The elder brigade is leading the way in Bandon when it comes to civic mindedness and taking pride in the town judging by recent public meetings and protests.
Sheila Cashman (81) took it upon herself to organise a protest at Cork County Council’s Bandon office off the Glasslyn Road on Friday July 11th last over her frustration with the lack of parking in the town.
Almost a dozen people joined her on the protest complete with placards at the early time of 9am to highlight their grievances.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Sheila, who has been living in Bandon for 35 years, said she was inspired to organise the protest after speaking with several business owners in the town who had commented about the lack of car park spaces in the town centre.
‘My son Allyn helped me with the posters and banners for the protest and we visited all the shops ahead of it. We had a small number of people there and protested outside the council office but it was disappointing that no public representatives attended,’ said Sheila.
The protest was all the more topical with South Main Street currently closed to all traffic until the end of August to facilitate the re-surfacing of the street and the installation of raised tables as part of a multi-million revamp for the town centre.
Councillors in Bandon Kinsale Municipal District had been calling for the suspension of pay parking during these works but council officials ruled this out, stating that this could only be changed at budget time.
Meanwhile, Paddy O’Driscoll, who is in his 80s, organised a ‘Save Bandon’ meeting in Bandon Town Hall last week, which was attended by over 80 people. He spoke about his pride for Bandon and that the people of the town need to come together to promote and market it once the streetscape works are completed.
Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF), who attended the meeting, said: ‘The question I raised was where are all the new people who have moved to Bandon? We don’t want it as a dormitory town where new residents don’t participate in the town.’
She also praised Paddy for his civic mindedness, his vision and loyalty to the town of Bandon. ‘It was a tribute to him that so many people turned up for the meeting. The infrastructure will be in place by the end of the summer and we just need to support existing businesses and encourage new businesses to set up in the town.’
Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) who was also in attendance quipped afterwards that Paddy succeeded in cutting him off mid-sentence, something that former councillor Kevin Murphy could never do.
