Ballina is moving closer to following the lead of the likes of Ennis and areas in Dublin city centre in attaining a purple flag award, which is an international award that recognises the excellence in managing town centres with a focus on the night-time economy. A briefing was held between Ballina Town Council and a number of traders earlier this week, with a follow up presentation by a member of the purple flag accreditation body to take place next week, before a number of delegates from the town will attend a conference in Ennis on the purple flag the following weekend.
The Mayor of Ballina Town Council, Johnny O’Malley, raised the idea of the town getting a purple flag when he was elected to the chair in June of this year. O’Malley updated the members of Ballina Town Council this week on the progress that has been made so far on the application and he thanked everyone who had got involved with the process so far. He told the councillors that they are moving towards getting a completed application ready to go soon and that there has been very positive interaction with a number of stakeholders so far.
The other elected members of the council gave their full support to the project, with Cllr Barry McLoughlin suggesting that once the town council is dissolved in the middle of next year if the purple flag has been granted it would be maintained by whatever authority replaces it. Town manager Paddy Mahon said: “It’s an exciting time for the town and there has been great leadership shown on this issue,” and, “I suspect plenty more towns will look at that his and follow the lead set by Ballina.”
