I am delighted to see the pedestrian crossing on the Lucan Road at Ballyoulster in Celbridge installed. This is a project that I have been working on for some time at the request of many residents and members of the public so that safety would be improved at this location. The Lucan Road is an extremely busy and fast road and it was very difficult for people to cross the road safely to access Dublin Bus or for the many other amenities or services such as shops, schools etc.   It is very important that traffic management gets people to their destination safer and not faster.

This project was funded from  LPT money and I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this project which I pursued for funding. I am pleased to have worked also to deliver the bus stop shelter and the interconnecting footpath at Ballyoulster.

I want to thank Cllr Michael Coleman for supporting these projects, the Kildare Co Council Area Office for delivering on them and the members of the public who raised these issues with me at my weekly clinics.

I welcome the current road resurfacing works being carried out by Kildare County Council on the Lucan road in Celbridge and Green Lane road in Leixlip. I, along with Cllr Michael Coleman, have raised the necessity of having these works carried out as a result of the many requests we have received from the public and at my weekly clinics. It is important that we continue to invest in our roads infrastructure to ensure all road users have a high standard. These are excellent projects to have completed as both locations have high volumes of traffic. Michael and I will continue to lobby for further funding in order to have future improvements carried out to our road surface network. I want to thank the Area Office of Kildare County Council for carrying out these works and the people who raised these issues with me.

The contractor has reached “practical completion” of the New Temporary Community School on Friday 5th August. I want to congratulate the contractor, KWETB and all involved in having the school building completed on time and having it ready for the start of the new school year. This is very welcome news. The School is finished to the highest of standards.

Best of luck to the 150 Students who will be attending the New School!

Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting the Street Fest today. It was a great day of entertainment for the family. The crowds were fantastic and the day stayed dry.
The stalls, activities, music, entertainment etc on the street was brilliant. I want to thank all the “great” volunteers, Street Fest Committee, Tidy Towns, sponsors, Garda, the Council, Parish Office, Civil Defence, St. John’s Ambulance and the businesses for helping make this day possible as without all of you it wouldn’t happen. This is another great community event.
Thanks again to everyone from Celbridge and the surrounding areas for coming along today.
We are already planning Street Fest 2017….!!!!!

Irish-owned paint brand Colourtrend has announced the rollout of an initiative with Kildare Local Community Development Committee as part of the Celbridge Heritage Town Enhancement Pilot Project. The front of some shops and houses on Celbridge’s Main Street are to be given an immediate paint refresh as part of the innovative Project.

The Project will see the shops and houses on Main Street painted in a colour scheme devised by Colourtrend’s design experts, in conjunction with the local property owners, and will be painted with Colourtrend’s top quality paints. The pilot will bring together the local community, local businesses and the private company to deliver a fresh look for the County Kildare town in a model that could work well for towns all over Ireland.

The initiative is part of Kildare’s Intergrated Services Progamme’s Tourism and Heritage Plan 2016—2020 where Celbridge is identified as the ‘Gateway to Ireland’s Ancient East’. The plan aims to develop Celbridge as a leading base for heritage-based tourism activities in Ireland.  Celbridge is a town rich in history as the birthplace of Arthur Guinness, the home of the Connolly family of Castletown House, the Grattan family and Jonathan Swift.  An attractive village centre is seen in the plan as paramount to enable Celbridge to benefit economically from visitors to nearby heritage sites.

At the launch today of the Project, Colourtrend’s Director of Sales and Marketing Liam Holland said: “It is fitting that this Project should start in Celbridge which has been Colourtrend’s home town for over 60 years now.  We’re very excited to be part of Kildare’s Town Enhancement Project and this pilot could be replicated by Councils all over Ireland to boost tourism and heritage opportunities.  Colourtrend is passionate about paint and committed to helping communities all over Ireland look their best.”

Celbridge TD Frank O’Rourke, who has been one of the champions behind the Project, said the aim of the plan is to develop the town as Ireland’s leading base for heritage based tourism activities.  “Kildare’s Tourism and Heritage Plan 2016—2020 rightly has Celbridge as the Gateway to Ireland’s Ancient East.  I’m absolutely delighted to see this Project finally get over the finish line. It’s been a priority of mine since being on the Council and I believe it will play a positive role in developing the town into a tourism hub, not only for the county but in the region. An idyllic town centre is important to enable Celbridge to benefit economically from the rich and diverse heritage of the locality.”

Co-ordinator of Kildare Local Community Development Committee’s Integrated Services Programme, Honor Griffin said: “The Integrated Services Programme welcomes the support from Colourtrend, Kildare County Council and Deputy O’Rourke in rolling out this pilot project.  The ISP undertook research in the Celbridge area to make a plan for Celbridge that would bring together community, state agency and voluntary groups to work on areas of development for the town.  A Tourism and Heritage Forum was established and in 2016 the Forum produced the ISP Tourism and Heritage Plan 2016—2020 ‘Celbridge, Gateway to Ireland’s Ancient East’. The aim of the plan is to build a resilient, diverse tourism segment into the local Celbridge economy – one that retains and creates jobs, supports the growth of local businesses and improves the area’s profile as a place to live, work and visit. By investing in this pilot scheme it shows that Celbridge is ‘Open for Business’.  An attractive village centre is paramount to enable Celbridge to benefit economically from visitors to nearby heritage sites.”

Chief Executive of Kildare County Council, Mr Peter Carey, said: “KCC is delighted to support this initiative which along with other measures will contribute to the enhancement of Celbridge. The Council is greatly encouraged by the positive response to the ISP and looks forward to working in partnership with the local community to develop and promote the town over the coming years.  We are delighted that local company Colourtrend is part of this pilot which the Council hopes will be the first of a number of phases to improve the appearance and visual impact of the town centre.”

Mr Holland of Colourtrend added: “We are extremely excited to see this work happening in Colourtrend’s home town. Working with the local community has been incredibly rewarding over the years and we’ve always had positive engagement with local businesses.  This is a welcome coming together for the town.”

Celbridge Street Fest is happening again this year….. It’s on Monday next the 1st August. Main Street closed from 2pm to 9pm. The street entertainment is even bigger and better than previous years if that’s possible…!!! There is a brilliant music line up which includes “Brush Shields” performing on the main stage and all of this will be complemented by our very own DJ Keith Shanley who will get the party going and keep the music playing as he does so brilliantly each year. Let’s hope the weather is kind and that you can all come along like previous years and enjoy a great family day’s entertainment.

Bunting and Flags going up tonight on the Main Street.  
Thanks to my committee colleagues Mick, Natalie, Marie, Sinead, Michael, Benny, and many more volunteers for helping make this happen. Thanks to the Council, Garda, Parish Office, Civil Defence, St.John Of Gods Ambulance, Tidy Towns, CBA, Business’s and our sponsors which is named on our “Street Fest” Facebook page.
Look forward to seeing you all on Monday next and thanks to you all for your support.

I am delighted that the footpath upgrade and improvements on the Maynooth road in Celbridge is near completed. This is an issues raised with me by the many people who use this footpath and it’s a project which I have been working to have completed for some time with my colleague Cllr Michael Coleman.

This project was put forward to be funded from the retained L.P.T money. Projects such as this would not be carried out without this funding stream. It is important that L.P.T money is invested in the local area and community to give benefit to everyone.

Michael and I will continue to work to secure further funding to improve and upgrade our footpath and road network. We must have a high quality footpath infrastructure to encourage people to walk and exercise more.

I want to thank Kildare County Council area staff for their assistance in delivering this project and the many people who raised this issue with me.

I was delighted to have facilitated and organised the recent Dail visit for Coill-Dubh School. It was great to meet the students and engage with them. They really enjoyed the visit and in particular the homework pass…!!! I gave each of the students a souvenir from their trip to take away with them. Looking forward to the next school visit. Enjoy the holidays…!!!

Local Fianna Fail TD, Frank O Rourke, has supported calls for a dedicated unit comprising officials from both the Department of Finance and the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation to be set up, which would coordinate an approach to counteract the negative impact of the Brexit vote for businesses exporting to the UK, including businesses in Kildare, and in particular to address the reduced competitive position as a result of the weakness in the sterling.

‘A number of businesses, including food related companies in the North Kildare area, have been in touch with me in recent weeks following the decision of the UK to leave the European Union (EU).  The general consensus is that the overall economic fallout for Ireland will take time to become clear, but it will require careful management and in particular the weakness in sterling is causing a major concern as our exports are more expensive.’ according to Fianna Fail’s Junior Spokesperson on Financial Services, eGovernment and Procurement, Deputy  Frank O Rourke.

“Much will now depend on the negotiations around the UK’s exit from the EU. However, it has the potentially to lead to a protracted period of uncertainty and instability in Europe and affect our relationship with the UK. The change in the value of sterling is making our exports  more expensive and given that 40% of our food export are exported to the UK, the sterling weakness is causing an immediate concern for Irish food exporting companies.’

‘The immediate and short-term effect of a weaker sterling, and currency fluctuations, will have major implications for SME exporters and indeed for the Tourism trade here.’

‘Any reduction in our relative competitiveness, vis s via currency changes, is a huge concern for Kildare companies that export to the UK.’ Stated Deputy O’Rourke after meeting with Food companies in Naas on Monday.

‘I am calling on the Government to ensure that the currency fluctuation risk is managed in a collaborative fashion with the companies concerned. Having a dedicated unit set up to deal with the concerns of the affected companies, will bring focus to the issues that are affecting our exporting companies.’ Concluded Deputy O’Rourke.

I am pleased on behalf of all public transport users that have been in contact with me to give you the following up-date from Dublin Bus regarding the 67 Sunday service. They plan to both start the service earlier and improve the frequency, and expect the enhanced service to be operating by Autumn 2016. This is excellent news and an issue I have been raising with Dublin Bus for some time. This, in addition to the recent additional 67 & 67X services for Celbridge is very positive indeed. I will continue to engage with Dublin Bus for further improved services on the 66 & 67 routes as requested by the public transport user together with the link between Celbridge and Leixlip.

I want to thank Dublin Bus and the NTA for working to deliver this additional improved service and I look forward to continuing to work with them on further improvements.
I will update you with the exact details in the coming weeks for this improved service once they are finalised.