Kilkenny councillor calls for Ring Road timetable

Cllr Sean Ó hArgain has called for a clear timetable to be laid out and published for the completion of Kilkenny's outer Ring Road and has requested all his fellow councillors in the city and county to prioritise this work over the next five years. 

Mr Ó hArgain also called on the county's Oireachtas members to commit to the completion of the work in their role as national legislators.

"The motion I am proposing today is very simple. It calls on all of us, as elected representatives of the people of Kilkenny City and surrounding areas and on the officials of our council to let the people we represent know clearly what the plan of action is on Kilkenny’s Ring Road," Cllr Ó hArgain told Friday's meeting of the Kilkenny City Municipal District.

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The Labour Party representative has told Kilkenny Live that the completion of the next section of the Ring Road, from the Castlecomer Road to the Freshford Road, across the River, 'is long overdue', adding, the sections from the Freshford Road to the Callan Road are also of huge concern to local residents with the impending works at the St Canice’s and the new CBS Kilkenny schools.

The first time county councillor and former Principal at Gaelscoil Osraí also stressed the need for facilities for students to walk and cycle to school as part of any plans and encouraged parents and young people 'to take action' and consider walking or cycling.

"I have watched in frustration over the last decade as some politicians and activists have claimed that those of us who were councillors at the time had voted against the completion of the Ring Road. I and all my fellow councillors at the time made it crystal clear that we always saw the completion of the Ring Road as vital to getting as much traffic as humanly possible out of the city centre, particularly through traffic," Mr Ó hArgain said.

"Now is the time for us all to work with unity of purpose with the council officials who have clearly stated their commitment also. I particularly welcome the commitment to giving us six monthly briefings on the progress. I and other councillors will keep the pressure up for delivery," he concluded. 

Responding to Mr Ó hArgain, Director of Services with Kilkenny County Council, Tim Butler told members the Ring Road project is 'not a quick process' with a number of bodies and means of funding external to the council at play.

Mr Butler committed to keeping councillors informed on the matter every six months.