FIANNA Fail councillor Kevin Sheahan has questioned why €50,000 in GMA (General Municipal Allocation) funding for works at Ringmoylan Pier in Pallaskenry have been “sitting idle” for four years and not used for the provision of a new slipway.
Speaking at this month’s Adare-Rathkeale Municipal District meeting, Cllr Sheahan asked the executive of Limerick City and County Council why works have not been carried out and raised concerns that no progress report has been issued on the project to date.
He went on to complain about the state of the footpaths in Pallaskenry and suggested that €50,000 in funding, which had been ‘ring-fenced’ for the new slipway, should be used elsewhere if there was no progress in 2018.
“I am uncomfortable that this money is sitting idle. This is community allocated money and it is not right that it’s sitting dormant,” Cllr Sheahan commented.
“I haven’t met anyone in Pallaskenry who supports the Ringmoylan works,” he added.
Independent councillor Emmett O’Brien, who proposed the €50,000 allocation for Ringmoylan Pier, described Cllr Sheahan’s comments as the “most callous case of politicising” he had ever heard.
Cllr O’Brien went on to deem the remarks as “disgusting” and “shocking” and suggested families of those who had lost loved ones in tragedies at Ringmoylan in the last decade could explain to Cllr Sheahan why a slipway is needed.
The Pallaskenry native also admitted to being disappointed the works were not completed in 2015 and 2016 but hoped they would be completed in the second quarter of this year.
In a war of words between the two councillors, Cllr O’Brien took umbrage with Cllr Sheahan for referring to him as ‘Mr O’Brien’.
“It is Cllr O’Brien,” he declared.
“He is known as Mister to me,” Cllr Sheahan replied.
“You were elected on transfers from my votes,” Cllr O’Brien then claimed.
After a brief adjournment to dampen flaring tempers, director of Adare-Rathkeale Municipal District, Caroline Curley explained that the Ringmoylan works had been delayed due to issues over land ownership. She also revealed that €37,000 in funding had been allocated by Limerick City and County Council towards the project and said works would be completed this year.
by Alan Jacques
