*Kevin Corrigan, Pat Dowling and Carmel Kirby. Photograph: Brian Arthur.
ELECTED MEMBERS of the Ennis Municipal District have said they were left in shock following the decision of Ennis 2040 Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Corrigan to tender his resignation this week.
Corrigan will leave the role at the end of January with Padraic McElwee, Head of the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) in Clare to serve as Acting COO until a permanent successor is appointed.
The Clare Echo spoke with all seven members of the Ennis Municipal District on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in the aftermath of Corrigan’s exit.
Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) noted that she worked alongside Kevin Corrigan for three and a half years since his appointment in September 2021. “He is a consummate professional, he has created a good foundation going forward for delivering on Ennis 2040 strategy adopted by Clare councillors in 2021. I understand Kevin is going on to pursue different opportunities, his ultimate replacement will continue to do the great work he has commenced”.
Deputy Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) revealed to The Clare Echo that she has never met or been introduced to Corrigan since her election as a first-time candidate in June, six months ago. “It was a bit of a shock, it came out of the blue, would you believe I’ve never met the man. It is all about finding somebody new and who will fit in and hopefully listen to the concerns of the people of Ennis. We might need to change up a few things to make Ennis 2040 a success”. She added, “I haven’t met him, I haven’t been offered to meet him either, that could be on me too. We got information this week that he was going and someone has been appointed in the interim, they will decide on someone to hire, hopefully there is a Plan B because I don’t know if Plan A will work”.
Reasons for his exit were not known to Cllr Paul Murphy (FG), “I was genuinely surprised, I hadn’t heard any rumours about it but these things happen, people move on from jobs, I didn’t hear any reasons why he left”. He added, “I do believe Kevin didn’t have an easy three years but he did deliver a lot, he was operating in a tough job but he did well and I wish him well”.
It was only when The Clare Echo contacted Cllr Pat Daly (FF) on Tuesday night that he first heard about Corrigan’s resignation, having been released from University Hospital Limerick (UHL) the previous Friday. “I’m not surprised, he came into the job but didn’t get the momentum going because of the opposition in the town and from the organisations in the town, he didn’t get the support, the frustration came in and that was it. I spoke to him on numerous occasions, he is a very nice man”. Giving his initial reaction, Daly stated, “It is obvious that they will move slowly because there’s so many people against the building on Abbey Street, I found that out during the local elections, I met people who had their concerns, I suppose he couldn’t hack it and left. You don’t like to see anyone walk out of a job, it will be good news when they find another site outside of Abbey Street, that’s when the good news will come”.
There is a change to have a rethink on plans for the strategy, Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) maintained. “As a community activist I tried to work with Mr Corrigan in relation to Francis St, I found him stern, hard but I suppose people power spoke loudest in the end, we managed to change his direction on Francis Street. I hope that the change of direction is seen throughout Ennis 2040 DAC upon his departure and projects that were highly contested are put on the shelf especially Abbey Street and the Post Office Field”.
Corrigan was described as “very genuine, very determined and very educated in his role” by Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF). “I wish him the very best of luck, I acknowledge the effort he has made over the last number of years, it has to be appreciated that a vision was put forward to the town of Ennis, let’s be clear not everyone agreed with the vision, we had three consultations, one in Barefield, one in TG and one in Clarecastle it was quite obvious one proposal that was extremely sensitive was the building on Abbey Street, there is nothing wrong with saying we need to relook at this”. He added, “I wish Kevin the best of luck but my role is to protect our existing businesses first and foremost”.
Since the inception of the Ennis 2040 DAC, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) has been one of three councillors acting as a Director. She said, “I wish him all the very best for the future, he had a great vision, I’m sorry to see him go but hopefully it will be onwards and upwards”.
A vacancy exists on the board following Ann Norton’s (IND) departure from the Council but this has not been filled in six months, despite this meetings of the board have been held, Cllr Howard confirmed. “We’ve met a couple of times, I missed a couple of meetings because I was away, I haven’t got the minutes from them so there is nothing to report. We will be regrouping in the New Year and have a vision for the future but what that looks like I don’t know but we need a new vision because if we don’t have that then Ennis will stagnate. If we don’t do something innovative and different for Ennis now I believe the town will be on its knees. We can see the vibrancy is back over the last couple of weeks, I want to get the buzz back and I think it will come back, we’ve a couple of months left of the construction for the public realm works but we can now see the vision of what it will look like for O’Connell Street, it will focus on Barrack Street next and I hope to see it progress to Abbey Street in the future,” Cllr Howard confirmed.
Fellow Director of the DAC, Mayor Colleran Molloy confirmed that good governance has been maintained with meetings ongoing since the local elections. “I believe the Ennis 2040 plan will be reaffirmed in the New Year by the County councillors at large, a project acquisition is underway which will take a positive direction for Ennis and county into the future”. She added, “I do believe that the interim replacement Padraic McElwee will be superb for the period until a permanent COO is appointed. The ultimate plan for 2040 is still very much to the fore, the delivery of certain projects will respond to public consultations as the processes unfold”.
Similarly Cllr Murphy felt the temporary appointment of McElwee was positive. “I do think the temporary appointment of Padraic McElwee is good, you’d go find it hard to find a better man, he knows the county and town very well, he is a Donegal man originally but he is an Éire Óg man now. I believe he will understand the pulse of the town, he will have a vested interest from a family point of view in making the town a better place, I’m confident Padraic McElwee will grab this opportunity with two hands, I don’t know if it will lead to a permanent post for him but he is definitely a safe pair of hands”.
A need for Ennis 2040 still exists, Cllr Howard said. “I think the project in some shape or form is needed, we’ve changed the way we live our lives and shops, people say we’re a market town but I haven’t seen a banamh sold in the town for decades. COVID has changed the way we’re making purchases, there was always going to be a move to online shopping but that was expedited due to COVID, we have to find ways to make our towns attraction, make it safe and bring whole family”.
According to Cllr O’Callaghan a person “red line issue” is to have no building constructed on Abbey Street car park. “If we thought the campaign last year was bigger then I’m only getting started. Both he and Cllr Murphy voiced the need to bring unused buildings in Ennis Town Centre back into use for residential purposes.
There has been little talk of Ennis 2040 since the local elections, Cllr Baker Bashua observed. “Since the election Ennis 2040 has been very quiet and very quiet everywhere, listening to views of councillors who were on the DAC they are still behind it, the others feel it won’t work and that Ennis doesn’t need a flagship store in a car park, I still can’t see a small flagship store going into a car park, it is still only 120 odd spaces and there will be no parking, it now goes to seeing what they will do when all the talks are on the table. It was a shock to see him go because he was adamant he was behind it, there’s strong people on the committee which I am finding out about, it won’t change my views regards building anything on the car park though no matter how strong they are”. She added, “I do think it is a countywide issue, it is not just a town issue, a lot of people can walk into town and parking isn’t an issue for me, I’m thinking of people visiting the town and they will want parking, thankfully now there is parking there because I got parking no problem and it’s lovely to see car parks busy with people having shopping bags in their hands, the town is busy and it’s lovely to see but the problem isn’t going away, I’m a solution based person”.
An altered vision is needed for the strategy, Cllr Guilfoyle believed. “I genuinely hope the Ennis 2040 changes its vision for the direction of the town, we all want a positive change which embraces the town to create a better place to live, work and visit”.
Changes in personnel may freshen things up, Cllr Murphy noted. “You’ve the COO post temporarily filled and a position on the board hasn’t been filled since the local election, it will freshen things up. I wouldn’t be looking for a major overhaul in the whole concept. I’m not on the board of Ennis 2040 but I’d like to see the Roche site prioritised because it is an opportunity site, there is a bit of work to be done with it but it is a fantastic site not just for Clarecastle and Ennis but the wider region. I also believe our outer road network needs to be part of Ennis 2040, the whole LIHAF road, the road from the Tulla Rd to the Gort Rd and the N85 relief road from Skehanagh to the Tulla Rd, they are crucial to the proper development of Ennis”.
Adequate parking remains a necessity regardless of changes, Cllr O’Callaghan stressed, “we need a minimum of 1500-1800 car spaces, on that basis, we have an opportunity to drive our town in a unique town for the betterment of the county”.
