*Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) flagged the matter.
DISRUPTION caused by the Active Travel scheme on the Tulla Rd in Ennis has left local residents and businesses “very unhappy” according to elected representatives.
Works commenced at the end of October on the Active Travel scheme with construction expected to continue for eighteen months. The start date was 32 months after funding had been secured for the project which is likely to cost in the region of €5m.
The scheme will provide a continuous 2.2km primary cycle route and enhanced walking and wheeling facilities, incorporating new and upgraded bus stops to improve connectivity between St Senan’s Road and Hillcrest Junction. Neville Civil Works have secured the contract for the scheme.
Christmas holidays have paused the scheme from December 20th to January 4th. The focus for January will be working on kerbing footpaths and services from Mill Bank to Gort na mBláth
In a proposal before the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) sought contact details “for public inquiries or complaints regarding construction works within our Municipal District” and asked that they be shared on social media.
He stated, “I have received several inquiries and complaints concerning the Tulla Road project. Providing the contact information for the individual or department responsible for addressing concerns would facilitate smoother project operations. For instance, I have received several inquiries and complaints concerning the Tulla Road project”.
Administrative officer with the Ennis MD, Niamh O’Connor advised that all customer complaints should be routed through Clare County Council Customer Services. The contact details and procedure on how to log a complaint are available on the Council’s website. “Ennis Municipal District will liaise with the Communications Office to post a message advising the public of this procedure”.
Senior executive engineer, Anne O’Sullivan outlined that the scheme “has been managed by the Active Travel Unit in Clare County Council”.
Speaking at the Ennis MD’s last sitting of 2025, Cllr Guilfoyle said posting the information on social media would allow for “celebrating the works we are doing”. He stated, “for any project you’re doing in life communication is key. People would appreciate if it was put out on social media. These people have homes and this is a big project which is disrupting their lives”.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) commented, “the Tulla Rd is there for the long-haul with all the construction works and people are very unhappy about it. Ennis has been so busy with all the building over the last few years and people are facing this again with another busy situation”.
Maxol and O’Keeffe’s Spar “are down business, people won’t turn off for it,” Cllr Daly flagged. Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) was hopeful any complaints would be dealt with swiftly.
Contractors have been endeavouring to improve the situation, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) acknowledged. “I know people living in Hillcrest are having problems turning out of the estate and coming towards town, the big bollards are causing problems”.
Long-term the Tulla Rd scheme will leave people satisfied, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) stated. “We’ve all been contacted by people living in the area, long-term it will be a project that people will be happy with”. He added, “it is crucial that we have that link-up with people, we did this for the public realm works for all the businesses at one stage and we improved the communication”.
Meanwhile, Uisce Éireann has confirmed that residents “can submit a housing development connection application form to be connected to the network”.
This follows a proposal from Cllr Daly appealing for sewerage connection to be arranged from the public sewer at the rear of Ross Leamháin estate in Roslevan to Aughvaddy Bridge. He said the reply from Uisce Éireann was “very positive”.
He felt it would make sense to do the connection works in tandem with the construction of the Active Travel scheme. “They are digging up the road and I hope Irish Water can take advantage rather than coming along to a lovely road for cyclists and digging it up again, we need to contact them on this”.
Raising the matter in November, Cllr Daly flagged that it was for a section in Roslevan from Jimmy McNamara’s house to Aughvaddy Bridge by the bypass. “They haven’t sewerage whereas most of the houses by them do have sewerage, we need to give them the opportunity to connect, it is going on twenty to thirty years”.
Seconding this call, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) noted she had brought the forward up to three times during her eleven years on the Council. “Jimmy Mc is very interested in getting this connected, we keep hitting a brick wall, our team will try discover if this can be overcome”.
