Kilrush councillor rows back on resignation threat

KILRUSH Town Councillor Tom Prendeville has not followed through on his dramatic threat, issued last month, to resign from Kilrush Town Council.

 

At the January monthly meeting, Councillor Prendeville said he would resign from the body he has served on since 1985 unless double yellow lines were removed from in front of St Senan’s National School in Kilrush.

Double yellow lines were put in place outside the primary school last September. Up to 200 parents have to park illegally, sometimes twice daily, when picking up or dropping off their children.

Town councillors had pleaded with the town engineer to remove the lines.

“If our instruction is not carried out, I will resign from this council in the next four weeks. We’re only wasting our time inside here now. I have supported this council a long time but this is making a farce of what we do here at council level if our instructions are not carried out,” Councillor Prendeville said at the January meeting.

The contentious double yellow lines are still in place but at Monday’s February meeting of Kilrush Town Council, Councillor Prendeville rowed back on his decision to go.

“Arising from the minutes of the meeting held on January 10, it should be said that much progress has been made since then in moving towards a lasting resolution of the problem,” Councillor Prendeville said at the meeting, where he didn’t specifically refer to his resignation threat.

“The elected members have openly engaged in equal partnership with the town engineer, the area executive engineer, together with the town manager and town clerk. Three proposals have emerged from these discussions that will hopefully resolve the matter once and for all,” the Cappa councillor added, although he didn’t detail what the proposals were.

“For my own part, I would want to state that the ongoing conversation between all the partners has been positive and have facilitated what we feel will be a very satisfactory outcome for the parents and children attending the school,” he added.

“It should be reiterated that it is and always will be, the health and safety of the school community that is foremost in all the ongoing discussions between the relevant partners sitting around this table and will likewise be a key element in arriving at a successful resolution,” the still sitting Kilrush town councillor concluded.