REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT A CIVIC RECEPTION IN ENNIS ON THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER, 1998
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT A CIVIC RECEPTION IN ENNIS ON THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER, 1998
I would like to thank Ennis Urban District Council for your invitation to be with you here today and for this formal welcome to Ennis – a welcome that reflects the warmth and hospitality for which your town is renowned. Of course, I am no stranger to Ennis, and I have fond memories of my visit only last June when I launched the Ennis Arts Festival.
- Like so many other towns in Ireland, the origins of Ennis go back many centuries to when it got its name from Inis or Island - being formed between two streams on the river Fergus - when the O’Briens, Kings of Thomond, invited the Franciscans to establish a settlement in 1240. Your town is one that treasures it’s history and culture and is proud to share it’s past with its many visitors. It is one of Ireland’s most beautiful towns with its narrow streets and traditional style shops which have not fallen to the pressures of modern large-scale commercial development. Ennis is a town rich in history – and proud of its traditions and culture.
- You, the members of the Urban District Council are to be congratulated for your major contribution to the success story that is Ennis today – a town that has grown in significance in the mid-west region – a town that is at the same time a centre for traditional music and culture and the symbol of information society which the new millennium is bringing to Ireland. The achievements of Ennis have not been brought about overnight – but by the hard work of many people including by you, the members of the Urban District Council. In coming here this evening, I want to pay tribute to your continuing dedication to the service of the people of Ennis who are fortunate indeed in having you working for their interests.
- Ennis is a major success story in Ireland - the fastest growing town in Ireland - with a population today of 15,400. Everybody in Ireland is aware of, if not envious of, the towns success in winning the Telecom Eireann Information Age Town award. Congratulations are due to Ennis Urban District Council, the Chamber of Commerce and the people of Ennis on the major achievement that winning this award represents. It was a major effort that also involved the Local Authority and the Library working on the project. The library service in Ireland has long been a pillar of local communities, giving pleasure to thousands through access to literature - and providing a rich source of information for education and self-development. The advances in technology mean that the services which libraries can offer are continually widening – and the library services in Clare have moved with the times, taking leading role in the Information Age, with Ennis library developing on-line public access to its total collection of material and, more recently, developing its own website on the Internet.
- The secret of success is in meeting the challenges that we face and in turning obstacles to opportunities. By its success, Ennis is an example to all for the way in which it has grasped the opportunities presented to it – opportunities like the Urban Renewal Scheme, introduced into Ennis in 1994 – and involving a combined approach by the UDC and private developers in the regeneration of the core areas of the town. The success of the scheme is a reflection of the level of investment coupled with a significant civic spirit which it has helped to generate – and which have combined to give a palpable air of self-confidence in the town.
- That confidence has manifested itself in many ways. One which I know brought particular delight, not only to the citizens of Ennis, but to many others around the country, was the special award to Ennis at this years Tidy Towns Ceremony in Dublin Castle. The award was presented to Ennis because through its continued participation in the competition, it has successfully overcome particularly adverse factors – achieving high standards of excellence. This success has been made possible through a unique co-operative effort between the public and private sectors in the community – with the UDC being represented on the Tidy Towns Committee.
- I am pleased to see that you are strongly committed to the Partnership ethos which has served us so well at national level. The partnership approach between the Urban District Council and the Chamber of Commerce - which was responsible for the successful submission for the Information Age town is being used – is being mirrored in the arrangements between the UDC and the residents groups in the town - where you are providing funding to help in the completion of environmental projects undertaken by the residents associations.
- In thanking you again for your warm hospitality, I would like to renew my congratulations to you and to the people of Ennis for what you have achieved together. I would like to wish you well in the years ahead – in meeting the challenges and opportunities that Ennis is well equipped to meet - thanks to the commitment and dedication to its public representatives.