Fury over failure to fix faulty Fermoy footpath

CLLR NOEL MCCARTHY: ‘THIS MAY SEEM A TRIVIAL ISSUE BUT IT HAS A HUGE BEARING ON THE TOWN’

TWO years is far too long to be waiting for repairs to be undertaken on a partially collapsed stretch of footpath in Fermoy town.

That’s the view of a frustrated local county councillor Cllr Noel McCarthy (FG) who has urged council management to undertake the works and claim the cost back from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

The section of footpath on the N72 footpath adjacent to the town park comes under the remit of the TII as it on a national road.

However, Cllr McCarthy said that despite the best efforts of council officials, they have yet to secure the funding needed for remedial works from TII.

“The way this is going on we could be back here next year talking about the same thing” a clearly exasperated Cllr McCarthy told the June northern area committee meeting.

Cllr McCarthy said that while the issue may seem like a relatively trivial one to some, it has a huge bearing on the town in terms of marking for the Tidy Towns competition.

“TII has said it is that it is at the top of their priority list but still nothing has been done. At this stage the council should just grab this issue by the scruff of the neck, do the work and recoup to cost of it back from them,” he said.

Cllr June Murphy (Ind) agreed saying she and other councillors has received calls form members of the public asking when the repair works would be done.

“Like them, I can not understanding why what seems to be a relatively straight forward job has still not been done after almost two years,” she said.

The council’s Director of Road Services, Tom Stritch, said that as the footpath cantilevers over the town park remedial work would not be a simple as it might first appear.

“We would love to do it ourselves, but simply do not have the expertise,” said Mr Stritch

He said that due to the persistence of local engineer Brendan O’Gorman TII had now referred the matter to their bridge section as the footpath was considered a structure.

“Hopefully, this will progress it. In the meantime we will continue keep the pressure on,” he pledged.

Almost two-years after this Fermoy footpath collapsed locals councillors are furious that Transport Infrastructure Ireland have yet to repair it . Pic courtesy of Avondhupress.