Enniscrone to be re-named

IT’S likely that Inishcrone won’t be officially re-named Enniscrone until January 1st 2020.

Sligo County Council last week heard that the procedure will take six and a half months at least before the Government can make an order changing the name - possibly next January 2019 - but the order only comes into effect on the 1st day of January following the expiration of six months from the date of order, which pushes it back to January 2020.

The Council’s next step is to consult with the relevant prescribed bodies (such as the Minister for Education) before approving a plebiscite later this year to allow qualified electors vote on whether to change the official name from ‘Inishcrone’ to ‘Enniscrone’ in English and from ‘Inis Crabhann’ to ‘Inis Eiscir Abhainn’ in Irish.

This was the findings of the Placenames Committee which held a meeting on April 23rd.

The estimated cost of running the plebiscite to the Council is approximately ¤6,000.

An approximate cost for the changing of the 46 Council road signs is estimated at between ¤15,000 and ¤20,000. The overall cost is estimated to be between ¤21,000 and ¤26,000.

Among the other proposals considered was naming a street after one of the 1922 Noble Six killed by the Irish Army on the slopes of Benbulben IRA Captain Harry Benson. This had been proposed by Cllr Chris MacManus at a meeting of Sligo Municipal District in March.

The Committee agreed to keep the proposal on the agenda to allow for further discussion as the Cranmore Masterplan provides an opportunity to re-establish the Benson name in the area.

The Council is also considering whether to name a new development of 14 houses in Rosses Point Road, Cartron as ‘Radharc an Chuain - Harbour View’.

The Architects Section of the Council proposed naming 15 houses in Collooney as ‘Owenmore Drive - Cabhsa an Abhainn Mor’.

It was proposed by Martin Enright and seconded by Cllr Marie Casserly of the Placenames Committee that the new housing development be called ‘Owenmore Drive - Céide na hAbhann Móire’.

The Council’s Architects section also proposed naming 28 houses at Knappagh Road, Knappagh Beg, Sligo as ‘Knappagh Beg Court’.

The Placenames Committee’s Cllr Seamus Kilgannon and Larry Mullin proposed that the housing development be called ‘Knappagh Beg Court - Cúirt na Cnapaí Bige’.