Supermac’s has finally secured the green light for a €10 million motorway plaza outside Ennis off the M18 motorway similar to its Barack Obama plaza on the Co Offaly and Co Tipperary border.
The grant by An Bord Pleanála for the development at Kilbreckan, Doora, outside Ennis brings to an end an almost eight-year-long planning saga.
Plans were first lodged for a motorway plaza by Supermac’s in December 2014 that was turned down by An Bord Pleanála two years later. Clare County Council granted planning permission for the current scheme in December 2020.
However, the project was put on hold after three third-party appeals were lodged against the planning approval.
Supermac’s managing director Pat McDonagh welcomed the decision.
Mr McDonagh said the plaza will lead to the same level of job creation as the Barack Obama plaza near Moneygall at about 130 jobs and also an additional 100 construction jobs for the nine months it will take to build it.
Mr McDonagh said he hopes the plaza will be open for the 2023 Christmas period.
The board granted planning permission for the scheme after concluding that the proposed development would meet a need for motorway services serving cars and trucks at this intersection at two national roads.
The development would not give rise to an overproliferation of private offline service facilities at national road junctions, the board said.
It also determined the scheme would not result in the creation of a retail destination that would negatively impact upon the existing settlement.
A previous Supermac’s plaza application was mired in controversy after it emerged in 2018 that bogus letters of support were lodged with Clare County Council.
At the time, Supermac’s said it was “horrified” to learn about the bogus letters from the media “and disowns the actions taken and wants to distance itself completely from them”.
Mr McDonagh said on Tuesday: “We requested the gardaí to investigate that. There hasn’t been any prosecutions by the gardaí. It’s over. It’s done. We move on.”
Mr McDonagh said the Supermac’s group already operates six motorway plazas and business this year “has been pretty good” at the plazas.
Across the group, Supermac’s operates 118 outlets. Asked how many other outlets Supermac’s plans on opening in 2023, Mr McDonagh said there are others in the planning process.
He said: “It is a time to be a bit cautious and not a time to go mad.”
