or who have lived in it for many years,” said senior executive librarian Anthony Edwards.

“We have also included transcriptions of the featured tunes, to help anyone who wishes to learn the basic notes of a tune so as to be able to play it. Links to alternative transcriptions are also provided,” he added.

The project also includes a music videos feature, a collection of embedded online videos of Clare musicians from YouTube. Historical and biographical articles place the music of Clare in context and provide back- ground and further resources for study and enjoyment.

The project received financial support from the Clare County Arts Office which, with Arts Council funding, sponsored an initial researcher, Paddi O’Connell, and funded the transcription of some of the tunes by Geraldine Cotter.

“The County Arts Office is committed to promoting the wealth of traditional music in Clare and we were delighted to work with Clare Library Service on such an exciting and important project,” said Siobhán Mulcahy, County Arts Officer.

The Music of Clare Project team consisted of executive librarian Maureen Comber, library staff officer Jackie Dermody and project manager Anthony Edwards.

The Music of Clare Project is accessible at www.clarelibrary.ie.

GARDAÍ have launched an investigation after a man was stabbed at his home in Shannon.

The serious assault occurred at around 6.30am on Sunday morning in Cluain Airne, Shannon.

The occupier of the house opened his front door and was then stabbed in the stomach by a man who was standing outside. The man then fled the scene.

The injured man called the emergency services and was treated at the scene before being taken to Limerick Regional Hospital for treatment but his condition isn’t believed to be life threatening.

Gardaí have released details of the person they believe is responsible for the attack. He is described as being 5’8” in height and approximately 2021 years of age. He was wearing a navy jacket with an Eircom logo on the back.

Gardaí say he may have had a black eye. The injured man is currently recovering in hospital.

Gardaí in Shannon are appealing for anyone with information on the incident or anyone who may have seen anything to contact them.

GORT mother and son team, Gina and Cathal Casey, made their own piece of history last week when they both won bronze medals at the World Kickboxing Championships on Florida. The pair, who are both students of Lisa Connolly, at the Gort Taekwon-do Academy returned home over the weekend with their unique set of medals.

Gina, who is a special needs assistant at Gort Community School, and Cathal, a second year pupil at the school, both won the medals for Ireland competing in the ‘Light Contact Sparring’ category.

Fourteen-year-old Cathal is a black belt in Taekwondo, while Gina has a red/blue striped belt. The pair began Taekwondo three years ago and are now leading members of the Gort Taekwondo Academy. After making it past the initial elimination rounds, both were delighted to take home bronze medals from their first ever WKA World Championships.

The pair’s trip to America was made possible, in part, because of € 500 in fundraising conducted by Gort Community College.

According to their instructor, Lisa Connolly, who is herself a European Taekwon-do Champion and fourth degree black belt, Taekwon-do has many benefits for those who practice it. “The main things that people learn concentration, discipline and respect. Respect is a very big thing in Taekwon-do,” said Lisa.

“People’s concentration can improve because there is a lot of repetition, and if you don’t get something right you have to do it over and over.”

To find out more about the Gort Taekwon-do Academy call Lisa on 087 2070583.