New Ennis Chamber President Optimistic Crusheen Rail Stop Will Be Reopened During Tenure

0:00Thanks for having me on. I am Souls genuinely proud and chuffed to be honest with you. And I've been involved in business and as for a long time, I suppose over the last 20, 25 years, there's been an enormous change in the town, but I think, Dennis, is at a really good point now. We've got a lot of potential, and there's a really good business community there. And there's a lot of challenges around doing business at the moment, probably more than ever. And so for me, it's about taking the opportunity to bring the business community together, engage with stakeholders, the major stakeholders. And I suppose I don't want to spend the year just talking about things. It's very important I try and I suppose achieve a number of things throughout the, my tenor tenure up to the end of next year. And I suppose one of the biggest challenges is the cost of business, so I suppose. And a couple of things that could be facilitated there, I suppose. And I think that's really the time every now and then is the price of rights for businesses in the town. Yeah, absolutely.

1:00I mean, listen, there's a number of things that come up in terms of the cost of business, but rates is one thing that I suppose is very contentious. And for me, I suppose it's very, very important. We keep a relationship with Clear County Council as close as possible. I suppose a lot of people, and I can understand why that's the case when you're outside. I suppose looking in. It can be sometimes be, it can be cynical about organizations like the Chamber or the Terraconte County Council. And that's natural. People want to see results. And sometimes they don't necessarily see all the work that goes behind the scenes. But from my experience, and from the people I've dealt with in the council, and it is a short time so far, I'm going to get in my, told it to the water at this stage, but I really want to say that, you know, you genuinely will find people within the council or the Guaradi or other stakeholders, they're generally committed to getting the best outcomes for in this county clear.

2:02So we might not always agree on how to get there. And we'll always have robust debate behind the scenes as well. But we're all looking at trying to get the same thing, which is a successful vibrant county where people want to live and work. But I suppose to go back to what you were saying initially, rates is very, very contentious issue. There was a huge increase in rates this year for businesses. I think it was 8% if I'm right in saying that. But it's not the only thing. I mean, like if we look at minimum wage, there's been a 40% increase in the minimum wage since 2020. And I can guarantee you, if I'm being in business, there hasn't been a 40% growth in marriages or sales. And you know, PwC, came up with a report area on this year where retail and salaries had increased 35% in the first half of 2026. So I mean, that's very important to get that point across as well. So it's not just rates. There's a number of issues that businesses are fighting at the moment. You know, just looking at some of your other goals

3:03for your 10 year, a lot of focus on that real infrastructure and some offshore energy projects as well. So I suppose there's a sort of environmental impact to those infrastructure projects too. Yeah, there are absolutely years. I mean, it's the scale of what I suppose you take on. And I thought I kind of knew Ennis and beyond of the county before I took on the role. It's only when you kind of come in and you see the amount of work that's going behind the scenes that you understand. I suppose the scale of what I've taken on with Margaret O'Brien, who's our CEO and site and the board. Yeah, there's, you know, for example, I mean, one of the big things the moment is trying to get to crushing train station across the line because connectivity is so, so important, you know, so as that train I'm heading north, it's very important that is one thing that we're really trying to achieve. It's not going to be a short term thing, but hopefully if we can get that stuff, it'll improve connectivity northwards and back into Ennis.

4:04And it's a big strategic opportunity for Claire and the Midwest. And just to finish, German, German, my hand in his time as president, a lot of people are being on his behalf in terms of the Clank Hasselwaist water treatment plant, which is at capacity, I suppose that's a key focus for further investment in the town and further housing developments to have that capacity increased. Yeah, and I think before I kind of answer that, I want to acknowledge German, my man who's obviously the previous president, he's done tremendous job. And it's given me a very good platform and for the Chamber going forward. So I want to build on the work there, which is done rather than coming in and trying to reinvent the wheel. But absolutely, I mean, listen, if you've got a wastewater treatment plant, that's at full capacity and it's something that I know, Margaret, Brian has done a lot of work with as well in the last year. It's very, very hard then to tackle something like housing and making sure that Ennis, like I said, is an attractive place to come and work and live

5:07for young people. So that's something that is very important. And certainly high in our priority list going forward into 2027.