Local elections 2024: Infrastructure, housing and amenities among key issues in Mallow/Kanturk MD 

THE untimely death after a short illness of sitting Fine Gael councillor Gerard Murphy, of Newmarket, has cast a shadow over the imminent local elections for the Cork County Council representatives for the Mallow/Kanturk Municipal District.

It left Fine Gael reeling, losing such a key figure, not just for his political vote getting abilities but also on account of his keen strategic grasp of the politics of North Cork.

There are two separate elections here — one for Kanturk and the other for Mallow — for a municipal district which includes both towns and their hinterlands.

The municipality is also a little bit different from others in the county as it brings together two different Dáil constituencies — Cork North West where Kanturk is situated and Cork East which has Mallow as its western hub.

The campaign got off to a slow start in the sense that the full slate of candidates wasn’t known until close to the deadline for nominations. The eight outgoing councillors were always going to run again, what was in question is who would join battle with them in Mallow and Kanturk.

There’s one change of personnel as Labour’s James Kennedy has already retired to make way for Eoghan Kenny in Mallow.

The Kanturk contingent is made up of Bernard Moynihan and Ian Doyle of Fianna Fáil and John Paul O’Shea of Fine Gael. In Mallow, Pat Hayes and Gearóid Murphy are the flag bearers for Fianna Fáil while Fine Gael’s sitting councillors are Tony O’Shea and Liam Madden.

Other candidates who will be in the mix include Becky Kealy of Aontú, Evelyn O’Keeffe of Sinn Féin and Brendan O’Connor of the newly formed Independent Ireland Party in Kanturk while Sinn Féin’s Melissa O’Brien is not entirely a new entrant to the hustings in Mallow as she narrowly lost out in 2019 and is already canvassing for a return as a representative of the town after June 7.

Infrastructure

In Mallow the list of the main issues will be headed by the long-delayed relief road.

The funding allocation for this project has been coming in dribs and drabs for the past two years, €100,000 in 2023, a sum which was widely derided by councillors of all parties, and €300,000 in 2024, a sum which fell far short of the €1.2m sought or, indeed, the €700k which, according to Cork County Council’s Roads Departments is the minimum necessary to get the road to planning stage.

John McDonnell of the Mallow Development Partnership, a key group of business people and community sector representatives in the town, told The Echo that they had been focusing very much on the Mallow Relief Road and described this year’s allocation of €300,000 as disappointing and falling well short of the investment required to make progress with the project.

They view the Relief Road as unlocking the tourism potential of a town which has long been regarded as a choke point in terms of the flow of traffic. It would also help get more houses built in the town — as previous blockages such as a waste water treatment plant are gone but the traffic issue is a significant remaining obstacle.

“We think the proposed greenway is as important as the Relief Road — the greenway is to start at the railway station and follow the old line and the Blackwater from Mallow to Fermoy,” he said.

“It’s something that will come with the Relief Road and we welcome that certainly.”

Dereliction

Dereliction is another issue of concern in the town. Thomas Davis Street, the main thoroughfare, is blighted with empty shops, some of them going to rack and ruin.

Progress is being made with the street’s centre piece, The Central Hotel, which had been one of the main social spots in the town, had closed and fallen into disrepair, but now planning permission is being sought to demolish the existing structure and replace it with a mixed development of accommodation and shops.

“Dereliction is very well known in Mallow, not just in recent times but over many years,” said the Mallow Development Partnership (MDP) chairman.

The issue with dereliction isn’t confined to abandoned businesses. In January 2023, the body of an elderly man was found in a boarded up house on Beecher Street. It had lain there for more than 20 years — neighbours had thought that the man had returned to England.

Other issues raised by the MDP include the state of the footpaths, an issue which arises as well in Kanturk. The state of pavements throughout the county is a factor in the high level of payments in respect of public liability claims made against the authority.

Issues in Kanturk area 

In the Kanturk area, which covers Kiskeam, Boherbue, Newmarket, and up as far as Charleville, the issues are similar — housing, the state of the roads, footpaths and other services.

As far as Fine Gael’s John Paul O’Shea, who has an office in Kanturk, is concerned, the main issues he would be running on would be what has been a significant improvement in waste water issues in the area, an improvement which paves the way for more much-needed housing.

“There’s been a significant improvement with investments in Mallow and Millstreet and a planned investment in Kanturk — this has significantly alleviated the housing situation for North Cork,” he said.

“There’s many villages that have capacity and the Council is moving to build more houses in those villages — for example Kilbrin, where the Council is moving to build four houses there,” he said.

 “There’s a good bit of focus on housing in the district and we need to keep the pressure on.”

He believes that North Cork hasn’t had significant resources put into it in terms of development of amenities.

“In my own town of Kanturk, we’ve got plans to fully complete an astro-turf pitch and while we have got some funding, we need to give it the extra push to put the astro turf in place.”

He also pointed to villages like Meelin which, he said, had a very good plan but needed the resources to get it implemented, and this was something he would be pushing for if he is re-elected.

Quality of life

For Bernard Moynihan, the Kiskeam-based Fianna Fáil councillor, quality of life issues were a major issue and this encompassed traffic calming measures to make roads safer in villages, housing estates, and the entrances to towns.

“I’m constantly pushing for more money for roads, even if it’s for only getting water off the road, that would make a difference.

“We’re only getting €6,000 per kilometre and that’s not enough to do the work that needs to be done.”

In terms of traffic calming, he said measures such as raised platforms or other devices would be needed at locations such as Banteer National School which were in badly in need of them.

During the covid pandemic many people decided to move back into the area because of the availability of remote working but an issue arose due to the lack of housing. This was being alleviated to a certain degree by the availability of Croí Cónaithe grants to restore derelict or vacant houses.

“There’s a huge uptake of vacant/derelict grants in my area,” he said.

“The incentives to build houses in rural Ireland, the vacant and derelict houses grants are a big help in the campaign.”

The campaign itself could be said to be lacking energy at present – the June date was known for months and while candidates were campaigning, the lack of posters and leaflets and the like made it seem like it was happening behind the scenes. It will get a great deal more interesting and colourful in the weeks ahead.