Clare County Council has cancelled next week’s planned St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ennis, as part of efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19.
The local authority has conducted a risk assessment, which has concluded that it is not possible for the event to go ahead as planned, on public safety grounds.
Their decision, made with what the Council has called “sadness” and “regret,” has been unanimously endorsed by all local representatives at their monthly meeting this afternoon today.
The Ennis parade is the only parade that is managed by Clare County Council.
Other parades are a matter for individual communities, but many (including Kilkee, Miltown Malbay, Ennistymon, Lisdoonvarna, Liscannor and Fanore) have already decided to defer their events.
It appears inevitable that all parades planned for Clare will now be cancelled.
Mayor Clare Colleran Molloy urged the public to remain calm in the face of the outbreak, and called for the public to only turn to reliable media outlets for information, rather than social media.
Council CEO Pat Dowling stated that the Council’s emergency response team is meeting daily to discuss matters related to the outbreak.
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Clare County Council has issued the following statement:
It is with regret that the Ennis Annual St Patrick’s Day parade will be cancelled.
A risk assessment, based on Health Service Executive guidelines, was carried out by Clare County Council which concluded that based on the demographic of those attending the parade, the close proximity of people attending the event and the duration of the event (among other considerations), Clare County Council is not in a position to provide the necessary assurances in relation to current HSE Guidelines.
Clare County Council would like to thank the committee members and all the parade entries who had started work on this year’s parade in January and appreciate that a lot of effort and time has gone into getting ready for the parade in Ennis – however – the health and well being of our community is our first priority and having reviewed the guidelines from the HSE and the uncertainty surrounding COVID -19, Ennis Municipal District feel it is appropriate to cancel this year’s event.
Pat Dowling CE of Clare County Council said in light of this news and following the decision by Dublin, Cork and other Counties to cancel the event. Furthermore the Members of Clare County Council at this meeting have unanimously supported this decision he stated that Clare County Council as shown strong leadership in this matter.
For any further Queries regarding the Guidelines for COVID-19 please visit https://www.hse.ie
We would like to wish everybody a safe and healthy St Patricks day.
