Good news for Gorey and Courtown

By Dan Walsh

A submission for funding has been activated under the Active Travel Scheme to progress the Courtown to Gorey footpath that would bring the project up to the tendering stage. The news was welcomed by members at today’s January meeting of Gorey-Kilmuckridge Municipal District held under public health guidelines by Microsoft Teams.

Executive Engineer Joanne Kehoe included the information in her monthly report circulated to members.

BALLINATRAY BRIDGE, also known as COURTOWN VIADUCT, is “almost unique in Ireland.”

Three applications for funding has been submitted in connection with the extension and completion of the Gorey-Courtown footpath including just over €50,000 for the next phase which is footpath construction stage and a feasibility study for the remainder of the footpath and route selection, and consultation services for the design of the footbridge costing around €100,000.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Joe Sullivan said the joint project of the bridge and the footpath is what the general population and the Council have been looking forward to for some time and he is extremely hopeful that Ms Kehoe’s office is going to bring it to a successful conclusion and he complimented the department involved.

He added that the work will complement the route between Gorey and Courtown but raised some issues with current lighting standards, but Ms Kehoe stated that improved public lighting was included in the scheme.

Cllr Andrew Bolger also welcomed the project and felt that if funding were forthcoming for the footbridge – “it would be a real game changer.” Cllr Donal Kenny added his support.

Cllr Fionntáin Ó Suilleabháin noted that since the lockdown there is a recognition of the importance of walkways and he welcomed the news. “We are linking two urban areas with more than 15,000 people. It is going to be huge and it is a crucial project in the times we are living in. It is adjacent to Ballinatray Bridge which is a beautiful and historical bridge. It is almost unique in Ireland.”

The three-arch Ballinatray road bridge (also called the Courtown Viaduct), spanning the Ounavarra river with wooded embankments to river, and erected in 1847 to a design by James Barry Farrell (1810-93), County Surveyor for County Wexford representing an important component of the mid-19th century civil engineering heritage of North Wexford with significant architectural value.

Call for Covid-19 testing at Enniscorthy

By Dan Walsh

A passionate call to the HSE to prioritise a Test Centre and Vaccination Centre for Enniscorthy during Covid-19 was unanimously agreed at today’s monthly meeting of Enniscorthy Municipal District Council held under public health guidelines with Microsoft Teams.

Staff have returned to the Municipal Buildings at Market Square, Enniscorthy, following a refurbishment programme.

Cllr Cathal Byrne noted recent Covid-19 figures when district breakdown became available that Enniscorthy was in the top ten in the country. He suggested that as a district it would be appropriate for the Council to contact the HSE about providing a test centre locally.

Cllr Byrne also offered consideration for someone who requires a test but does not drive and has no other means to get to Wexford for a test. “They are in difficulty,” said Cllr Byrne.

Previously it was possible to contact the HSE themselves and home tests were done by the national ambulance service but given the current situation that is no longer possible. Unfortunately, it is not possible for some people to get a test through a GP and some who need a test are going without a test. “Nobody should be in that situation,” he concluded.

Cllr Byrne suggested the district council contact the HSE and stress the point to them the recent statistics for the Enniscorthy district would merit a test centre locally.

Director of Services Carolyn Godkin said the Council were in touch with the HSE for a location in Enniscorthy as a pop-up centre and are still available for support at that location. The issue is led by the HSE who have not made a formal request, but the Council is supportive of a district test centre should the HSE require it.

Cllr Jackser Owens offered his support for Cllr Byrne’s proposal. He had spoken to two people who had no transport. He rang the HSE who said they might be out in five days, “That is unacceptable,” said Cllr Owens who seconded Cllr Byrne’s proposal.

Cllr John O’Rourke said that Enniscorthy Red Cross could play a part because they have their own ambulance fleet and jeeps, and they may be able to put a communique in place that they may be added to the service and assist with transport to the Wexford Test Centre.

Cllr Aidan Browne agreed with his fellow councillors but suggested the possibility of a vaccination centre in the town. “That should be a priority, after all we are in the centre of the county,” he concluded.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Barbara Anne Murphy asked the proposer, Cllr Byrne, if he would be happy to add the vaccination centre to the proposal. The members agreed. “If it isn’t needed for one it may be used for the other,” she concluded.

€112,659 for six Wexford projects

By Dan Walsh

The Government has today announced funding of €112,659 for six Wexford walking trails and outside recreation.

The ancient bridge at Duncormick and the entrance to the St. Clomaun’s River Walk.

€20,000 will be used for signage and improvement works at St. Clomaun’s Way River Walk at Duncormick. The Murrintown Community Trail has been granted €20,000 for the extension of the walking trail. And a similar amount goes to Slí Carman coastal trail at Wexford town for minor beach improvements.

€17,405 in funding has been announced for the Mount Nebo and Killanerin-Curragh Wood trail in North Wexford. €17,636 is earmarked for the development of the Kilmicheal Point Trail in the same area. And €17,618 is available for the Boro River Walking Trail at Borodale, near Enniscorthy.

Air and sea search at Wexford Harbour

By Dan Walsh

Wexford RNLI Lifeboat searching Wexford Harbour tonight.

Wexford RNLI Lifeboat was launched at 7.42pm this evening after a few sources reported seeing a red flare in the skies above Wexford Harbour.

An intensive search ensued with the Wexford RNLI crew supported by Rosslare Harbour RNLI and the Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117.

Nothing was sighted and the operation was stood down at 9pm.

Death of Camolin businessman

By Dan Walsh

The death has occurred of Tom Doyle, Coolnaleen, Camolin, who was a well-known businessman and sponsor of Wexford GAA championship games. Condolences to his family and friends on their sad loss at this time.

TOM DOYLE

Tom Doyle was involved in the tile business for more than 40 years and developed the business (with his son and fellow director Patrick) into one of the best known in the country trading as Halo Tiles and Bathroom with modern showrooms at Main Street, Camolin. He gave employment to many local people and was regarded as a generous and progressive businessman.

He was steeped in Wexford GAA tradition. He was Chairman of Club Wexford when he signed a sponsorship deal with Wexford GAA County Board to sponsor the Tom Doyle Supplies Wexford Senior Football Championship for the first time in 2013.

His sponsorship of the senior football championship is just another of his many involvements in Wexford GAA. He was involved in the Wexford Supporters Club and helped raise much needed funds for the organisation over many years.

Deepest sympathy is extended. Beloved husband of the late Sheila, father of Anna, Patrick, and Elizabeth, brother of Larry, Peter, Ann, Mary, Patricia, and the late Sean. Deeply regretted by his loving son, daughters, brothers, sisters, daughter-in-law, Avril, sons-in-law; Fergus and Barrie, grandchildren; Peadar, James, Kate, Síle, Tom, Sean, Cáit, Ellen, Patrick, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. RIP.

Due to Government restrictions, a private family funeral mass will take place on Monday at 11am, in St. Columba’s Church, Ballyduff, and can be viewed online. Family flowers only, donations if desired to the Hope Centre, Enniscorthy.

New Monday sailing from Rosslare to Cherbourg

By Dan Walsh

There will be increased capacity direct to mainland Europe starting on Monday as Brittany Ferries begin the 2021 crossing between Rosslare Europort and Cherbourg two months ahead of schedule with the MV Cap Finestére replacing the Connemara while essential maintenance is being carried out.

Cap Finistère, the fastest ship in the Brittany Ferries fleet. (Image; Brittany Ferries)

Cap Finistère, the fastest ship in the ferry company’s fleet, can accommodate 110 freight vehicles, 20 more than the Connemara, is 204 metres long and weighs 33,000 gross tonnes.

Starting on Monday, the ship will depart from Rosslare at 8pm and arrive in Cherbourg at 1.30pm the next day before leaving again at 4.45pm and returning to Ireland at 7am on Wednesday morning.

During the rest of the week, it will make two crossings between Rosslare and Bilbao in Spain.

In a statement, Brittany Ferries said it was moving to “support the freight sector and to meet the needs of an industry battling Brexit”.

“Irish and French hauliers have traditionally relied on the UK-land bridge when transporting goods to and from mainland Europe,” the ferry company said, but added; “However, since the beginning of the year, more companies have sought an alternative to the additional administration, new formalities, greater costs and potential delays that come from carrying goods though the UK.”

General Manager of Rosslare Europort, Glenn Carr said that the port welcomed the “swift response to the needs of the Irish industry in commencing this year’s Rosslare to Cherbourg services two months earlier than planned.”

Local Cllr Lisa McDonald told WexfordLocal.com; “The good news keeps coming for Rosslare Europort. Rosslare continues to cement itself as Ireland’s Gateway to Europe.”

Is Ballycullane man ‘greatest athlete of all time’?

By Dan Walsh

A Wexford man is grabbing international headlines having been sensationally nominated for the ‘greatest athlete of all time’ award.

The ‘greatest athlete of all time’ accolade is awarded in recognition of athletic achievement in the World Games, a non-Olympic international sporting competition with contestants from as far afield as Russia and the USA.

JAMES KEHOE

James Kehoe, (63), from Ballycullane, is an acclaimed tug o’ war champion, and has won numerous medals in international competitions. Sports include powerlifting, canoeing, archery, and in James’ case, the tug o’ war.   

The Games run every four years, and having competed in nine out of ten of them, Kehoe, from Boley Tug of War Club, has brought home two gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

On top of that, the Wexford man has over 100 national tug of war titles under his belt, and has won a grand total of 25 gold, 22 silver and numerous bronze medals in international competitions over the years.

Kehoe currently resides on the family farm in Boley where he was born. He is keeping fit and preparing for his next brave international challenge.  

There are 23 other candidates from 23 other sports in the running for the award. Voting ends on February 1st.

Enniscorthy water leak is repaired

By Dan Walsh

Irish Water and Wexford County Council have successfully repaired a burst water mains that affected the supply to consumers in the Enniscorthy areas of Templeshannon, Clonhaston, Fr. Murphy Park and Hempfield today.

Meanwhile, Irish Water and Wexford County Council are asking homes and businesses to check for leaks in order to reduce overall demand for drinking water. There has been a steady increase in demand over the Christmas period spiking in the past few days following the recent cold spell that saw sub-zero temperatures over a number of days. Following freezing temperatures and the subsequent thaw the public water network has experienced a higher than normal volume of bursts.

Speaking to WexfordLocal.com, Brian O’Leary, Regional Operations Lead, Irish Water, said: “We are currently addressing bursts across the network with our partners in Wexford County Council but we are also appealing to homes, businesses and those responsible for unoccupied buildings to check for leaks whilst adhering to current public health regulations and advice, and to turn off water where it’s not needed. We ask that they check outside pipes in particular that can become frozen and burst during periods of cold weather and report leaks they see on the public network to us. We are also asking the public to conserve water where possible and to only use what they need whilst continuing to adhere to public health advice on hand washing and hygiene regarding COVID-19. We have seen demand creeping up in recent weeks, spiking over the past few days. Safe, clean, treated water is not in unlimited supply and we all have to play a part in conserving it for essential use.”

There are lots more tips on how to conserve water in your home, business or school on our website at https://www.water.ie/conservation/ To report a leak please contact Irish Water on 1850 278 278.

Council action on illegal dumping

By Dan Walsh

Illegal roadside dumping has always been a major challenge for the local authority, but in recent times, the issue has escalated to epic proportions and was described as “an absolute disgrace” at last Monday’s January meeting of Wexford County Council held under Covid-19 guidelines by Microsoft Teams.

This photograph was taken this afternoon showing a number of dumped items beside the railway line outside the tunnel and bridge entrance at Mill Park Road, Enniscorthy.

Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy told the meeting that after Christmas every year rural roads and urban areas are absolutely destroyed by dumping and fly tipping whether it is a bag of rubbish from their Christmas turkey or a bag of rubbish from their shed dumped all over our towns and villages and rural roads. “It’s an absolute disgrace,” she thundered and questioned whether fines or legal activity is happening in this regard.

Cllr Murphy felt that contacting householders and asking how they are disposing of their rubbish has been done and has been effective, but more needs to be done.

“Every householder should be asked what they are doing with their rubbish and be able to prove what they are doing with their rubbish because it is our countryside that is being destroyed and it is causing Wexford County Council a small fortune to clean it up,” concluded Cllr Murphy.

Cllr Pat Barden said the dumping and fly tipping had worsened since he joined the Council a year and half ago. “Then you might see a bit of dumping on a back road or a side road or at the edge of a forest. Now every road in the county is absolutely destroyed.” Cllr Barden suggested getting a special committee together to ‘think outside the box’ to see if we can do something about this terrible blight on the landscape.

CEO Tom Enright said he understood the members frustration about the matter, but he felt it was unfair to say that nothing was being done about it. “A lot is being done about it. People have been prosecuted and fined and costs awarded in our favour. We try to use public awareness and take strong action where we have identified who the culprits might be.”

TOM ENRIGHT, CEO.

Cllr Barden felt enough is not being done. “I was on the road from Clonroche to New Ross a couple of days ago. It is a dump! On the N25 going from Adamstown to New Ross there is fly tipping everywhere. It is a massive problem!”

Cllr John Fleming recalled the previous week that his local road had a fridge freezer and cooker and half the road was blocked. He reported the matter to his local Garda Station, but felt that GDPR was causing problems in identifying the culprits.

Cllr Fleming noticed that after Christmas the bottle banks was full and people were leaving clothes and other rubbish beside them. He suggested that maybe a different approach were needed or some company could come in with a barcode system!

Cllr Bridín Murphy asked that the Council increase the frequency of collection particularly in rural areas during the current lockdown as more people spend time at home. Overflows are quite a significant issue over Christmas and New Year and I was in contact with the environmental department to have the banks cleared.     

2021 ‘points’ season suspended

By Dan Walsh

The 2021 Point-to-Point season has been suspended with immediate effect and no upcoming fixtures will take place until further notice following updated Government guidelines clarified by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Paul Murtagh, Registrar of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee (INHSC), said: “Point-to-Points should not take place until further notice, recognising the difficult situation the country finds itself in presently.
“We will now begin to investigate the options available to us around the fixture list and race programming for when we are permitted to recommence. We will continue to liaise closely with HRI on this matter and will remain racing-ready to run Point-to-Points once we get the green light.”

The Autumn fixture list was completed ‘behind closed doors’ Two fixtures were planned for this weekend. The Ballinagore Harriers fixture at Ballycrystal, Kiltealy, was penciled in for next Sunday, and the Shillelagh & District Hunt’s fixture originally intended for January 10th, but postponed due to weather conditions, was resheduled for next Saturday.