Debate over the safety of NarrowWest Street at town meeting

MAYOR Pio Smith moved quickly to disassociate himself with any comments in relation to Narrow West Street being unsafe for both motorists and pedestrians.

Addressing a public meeting on issues surrounding the town in the Barbican last week, he said he hadn’t seen any report to suggest that the street was a danger.

‘Narrow West Street is not unsafe and I don’t want the wrong message going out from here,’ he stated.

The intense debate began when Cllr Frank Godfrey, who organised the meeting, stated that ‘some of the buildings were in a dangerous state’.

‘‘It’s been like that for 15 years. The question is how do we move on from here. There has to be an incentive,’ Mayor Smith stated.

Cllr Godfrey asked why was there a building on the street with no roof ?

He said the buildings were going to be painted in advance of the Fleadh Cheoil.

Francis Hurley, who operates a very successful business on the street, also said it safe and he wouldn’t walk down the street every day if it wasn’t.

‘I pass more derelict buildings on Trinity Street,’ he stated.

A member of the St Patrick’s Day parade committee added that they couldn’t get the parade across the street because they couldn’t get insurance.

That sparked local trader Liam Mullen to state that he sees 40 ton lorries come across the street every morning, wondering why the parade can’t do the same.

‘If people say it’s falling down, why is it not closed. The public walk across it.’

He urged that the parade return to West Street .

Cllr Godfrey said a feature of the parade down the years for him were the masses of people on the steps of St Peters Church.