*Photograph: Páraic McMahon.
FRUSTRATION is mounting over delays to the Ennistymon public realm project, with councillors warning that businesses are losing thousands of euro during the height of the tourism season.
The issue was raised under at the July meeting of the West Clare Municipal District, where Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) said while people welcomed the public realm project, there was growing anger over the length of time the works were taking to complete.
He said local businesses, particularly restaurants, had lost “thousands of euros” in footfall as a result of the ongoing works.
Cllr Slattery said the project had entered its seventh week and claimed sections of the town had been dug up without any visible activity for days at a time.
He questioned why contractors were not working Saturdays to complete the project during the peak tourism season. “The contractor is not coming in to finish that project within a timeframe that is acceptable,” he said.
Backing the concerns, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) said residents and businesses had been informed earlier that day (July 21) that the closure of Parliament Street would remain in place until August 28.
He said the extension meant the busiest weeks of the tourism season were now being affected, creating significant disruption for businesses, visitors and elderly people trying to access the town. Cllr Talty said many older people were now forced to park on the outskirts of Ennistymon before walking into the town centre.
“You can see them basically struggling to sustain themselves on those kind of walks in and out of the town,” he said.
He also questioned whether contractors delivering public projects were being held sufficiently accountable for delays, adding: “We need to be stronger on managing contractors to make good on the contracts that they are taking out.”
In response, Director of Services Carmel Kirby acknowledged the concerns and said the council would continue engaging with the project management team. She noted that sourcing specialist tradespeople could sometimes present difficulties and said similar issues had arisen during works in Ennis.
Acting Senior Engineer Paddy Tiernan said there has been no delay to the overall completion date of the project and said the extension of the Parliament Street closure was due to additional works requested by the ESB and the discovery of old culverts beneath the road.
Mr Tiernan said unforeseen issues were “unfortunately a risk” on projects involving old market towns and acknowledged the disruption the works were causing for local businesses.
“These public realm projects… it’s hard to see the light when you’re in the middle of them,” he said, adding that while the works were difficult in the short term, the completed project would ultimately benefit the town.
Cllr Slattery responded by questioning why underground issues had not been identified during earlier surveys, saying businesses were “losing a fortune” while the project continued.
Mr Tiernan replied that while most underground services are identified in advance, some culverts were likely more than 100 years old and had no records or maps, meaning they could only be discovered once excavation began.
