*Pictured at the contract signing for a new Multi-Service Innovation Centre in Ennistymon L-R Cllr. Richard Nagle; Aldo Andreucetti, Clerk of Works, General Design, Clare County Council; Urban McMahon, Head of Information Systems & Clare Broadband Officer, Clare County Council; John Moylan, Chief Technician, General Design, Clare County Council; Cllr. Bill Slattery; Leonard Cleary, Director of Services, Rural Development, Clare County Council; Michael Begley, Mayor of Clare; David McInerney, Jada Projects Ltd.; Pat Dowling, Chief Executive of Clare County Council.
Construction work on a new Multi-Service Innovation Centre located in the heart of Ennistymon will commence this Monday.
Clare County Council has signed a contract with Jada Projects Ltd. for the development which involves the conversion of an existing building, located on Parliament Street. The Multi-Service Innovation Centre comprises hotdesks with business broadband, incubation units for small businesses, meeting rooms, training rooms and full audio visual facilities.
North-West Clare Family Resource Centre will occupy the first floor of the shared services building. Mol an Óige Steiner National School is also an existing tenant within the building complex. The local authority facility is scheduled to open in September 2019.
Councillor Michael Begley, Mayor of Clare, said, “I look forward this new centre having a significant, positive economic impact for Ennistymon and the wider North Clare area by contributing to employment creation and local regeneration.”
Pat Dowling, Chief Executive of Clare County Council, commented, “The delivery of a range of business, social and community services from this central town location is a key target of the Rural Development Strategy which promotes the development of community-led social enterprises, rural tourism, and small and medium enterprises.”
Leonard Cleary, Director of Services, Rural Development, Clare County Council, stated, “The Multi-Service Innovation Centre will complement our objective of establishing digitally-supported communities which will further help to generate new employment opportunities. As an action item arising from the Clare Rural Development Strategy and also our County Digital Strategy, the facility will also bring a range of community and social services under the one roof for the benefit of all of North Clare. We anticipate that building works will be substantially completed by July 2019 with the opening taking place in September 2019,” said Mr. Cleary.
Commenting on the background to the new centre, Urban McMahon, Head of Information Systems & Clare Broadband Officer, Clare County Council, said, “One of the issues recurring and being highlighted through the Rural Development Strategy is the absence of high speed Broadband throughout Rural Clare. While access to broadband services is critical, the requirement for facilities to compliment this infrastructure was deemed equally important.”
McMahon continued, “Clare County Council’s Digital Hub Programme not only provides communities with access to broadband but it also provides the facilities to enable communities to exploit the potential of same. The facilities being established in Ennistymon complement our network of digital hubs which has been established throughout the County in Kilrush, Miltown Malbay and Feakle.”
The Multi-Service Innovation Centre benefited from funding totalling €1,023,300 under the Government’s €1 billion Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, which aims to breathe new life into Ireland’s smaller towns and villages. The development also received €100,000 under the 2017 Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
