Tir na Mona Community Council
& neighbouring Districts Rural road & By-road Clean-up Project
Working groups from Kilmurry-Betaghstown and Kilmurry, Mount
Armstrong and Painstown participated in local road clean-ups on Saturday as part of the
soon to be announced Tir Na Mona residents project to remove litter and rubbish from
the road-side verges, hedges and ditches along all roads and by-roads in the Tir Na Mona
area.
Smaller working groups are being organised to begin clean-ups in each
area in advance of a major community wide clean-up to be arranged over a weekend in early
Spring next year.
A trailer full of rubbish was collected along the Betaghstown-Kilmurry
road in less than an hour by 7 eager residents, some of whom then joined residents along
the Painstown-Mount Armstrong road to gather a further 2 trailer loads by 1.30. Some of
the group then went on to Donadea Forest Park to help in a clean-up of the lake organised
by the Friends of the Forest group, where a large trailer of detritus ranging from park
seats and signs to beer cans and bottles was removed before dark. The resultant
transformation of the lake was truly amazing and very gratifying to all those who
participated.
The ever busier road from Staplestown to Painstown Cross is now 99%
free of litter seen and unseen and it is hoped that the County Council will take note of
this effort and give serious consideration to repairing, strengthening and widening the
section of that road from Mount Armstrong to Painstown where it is now virtually
impossible for cars to pass each other without obliging one driver to pull in and halt.
The "scissors" junction at Mount Armstrong where the Clane-Donadea road
intersects the Staplestown-Painstown road is an extremely precarious one especially for
motorists attempting to cross in the Staplestown-Painstown direction. Every motorist is
obliged to inch ahead blindly until the front of their car is 30-50% across the junction
before seeing clearly whether any traffic is approaching. Collisions frequently occur and
urgent action has to be taken before a disaster occurs at the cross or along the weakened
and increasingly treacherous road to Painstown.