By Sean Moriarty

Longstanding and needed improvement work at the problematic Listry Bridge could go all the way to the Dáil if plans by local councillor Brendan Cronin gets the backing of senior Kerry County Council management.

There have been calls to upgrade the bridge, on the main Killarney to Milltown road, for years.

The single lane bridge, on a road which links Killarney with the Dingle Peninsula, has been the scene of several horrific - some fatal - accidents over the years.

Despite years of campaigning on a local level, the Department of Transport has never allocated large-scale funding to upgrade the bridge.

In the latest round of funding, announced in February under the Programme for 2022 for Regional and Local Roads, the bridge was allocated €50,000. A similar road in north Kerry, the Dale Road, was allocated €2,200,000 under the same scheme.

Cllr Cronin has been pushing for improvements at Listry Bridge “for the 23 years I am in the Council”.

He now wants to bring the issue all the way to the Department of Transport in Dublin. His elected colleagues backed his motion at a recent Killarney Municipal District meeting.

His next step is to bring the passed Municipal District motion before the next full meeting of Kerry County Council.

If it gets passed at county level Moira Murrell, Chief Executive of Kerry County Council and Director of Operations at Kerry County Council Charlie O’Sullivan, will seek a meeting with Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to discuss Listry Bridge upgrades at the highest possible level.

“This bridge, on a busy regional road, was designed for a horse and cart,” Cllr Cronin told the Killarney Advertiser.

“After decades of no action, only talk and waffle, it is time to bring it to a head.”