Public meeting to be held in Kilkenny as locals left fearful of dangerous roads
Read more in the Kilkenny People later this week
Kilkenny County Council has vowed to do all they can to keep both the N24 and N25 safe despite not receiving any 2025 government funding for the road schemes under the National Roads Programme.
As it stands, no funding has been granted for safety works on the N25 under the programme, with a minimal €80,000 allocated to the N24 Waterford to Cahir this year.
In response and as safety concerns grow locally, a public meeting will be held on the matter at the Rhu Glenn Country Club Hotel in Slieverue on Monday, June 16 at 8pm where local people are expected to voice their deep rooted concerns and anger over the funding snub.
In the case of the N24, funding of €2 million has previously been provided to get construction works underway but crucial funding necessary to complete the project has dried up subsequently, with no substantive works in sight for the foreseeable future.
However, despite disappointment at local authority level, Kilkenny County Council has vowed to do all they can to keep both routes safe.
"We want to acknowledge the very genuine distress for many at the lack of progress in moving these projects forward,” a spokesperson for the local authority told elected members at May’s Plenary meeting of Kilkenny County Council.
"Issues that arise on both schemes are complex and layered and in recognition of that and the significant concerns raised by elected members, a workshop was held to go through both projects in detail," they said, telling members they would commit to doing all they could to secure funding 'as quickly as possible' and implementing viable measures of their own, including, signage and enforcement.
The spokesperson also noted that despite the setback, 'it shouldn't deter' their ambition of making both routes safer for road users.
Read more in this week's Kilkenny People from Wednesday