New construction in Athy Square is an act of corporate vandalism – Daly

The erection of a CCTV mast in Athy’s heritage Emily square is nothing short of vandalism to our town according to Cllr Richard Daly of Athy.

“Without notice or consultation with residents of public representatives Kildare County Council allowed the erection of a totally inappropriate post/pillar/standard in our heritage square. The construction is distasteful and clashes with the tree lined, cobbled square.

I have tabled motions with both Kildare and Athy councils for the immediate removal of the pole which is seen by the local community as a very high handed intrusion into the town. As our tourist season begins with several major festivals being held this year this latest addition to our square shows in how little regard we hold our heritage status.

I have received several calls from people who are extremely annoyed at the disrespect show to our community and it becomes embarrassing for local representatives to be associated with such vandalism to our town by the very people who should be promoting it.”

Campaign for Southern Road to Escalate in Athy – Daly

As congested traffic becomes a regular feature of Athy, Cllr Richard Daly says that now is the time to escalate the campaign for funding for the Southern Distributor Road.

“For decades there has been division in Athy over the route of the road but for the past number of years consensus has been reached and all of the preliminary and environmental work has been completed. Now funding is the only issue which remains unresolved. In the records of the Dail, in response to a question by Dep Jack Wall, Minister Dempsey replied :

“My Department received an application from Kildare County Council in November 2008 for 100% funding of the Athy Southern Distributor Road at an estimated cost of €42 million. In order to increase the monies available for the maintenance and rehabilitation of road pavements, arising from the severe weather as mentioned earlier, it has been necessary to reduce the grant allocations for major new road schemes and for major realignment schemes. As a result of this, no funding is being provided for this project in 2010.”

This means that over the next year no further work will take place on the Athy Southern Distributor Road and this is unacceptable for a population who have a large number of commuters and a through traffic which chokes the single route in the town almost daily.

I am not prepared to let the next seven months pass by without organising a response to Minister Dempsey’s response and will be highlighting the issue throughout the town over the coming weeks.”

“Attached please find photos taken on the proposed route of the Athy Southern Distributor Road”