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By Sean Moriarty

The controversial 'Safe Streets' town plan - introduced last summer to allow pedestrians walk the streets of Killarney in a socially-distanced manner - is set to be further extended until October 31.

It involved the widening of footpaths on High St, New St and College St as well as the permanent closure to traffic in Plunkett St and Kenmare Place.

The closure of Plunkett St has divided the opinion of politicians and residents for years.

Some agree with the full-time closure of the street, while more are completely opposed to it and the current 'Safe Streets’ plan overrides a previous compromise where the street was closed to vehicles every day between 7pm and 7am.

The closure was introduced in July last year and was set to run until October. That was extended to allow for anticipated high footfall during the Christmas rush. It was further extended in the New Year as Ireland entered a prolonged Level 5 lockdown and to cover the Easter holiday period.

With the current closure due to expire next week, Killarney Municipal District has further extended the closure until October 31 to allow for a predicated boom in the ‘staycation’ style tourism.

“It is considered prudent to extend the temporary road closures on Plunkett Street and on the section of Kenmare Place to the end of the tourism season in Killarney, which will assist businesses in reopening and ensure that pedestrians can manoeuvre with the recommended social distancing advised,” a Council official told the Killarney Advertiser.