Laois County Councillors were deeply unhappy following a reply to a motion calling for the construction of a footpath to connect the Rathmore Road to Stradbally.
Councillor Paschal McEvoy put down a notice of motion calling on the Council to continue the footpath from the top of the town out the Rathmore Road.
He said that there were 12/13 houses on this stretch of road and if they want to walk into Stradbally, they have to do so along the road.
In an unusual turn of events, Cllr McEvoy actually received two official replies from Council officials to his motion.
The first, and the one that drew the ire of his fellow Councillors, came from Mr Diarmuid Donohue of the Active Travel section.
He said: “Active Travel Funding is not available for the provision of this footpath.
“An active travel scheme must ensure that the infrastructure delivered provides for a high populations and links to them to a key trip attractor.”
Mr Donohoe was not present at the meeting to clarify what he meant by ‘key trip attractor’ but it was this phrase which annoyed those in attendance.
Cllr Aidan Mullins, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, said: “What qualifies as a ‘key trip attractor’?
“Is he expecting that the footpath must bring a person to the Guinness Storehouse or a zoo in order to qualify for funding?”
Cllr McEvoy said: “I simply don’t understand this answer.
“There are 12/13 houses along there and this is going on for years and we need a resolution.”
Cllr Aisling Moran, as she has done before, voiced her disgust at how the Active Travel Fund is split between the three Municipal Districts.
She said that there is ‘more to Laois than Portlaoise’ as she outlined how the majority of the funding has been spent in Laois’s county town.
Cllr Moran said: “I’m very annoyed at the moment over the funding for Active Travel.
“In 2023, €71,000 was spent in our area from the €3.5 million fund that came to Laois. This works out at 2.3% of the fund.
“€200,000 went to Portarlington in the fund for this year but zero went to anywhere else in the district. It is a disgrace.”
Cllrs PJ Kelly, Padraig Fleming and PJ Kelly also voiced their displeasure and wanted to know how this money was being allocated.
Gerry Murphy, Director of Services for Finance, told the meeting that he did not decide where the money goes adding that the funding comes from the Department of Transport.
He clarified that of the €3 million awarded under the Active Travel Scheme this year to Laois, €200,000 would be go to Station and Canal roads in Portarlington.
A further €5,000 was allocated for a permeability scheme in Portarlington and it was later clarified at the meeting that a further €150,000 was allocated to Graiguecullen for low-cost junction tightening pedestrian crossings.
But back to Cllr McEvoy’s footpath, it was agreed that engineer Philip McVeigh would meet him at the location and see what could be done.
