Traveller families housed by Naas UDC are well settled in

NAAS, 8 January 2001: by Trish Whelan. Being given the keys to their own homes was a very welcome early Christmas present for two traveller families who had been camped in the town.

James and Elizabeth McDonagh (left with two of their children, Delora and Jason) were thrilled to finally have a house of their own on the Rathasker Road while James and Margaret Lynch have settle into a house in Monread Heights.

The McDonaghs had been camped on the side of the Rathasker Road for almost two years while the Lynchs were living in the UDC’s car park behind Naas Town Hall for a number of years.

In providing the houses Naas UDC fulfilled its commitment under the Traveller Settlement Strategy, adopted by Kildare County Council, to provide standard housing for two traveller families in 2000.

James and Elizabeth say they could not have achieved their goal of finally getting a house without help from friends and Naas UDC. “In the two years we’d been camped on the road, the neighbours got to know and to accept us, and wanted us to get a house. When this house became vacant they spoke up for us,” Elizabeth said. “That’s very, very important and means a lot to us."

In fact their neighbours signed a petition asking that the family be housed which was then presented to Naas UDC. “It’s usually the other way around,” said James quietly.

"Getting the house has made a huge difference to us all," Elizabeth said. “It was important first to be accepted and know you are wanted. The children have made great friends here, and so have we. In fact all our neighbours are just fantastic. We want to thank them all.”

She says the new house has also contributed to an improvement in her general health and wellbeing as she has undergone surgery in recent months.

The McDonaghs are also full of praise for Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane and local councillors for seeing the family settled.

From the time each of his sons were eligible to box, James McDonagh brought them to Kilcullen Boxing Club to train twice a week, keeping it up even while they were living in Portlaoise for a time.

“Boxing is a great training for young lads,” he said, “it keeps them out of trouble, off the streets, and gives them respect for themselves and other people. And the great thing about boxing is that they do all their fighting in the ring.”

Patrick achieved the distinction of being Irish Boxing Champion on four occasions at Boys and Juvenile levels while Gary (13) won the Irish Championship last year at Boys level.

Eric (14) has been Leinster Champion at different levels on a number of occasions and went as far as reaching the national finals.

While Art and Jamie were the first members of the family to box in Kilcullen, Jason (6) plans to follow in his big brothers’ footsteps and is already a keen boxing fan.

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UDC should not have 'secret' meetings

NAAS, 8 January, 2001: OPINION by Donal Corcoran. I would like to comment on the matter of the secret and "in committee" meetings held by Naas U.D.C. during the last seven years. Councillors are elected to act in the public interest at all times. It is important that not only would they do that but that they be seen to do that. In this era of supposed "openess and transparency" secret and in committee meetings have little place in the working of Local Authorities. The general public not only want to be aware of the decisions taken by the Local Authority but they also want to be aware of why they take the decisions that they do take.
 
During my time on Naas U.D.C. there were few secret and in committee meetings and I can remember just about six and these were about delicate matters where personal details of people were discussed usually about arrears of rent. The County Manager at that time Mr. G. Ward, held the view that certain planning matters should be held in committee and was supported by a minority of Councillors but this was not a view supported by the majority.
 
All other matters were discussed with the Press present, apart from the Private meetings held by some of the Councillors where in some instances the real decisions were taken.
 
I would be in general agreement with the views of Councillor Glennon as detailed in your report. But where I would not agree with her is her stance on Planning matters remaining private. Why should the deliberations of Councillors on planning matters be private? Some of the planning decisions of Naas U.D.C. during the three decades when I was a local authority member were "peculiar" to say the least, but at least the debates were carried out in public and could be reviewed by the public. Some of the decisions taken during the last seven years are very difficult to understand and indeed are no less "peculiar" but we don’t know how these decisions were arrived at because of the secrecy.
 
The Planning process in Naas, in my view is chaotic. We don't know the views of Councillors or Officials on the Traffic Crisis or the Housing Crisis because these are too sensitive for us to hear. We can only judge them by what they do when they encourage development that could be injurious to the proper planning and development of Naas.

ED: Please note that views expressed under 'OPINION' on KNN are those of the writer concerned, and do not necessarily reflect the views of KNN or its proprietors. This facility is provided in the interests of free speech and public information and may be availed of either to make a point or respond to one. KNN reserves the right to edit any material submitted.


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Newtown House to be offered to Confey group

LEIXLIP, 8 January 2001: by Brian Byrne. Newtown House in Leixlip and part of its grounds are to be offered to the Confey Leixlip Youth Premises Group for their Community Youth Centre, on the recommendation of Kildare’s county architect. The group will have to agree with Kildare County Council on the use it will make of the premises and how it will relate to the preservation of the building.

The property had originally been due to be demolished as part of a plan to build a new library and a Garda Station on the site, but these have now been changed since the OPW indicated the site for the garda station was not suitable to them.

Cllr Catherine Murphy (right) queried the position of the new library tender, as the Community Group would be unable to take posession of Newtown House until the service had been transferred from the building. She was told the tender is still with the Department and they have some outstanding queries about costing.

County Secretary Seamus Stokes is to write to the Community Group do sort out the details of the transfer offer. "This good news should bring some cheer to the Group after the disappointing Bord Pleanala decision to turn down their Planning Application for a new building," Cllr John McGinley said after the decision by the Leixlip Area Committee councillors.

Cllr Paul Kelly said 'it is great news for the hard working committee of the Group, who have suffered several set-backs in recent months'. "I hope that this signals an upturn in their fortunes," he commented.

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Can you help Michael Marks?

Michael Marks, singer, songwriter, long term resident of Kildare and Newbridge, whose album Camouflage was voted CD of the Week by RTE in a 'best new songwriter' item, is now living in Holland badly affected by osteoarthritis. He is producing out of his home studio his first release since Camouflage ... Rythms from a Rubber Room. Record collectors can contact Mick at mickey.marks@wxs.nl A limited run of acoustic copies is being made available to finance production of an album to follow.

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Around the County

NAAS: The introduction of the disc parking system on July 1, 2001, will cost the Council £100,000 to implement. Anticipated annual income is expected to be around £110,000.

LEIXLIP & MAYNOOTH: Kildare County Council Engineer Des O’Connor has undertaken to examine the settings of traffic lights at the bottom of Captain’s Hill in Leixlip and on Main Street Maynooth.

NEWBRIDGE: The next meeting of Newbridge Town Commission will be held at the Sundai School on January 16. A presentation will be made to the school's director by the chair, Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin.

NAAS: Naas UDC is to defer any further improvements to Main Street until such time as a number of major proposed developments are completed. These include developments to Corban’s Lane car park, a new road junction at Sarah Floods as well as the introduction of disc parking.

LEIXLIP: Kildare Council Engineers have agreed to Cllr John McGinley's original proposal to remove the 'No Parking' signs beside the double yellow lines - 38 signs in all will be taken down. "The signs are superfluous and should never have been erected in the first place," Cllr McGinley commented. "Indeed if the Councillors had been shown the proposals beforehand, the money would not have been wasted."

NAAS: McInerney Construction Ltd have applied for a residential development including 57 suite nursing home complex, 3-storey in the main building flanked by 2-storey and one-storey elements including six sheltered two-storey apartments and associated car parking: 24 sheltered housing units; 69 two and three bedroomed village type, dormer and two-storey semi-detached and terraced houses and associated site development works; landscaped parkland and wetland open space including walkways and pedestrian access to Naas Town Centre, with vehicular access from Mill Lane residential estate, all at Mill Lane, Sallins Road, Naas.