*Ashfield House as visible from the Maid of Erin Roundabout which is one of the Ennis 2040 projects. Photograph: John O’Neill.
A REVISED remit has been agreed for the future of the Ennis 2040 DAC while over €5m has been spent on current projects.
The Clare Echo reported in March that controversial projects included in the Ennis 2040 strategy namely plans to develop on public car parks in Abbey Street and Harvey’s Quay (Parnell Street) and the boardwalk along the Post Office Field were officially scrapped from the strategy.
This move was taken following a recommendation to Clare County Council’s proposed variation of the County Development Plan.
At a briefing held in the headquarters of Clare County Council on Thursday, it was outlined that the future of Ennis 2040 DAC will now focus on a smaller number of developments. These include, the former Boys National School site, Ashfield House, and in conjunction with Clare County Council, the proposed housing development at Francis Street and activating housing lands at Claureen. More than €5m has been spent on these projects to date.
One of Gordan Daly’s first moves since his appointment as Chief Executive of the Council last April was to initiate a review of the Ennis 2040 DAC. The review was conducted by Limerick based Shannon International Development Consultants (SIDC) and took a year to complete. The consultants had six aspects to their review which looked at clarity of purpose, best practice review, draft assessment tool, institutional roles, implications for extending the DAC to the county and consultation. Ennis 2040 DAC was benchmarked against Limerick 2030 DAC and Donegal 2040 DAC as part of the review.
On Thursday, findings from this review were presented at a behind closed doors briefing in the Council Chamber. Only nine of the twenty eight elected members in Clare County Council attended the briefing.
SIDC in their review noted, “Following public pushback on a number of the proposed transformational projects, some were paused. This changed the game but not the rules”. They issued recommendations on five areas, DAC future structure, the remit, funding, governance and project delivery process.
Findings from the review detailed that the DAC Board understood that funding would follow the projects. A €10m loan approved for the creation of the Ennis 2040 DAC and this the first tranche of financing to cover staff costs, overheads, acquisition and development. “At this stage the loan is essentially committed. In practical terms, repayment of the €10M loan is dependent on successful activation of projects. No certainty about how that can be achieved, except by activating the assets, which potentially would require further investment”. Such funding is unlikely to be sourced internally from Clare County Council.
On the make-up of the Board, the review found there to be a “mismatch between existing skillsets at executive and board level for what is required to deliver on any future remit” and recommended the addition of a property developer or expert in this field, “however, the necessary resources at executive level can be
outsourced in the short to medium term”.
Four options were presented by the consultants on the future of the Ennis 2040 DAC which included Close/Mothball (Option A), Current Ennis Model (Option B), Revise Remit (Option C) or Countywide DAC (Option D).
Option A would involve closing the current DAC entity and absorbing resources such as staff and assets into the County Council. This would allow the DAC’s ownership to be transferred to the Council and permit a reset for the projects. However, it would also result in the potential loss of flexibility, no dedicated development entity for Ennis, a need to address all costs to date, further legal costs and an additional draw on Council resources.
As per Option B, the DAC would focus on sites currently in its ownership with the Council to provide the funding and resources for their delivery. This would retain the DAC’s structure, build on investment to date and facilitate structure enhancement. It flagged that this approach would not address the structural weaknesses already identified such as the absence of clarity on its funding,
the remit and requirement for both internal property development and project management expertise.
Under Option C, there would be a focus on a small number of core Ennis based projects with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Council on access to the Council’s resources. Non-core assets held by the DAC would revert to the Council and there would be a key focus alternative project activation and investment strategies. This proposal would allow funding of “project objectives with existing €10m facility”, a revision of the DAC’s remit, attract property development and management expertise, future project acquisition to be approved by the Council and derisking of sites for prospective developers. The Council will have to “consider taking ownership of non-core DAC assets and would require investment in outsourcing additional resources particularly in the property development area, as well as strengthening/supplementing the property expertise on the Board”.
Expanding the DAC countywide as per Option D would focus on a small number of projects in Ennis but allow for avenues across the county to be identified. Disadvantages flagged in this approach included the potential for properties with no commercial value to be assigned to the DAC, “setting unrealistic expectations for delivery versus reality”, a pressure to increase the number of DAC projects and an additional need to expand the DAC skillset at a board level.
SIDC recommended choosing Option C and this was agreed. They said there is “a strong business case to retain the Ennis 2040 DAC” by revising its remit focused to centre on facilitating economic development in Ennis.
Ennis based projects should be the initial focus of the DAC. These include the Boys National School site where it was recommended to complete site assembly and activate the market for suitable development proposals to be delivered by a third party. For the Claureen lands, the review recommended finalising option agreements either through the DAC or Council to facilitate delivery of housing development on the lands. It suggested delivering on the development proposal for the Francis Street site in conjunction with the Council. Suitable options for use or disposal to a third party has been recommended for Ashfield House.
On funding, SIDC recommended the Council funding for the DAC at the current level of €10m be for asset activation only including acquiring external market intelligence/ property development expertise. “The proceeds from any asset disposed of by the DAC would be utilised towards meeting the repayment requirements of the €10m loan and supplementing the activation fund with the agreement” of the Council. Annual funding will be provided by the Council for operational and overhead costs for the DAC and will be reviewed on an annual basis.
It has also been recommended that overall governance structures of the DAC be reviewed “with clear measures of success agreed” between the Council and Ennis 2040 DAC.
Director of Finance, Investment and Enterprise with the Council, Noeleen Fitzgerald also gave a presentation at Thursday’s briefing. She confirmed that €5.76m has been the costs incurred by Ennis 2040 on behalf of Clare County Council which has not been funded by the €10m loan. The Council has recorded these costs on their balance sheet for future development. She said Ennis 2040 records revenue on receipt of payment from the Council but noted that Council projects were not recorded on Ennis 2040’s balance sheet.
For Ennis 2040 owned projects, Fitzgerald outlined that that the costs incurred are €5.1m which have been funded by the loan and are included on Ennis 2040’s balance sheet for future development.
Of the €10m loan, €6.2m is drawn by Ennis 2040 and is recorded as a loan and interest. The loan is split across cash and cash equivalents (€1.3m) and work in progress projects (€5.1m) in the balance sheet. The Council has confirmed this loan will be repaid when the property assets purchased with the loan are activated. The Council has also clarified that expenditure of €2.6 million on progressing projects associated with Council owned sites at Abbey Street Carpark, Harvey’s Quay Car Park and the Post Office Field were not part of this loan.
Expenditure on current Ennis 2040 projects is €5,075m, this is from €3.6m on the Boys National Site, €763,000 for Ashfield House and €615,000 for Claureen Lands. As of December 2025, the total assets in Ennis 2040’s balance sheet stands at €6.39m.
In a statement, Chief Executive Daly stated, “This review provides a clear way forward. It supports the retention of Ennis 2040 DAC with a focused remit to progress a number of key strategic sites in Ennis, working in close alignment with Clare County Council. This approach will provide greater clarity on roles, governance and financing, and will support delivery of the council’s strategic objectives”.
Chair of the Ennis 2040 DAC Gerry Cahill commented, “The review notes that the DAC structure has proven positive in supporting economic development at named sites and the DAC is particularly effective where there is a focused approach to selected sites and the right specialist expertise is in place. Ennis 2040 now has the opportunity to move forward with clear priorities”.
