NO DATE YET FOR KILWORTH PRISON

In a recent response to a query by Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern gave no indication of the timeframe for work to be completed on the Kilworth Prison project.

“I have been told that the next phase of the appraisal process will be carried out ‘in due course.’ The timeframe for the completion for this project has been consistently vague and many people in the Kilworth area have asked when work will get underway on the prison. In light of the ongoing budget constraints the department should be upfront and give an honest appraisal of when we can realistically expect the project to get underway,” Deputy Sherlock said.

This was the minister’s response on the matter; “The replacement of Cork Prison with a modern prison complex at Kilworth is currently being planned.”

“Agreement has been reached with the Department of Defence to acquire about 160 acres at Kilworth for the new prison development and government approval for the transfer of the land has also been obtained.

"A preliminary site suitability report has confirmed that there are no significant constraints to the development of this site and in accordance with Department of Finance Capital Appraisal Guidelines a preliminary outline case has been completed and approved by the Prison Authority Interim Board.

“The Irish Prison Service estimate that the capacity of the new prison will be in the region of 450 spaces, 400 male and 50 female. These figures will be reviewed as the project progresses to detailed design stage and in light of prisoner population surveys.

"The next step in the appraisal process is the preparation of a detailed business case for the project, which will examine the various procurement options including the Public Private Partnership option. The advice of the NDFA (National Development Finance Agency) will be sought in relation to these issues in due course.”

ROADS IN NORTH CORK GRITTED 26 TIMES IN PAST MONTH

The severe weather conditions and freezing temperatures that have affected the country for the past month meant that icy national roads had to be gritted in North Cork 26 times since December 12 last, writes Antonia Zane.

Local authorities had their hands full with the effects of the inclement weather and have to be commended for the hard work and dedication to make our roads safer even in the most adverse circumstances while availing of restricted resources.

Cork County Council outdoor crews were notified by the six weather stations located in North Cork and local engineers of the precise location of the roads that needed gritting and salting.

The gritting took place usually late at night or early in the morning, at around 4am. The national roads (M8, N20, N72 and N73) have been gritted on 26 occasions since 12 December 2009, including Christmas Day and twice on St Stephen’s Day. Snowploughs were also used very successfully on Sunday last on the M8 and the N20.

“Most of our regional road network was treated at least once during this period as well as many of the other usual troublesome locations in the division. We also attended to any locations brought to our attention where there was a medical or other emergency. Unfortunately, it was not possible to get to all icy locations, particularly those in the more remote locations,” states a report from Cork County Council.

The council was not in a position to treat the entire local road network. (North Cork has 180km of national roads, 397km of regional roads and 3,014km of local roads). The local authority used approximately 1,800 tonnes of rock salt in this period and the total cost was around €270,000.

“While salt supplies ran very low we did have enough to treat our national roads and most of our regional roads at all times. Area offices will continue to respond to the needs of communities on a priority basis, within the available resources.

"We are, hopefully, over the worst of the icy conditions, but now, we appear to be heading into problems with flooding and rapidly deteriorating road surfaces,” the report concludes.

CALL TO CONSERVE WATER

Cork County Council is calling on people to conserve water with burst pipes becoming a major hazard as the thaw sets in. One Fermoy resident, who does not wish to be identified, contacted the council to report a burst pipe outside his home but was very unhappy with the response he received from the official on the other end of the phone.

“Just outside my home, between the mains and the house, there is water bubbling up from the ground where a pipe has burst. Minister Gormley was on the TV the other night asking people to conserve water and to report any leaks that they see on the streets and roads to the councils. I did this and was told in no uncertain terms that there wasn’t much they could do about it,” he said.

Contacting Fermoy Town Council The Avondhu was told, “While we want people to contact us about burst water mains on public streets and roads any damaged pipes on private property is the responsibility of the owner. At the moment there is a lot of water coming to the surface due to the river Blackwater which is in flood but if you do see burst mains pipes in the Fermoy area please contact this office on 025-31155,” engineer, Flann Groarke, told The Avondhu.

MITCHELSTOWN GARDAI RETAIN RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILBEHENNY

Residents in Kilbehenny were delighted to learn this week that the village is to remain under the responsibility of the Mitchelstown gardai, writes Brian Moore.

Following proposals by the Garda Commissioner to have garda districts and boundaries altered by county, Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern TD, confirmed that Kilbehenny would remain within the North Cork district.

“We welcome the announcement this week and we’re delighted that the village will remain the responsibility of the Mitchelstown gardai. We have a very good relationship with the gardai in Mitchelstown and are relived that if there is a need to call for assistance they would won’t have far to travel to get here,” Niamh McGrath of Kilbehenny Post Office told The Avondhu.

Under the original proposals Kilbehenny was to come under the responsibility of Bruff gardai, which is 30 miles away from the village.

“I am happy that common sense has prevailed, re-aligning Kilbehenny with Bruff certainly wasn’t the answer and, having made representations to the minister, I am delighted with the outcome,” Deputy Niall Collins (FF) told The Avondhu.

Also welcoming the announcement Cllr Eddie Ryan (FF) said that the decision would give the people of Kilbehenny peace of mind.

“This is what the community in Kilbehenny wanted and I am delighted that they will continue to have a local garda presence for the village,” he said.

“This is the only solution that makes sense for the people of Kilbehenny. The Mitchelstown gardai have given excellent service to the village, moving the responsibility to Bruff would have been the wrong thing to do and I welcome the minister’s announcement this week,” Deputy Ned O’Keeffe TD said.

WATER TANKERS SAVE THE DAY IN FERMOY

With more and more people in the Fermoy area running out of water due to frozen pipes, tankers were provided by the local authorities in response to the emergency situation created by the recent cold snap.

Starting on Saturday last, these tankers were dispatched to the entire town and the service will continue as long as the need is demonstrated. The initiative was organised as a joint operation by both Fermoy Town Council and Cork County Council.

30,000 LITRES

The tankers have so far distributed between 25,000 – 30,000 litres and water was also available at the Fermoy Fire Brigade Station. The water situation has become critical in many estates, with 25% to 50% of the households in many estates being affected. The figures may, in fact, be higher, but it is believed that many of the people experiencing the outage have not reported it to the local authorities.

For all the people who haven’t called, there are plenty who contacted mayor Cllr Noel McCarthy and deputy mayor, Patrick O’Driscoll, to ask for the situation to be addressed.

Some of the areas affected in Fermoy were Rathcarrig, Baile Ard, Glencullen, Dun Ealla, Forest Glen, Duntaheen Road, Pyke Road, Barry’s Boreen, Beechfield and St Bernard’s Place.

A tanker was provided for Rathcarrig and Baile Ard on Saturday, and the service was then made available to all areas in Fermoy during the following days. The fire brigade visited houses in Baile Ard and offered to fill attic water tanks and other containers on Tuesday last.

“Anyone they can access they will help. They’ll go around as demand is there. It is a great service to have and the fire brigade should be commended for that. On a stormy day like today (Tuesday) no one would want to be out queuing up behind a water tank to draw water,” said Joe Tobin, chairman of Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch, and resident of Baile Ard.

Talking to The Avondhu, Cllr O’Driscoll said, “It became evident on the ground on Friday and Saturday that there was a need to provide water to residents in Fermoy. Large parts of the town were without water, and although people were not ringing the council offices, they were contacting public representatives. After consultation with fellow town councillors, we made a request to the council to expand the availability of water, which thankfully was done. I stayed in contact with town councillors and council officials on Sunday, and after seeing the take-up of water, we made a decision that it should again be provided on Monday.”

The situation is currently being reviewed on a daily basis by the local authorities and updates are available from Cork’s 96FM.

GREAT CO-OPERATION

“It was great to see the co-operation of all councillors to help people in their time of need. People have been without water for a week or more. Together with the deputy mayor, Patrick O’Driscoll I got in touch with Flan Groarke, (senior executive engineer with Cork County Council) and a tanker was made available. We all worked together and I am proud to be associated with Fermoy Town Council. We also received help from Frank O’Flynn and Kevin O’Keeffe. The council usually gets a lot of criticism, but here it was a bit of good news,” said Mayor Noel McCarthy.

MAYOR PRAISED

People on the ground affected by the lack of water praised the mayor and the local authorities for all their involvement and response. Joe Tobin told The Avondhu, “Mayor Noel McCarthy, the staff, councillors and local and county authorities came onboard. Noel was 100% excellent. I have to give him all the praise. Without him we would be in dire straights.”

After five days without water, Joe has found a new appreciation of this valuable and finite resource that most of us take for granted.

“I now know that it takes 9 litres of water to flush the toilet. The water situation in town is critical. I’ve been living here for the past nine years and I have never seen anything like this. People were fighting for the water on Saturday when the tanker came. It was a scene to remember. We wouldn’t want to see it reoccurring. I’d do without heating any day more so than without water. You can always put a few more coats on, but what do you do when you have no water. It was sold out in most shops and transportation was a problem as well.”

The people who still have water in the area put it down to either luck or to running a tap during the night.

“On a national level we were advised to turn off the taps and not waste the water as we might have a major water crisis; but we already have a water crisis and the tanker of water coming back and forth is no long term solution. That’s quite expensive,” concluded Mr Tobin.

PLAN FOR THE FUTURE?

“We have to look at a long term plan. We have to put this ‘It was an act of God’ thing behind us. Now we know we have a problem. We have to make sure it won’t recur,” Mr Tobin concluded.

Pondering the water situation Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock said, “The number of people without water live in predominantly newer estates not taken in by the councils. It will present a problem down the line. Many pipes in newer estate are not adequately buried.

"There will have to be a plan for next year. The national policy has to ensure that local authorities are properly funded. The case I’ll be making is that government policy has to be based on giving local authorities the ability to deal with such situations. I don’t trust John Gormley to deal with an emergency of this nature. You can’t legislate for the nature of weather, but staffing is needed to get services to people.”

“Community spirit has won the day. People received visits from their neighbours and public health nurses redoubled their efforts, but we need to have a plan in place if this occurs again next year, a plan to ensure than no citizen is left without a service. If pipes freeze an adequate water supply needs to be in place and the roads need to be adequately gritted,” concluded Deputy Sherlock.

BOOK BY FERMOY AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST TO FEATURE IN HIGH PROFILE BRITISH SERIES

The Sky television channel is to feature a key segment from ‘Commando’, Ralph Riegel’s fifth book, in a series which offers personal insight into modern conflicts that have shaped the world.

Ralph Riegel is a Fermoy journalist and author with a keen interest in military history, and whose last book, ‘Commando’, a biography of a Royal Marine, published in September 2009, is yet another example of extreme human courage and bravery in the line of fire. His previous book ‘Hidden Soldier’, highlighted the extraordinary life of Cobh native, Padraig O’Keefe, who joined the French Foreign Legion and took part in some of the world’s most ferocious and disputed conflicts.

The episode of the Sky produced series, entitled ‘Forces Reunited’, will focus on a key rescue element that appears in his last book, in which the main character, Geoff Nordass, a Royal Marine whose life the book is based on, rescues an enemy Argentinian fighter pilot, Ricardo Lucero, at the height of the Falklands War.

The series, produced by London-based Leopard Films, details how former military comrades, and in cases, former enemies, have reunited many years after the conflicts they were involved in.

The gripping rescue scene has also featured in The Sun and The Scottish Sun newspapers in the UK after O’Brien Press, the book’s Irish publisher and a British publisher who will release the book in the UK in 2010, released samples for reviewing.

The rescue scene was described by a reviewer for the Sunday Tribune as “one of the most gripping battle scenes this reviewer has ever read.”

“To get any type of film or TV recognition for a book is a tremendous honour and Geoff’s whole life story is certainly proof that sometimes truth is much stranger and more exciting than fiction,” Ralph told The Avondhu.

‘Commando’ takes the reader through the Royal Marine’s adventures from the streets of Belfast to the Falklands and then Iraq and provides an eyewitness account into some of modern history’s bloodiest conflicts.