By Dan Walsh at Enniscorthy Municipal District Council meeting
At last Tuesday’s Enniscorthy Municipal District Council meeting, elected members clashed with officials over the exclusion of the Templeshannon Regeneration Project from Wexford County Council’s funding application to the new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund.
Cathaoirleach Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy and all her colleagues strongly criticised the exclusion of Templeshannon from the next major funding application. The closing date for application is May 1st.
Sean Meylar, Special Projects told the meeting that the Market Square and Castle projects are more or less shovel-ready and therefore Wexford County Council should concentrate on those as they have a good chance of funding of around €9 million under Category 1B which “will support the delivery and construction of ready-to-progress capital regeneration projects”.
Cllr Aidan Browne went berserk and raising his voice with each syllable; “I can’t stand over the project unless Templeshannon is included. It is unacceptable,” he added.
Cllr Jackser Owens agreed with Cllr Browne. “Templeshannon is a priority with us,” he stated. Cllr John O’Rourke said Templeshannon gets nothing, regeneration is needed there, and he promised no support without Templeshannon, which he added is forgotten!
Cathaoirleach Cllr Murphy said it is “unacceptable to leave Templeshannon behind”.
Cllr Pat Kehoe said there was five weeks to May 1st – application date – and felt that the matter could be sorted by then, however, Ms. Godkin replied that “it is not within local control.”
Mr Meylar reiterated that the application is to get €9 million for Enniscorthy. There are two projects – the Town Centre and Castle Quarter. Templeshannon is some time away.
Cllr Owens told the officials that the elected members should be treated with respect, and have their decisions listened to, and he threatened to leave the meeting. Director of Services Carolyne Godkin reminded him that shouting at staff is the height of disrespect and she suggested he apologise!
In conclusion, Wexford County Council officials agreed to take the Enniscorthy Municipal members’ criticisms on board, see what could be done, and report back to the April meeting before the funding application deadline of May 1st, 2026.
The Enniscorthy Town Centre First Plan was published in 2023 and outlined three major areas for regeneration – Market Square, Castle Heritage Quarter, and Templeshannon.
A plan for the Market Square has received planning permission and is ‘shovel ready’. A plan for the Castle Quarter is proceeding through the speedy ‘Part 8’ planning process and is expected to be approved shortly.
Page 5 of the Enniscorthy Town First Plan reads; “There is no established or defined boundary for the Town Centre. However, there is a shared understanding in the local community that the Town Centre is distinctive and largely reflects the established core of the town.
“Enniscorthy is not unusual in having two functional centres split by a river, in this case the Slaney. The area most commonly referred to as ‘the Town Centre’ on the west bank of the river is clearly dominant. It is centred on Market Square and the Castle. Templeshannon is on the east side of the river. Although of lesser scale, it is nonetheless, an important functional centre and significant element of the structure and character of Enniscorthy.”
WexfordLocal.com 