Calls for Sli Cara in Shannon to be purchased by Clare County Council to develop a public street in the town have been described as “premature”.
Cathaoirleach of the Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Gerry Flynn proposed that the local authority’s Director of Economic Development consult with Skycourt Management and the public over the possibility of purchasing Sli Cara which is situated between Sean Lemass Library and Kincora apartments. “This road could become a public street and go a long way to giving the people of the Shannon a sense of ownership of their town and could form the basis of the socio-economic strategy for Shannon Town”.
Senior Planner, Brian McCarthy in a written reply, confirmed that his department were preparing a brief to go to tender for the drafting of a Shannon Town Masterplan which recently secured URDF funding worth €100,000 which is to be split with The Venue project. The Council expect to appoint consultants “in the coming months”.
“Central to this master-planning process will be the examination of the pedestrian and vehicular mobility linkages that exist and are required within Shannon Town. In light of this, it is considered that the identification of Sli Cara as a main street for Shannon Town and commencement of discussions with all stakeholders are premature pending the commencement of the master-planning process,” McCarthy stated.
Cllr Flynn told the meeting he had already mentioned the idea to manager of the SkyCourt shopping centre, Pat Kelly, “he didn’t see anything wrong with it”. “It is never premature to consult with people”.
Referring to a public meeting at the end of the February which discussed the future of The Venue and saw elected representatives criticised most notably Cllr Flynn himself, the Independent councillor “People didn’t like what they heard but I would prefer to lose the election telling the truth rather than winning it telling a lie,” he continued, “We were left outside of discussions for their meetings but they had no problem giving it to us in the neck”.
“I would like consultants to meet us once they are appointed. I was going to say we have one chance of doing this right but we were promised this years ago. The consultants have to listen to us, we know what the people want and we know that they need,” Sinn Féin’s Mike McKee commented.
Fianna Fáil’s Cathal Crowe believed both Cllr Flynn and Cllr McKee “have a clear idea of where the town needs to go. This could be an adrenaline rush to get Shannon a street. It is the capital town of this Municipal District”.
Senior Executive Officer within the Economic Development Directorate, Carmel Greene who was representing Liam Conneally at the meeting reiterated comments passed by Pat Dowling earlier in the meeting. “The Chief Executive said it very clearly, Shannon is a key priority for Clare County Council”.
