THE installation of a wooden seat next to the fountain at the refurbished St John’s Square, has angered local councillor, Kieran O’Hanon. All it does, he claims, is to make it more comfortable and attractive for those people who enjoy consuming alcohol in the public square. “When this restorative work was commencing I specifically requested the engineering department to provide some feature to deter certain people – and I’m mainly talking about an element that were regularly gathering there and consuming alcohol and leaving behind bottles and cans, cigarette butts and other litter”.
It would have been more beneficial, he added if measures had been taken to protect the landmark fountain in the square from vandalism.
Cllr O’Hanlon, who was successful in getting the former city manager, Tom Mackey to agree to a restoration of the water fountain some years ago, told the Limerick Post that he is very disappointed that the recent work carried out on the square did not include “some measures to deter people from vandalising the fountain.
“This old historic area in front of St John’s Cathedral, which has the sculpture of Patrick Sarsfield in its grounds and sections of the old walls of Limerick in nearby locations, is visited by a lot of Limerick people returning from abroad and by those coming to the city for the first time.
“I am not happy that my request, which was made, following on from complaints made by people to me and from my own dissatisfaction with the situation, has not been taken on board but I will be talking to the engineers in City Hall again about this”.
A development that he is happy about, however, is the newly completed entrance from O’Brien Park on Clare Street, which gives access to the Park Canal Bank,
“This is very welcome, especially to those who use the park on a regular basis and to the local people – it means that they can gain convenient access to the canal bank, if they want to take a longer walk or a run, cycle or some exercise – I’m very pleased with this development”.
