Enniscorthy residents put heads together at meeting
MEMBERS of the community had a chance to have their say on Templeshannon’s future at a public meeting about the project in Treacy’s Hotel.
A mixture of businesspeople and residents came along to the meeting to discuss their own investment ideas or look at what opportunities could potentially be created. Chief Executive of Enniscorthy Chamber Catriona Murphy said that the event was ‘ tremendously positive’.
‘ The turnout was a real mark of respect for the project and it showed how important this is for people. The business community turned out in force in this area with their objective being to capitalise on this plan,’ she said.
Attendees were divided up in working groups before they put their heads together to conjure up some ideas for the project. Each group discussed the strengths and weaknesses of Templeshannon.
‘ The strengths that most of us came up with were the nightlife, the river and the walks alongside it. People felt that was a real amenity for the area,’ explained Catriona. ‘ The main weakness is access. They key thing is that we get access to the place, not through it.’
Along with the river, St Senan’s Chapel was another amenity that they could capitalise on as part of the project.
‘People discussed Ireland’s Ancient East and how it is such a prominent part of tourism promotion. St Senan’s original chapel is not capitalised on at the moment. We discussed ideas to attract tourists to it and said why can’t we do it in the shortterm? It could be easily cleaned up and the footpath marked with inscriptions to lead the way to it,’ explained Catriona.
The ideas were taken on board by the Arup consultants, who will now get working on a draft plan for the project.