Waterford councillor: 'I will not be stymied by any group' 

The Cathaoirleach of the Dungarvan-Lismore District Council has publicly addressed an email he received following a discussion on the proposed greenway extension at the last municipal meeting.

At the October meeting, Cllr John Pratt said that the extension toward Lismore had been “put on the long finger” and suggested that there was an opportunity to expand further west.

But at the November meeting, Cllr Pratt told members that following that meeting he received an email from a very disgruntled Mallow woman.

The woman, he said, had also sent the email to all the other councillors and TDs and that he felt he should address it during matters arising.

“It was a fairly long and detailed email that was sent to all councillors, TDs and all of the councillors in the Mallow and Cork area as well.

“It would be remiss of me not to bring it up today. I think we are all entitled to as public representatives to be on the other side of the argument, said Cllr Pratt.

“I would also like to say that I have met with people on the ground, including farmers, and I don’t mean to in any way upset anyone’s livelihood. And I think it’s important for me to say that. I had a good relationship with the people on the ground prior to the last election when I was advocating for the greenway and the extension of it.

“I wanted to say I will continue to advocate for it while being cognizant of the people’s livelihoods and who live in homes beside it.” Cllr Pratt took issue with the suggestion that he was advocating the compulsory purchase of land for the project, which he said he never mentioned.

He was simply saying it would be beneficial for the region.

Cllr Pratt read aloud a quote from the email which suggests there is some confusion and distress around the status of the project.

“There is a quote in it that I have to say before we move on, and that’s ‘if the Mallow-Dungarvan Greenway has been found to no longer be viable, would someone have the decency to tell the affected families and release us from another decade of torment.’ “I don’t know about that comment, but it’s not gone; there is no funding at the moment, but that is the email I received, said Cllr Pratt.

Then he concluded:

“I will not be stymied by any group to be honest with you about what I say,” said Cllr Pratt.

Senior Executive Engineer in the Rural Economic Development section, Conor O’Neill clarified that the project “hasn’t completely gone away”.

He said that there is no funding for the extension at the moment and that it is not a priority for TII.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.