£50,000 overcharged on rents NAAS, 2 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. There was cross party support at a recent meeting of Kildare County Council for a motion by Lab Deputy Emmet Stagg TD demanding that people on social welfare be treated the same with those of earned income under the Council’s Rent Scheme. “Officials agreed that up to £50,000 has been overcharged a year on people whose only income is social welfare,” Deputy Stagg said. “This is because their income is wrongly treated by the Council under its own scheme, as if it were all payable to the principal earner.” The Deputy said if the income was divided in the normal way for people who are working, the rent could vary by as much as £4-£14 a week for individuals, depending on the circumstances. He said those hardest hit would be old age pensioners whose wives are dependent relatives, without any children, who would be paying £9 a week more than they should be. Council officials have now acknowledged this as fact. The motion was seconded by FG Cllr Senan Griffin. Deputy Stagg says he will accept ‘nothing less than full repayment of the amounts overcharged'. He added: “As well as the restitution of the overcharging, they must also adjust the scheme so it is applied fairly,” A full report on how the Council plans to deal with the situation is to be revealed at its next monthly meeting.

10 hour Halloween siege in Kilmeague pub NAAS, 2 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. A terror situation developed in a Kilmeague pub on Halloween night as a gang of local children wearing Halloween masks held drinkers under siege for close on ten hours. All but two of the pub’s windows were smashed by the stone throwing youths. The incident took place at Eleson House pub on Tuesday night when the gang of youths surrounded the building throwing stones and bangers through the windows. They also threatened to pour petrol in through the windows. The youths disappeared when gardai arrived, only to reappear as soon as they had gone. This senario continued throughout the night as other squad cars arrived on the scene - only to find that the gang had vanished. Two gardai then stayed in the bar to protect the customers who had been forced to stay on the premises because of the antics of the youths involved. However both were forced to stay the night when their squad car was damaged. The siege was lifted at 6am on Wednesday morning by which time only two windows remainded unbroken. KNN has learnt that the landlady, Georgina Fogarty, was in a state of shock following the siege, along with her husband and son. A youth was in garda custody yesterday following the incident and gardai hope some arrests will follow.

Paddy won't leave three generation home NAAS, 2 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. A man whose family have lived on New Row for three generations says he will not quit his home to make way for planned widening of the Rathasker Road junction. “I don’t call moving a man out of his home progress. The road is wide enough and I’m staying put until I die,” he vowed this week. His stance follows a hand delivered letter from Naas UDC which he had refused to accept and which was then stuck to his front door. It was delivered at a time of great family sadness following the tragic deaths of his two nephews in a road accident, and Paddy threw it out on the road without opening it. “It was a very insensitive thing to do at a time,” he says. The small cottage has seen the family through good and bad for all those generations. “My grandmother died in this house in 1947 at the age of 93 and my parents lived here after that. Sixteen of us (9 girls and 7 boys) were born and reared here and I’m staying put,” he told The Kildare Nationalist. The Quinn house is a shrine to his family history with many old framed photographs on display. Paddy recalls how his mother had cooked the Christmas turkey in an oval dish on the concrete floor. “This pot was put on a three-legged ring over kindled turf. The pot had an iron lid and more kindled turf was put on top of this lid. The front door would be open to let the smoke out and everyone knew the Christmas dinner was being cooked in Quinn’s.” A ‘true blue’ Naas man, Paddy’s parents Thomas and Elizabeth McCann had married in England in 1915 as Thomas was serving with the Irish Guards during the First World War. Thomas was 21 years old at the time while Elizabeth was just 19. The McCanns had lived in Basin Lane, the area now pedestrianised in The Harbour. “My father’s parents were Michael Quinn and Mary Egan.” Unfortunately Paddy lost a number of precious family birth and marriage certificates somewhere between Lane’s newsagents and the Parish Church on Friday October 20. If anyone finds them he asks that they be returned to him or to the Gardai. Ironically, Paddy was presented with Naas Tidy Town’s Heritage Award in 1998, sponsored by Naas Local History Group. “Now they want to demolish the house.” The adjoining cottage became vacant when the tenant moved to live nearby. But Paddy isn’t quite sure of the contents of that UDC letter since he tore it up. Naas , however, say they cannot divulge the contents as it is a confidential matter between Mr Quinn and the Council, but Mr Quinn ‘is welcome to discuss it with us’. Both cottages are owned by Naas UDC..

****Earlier News from this week available here**** Around and About the County... LEIXLIP: Both steam train journeys organised for last Saturday by Leixlip Town Commission were full and the organisers got a lot of very positive feedback from people who travelled on both trains. “There were lots of families with young children,” says commission chairperson Cllr Catherine Murphy. “Particularly noticeable were the number of Dads with young children, local Senior Citizens were also there in abundance some telling stories of it being an emotional journey. I would particularly like to thank Leixlip Amenities Centre and the Resource Centre for the Unemployed for selling tickets and the Festival Office for their assistance with promotion of the event, which I hope will become an annual one.” NAAS: Unsightly mounds of rubbish left for collection outside shops in Naas, especially over weekends, could soon end with the introduction of a special collection service to all shop premises. Cllr Seamie Moore said banks of rubbish ‘as high as 5 ft and as long as 20 ft’ are regularly to be seen outside shops. He said it was up to the Council to make laws and it was a disgrace that mounds this size should be allowed ‘as if no bye-law existed’.  KILCULLEN ESSO AND XL STOP 'N' SHOP Open 7am-10pm for Fuel, Groceries, Toiletries, Flowers, Newspapers, Deli Food, Fresh Coffee and more. To Advertise on KNN, call 086 8267104, fax 045 481091, or email tellingtales@yahoo.com Advertising rates here ****Earlier News from this week available here****

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Allen community wants merchant travellers out ALLEN, 1 November 2000: by Trish Whelan.Merchant traders camped in the old school in Allen are to be told that the local community intends reclaiming the site and will, if necessary, seek a court injunction to have them moved on. This was the decision of last night's meeting in Allen Hall, chaired by local Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick (on left). Also present were Deputy Alan Dukes, Cllrs Fionnuala Dukes, PJ Sheridan and Tony McEvoy. Brendan Weld represented Deputy Bernard Durkan. Close to 100 people are living in the twenty caravans illegally camped in the grounds of the old school in recent weeks. The school, vacated some years ago, has been in use as a car park for the parish church. The local community now intend erecting barriers at the entrance to the site. A letter is to be handed to each of the mobile travellers informing them of plans to demolish the school and convert the grounds into a car park. “If this approach is not successful, we will then ask the parish priest, Fr Eddie Moore, and the parish finance committee to seek a court injunction to have them removed from the site,” Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick said. “If it is not brought to a successful conclusion within three weeks, a further meeting will be organised to decide what further action to take,” he added.

Tir na Mona seeks help to develop Ballynafagh Lake NORTH-WEST KILDARE, 1 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. A three-man delegation representing the Tir na Mona community of north-west Kildare have asked Kildare County Council for help in developing Ballynafagh Lake for the enjoyment of local people and visitors alike. The lake is a man-made reservoir created by the Grand Canal Company at the end of the eighteenth century as a feeder for the Grand Canal. Situated close to Prosperous, it is owned by Kildare County Council which will ultimately be responsible for any development of the lake as a multi-purpose amenity wildlife area. The Council had developed walkways around the lake back in the 1960s. These have deteriorated with sections of the walkway now in a dangerous condition. Presenting a feasibility study for Ballynafagh Lake - known locally as ‘The Lough’ - were chairperson Liam Holton, Sean Flannery and Fergal McKeown who said the main aim of the report was to come up with a long term strategy to develop the lake area and to prepare a three-year plan of action. They said they would be glad to work with the Council to achieve the objectives of developing the lake into a tourist attraction.” A local history study has revealed that the lake was the local equivalent to ‘Butlin’s’ in its hey day. “It’s a far cry from that now.” Tir na Mona Ltd plans to protect the site as a Bird Sanctuary and Wildlife area, in cooperation with Duchas, responsible for protecting this important conservation area. It is hoped, in time, to improve and enhance the walking areas around the lake, linking a bog walk with a network of other local bogs, and provide parking areas for visitors which would not take from the natural beauty of the site. Other compatable uses envisaged include boating and fishing and a lakeside picnic area. Other key issues to be addressed include access, old footbridges, dangerous springs hidden by rushes, undefined paths, repair of the sluice gate and an old bridge. Currently there are no road signs from the local villages of Prosperous, Clane and Timahoe to direct visitors to the lake. Tir na Mona Ltd is a community based development council representing the areas of Staplestown, Donadea, Coill Dubh and Timahoe in north-west Kildare. It is a limited company with charitable status. The report, conducted by Philip Farrelly Ltd., Environmental Consultants, was funded by KELT..

Maynooth-Ireland goes online MAYNOOTH, 31 October 2000: by John Sweeney. Maynooth Action Strategy last weekend unveiled their long-awaited Maynooth Town web site. As part of its mission after the town’s creditable performance in the Information Age Town competition of a few years ago, Maynooth Action Strategy was tasked with the preparation and launching of an internet community access facility. The purpose of this was to highlight the advantages of the world-wide-web to the people of Maynooth and provide an information facility which could aid community cohesion in this rapidly growing town. Logging on to www.maynooth-Ireland.com provides a wealth of information of use to both the resident and tourist in Maynooth and the site should become a ‘must see’ feature as it grows and develops over the coming years. For the resident, the site can help with bus and train timetables, useful phone numbers, church services, local news items and announcements. There is also a small ads section where items for sale or wanted can be advertised for free. Want to sell your car or find out if anyone has Pokemon card to swap? There is also a bulletin board to send messages and comments. Maybe you want to discuss the happenings in Coronation Street or just beef about the train service? Or maybe you live in Sydney and want to say ‘hi’ to your old pals in Parklands. A photo gallery has a selection of local photos in which you may even figure! Each club and organisation in the town is facilitated with their own web page and an easy to use facility to enter their latest news, results or match report. It will be the place to go for the latest updates. For tourists, the site provides a comprehensive guide to local and regional attractions. How to get there; whether there’s an entrance charge, when they’re open etc. Maynooth Action Strategy’s recent joint publication with the Local History and Civic Forum of a number of guided walks around the town is also accessible. Activities from golf to fishing, traditional music sessions to drama are also detailed. The site has been devised by a core group including Tony Bean, Peter Connell, Paul Croghan, John Dolan, Tom Moore, John Sweeney and Peter Van der Burgt. Local web company Innovate Ltd of Maynooth host the site and exciting plans for further development and maintenance of the site are being implemented by Maynooth Action Strategy.

Devoy Barracks again raises temperature NAAS, 31 October 2000: by Trish Whelan. A heated exchange of words over who exactly was responsible for securing Devoy Barracks for social and affordable housing in Naas took place at the October meeting of Naas UDC. Councillors were welcoming the ‘official’ news that their tender for £7m had been formally accepted for the 14 acres owned by the Minister for Defence. Between 175-200 housing units are proposed for the land, depending on the design. However the chairman Cllr Pat O’Reilly said it was imperative that they employ architects and designers without delay as he didn’t want to be a member of the Council if they were going to find themselves in financial difficulties in a few years’ time. He appealed to officials to move quickly to provide houses and to protect the members of the council. Cllr Timmy Conway was accused of playing politics when he paid tribute to ‘work done by Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, in securing the Barracks for the Council. He was interrupted by Cllr Anthony Egan who said the credit should go to Cllr Pat McCarthy who had consistently tried to have officials tender for the property. It then emerged that the UDC had not been the only tenderer for the land. Cllr Evelyn Bracken (left) who lives in the adjoining estate of Arconagh, said she would be the first on the picket line if there is any entrance from the Barracks into Arconagh. Cllr Mary Glennon said councillors had a ‘mealy mouthed attitude’ to the matter. She rowed in behind Cllr Pat McCarthy saying he had pursued the acquisition from the very beginning. “He was told here that he was giving false hope and living in cloud cookoo land,” she said. Pat O’Reilly asked councillors to refrain from making comments. He said the bottom line is that Cllr Pat McCarthy put down the motion to tender for the Barracks but some had had reservations about that motion. “But once it was adopted it then became the property of the Council as a body. It was carried by a majority of us,” he said.

Many arrests in Naas NAAS, 31 October 2000: by Trish Whelan. A total of 25 Public Order arrests were made in Naas recently under Operation Oiche, a nationwide operation targeting public order offences and under age drinking. A large number of people were also cautioned for anti social behaviour on the streets as well as for trespass on school property. According to Sgt Kevin Gralton: “This was particularly the case in Naas CBS primary school where over a dozen names were taken with a possibility of follow up prosecutions as these people have been cautioned before.” Another 15 young people were found with drugs in their possession in areas around the town. Some had drugs for sale and supply. Both uniform and plain clothes gardai were involved in the operation and this will continue especially at weekends. Gardai are anxious to find the person who stole goods from a jeep parked outside the entrance to Johnstown Garden Centre at 4pm on Sunday, October 22. The thief, who broke the window of the jeep, made off with a large red suitcase and a smaller case containing cameras, clothing, cash and some ornaments. Given the time and the hour, gardai believe a number of people must have witnessed something suspicious. A car stolen from Woodlands area last week was found burnt out in Tallaght on Friday morning. The car contained a student’s final year examination year notes which were lost in the fire. People who have had bikes lost or stolen can call to Naas Garda Station this Thursday or Friday from 4pm-5pm to see if their missing bikes are among those at Naas Garda Station. (pic above by Adrian Melia)

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