The success of the Discover Celbridge leaflet was clear in recent weeks as tourists flocked to Celbridge to avail of walking tours of this historical town.  The leaflets, published early this year, have been circulated in tourist offices and Discover Ireland offices in the city centre. It is great to see so many people visiting Celbridge and enjoying its beauty and history.  Walking tours have been offered by local residents to visitors and these have been a massive success. I would like to thank everyone involved for giving their time to help promote our town.

Alpha College of English students from Germany, France, Switzerland and Malaysia enjoying the Discover Celbridge Trail

Costly refuse collections are something worrying many of the residents of North Kildare. Many people have approached me with their concerns about this and the illegal dumping of household waste.

I have worked with the council and a waste contractor in order to help facilitate cost efficient waste disposal. I am very pleased to inform you that there is now a PAY-TO-USE mobile waste contractor situated on the garage on the Clane Road. This service allows communities members to dispose of two bags of refuse at the cost of €5.00. Each payment generates a receipt which we encourage he recipient to keep for their records. The service is an excellent addition to the locality, offering households and alternative to weekly refuse collections. I am very pleased to have worked to achieve this for the area and hope its presence will reduce dumping and ease the minds of some of our community members.

This year our communities have performed excellently in the Tidy Town’s Competition! Congratulations to Straffan who were awarded Gold and Leixlip who received the Bronze ranking. Very well done to all those involved in helping these towns receive such glowing reviews!

I am pleased to confirm that Ardclough, Celbridge and Maynooth also performed very well, all towns received more points this year than last and therefore are positioned higher on the Tidy Towns rankings! This is great news for the communities!

A massive congratulations to all those involved with the Tidy Town’s Committees; very well done for all your hard work. I hope all of the residents will continue to keep our communities tidy! 

“Good News” for the Residents of Wheatfield, Ardclough. Following my motion of earlier this year at the Celbridge Area Committee meeting and my ongoing representation regarding the bad odours coming from the treatment plant in Wheatfield, works carried out by Kildare County Council has greatly improved and reduced the odours. This will improve the quality of life for all Residents and they have already experienced these improvements. I am delighted that I have assisted on this issue and I will continue to liaise with the Residents to ensure the situation remains to their satisfaction.

I am continuing to work with Kildare County Council to ensure improvements are made in our local areas. Following feedback from residents of Celbridge and Leixlip I have put forth the following motions to the council in an effort to ensure necessary improvements are made in these communities.

 The following motions have been submitted and I will work continuously with the council to ensure they are acted upon with immediacy:

 1. That the Council carry out what ever remaining works are necessary at Call-A-Cab in Celbridge to remove any further risk of flooding which was experienced during July last.

 2. That Kildare Co Council investigate the possibility of introducing a peel back sticker for Pay and Display machines in Celbridge and Leixlip to avoid the display tickets been displaced within the car.

 Please continue to express your concerns to me, as without the input of the local residents I will not know the issues that are truly affecting our communities. 

I am pleased to inform you of a new daily return Bus service from Celbridge to Dublin, which I have worked hard to deliver for the people of Celbridge. Earlier this year, I was contacted by Celbridge Residents who were looking for an improved daily bus to Dublin and I was delighted to facilitate their request.

James Coaches have recently commenced this new service and it came into effect on 27th of August last. The route starts at 7.10am from Chelmsford and services the following estates: TempleManor, Simmonstown Manor, The Grove, Callenders Mill, HazelhatchPark, Primrose Gate, St Wolstans Abbey and Donacomper Bus Stop. The drops off points in Dublin are: Huston Station, Four Courts and O’Connell Street. I would encourage all Celbridge residents that commute to Dublin to consider using this service. For further information on this Celbridge to Dublin daily return express service, contact 086 8746102 (m) or e-mail celbridgetodublinexpress@gmail.com.

 I have also worked to secure funding for the installation of PelicanZebra crossings on the following access roads into and out of Celbridge. The crossings are located on: Lucan Road, Hazelhatch Road, Ardclough Road and English Row (adjacent to the Mucky Duck Pub). These new crossings will provide greater safety for all Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorists commuting through Celbridge. Construction of these crossings will commence in the near future. This, taken with the work that will soon commence on the Pedestrian Crossing at St. Patrick’s N.S near Celbridge G.A.A on the Hazelhatch Road, will greatly enhance the safety for all who need to access the School and the G.A.A grounds.

 I am delighted to have been able to assist and represent you on having the above issues addressed. Please feel free to contact me at any stage about any issue and please be assured of my continued assistance and support at all times.

The construction site opposite the Aldi store was an eye sore and health hazard for many residents of the area. Many people approached me with their concerns and were hopeful that the site could be cleared.

I brought this issue of concern to Kildare County Council and through collaboration with them I am happy to announce that the site has since been cleared. The area is now much safer as all the building rubble has been removed.

New Kerb side Pay Parking meters have been in operation in Leixlip since July 2nd 2012. The new system sees minimum parking rate of 20cent per 15minutes, 1euro per hour and 3euro for 3hour stay with a maximum stay of three hours.

I am delighted that this Pay Parking regime under the new parking By-Laws is now in operation in Leixlip. This will encourage and assist the public to support the local businesses in Leixlip. I am pleased to have been able to assist and represent you in relation to this issue  and see it finally coming into service.

Please feel free to contact me at any time in relation to this or any other issue and be assured of my continued assistance

With the 2012 London Olympics looming our very own Olympian, Mark Kenneally, of Abbey Farm Celbridge, is getting set to make the journey across the pond. Many of you will recognise Mark from pounding the streets around the north Kildare area. We want to show our Olympian that we are all behind him and supporting him on this massive fete. A table quiz is being held to raise funds to help Mark on his way.

When: Thursday 12th July

Where: Celbridge GAA club

What: Teams of 4 (at €40 per team)

Time: 21:00 sharp

Come along and show your support for our very own Olympian on the night. Let’s show Mark our support and send him to London on a high!

Mark Kenneally carrying the Olympic Flame