Taking our lives in our hands

Kingscourt residents demand footpath on Dublin Road

Residents living along the Dublin Road in Kingscourt, including wheelchair users and parents pushing buggies, say they are “taking our lives in our hands” each time they walk along the busy route and are demanding that a footpath be developed there. A number of recent incidents highlighted including a dog being killed while being walked by his owner and pedestrians having to jump into the ditch to avoid being hit.
The matter was raised at a recent meeting of the Bailieborough/Cootehill Municipal District meeting by Fianna Fáil councillor Clifford Kelly. The Celt travelled to Kingscourt last Saturday to meet with some of the concerned residents and hear their views on the matter.
The existing footpath comes out from the town as far as Cabra View but residents point out that children are walking to school from the Enniskeen lane area further out the road, which also features a bend.
A spokesperson for the residents, Ann Smith, said she had been living on the road for 23 years together with her husband Pascal and their daughter Siona. “I have concern for one of our neighbours who is in a wheelchair and loved visiting his neighbours. He can’t do that now because of the danger of our road,” she said.
She added that the road is busy with traffic including large lorries and school buses as it is the main road to Dublin. “The town of Kingscourt has now got much busier and there will be a new supermarket and secondary school arriving,” pointed out Ms Smith.
“The people here on the Dublin Road, we are all paying our property tax, we are quite angry about this now and we need a footpath now,” she insisted.
Ms Smith told the Celt that recently a neighbour was walking her dog and the dog was killed on the road. “That could have been a child,” she said.
The residents now intend to form a committee to keep pushing the issue and thanked Cllr Kelly for his support.

'One very close one’
At the recent meeting, Cllr Kelly described it as a “serious situation”.
He remarked: “There have almost been two serious accidents on the road with pedestrians in recent times. There was one very close one in the last few days. Two people had to jump into the ditch otherwise there could have been fatalities.”
He also pointed to the Kingspan HQ being sited along this route and also Gypsum Industries further out the road. Those companies, who are rate payers, generate a substantial volume of traffic, he said.
“I have seen in other part of the county when major developments took place, there were footpaths and lights put in place. There are other places where lights extend further, that do not have as much traffic on them,” said Cllr Kelly.
“I am asking the County Council to look very very seriously at putting a footpath out as far as Enniskeen and light it up properly,” he added.
Cllr Kelly asked the executive to prepare a report on the matter for the next meeting.