*A senior official said ‘an empty box’ and not a petition was presented by Save Ennis Town. Photograph: Tom Micks
A WAR of words between Clare County Council and Save Ennis Town has erupted as tensions reach boiling point over planned developments in the county town as part of Ennis 2040.
In new correspondence obtained by The Clare Echo, a senior official in Clare County Council questioned the authenticity of a petition presented by Save Ennis Town and set out terms and conditions to follow in order for a request to meet with top brass of the local authority to be considered.
Following on from reports in The Clare Echo last week that the County Council had failed to acknowledge a request from Save Ennis Town to hold a meeting, a response to the voluntary community group followed late on Thursday evening.
This response saw the Council questioned the authenticity of a petition with 3,700 signatures presented to then Mayor of the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) in October 2023 following a silent march. The correspondence also bucked against the Council’s rhetoric on the value they place in public consultation by questioning the structure of the voluntary group and detailed procedures they must follow in order to meet senior Council staff.
Acting Director of Economic Development, Seán Lenihan issued the reply to Save Ennis Town Chairman Gearoid Mannion where he detailed that Ennis 2040 was “a means to counter” a slowdown in Ennis’ economic activity. “As we are all aware from Banking and other third-party studies and data, Ennis isn’t and hasn’t unfortunately been performing in terms of economic growth as well as it should over many years now. The reasons are many and include changing shopping trends, lack of suitable office and retail accommodation, high rents, high energy costs, high salary costs, succession planning”.
Lenihan said the Council were only presented with “an empty box” not a petition of 3,700 signatures by Save Ennis Town. “You make reference to a petition of over 3,700 signatures. It would be appreciated if you would please advise me as to where I can get a copy of same to review and authenticate as it is my understanding that we didn’t actually receive a petition and that it was an empty box that was presented to Mayor Pat Daly at the time”.
Comments from Save Ennis Town that there “overwhelming public opposition” to plans to build on the car parks in Abbey Street and Parnell Street were ‘strongly refuted’ by the Acting Director. “I would also refute your statement that meaningful consultation has not happened. While not directly involved with the project at the earlier stages myself, as an Ennis resident, it would be my view that extensive consultation and engagement has occurred in advance of the strategy’s adoption”.
He also disagreed with the view that there is “an information vacuum” surrounding Ennis 2040 and advised that Ennis MD councillors would be attending a behind-closed-doors briefing next week.
Before agreement could be made on a potential meeting with Save Ennis Town, Lenihan listed several terms and conditions that must be met. “We would be happy to meet and discuss the proposals with you and a representation from your group but in order to do so, and in keeping with similar requests to other interest groups, we would need you to submit a few details relating to your grouping. Particularly, please confirm the identity and structure of Save Ennis Town Group. You mention in your letter that you are a voluntary non-political group so I am presuming that you are not a registered company with the Companies Registration Office and/or registered with the Charities Regulator. If it is the case that you are an unincorporated entity, we would require details of the people who are members of the group.
“Furthermore, if you intend to operate as an unincorporated entity, we recommend that a constitution is approved by the members (if not already done so) and that the relevant officers (eg Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, etc) are appointed. This is necessary and important for our ongoing engagement. Once we have this important detail, we will then be in a position to further engage and provide relevant information, where available,” he added.
On Tuesday of this week, Save Ennis Town wrote to Interim Chief Executive of Clare County Council “to express our deep disappointment at the content of the email reply”. They argued that Lenihan’s reply failed to mention rates increases by the Council for Ennis businesses including rates harmonisation of approximately 18 percent since 2014, and the impact of the recent national re-valuation of Clare businesses. They also said “access to the town for potential customers to do business either blocked or made extremely difficult over the last seven years due to works by Clare County Council and other public bodies”.
Chairman of the group, Gearoid Mannion in the correspondence disagreed with Lenihan’s assertion that ‘meaningful consultation’ has occurred for Ennis 2040. He said the strategy was “researched and drawn up by a multi disciplinary team of international experts for Clare County Council, following a public tendering process. Councillors had no statutory role as they only could only note, not adopt, the finished document”.
Efforts from Save Ennis Town to have engagement with the Council and Ennis 2040 DAC have been ongoing since May 2023 “to no avail,” he detailed. “The promised report of the findings of a series of very well attended public engagement events about the Ennis 2040 DAC’s plans, held in early 2024, has not yet been made available over one year later,” he added.
Lenihan’s remarks on the ‘empty box’ are “incorrect,” Gearoid stressed. “The box contained a letter outlining the concerns of those involved in the march regarding the future of Ennis town and detailed how, in compliance with our data protection obligations, the petition forms were retained in a secure location. At the time, the petition forms were independently authenticated by a respected retired civil servant prior to being lodged in the vault of a solicitors practice in the town where they remain”.
Mannion continued, “There is a suggestion in the email that, in order to be granted a meeting with a local government senior official, Save Ennis Town, or any other concerned voluntary community group, drawn from civil society, should be either legally incorporated, a registered charity under legislation, or comply with several other pre-conditions, before our voice will be heard. It is our view that such pre-conditions border on an attempt to exclude the views of the majority of the people of the town from being heard”. He said the group has a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer, and is approved by banking requirements to hold an account with formal meetings held and minutes taken. He concluded, “As a concerned, voluntary, community group we hope that the meeting we have requested will be facilitated as soon as possible”.
