Signs of the times

As was reported last month, the Parish Car Park is now closing at 7pm since 1 November.



In addition, the Parish has installed electric gates at the entrances to the church grounds, to restrict parking to parish use only.



The moves highlight once again the need for Kildare County Council to deliver some kind of parking facility in the town area to cope with the rapid expansion its planning policies have resulted in.

The Council requires that all developments provide parking adequate for residents and allied business needs, but also levies substantial monies from developers and individual businesses in relation to the provision of public parking. But as yet we have no news of the provision of such facilities.

At the moment, some of the slack is being taken up by the good offices of the Parish, which allows public use of the Church Car Park during the day.

The Diary wonders what are the insurance liabilities on the Parish for this provision of a facility which should be put in place by the Council?

Of course, that's the Parish's business, not ours. And anybody using the facility does appreciate its availability.

Does the Council? Your local councillors will be doing the rounds over the next months to canvass support for their parties' Dail candidates. Ask them to find out the position.

Brian Byrne.