Town’s roads and infrastructure need more attention

EDITOR – It is so sad to see the roads of Bantry, our beautiful scenic tourist town, looking so neglected right now. Our politicians and elected representatives should be ashamed of themselves.

The surfaces are full of potholes, dips and ridges. To name a few: Scart Road from the Boston Bar up to Dromleigh South and onwards to the Vaughan’s Pass viewing point, parts of the Rope Walk, and Church Road heading towards Newtown, are all in need of an upgrade, urgently.

It’s like ‘running the gauntlet’ for motorists, and indeed quite a few recently have ended up with punctures and damaged tyres as a result, me included. As for pedestrians, it’s equally hazardous.

To add to this, in the summer time you have briars and nettles from overgrown ditches – to quote the late Paddy Sheehan – ‘practically shaking hands across the narrow roads’. The shortage of bins for dog waste along popular dog walking routes is another pressing concern. Our community prides itself on being dog-friendly, but the lack of bins not only poses a health risk but also detracts from the natural beauty of our walking paths.

Furthermore, the issue of water rationing during the busy St Patrick’s weekend took many by surprise and caused considerable inconvenience.

Understanding that our resources are precious, it nonetheless highlights the need for better planning and infrastructure to accommodate peak times, ensuring that both residents and tourists can access essential services.

In February, I reported a faulty streetlight between two dangerous corners on a narrow road. I made about a dozen phone calls to Cork County Council and Enerveo, the company responsible for maintaining street lighting.

Eight weeks later, the situation is as follows per Enerveo: ‘The lantern needs replacing and the pole has been reported as rotten and unsafe and due to this the ESB will have to have it replaced before the lantern can be replaced.’ The mind boggles. Surely the most efficient and cost-effective way is for the ESB to be responsible for the lot.

Meanwhile, the unsafe and unlit pole is still in place. But I do want to highlight the extraordinary efforts of our Tidy Towns volunteers, whose dedication to maintaining the beauty of our town often goes unnoticed. Their hard work keeps Bantry looking its best, and without their contributions, the impact of these other issues would be even more obvious.

But we need more funding to sort out the roads and the infrastructure. Bantry depends on its tourist business, it’s time that our elected representatives got their acts together.

Angela Muckley,
Bantry.

Two small bags of rubbish collected over 300m

EDITOR – It’s surely time for another West Cork litter campaign.

Last Sunday week, walking along less than 300 metres of a quiet rural road, I collected two small bags of discarded rubbish from the verges and hedgerows, presumably thrown out of the windows of passing vehicles. Unfortunately, the simple expedient of keeping wrappers and cans in your car until you get home, where you can dispose of them with the rest of your rubbish, seems to have been largely forgotten.

Swithun Goodbody,
Cappaghglass,
Ballydehob.

Huge opportunity to bring local church back to life

EDITOR – A €30,000 grant to start the process of renovating the old Catholic church at Rathbarry is a huge opportunity to bring this beautiful building back to life. Anyone from the Clonakilty/Rosscarbery area will be aware of this stunning historical feature in Rathbarry/Castlefreke.

As we know, the castle itself is restricted access to the public, but the site of the old Church is still accessible and is part of a popular walking loop in Castlefreke. There is a unique situation where a 19th century Church of Ireland church stands side-by-side with an old Catholic church.

Unfortunately, the Catholic church is in a much more advanced state of disrepair and badly needs investment to protect it. I want to commend the work of Castlefreke Our Woods Our Walks who were set up in 2019 to ensure that the public had access to the walkways around Castlefreke.

From that they have gone on to be a key driver of developing the trails in Castlefreke and Rathbarry, while also putting a focus on this stunning piece of history.

I hope this funding kickstarts something special, so that the wider public can become more aware of this little piece of heaven in West Cork.

Christopher O’Sullivan TD,
40 Ashe St,
Clonakilty.

We should threaten to pull out of Eurovision over Israel

EDITOR – On April 1st, an Israeli airstrike struck just outside of the Iranian embassy in Syria – killing 16 people, including high-ranking military officers. Killing foreign nationals at an established embassy is an act of war.

At the same time, the US and Israel haven’t stopped their planning for another military operation in Rafah, as Israel continues to bomb the area in preparation, regularly killing dozens of civilians. It’s been horrifying to watch the death and destruction that’s unfolded in Gaza over the past few months. Israeli forces have killed more than 33,000 people since October, and children are being starved to death.

If Israel is allowed to compete in Eurovision, it would give prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu the perfect opportunity to ‘glitterwash’ his war crimes. With just five weeks to go until Eurovision, we in Ireland need to do everything we can to take that chance away from Netanyahu.

Eurovision bosses are ignoring the people’s clamour to refuse Israel’s entry, which is why we need the head of RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst. If RTÉ threatens to pull out, it could make them change course. They won’t want countries like Ireland undermining the contest by jumping ship at the last minute.

Daniel Teegan,
Union Hall.