Light at the end of the tunnel for unfinished housing estates
The issues surrounding unfinished housing estates look like they are being addressed head on by Kilkenny County Council and work is in progress to get as many as possible finished in the near future.
This will be good news for the thousands of people who have been living in terrible conditions in some cases around the county over the past couple of years since the downturn of the economy and the flight of the developers.
The council is ensuring that each development is being addressed as an individual case and there is positive engagement with most of the developers concerned it would appear.
Some estates were left in dreadful condition over the years with many dangers left lurking in the area which were a threat to children, adults, and even animals.
It was considered the fallout of the Celtic Tiger and may people who spent big money on exclusive homes in select estates were left to contend with unfinished roads and paths, lighting, and even houses in many cases, deeming the surrounds a death trap for playing children.
But now the council has said that it is engaging with the developers and most are responding positively to its requests, with only one estate in danger of being demolished.
Let’s hope that this is the end of the miserable situation for many families left isolated in half built, half vacant estates.
Presidential election
A last word on the presidential election, as by this time next week it will be all over. We have met personally with nearly all of the candidates — bar Dana, who never turned up when we went to meet with her. She arrived an hour later apparently. Her campaign PRO had stated in a press invite that she would be meeting at ‘the catholic church’ but failed to specify which one. Of course we did attempt to contact them but failed. So unfortunately, there were other commitments.
Mary Davis took a whistlestop tour of Kilkenny one Saturday afternoon when nobody was around, and so we failed to speak with her also unfortunately. However we did in-depth interviews with all of the other candidates in Shootin’ the Breeze, and this week it is Martin McGuinness in conversation with yours truly.
He was an interesting man and has no shortage of fans in Kilkenny by the look of it. However the violent background is hard to ignore, and is this what we want for president?
Sean Gallagher is coming under pressure at the moment regarding his Fianna Fáil links and donations. He is still topping the polls however, and he will be an interesting one to watch - hard to see him as President though.
Gay Mitchell is really struggling and he seems to lack the charisma of some of the other candidates. He hasn’t got the support of many, other than some of his own party.
Michael D, as I said on the radio the other day, is a wonderful man but one has to consider his age. Do we want to return to bygone days where the President is hobbling around just about able to make engagements? This isn’t ageism — this is the reality of the situation in seven to 14 years time for Michael D.
David Norris appears to have completely lost momentum and it doesn’t look like he is making the impression he had hoped. The early slurs on his campaign have taken their toll it would seem and it looks like he will be lucky to come in third last, if recent polls are anything to go by.
So that’s it — take your pick of candidates. There is no shining light but everyone should get out to vote one way or the other. We all have the right to choose from the selection available.
