*Photograph: John Mangan
A SENIOR OFFICIAL in Clare County Council has said the Ennis public realm works “will not be a Children’s Hospital mark two”.
In October 2023, works began on the Ennis public realm regeneration project. The €11.6m scheme is one of the largest public infrastructure projects to take place in the county town but the pace of works are having a crippling impact on local businesses.
€8,744,275 has been approved for Project B of the Ennis Public Realm Regeneration Strategy following the successful delivery of significant public realm enhancements at Parnell Street, and town laneways and bow-ways in 2020 and 2021. It is funded under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) with 25% match funding from Clare County Council
October 2025 remains the target for the completion of works. Uisce Éireann is funding the delivery of the foul sewer upgrade in parallel.
Ennis businessman Patrick Bourke speaking on Clare FM this week said the project “smacks of the Children’s Hospital” while criticising the pace of works, the amount of workers on-site and claimed that there is a disagreement between the contractor Shareridge Ltd and officials in Clare County Council.
In a proposal before Tuesday’s meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) asked for a discussion between councillors and the executive “around setting aside considerable funds (including GMA funding) for a paint scheme be made available to all with premises, both owners and traders, that have been affected by the current public realm works”.
Senior engineer, Seán Lenihan said he fully supported the motion, “in fact suggested something similar at a meeting I attended in recent months with business and property owners affected. At the time, a rates waiver or moratorium was being asked for. I explained why that wasn’t an option but certainly we would endeavour to support those affected in a tangible and meaningful way such as a regular window cleaning service and perhaps an end of works paint scheme as now suggested. The Members will be aware that there has been some funding made available in the past for painting premises as well as a scheme supported by the Paint Industry in advance of Ennis hosting the National Fleadh some years ago”.
Funding supports available were not “fully clear,” he flagged. “A meeting with Ennis MD Councillors to discuss the options and make the necessary arrangements will be organised at a mutually suitable time in the coming weeks,” Lenihan outlined.
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Cllr Howard outlined that her genesis for the motion went back almost a decade and prior to the 2016 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. “I’m not talking about a token like paint scheme, I’m talking about something substantial, even ones not on O’Connell St or the Square because the whole town has been affected, we can’t give a rates waiver because it is not within our capacity”. She said a scheme “can help revitalise the town” and that she was willing to put “most of my GMA from next year towards it”.
Deputy Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) seconded the proposal but admitted, “I don’t know about the GMA going towards it, there should be a grant” as “a nice gesture of goodwill to help businesses with their shop fronts”.
Businesses are “finding it very difficult,” Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) commented, “we all know when it is completed that Ennis will benefit”. Help must also be given to areas where works are designated, he said, “My biggest concern is the speed, we need to get the work done as quickly as possible”.
Support for the proposal was also voiced by Cllr Paul Murphy (FG), “Taking note that we can’t give a rates waiver, this would be a way of helping the businesses that do need help, I heard one businessman on the radio who was extremely frustrated at the speed of the works, it is not my job, I’m sure the will is there to get it expedited”.
“There is a lot of frustration there but at the end of the day it will turn out to be a beautiful street and town,” predicted Cllr Pat Daly (FF). He said works were “very slow” and referenced the Children’s Hospital by Patrick Bourke. He questioned why works were no longer continuing at night as previously agreed, “I’d like to see it move faster. It is total frustration for businesses on O’Connell St”.
Attending the meeting remotely, Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) questioned if the senior engineer was happy with the progress of the works. She suggested a briefing, which would be held behind closed doors, away from the public and the media, to ascertain “how could we reassess the businesses that are discommoded during the works”.
Lenihan told the meeting, “It won’t be a Children’s Hospital mark two. A contract has been agreed with the contractor for a price and for a duration, there are penalties if they run over the contract period but unfortunately there aren’t any bonuses if they finish sooner, the bonus for them is to move to another job and make money elsewhere”. He confirmed that the contract runs until October 2025 with Shareridge Ltd, “the project management office are engaging with the contractors and design team to see if there’s any revisions to the programme that is acceptable and adequate to both sides”.
He said “there was some night-time and late-time working outside of normal business hours” for what is “a very complex project, it is inside the centre of a heritage town, you have a fairly tight footprint to work from, you have to lay new services, there’s backfiling and concrete work which has to cure for a month”.
Local authority staff up and down the country are envious of the funding Ennis received for the public realm works, Lenihan stated. He said he attended a town hall meeting at The Old Ground Hotel, “I spoke and more importantly listened to the frustrations expressed that night, I expressed as best I could what we were doing. We’re standing down the contractor over the Christmasperiod to allow the town to trade and thrive”.
Contractors are “looking to see how they can expedite, they have had a change in staff recently and we’ve seen some benefit from that,” he said. The senior engineer said expectation would have to be managed on funding, he estimated that the paint scheme would cost “in excess of €100,000” and predicted a spend of €1,000 per business.
Having walked up the town, several business owners put questions to Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) which he admitted he could not answer. “Business owners are of the belief that there is a serious dispute between Shareridge and the Council. Is the relationship healthy,” he asked.
In response, Lenihan said he was not aware of any dispute between the Council and the contractor, “There is always difference of opinion between contractor and client”. He added, “I’m not aware of any dispute that you are aware, we might talk offline if you have further information. It is on target, albeit slow but it is moving the right way”.
Concluding the discussion, Cllr Howard maintained it was “one of the more frank debates we’ve had on public realm works. Our pot of money is finite and part of that is GMA, for one year of the five we could consider giving the money over to a paint scheme, I remember the buzz from the first Fleadh, if you stood still long enough there’s a chance you would have had a lick of paint on you”. She added, “We do need something to lift morale, businesses are feeling the brunt of it, they need to know we will assist them in anyway we can”.
