I set the Market Bazaar up in response to the protracted death knell of Ennis as I knew it. My father is a signwriter, we grew up in the middle of the Market and watched it change from a vibrant buzzing centre of commerce and social support to a giant car park with fewer and fewer shops, replaced by the betting shops and empty lots which pepper our towns and villages in Ireland 2.0. Unable to live with the option of doing nothing, I took what small savings I had amassed towards emigrating and bought tables, insurance and used the yard outside my dads shop as a place for a bazaar, a place where people could hopefully start their own business, make a few bob, or even just enjoy the company for a day
Before I even opened I received a letter from the Ennis Town Council. It warned me of the alleged illegal operation of a Bazaar on the property owned by my father. It went on at length to warn me of how I was liable for fines of up to €12.5 MILLION EURO or a 2 year stint in the care of the prison services of Ireland (an option that will cost the tax payer in excess of €91, 000 per annum). Yes, that’s not a typo, that is 12.5 MILLION or 12,500, 000,000 euros….Apparently I need to submit a planning application from an engineer and architect outlining the exact distribution of my fold out tables, parasols and bunting. I shall do no such thing.I cannot afford such a thing, I have no means, because remember innovation in this country is not about what you know, its how much you have.
On a day when I hear that a crook and a liar who is an elected member of our parliament is granted planning permission to build a temple to addiction and greed in Tipperary and I will instead probably end up in jail due to my inability to afford a kickass legal team. All I wanted to do was help my community, my town and my country. I have operated for a month, I am no longer afraid because I see that the laws of the land are malleable, they are subject to change, they treat everyone differently, perhaps they will treat me differently, but I doubt it.
The traders in the town are happy about my bazaar, the sellers at the bazaar are happy about the bazaar, the visitors to the bazaar are happy about the bazaar. The fact that I make no money from this and have operated at a loss thus far should make me unhappy about the bazaar but it does not, I am happy about the bazaar. I will stay open, I will defy the bureaucracy that acts on behalf of some and against others. In a country that is crying out for innovation we manage to do a very good job of suppressing it.
I grew up on a diet of Rage Against The Machine and they have not met the likes of me in Ennis town council, I fight back, I am not afraid, nothing they do will stop my dreams of a better Ennis, not strangled by rules but willing to think outside of the box and see the bigger picture. Monied’ or not.
Ann Cronin
Ennis Bazaar
ShaneWozEre
Ennis Bazaar 
Kick Out The Jams
13 June 2011
Keep the Rage burning Ann, we need more people like you. The likes of Lowry and Town Councils around the country have helped get us into this bloody mess. If I can be of any practical help (no special skills but I can hold a placard!) let me know…
Jim
13 June 2011
Firstly, I’m not a fan of Lowry, nor do ibregard the treatment of you as fair so please do not regard this comment as an attack on you, or a support of that crook.
My questions are thus – would you object to this proposal of M.Lowry was nor involved? Though he is a backer, as far as I’m aware he is not the developer of this project
Also, if this was to be built in Clare, and was to support thousands of jobs locally, would it not be good for the communities of this county? And with the expected increase in business and custom that this will bring, should we not welcome any deelopmebt which increases economic activity?
Ennis Bazaar
13 June 2011
Yes, yes I would, I have worked in the field of psychology and counselling for over ten years and would never support an enterprise that while it produces the precious jobs also encourages addiction and promotes misery. I set the market us as a not for profit enterprise though I have other commitments and interests in my life that would have brought me more ‘profit’ I was simply trying to find a solution to some small bit of the big problems
Jim
13 June 2011
So nothing that encourages addiction should be opened? Let’s close every pub, club, bookie’s, shop that sells cigarettes and pharmacists so. The addictions of a minority should not dictate what everyone else can do. A levy on casino takeover, modest by it’s standards, to fund prevention and counselling services would surely be a better compromise.
Ennis Bazaar
13 June 2011
It IS, as far as I know, illegal to operate a casino in Ireland, yet planning permission is granted for such a venture before even the operation itself is legitimized. While as you correctly point out there are numerous sources of addiction and ruin in the country I have simply no desire to further them. My market will be closed by bureaucrats for trying to improve the lives of everyone in my community. The development in Tipp while it will benefit the people in the areas will negatively affect the lives and livelihoods of people all over the country if it succeeds in sucking capital from established venues/hotels/golf courses/racing tracks/ etc.
I would suggest that allowing use of ’empty’ spaces and properties for the common good as I have done here would be a good way of encouraging innovation, support and enterprise in every village, town and city in Ireland, albeit a small step at least I’m doing something, I put what small portion of the pie I have and I shared it, I feel good about myself, I enjoy seeing others succeed, I am just disappointed that the ‘powers that be’ are so crippled by their own rules and regulations they can no longer see beyond the end of their blotters
Niall O'Brien
13 June 2011
“Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!”
Great read.
Ciarán Mc Mahon
13 June 2011
Alright blogosphere, if ever there were a time for cyberactivism in Ireland, this is it. Here’s a list of all the email addresses of Ennis Town Council. http://www.ennistowncouncil.ie/contactus/contact_us.html
I say email the lot of them.
Sinead
13 June 2011
Good for you. And shame on them. I’m betting on you winning this fight.
Jessica
13 June 2011
Like.
Evert Bopp
13 June 2011
While the fine and/or punishment outlined is out of proportion and will likely never be levied this could all have been avoided if you had applied for a “change of planning”. Not a big thing to do, not expensive and quite likely it wouldn’t have been opposed seeing that the bazaar doesn’t require any permanent structural changes.
I think yours is a great innitiative but there are certain rules that you will have to play by if you want to achieve something even if you don’t agree with them. Banging your head against the wall repeatedly won’t get you anywhere. Believe me, I’ve been there and done that.
Ennis Bazaar
13 June 2011
Evert, I rang the town council in early inception of the plan asking if I needed special licenses or permissions, a week before I opened I received the letter, after everything had been paid for and planned/advertised/etc. I was told I needed nothing and was referred to the Ennis Chamber of Commerce for further advice.
As I have yet to figure out what function the chamber fulfills for the town I did not bother.
I was informed I have to submit architectural plans for the bazaar, I am not an architect,
David Kenny
13 June 2011
Great piece- Kudos!
s
13 June 2011
She doesn’t need an engineer/architect to submit Planning Application – anyone can do it.
Ennis Bazaar
13 June 2011
I was informed only an architect or engineer was eligible to complete this process and draw up the plans, I suggested doing it myself and it was shot down immediately
polaver
13 June 2011
I am far more likely to visit your Bazaar than that casino.
Ennis Bazaar
14 June 2011
Thanks are we will welcome you whether you have cash in your pockets or not! 🙂
Siobhan O' Donoghue
13 June 2011
Good woman yourself – if you need support from Clare people let me know – I have a big family there who love to ‘rage against the machine’
Paul Kennedy
13 June 2011
Fairplay Ann. This sounds like just nonsense bureaucracy, done just to justify the job of someone pushing papers around a desk.
Roisin
13 June 2011
Time wasting bastards… I’d suggest drawing your plans on a napkin and sending it in.. What function does the chamber perform in any town? They have meetings..that seems to be it.. Good luck Ann. I think it’s a fab idea…about 99% of Irish towns could do with this..
Ennis Bazaar
14 June 2011
It would be great to see this kind of collective support and shared premises rolled out across our fair land…I hope BIG
tom buckley
13 June 2011
Sock it to them.
I admire your tenacity. However you are working against an incoming tide. These people have a lot more patience than any normal person and are relentless
Justin
13 June 2011
Do as I say but not as I do and please keep smiling while you bend over and take it again. I really do hope that these idiots enjoy the complimentary ticket to the Tipp Casino and develop a gambling addiction. People clambering at any opportunity to justify their overpaid salaries and strangling the very blood from the veins of people trying to get us moving again. Traitors to our country. Keep the faith, I will happily help raise funds for any fines these gobdaw’s impose.
Ennis Bazaar
13 June 2011
Thank you Justin but I would never ask for money from anyone for anything like this, if you feel like raising funds there are so many charities struggling at the moment, we try to help out at the bazaar, we raised €266 for Japan on opening weekend! My vision was that when we had our overheads(insurance-which is very high per day) paid off we could use any profit generated to fund local charities but as we may close long before that happens it may never occur
I really really appreciate your sentiment though and hope that some day you can call in and see us!
catriona mccafferty
13 June 2011
Fair play to you, the threats of punishment are ludicrous, I think if the authorities tried to pursue you for this you’d have plenty of community support and hopefully they’d just have to back down. There are so many obstacles for enterprising people that it’s hard to make anything work. I totally support your efforts.
Bridget Foy
14 June 2011
Fair play to ya! We need more like yourself in this country. We need to stop kowtowing to these stupid laws that as you say discourage any entrepenurial spirit unless you are one of the corrupt illuminati tossers that now run the world. Keep your spirits up!! Don’t let the fuckers get ya down. Will follow with interest.
Shapey Fiend
14 June 2011
Bad Boyd and Shapey Fiend rolling deep. No wonder Ennis Town Council is shook.
Ennis Bazaar
14 June 2011
They know not what to do…when confronted with the awesome raw power of your rhymes
Ruth Crean
14 June 2011
Fair play to you for fighting the man.
Is there any local architect that would volunteer their services to help draw up to application? Someone who loves and understands what you are doing
Des Groome
14 June 2011
Ann,
You can play the town council at their own game if you wish by sending them in a few bits of paperwork including transcripts of the early original advice you got. The Chamber of Commerce might be helpful also if you know a few members in the retail especially farmfood/freshfood sector. e.g. a supporting letter.
The town council are only after money at the end of the day so you could apply to be assessed for business rates which an application alone will keep them off your back for a long time then just dont pay the rates or pay them in drawn out and very small installments which will still keep you one step ahead for a long time.
Its parish pump political/bureaucratic muscle flexing of course – and yes it is lowryism but these council types dont do irony or selfawareness and dont make connnections between casinos in Tipp and their efforts to justify their own corner and layer of officialdom. SO dont waste your breath on civic disobedience or the like. Your civic altruism will be lost on them and a waste of energy.
County council bureaucrats are relentless and patient so they can continue writing to you. BUT they are inefficient and slow and a small amount of lipservice keeps them happy for a long time.
THE advice I am giving means you are in the system and not out side it . Being in the system is a compromise in itself but remember you are already in the system- you ran for election, you stuck your head up to be counted and that means it will be counted, your card will be marked, you will be watched and the rules you have to play by to cover your self have therefore changed for the tougher.
Ennis Bazaar
14 June 2011
Thanks for the advice Des, hoping a friendly architect or engineer will come sweep us off our feet and work for nothin for something… 🙂
Diarmuid O'Flynn
15 June 2011
At the moment it’s only the ‘localcrats’ on your case – with til the Eurocrats get you! Agree totally with your point on the mooted casino in Two-Mile-Borris, the misery that such monstrosities perpetuate and promote; if we go with this, we’re selling our soul. Well done to you.
Jack
15 June 2011
Ann, I think you are so brave and I applaud you! If there were more people like you around,
our country would be in better shape
Go girl!!!