A music festival which was organised to celebrate the 775th anniversary of Ennis town has been cancelled due to residents fears over anti-social behaviour.

INISFest was scheduled to take place on June 26-28. Mundy, Damien Dempsey, Delorentos, Finbar Furey, and Nathan Carter were among those lined up to perform.

INISFest organisers, Impressario Events, held three meetings with residents in the last few weeks, and when negotiations failed, the event was scrapped, the Clare Champion has reported.

One resident told the newspaper the event was “not fair” on local people.

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“I don’t know how you’re going to get rid of 3,000 people at 11pm. It’s really unfair on the families living there and the people in [Ennis] hospital,” the resident said.

Another resident added: “We want to be sure that all the people that have no accommodation, that have nowhere to go, that are sleeping in their cars, puking over our walls and peeing in our gardens are going to be monitored.”

Organisers had agreed to examine issues such as security, parking, and increased Garda presence to prevent loitering and anti-social behaviour.

In a statement, Impresario Events said "we are disappointed that such a positive event for the town of Ennis is not going ahead at this time”.

All ticket holders will now be refunded.

However, the spokesperson said it “looks forward to working with all interests to stage such an event in the future”.

“Impresario Events would like to thank An Garda Síochána, Clare County Council, the Vintners Federation of Ireland, HSE, St Joseph’s Hospital, Clare County Fire and Rescue, Clare Civil Defence and the wider community for their support for this event,” the statement added.

It had been estimated that the festival would be worth more than €1.5 million to the local economy.

Online Editors