*A trial will be funded by elected members of the Shannon MD.
SHANNON is to be trialled as the location for Clare’s first dog park next year.
Elected members of the Shannon Municipal District have agreed to fund a pilot dog park programme next year.
Senior executive officer in the Shannon MD, Suzie Clifford outlined that the local authority is still working to identify a suitable park. “Future dog parks will arise in the Municipal District if the pilot is a success,” she stated. Other dog parks have been reviewed by the Shannon MD senior officials as they work on bringing the trial to fruition.
Both Cllr James Ryan (SF) and Cllr Rachel Hartigan (FF) both tabled motions on the subject at the September sitting of the Shannon MD. Cllr Ryan looked for a dog park to be built in Shannon Town with Cllr Haritgan seeking it somewhere within the Municipal District.
Tom Mellett, senior engineer detailed that discussions had taken place with local community groups. “Locations have been considered. Before this project advances any further, an assessment around the legal framework for providing such an amenity will be conducted”.
With Shannon having “an awful lot of dogs and dog owners,” it is the right location, Cllr Ryan maintained. “It is something which should be looked at, there is enough public land which could be used, dog parks are not particularly massive, they are small areas, the biggest issue is what happens the waste, are bins and bags provided”.
Cathaoirleach of the Shannon MD, Cllr John Crowe (FG) backed the call to go with Shannon Town as a “trial run and the rest of the Municipal District could follow on”.
Despite receiving strong support at a County Council level when raising the motion in the past, Cllr Hartigan admitted she was “really deflated” with how the top table reacted to the proposal. “If they can manage it in Limerick then why can’t we do it here, banned breeds brought up in response last year which I thought was pretty weak”. She said the changing mindset from the Council over time has been encouraging, “there are tonnes of benefits for dogs and their owners, it is great for people who hate dogs too because they are kept in one place”.
Voicing his support, Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) pointed to a park in Dún Laoghaire which has a 4ft high fence and safety gates, “If they can manage it in Dublin or Limerick then surely we can do it in Clare”. He continued, “a very famous football trainer in Kerry said we couldn’t have back in the day, there is always a mentality of ‘no we can’t’, there is always a reason not to have something, could we have another, it would be an acre less grass to cut so maybe it would be another reason”.
