'No sufficient capacity' of hotel beds in Ennis for tourists

A Clare councillor has called on the local authority to re-zone land to allow construction of up to two new hotels and a hostel in Ennis.

Cllr Pat Daly brought a motion before the May meeting of Ennis Municipal District calling for "a serious look at the Hotel and Hostel accommodation sector in the town presently".

"Clearly there's a huge shortage of bed capacity," Cllr Daly's motion stated. "I believe it's now time we invite in the head planner with Clare County Council to discuss this serious situation with a view to the possibility of zoning land through either a Material Contravention or a Variation in the County Development Plan, to accommodate at least 2 new hotels and a hostel for the future, that will ensure many more tourists come in to the town."

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Speaking during the meeting, Cllr Daly reiterated that there was "no sufficent bed capacity" in Ennis, when compared to other "tourist towns" around Ireland.

"We have six hotels, Killarney has forty," he said.

In response to Cllr Daly's motion, Helen Quinn, senior planner for the council, outlined that it is an objective the council to "encourage and facilitate the development of a diverse, high quality tourism accommodation base in Ennis; and to encourage a new internationally branded hotel and convention facility to locate in Ennis to enhance the tourism product".

"While it is acknowledged that there is a shortage of bed space capacity across the county including in Ennis it is not considered necessary at this point in time to zone additional lands within Ennis to accommodate either a hotel or a hostel offering," Ms Quinn stated.

Significant parcels of land have been zoned for a variety of uses across Ennis, she continued, under the Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029, "where the zoning objective is compatible with a hotel/hostel offering".

New hotel or hostel accommodation can be facilitated on a number of existing zoning objectives under the current development plan, with 20 hectares of land with a tourism zoning objectives and 98 hectares of land with a mixed use zoning objective in Ennis.

"The Planning Department will engage with any developer who wants to discuss a proposal to deliver a hotel or hostel across the county and it will also continue to monitor the availability of land in Ennis to facilitate such uses throughout the life of the current development plan," Ms Quinn added.

"If at any stage it is considered that changes are required to enable development I will engage directly with you the Elected Members at the first available opportunity to ensure that Ennis is best placed to attract investment of this nature".