Compensationclaims againstcouncilhave exceeded£3millions

October 1994

heard last week.

Council manager Eddie Breen promised an immediate investigation of the stream, which flows down from Glenart, after hearing the alarming news of the dead pony from Cllr Denis Kinsella.

Cllr Kinsella told the council of seeing people going out the Vale Road with all types of plastic containers to get water from this stream thinking they were getting a better supply than from their own taps.

And Mr Breen heard from cllr Sean Wolohan that the water in Fernhill was still not good and he assured the officials that the majority of people up there were drawing water from elsewhere. PUBLIC liability claims in excess of £3 million have been made against local authorities in County Wicklow over the past three or so years.

And the figure for Arklow Urban Council, £349,418, is startling when compared to the size of the claims against its sister body in Wicklow town, which stands at just $109,530.

There is a noticeable disparity despite both towns being comparatively the same size.

County-wide the claim against the County Council in 1991 was the highest of all time with a figure of £1,670,384.

The Council paid out £184,884 but claims outstanding were £1,485,500.

However, the claims were bumped up considerably that year due to the bus crash at Jack White’s after which almost all of the 40 passengers put in claims against the local authority and Bus Eireann.

A judgement on where the blame should lie is still being awaited by the courts.

In 1992 the claims were considerably less with £91,337 paid and £630.470 outstanding, giving a total of £721,807.

Then in 1993 the figures dropped dramatically with a comparatively tiny sum of £801 paid out while £419,730 was outstanding, leaving an overall total of £420,531. created banks around the pitch which have been turned into a quagmire and need to be completely re-dug and re-sown.

There are also fears that the animals will cause a serious accident if they stampede down the steep banks and into the fencing where spectators and players stand.