SlaNey buSiNeSS & fiNaNCe
The comings and goings at Enniscorthy Chamber
Outgoing Chamber President Maree Lyng (left) with incoming President Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy (right), pictured recently at Enniscorthy Technology Park.
The Development Officer’s Report to the 2021 AGM of Enniscorthy Chamber provides an excellent summary of recent and future business developments in the town. We reproduce it here in its entirety. Never before in the time honoured history of Enniscorthy and District Chamber of Commerce, has the Chamber faced challenges of the magnitude experienced over the past 14 months. The Coronavirus Pandemic brought us, like so many others, almost to the point of extinction and but for the sterling leadership of our President, Maree Lyng, we might well have been confined to the pages of history by now. That we have survived to host another AGM is, I believe, due entirely to her refusal to yield under pressure and to her determination not to allow the pandemic to control our lives or to permanently disrupt our normal activities. Maree, we owe you a debt of gratitude which cannot be adequately expressed in mere words. It must be acknowledged, however, that
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our planned programme of activities for 2020, all designed to improve the quality of commercial business and quality of life in Enniscorthy town and district, had to be seriously curtailed – in many instances cancelled altogether – and some of our 2021 events have also had to be cancelled, albeit with some light at the end of the tunnel as I write this report. To get Enniscorthy up and running again is the immediate priority and to this end I am working closely with Enniscorthy Town and District Manager, Ger Mackey. We have met with all the relevant stakeholders i.e. the Gardaí, traders, the licensed vintners, environmental health officials, health and safety officers etc., and the consensus of opinion is that we are well placed for a return to normality in the coming weeks and months. The Chamber is actively negotiating with 18 drink and food outlets in Enniscorthy with a
view to street trading over the summer months and plans are well advanced also for a major clean-up of all town centre streets. I have sent a detailed report on the possibility of street trading this summer to Acting Director of Services, Wexford County Council, Ms. Carolyne Godkin, which she has already advised has been most useful. Two areas in particular, Slaney Street and Templeshannon Quay, have been singled out for special attention and the plan is to transform both areas from an aesthetic point of view. The Chamber, together with ‘Re-Imagining Enniscorthy’ Sub Committee members has been instrumental in collaborating with the Municipal District in securing almost €200,000 in Heritage Grants for the revamp of Slaney Street and