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A Kerry County Councillor has called on Kerry County Council to provide a footpath at Sunhill, Killorglin before a pedestrian or cyclist is "killed or seriously injured".

Councillor Michael Cahill moved a motion at a recent Municipal District meeting where he said the Sunhill Road is an exceptionally busy road servicing several housing estates, B&Bs, numerous one off houses and farms, and should be at the top of the Council's agenda.

"You have a very large population living in this part of Killorglin, including many elderly people and families with young children and I believe the provision of a public footpath at this location should be a top priority for Kerry County Council," the Rossbeigh based Councillor said.

"Sunhill is where most future developments will be going and where services will be required."

The Fianna Fáil Councillor said this is now a major "health and safety" issue and he requested Kerry County Council to include the Sunhill footpath in the next Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

"This is a very important and necessary piece of infrastructure that is long overdue and will help prevent accidents. This section of road is a death trap and the fact that the most populated part of Killorglin does not have a safe footpath for its residents beggars belief."

Senior Roads Engineer Padraic Teahan gave the following response to Councillor Cahill's motion.

'It is accepted that the provision of a new footpath link on this local road is a priority to link residential areas with the national school and the town's traditional core. The Council is, therefore, considering the submission of this project for €100,000 of grant assistance under the 2020 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. Land acquisition by agreement would be required to advance the footpath link, if funding was secured.
The Council had previously submitted this project to the Department of Rural and Community Development as a Clár scheme in 2019. However, no funding was allocated by the Department on that occasion'.

Councillor Cahill welcomed Mr Teahan's response and called on the Council to make every effort to secure the €100,000 grant and requested the area engineer to commence negotiations with the local landowners.