Ennis Plaza
| Road: | M18 at exit 12 (also accessible to traffic on the N85) |
| Address: | Kilbreckan, Doora, Ennis, Co. Clare |
| Signposted from the road? | TBC |
| Opening: | 2025 |
| Services type: | Single site located at a junction |
⚠️ Please note that this service area is not yet open.
The west of Ireland's motorway network has been left without the provision of roadside facilities. After delays and bureaucracy, Supermac's are set to open the first option with work underway on their new Ennis Plaza.
Facilities
Catering: Mac's Place, Papa John's Pizza, Supermac's Drive Thru, SuperSubs, Bewley's Shops: SPAR Amenities: Repak Reverse Vending Machine Outdoor Space: tbc Charging Points: tbc Forecourt: Texaco
Trivia and Design
The design on the plaza will be very similar to other Plaza Group sites, such as their most recent motorway opening at Portlaoise.
The Ennis Plaza will be accessed from a left turn on the road to Quin. It will have car parking, coach parking, HGV parking and fuel pumps for all vehicles, all arranged on different sides of the main building. The main building will be very similar to the likes of Galway, with all facilities downstairs and extra seating and toilets upstairs. There will be 175 parking spaces across the 4.8-hectare site.
Supermac's claim the new plaza will showcase Ennis's history of Irish music, arguing that the motorway was taking trade away from the town and that they wanted to change this. ePower have received a grant to build a high-speed electric vehicle charging hub here.
Planning History
Knowing that new stretches of motorway were coming and that the Irish road authorities would be slow with service areas, Supermac's first proposed a facility in 2014. They branded it J12 Ennis and planning permission was awarded, but following objections from Applegreen and a local filling station it went to An Bord Pleanála, who raised environmental concerns.
In 2015, the new Transport Infrastructure Ireland began plans for a new network of motorway services, with Ennis being one of the first proposals. They then started calling it Newmarket-on-Fergus services, and said it would be built between J10 and J11.
The SuperStop consortium issued plans for a service area near Dromoland Castle in 2015. It most likely would have been branded Applegreen. It would have had a single, large amenity building with space for five outlets with parking areas all around it. It was rejected because there was a preference for a TII development, as well as problems with its road layout and design and an objection from Supermac's.
At this stage the motorway was complete, and TII warned there would be delays to their own proposals while they reviewed their procedures. They would later confirm they had suspended all work on the Newmarket-on-Fergus project in 2020, and that this situation won't be reviewed until 2027.
Supermac's submitted an updated proposal in 2020, which was eventually approved by An Bord Pleanála in October 2022. A judicial review has been called in by an objector who claimed the planning permission didn't acknowledge the subject of waste water, owing to a flaw with the assessment of the project's impact on special areas of conservation. Ennis Chamber had been concerned that a service area would take trade from local villages, while Supermac's tried to argue that the motorway was already doing this.
The process has been mired by allegations of foul play. Supermac's distanced themselves from a number of forged letters sent in support of the proposal. Applegreen have objected to the proposal, claiming it's an unsuitable location, and there are a number of objections from local businesses, including Maxol. Supermac's have alleged that Applegreen offered to withdraw their objection in return for being offered the petrol station at the site.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Mayfield (27 km) | Services on the M7 (Ireland) | Moneygall (Barack Obama Plaza) (53 km) Manor Stone (M8, 26 km) |
| none nearby | Plaza Group services | Moneygall (Barack Obama Plaza) (53 km) |
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Birdhill (M7, 56 km) | Services on the M18 (Ireland) | Galway Plaza (M6 east, 70 km) |
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