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Mayor Niall Kelleher has this week announced details of a local improvement scheme that will afford people the opportunity to apply for grants to improve their private roads. This will, of course, come as welcome news to people with potholes on their private roadways, and the council certainly deserve credit for re-introducing this worthy scheme after an 11-year absence, but many vexed locals have expressed concerns that plenty of potholes on public roads in the town itself remain unfilled.

The area around the cinema, the Hahah, Mission Road and East Avenue Road is a particular black spot in terms of pesky potholes and little appears to have been done to address this very pressing issue. Killarney natives who frequently pass through this busy part of town have long complained about the state of the roads here and, although work has recently been carried out elsewhere in town (such as at the Port Road and Plunkett Street, for instance), these particular streets seem to have been left behind.

With a number of hotels, restaurants, cafés and amenities – not least the ever popular jaunting cars – situated nearby, the area is a hotbed for tourists and we are certainly not putting our best foot forward by ignoring these unsightly and potentially dangerous potholes. Every year as we re-enter the busy tourist season, residents and business owners alike make a conscientious effort to show Killarney in its best possible light. The council also do great work in this regard, but surely this special area of town deserves particular – and urgent - attention?