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Deasy's owner fears for future of business

June 27th, 2018 11:50 AM

By Kieran O'Mahony

Deasy's Restaurant at Ring.

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A restaurateur has spoken of her fear that her summer trade could be decimated over plans by Cork County Council to close the road to Ring for eight months.

A RESTAURATEUR has spoken of her fear that her summer trade could be decimated over plans by Cork County Council to close the road to Ring for eight months while flood defences are being undertaken in Clonakilty.

Speaking after a meeting in Darrara Community Centre on Tuesday, Elaine Blackwell of the award-winning Deasy’s said that people are enquiring whether they will be able to access their premises during the works.

‘There’s an American company that organises cycle tours that run twice a week from now until September and they stop here for lunch  and I can’t confirm whether they will be able to cycle here,’ Elaine told The Southern Star.

‘We could literally have nobody passing the door here. Also the price of a taxi to get to us from places like Inchydoney or Clonakilty could increase too, as they would have to travel further to get to us.’

This was the second meeting organised by concerned residents in the Ring, Darrara and Desert area about the proposed road closures. It heard that over 400 objection letters – 390 of those of which were hand-delivered – were sent to Cork County Council offices in Skibbereen before the closing date of June 7th. 

The committee is to write a letter to Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran outlining concerns about the proposed closure, the lack of consultation, health & safety issues on the alternative route, and the extra 15km trip that locals would have to take to access basic services in Clonakilty. Those letters will be available from Darrara School, Deasy’s Restaurant, Kitty Mac’s Bar and Darrara Community Centre from Thursday, and a follow-up meeting will take place next Monday with a venue to be decided.

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