A CLARE county councillor told the January meeting of Shannon Municipal District that an issue with a Cratloe road is keeping him awake at night.
Fianna Fáil councillor Pat O’Gorman is literally losing sleep due to a poorly fitted manhole on the road outside his house which is creating a racket when struck by vehicle.
Each impact is creating a noise that has been eating into the nightly sleep of the Cratloe man.
The matter of the manhole cover was one of three raised by Cratloe’s other county councillor PJ Ryan at the MD meeting.
The others being the road subsiding near the cul de sac at Cratloe Cross and the road subsiding near Killeen cemetery.
Regarding the manhole, Councillor Ryan said that it is poorly fitted and he left it open to his colleague to explain the matter further, to senior executive engineer Tom Mellett.
“Tom, it’s keeping me up at night and that’s a fact, it’s bang, bang, bang.”
Councillor O’Gorman said that the drivers of lorries and cars that use the road regularly swerve to avoid the manhole.
“It’s only a matter of time until there’s a smash there, There’s a constant bang, bang, bang. Morning, noon and night,” concluded a good humoured, if somewhat frustrated Councillor O’Gorman.
A written reply to Councillor Ryan’s motion stated that each of the three issues are to be assessed “to determine the scale of the problem and what is required to ensure they are maintained to an appropriate standard”.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.