Call to remove disused phone boxes ‘a thing of the past’

THEY probably haven’t been used in years for their actual purpose, and now a local councillor is calling for the removal of the phone kiosks in Laurence Street, Palace Street and James Street, Drogheda.

Cllr Oliver Tully said he had inspected the old phone boxes recently and found them redundant and filthy, although recent repairs had been done to a couple.

“When I saw them, they were in awful state of repairs, with no phones in them, but someone must have caught wind of this motion, and put telephones in,” he told the members at the Drogheda meeting of Louth County Council.

“Still they are constantly covered in graffiti and used for urination, and clearly never used for purpose, so I think the onus should be on the owners to remove them.”

Director of Housing Paddy Donnelly said that a problem with these facilities had been identified during the Fleadh, and it was noted that some of the kiosks were from a small operation which was no longer trading.

“There is no one to take responsibility now for removing these pods, and it’s not as straight-forward as it might look,” he explained.

“There are hundreds of wires and cables which run under the street from these, and to remove them would run into the thousands. A long-term solution is needed.”