There was anger and bewilderment in the Laois County Council chamber this week following an update on a previously approved footpath that now appears will no longer actually be built.
It all started with Fianna Fail Councillor Paschal McEvoy asked for an update on the construction of a footpath from the village of Timahoe to the GAA ground.
The Councillor, who is a native of Timahoe, reminded the meeting that approval for this project was applied for in 2021 and granted in 2022 – with €200,000 being allocated under the Active Travel Scheme.
In June 2022, Cllr McEvoy was told that work on the project would begin ‘by the Autumn‘.
When nothing happened, Cllr McEvoy was told that work would happen in 2023 but once again, this came and went.
So, in response to his motion this week, Council officials informed Cllr McEvoy that this project was now estimated to cost €815,000 and far exceeded the budget.
A statement, attributed to the National Transport Association, Active Travel Engineer and Roads Department outlined the situation.
It said: “In 2022, the National Transport Authority (NTA) allocated €100,000 for the Timahoe Village Cycle Link project.
“However, this project did not progress within that calendar year. Laois County Council has since delivered several footpath schemes and has prepared a preliminary high-level cost estimate for this particular project.
“The estimated cost is approximately €815,000 including VAT). Please note that this figure does not account for risk, contingency, or inflation.
“This cost represents a significant portion of the county’s overall Active Travel allocation.
“Given the ramping up of activities over the last few years in the Active Travel area, the number of projects being progressed now exceeds the level of funding made available to the NTA.
“Accordingly, the NTA is unable to fully fund all proposed Active Travel projects and has to prioritise certain projects over others in order to remain within its allocated budget.
“In general, the main focus of active travel investment will be to support high quality walking and cycling infrastructure, for everyday trips, in villages, towns and cities, particularly in designated growth settlements, with a view to promoting the greatest potential modal shift to active travel.
“While a project may not be selected by the NTA for funding in a particular year, it may be funded in subsequent years.
“As part of the allocations determination, the NTA liaises with each local authority to fully understand the projects being proposed by the local authority and its considerations in terms of priorities.
“However, projects which are unable to be advanced in a particular year, may be reconsidered for funding in a subsequent year.”
In response to all of that, Cllr Paschal McEvoy said that he simply ‘cannot accept’ that answer.
He said: “The last time this came up in 2024, Gerry Murphy was here as Director of Finance and he said he would go off to find out but I heard nothing since.
“And I just can’t understand how we got €200,000 from Active Travel to do the footpath and then nothing.
“I was told it was happening, you all would have saw the motion and you would have read the replies the same as I did.
“This is an absolute contradiction to what I was being told up to now. We’re looking at safety and this is a regional road.
“There is no planning allowed because it is a regional road and it leads to the only GAA pitch in Timahoe.
“It is where all the kids go and it is a no brainer that we need it. The fact we were granted the funding and told it was going to happen, I just don’t understand it.
“Was I being told lies? I don’t want to call anyone a liar but that is certainly what it looks like.”
Cllr McEvoy went on to talk about how a very similar project had taken place in Ballyroan to connect the village there to its GAA club.
He also hit out at the figure of €815,000, quoted in the response to his motion, to complete the project.
He said: “We have a school out there, we’re trying to keep everything going.
“To say it’s costing €815,000, is absolutely crazy. I’d say if you gave the community €200,000, they’d have it all done in a fortnight.
“I’m getting phone calls on a regular basis and there is a campaign starting out there, and they want it.
“I even met a fella recently and he said he heard that our €200,000 was gone to do the courthouse in Borris-In-Ossory.
“They know the money was allocated to Timahoe originally. Where did the money go? I don’t know.
“The stretch of road is about a mile long and there is a wide margin so it wouldn’t take that much.
“So I would ask the Council again to investigate this because it is not fair to the people of Timahoe and rural Laois in general.”
Supporting Cllr McEvoy, Cathaoirleach Aidan Mullins said: “We’ve all seen you raise this with frustration over the last couple of years.
“And to an outsider looking in that didn’t know what was going on, itt would appear that you may have been bringing them along.
“But it seems that you were strung along. Maybe by accident or by design, I don’t know whether you were provided with false information or whether you weren’t giving sufficient information.
“You shouldn’t have to be in here today banging this drum again over the promises that were made.”
Fine Gael Cllr Vivienne Phelan said that it is vitally important that the correct information is provided as people in Timahoe ‘genuinely believed’ they were getting this footpath.
She said: “We have to get answers here and clarity on what was said and what was promised.”
Independent Cllr Aisling Moran said: “If you’re allocated €200,000 and the project wasn’t done for whatever reason, how can the money be taken back?
“And if it wasn’t taken back, where did the money go? And to who did it go to? And I think that’s an answer we really need to get.”
Julie Bergin, Acting Director of Finance and Culture, informed Cllr McEvoy that she would follow up the matter with the Active Travel section and report back.
She said: “I will find out what happened there as I wasn’t aware of it before now but I will report back.”
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