Could Kinsales toilet row be coming to an end

Could loo be on the move?

By JJ Hurley

THE six-month enforced closure of Kinsale’s public toilets may be nearing an end, the February meeting of the Council’s municipal area has heard.

Dunderrow-based Cllr Kevin Murphy suggested the conveniences be relocated to the current site of the former mill in the town.

Council officials had earlier revealed to the meeting that the mill was now in the process of being purchased from the State-run property firm Nama.

While no official documentation has been signed on the purchase of the site, which currently houses a substantial car park, senior Cork County official, MacDara Ó Hicí, suggested the process was underway and that conveyancing may have already begun.

Describing the site as being of ‘strategic importance’, Cork County engineer Brendan Fehily suggested that the site could have a far greater role to play than originally envisaged in the transport plan, drawn up by the previous town council.

At the heart of this plan is an initiative to create a new set-down area for the town’s bus service, requiring the construction of a new relief road on the proposed site, which may require the demolition of the existing toilets to make way for the plan.

Following the meeting, County Mayor Alan Coleman said: ‘While we have the super loo on the Pier Road, having the other larger facility closed for half the year is an embarrassment and I am actively going to pursue the opening of the toilet on a permanent basis.’