‘We look forward to driving without fear of going out a window’

A COMMUNITY in North Kerry have spoken of their hope of driving their local road one day ‘without fear of being out of the window’ in a plea to Kerry County Council over its appalling state.

Had it not been for the Covid restrictions, the residents of the Banemore Road L6021 would have appeared in person before Council officials at Monday’s meeting of the Listowel Municipal District Council. Instead the deputation was signalled via a letter read into the record by Fine Gael Cllr Mike Kennelly, who facilitated their plea. The letter was penned by resident Marcus Kelliher and stated: “It is well documented that Kerry County Council has been allocated €28m for roads in 2021. We feel very strongly that it is about time the two miles from Banemore cross to Lyreacrompane be surfaced.

“Once every five years, about two weeks before the election, Council staff are sent out to tar it which lasts about two weeks... There is very little maintenance to water channels and gullies which in turn leads to erosion.

We feel we are being very tolerant because we live in the middle of a windfarm that the Council gets much from in rates. We pay our household tax which we get nothing from..another concern is that the school bus operator will refuse to use the road, a service we are paying for and cannot do without. We hope Cllr Kennelly’s efforts to help us will be rewarded, and we look forward to a day when we can travel our road without fear of being thrown out the window.”

Cllr Kennelly said he travelled the road recently and found the experience ‘upsetting’. “If I had to travel it three or four times a day my hair would be pulled out.” He urged the Council to begin tackling it bit by bit. “Do a mile in 2021, a mile in 2022, small bites of the elephant.”

Area Engineer Declan O’Mahony said the Council carried out some pothole repairs on the stretch before Christmas. While it is not on the current roads programme, he said it could be included on the next one from 2022-2024, subject to approval from the Department of Roads and Transport.