Deputy Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran has described as “very positive” a meeting which took place with Minister for Transport Shane Ross yesterday (Wednesday ) in an attempt to resolve the Railway Field issue.
A delegation of local TDs, councillors, and representatives of the council’s executive met with Minister Ross in Dublin yesterday to ask him to intervene in the ongoing dispute with CIE regarding the purchase of the Railway Field.
Deputies Moran (Ind ), Peter Burke (FG ), and Robert Troy (FF ) joined forces with Cllrs John Dolan (FG ), Tom Farrell (FG ), Paul Hogan (SF ), Michael O’Brien (Ind ), and Aengus O’Rourke (FF ) to make a strong case to the Minister on the necessity of acquiring the land to facilitate traffic management around the town.
They were joined by the council’s director of services Barry Kehoe and Michael Connolly of the council’s transport section, who gave detailed representations on the history and current stalemate in the talks with CIE.
According to Deputy Moran, Minister Ross gave a commitment to meet with officials in the Department of Transport with a view to moving it forward, and agreed to consider the appointment of a mediator if necessary.
“We had a very positive meeting with Shane Ross. I asked the Minister to consider appointing an independent body as a mediator, and he said he would consider this,” said Deputy Moran.
Deputy Moran believed no one in CIE had been prepared to make a decision on the land, but he was optimistic that there is an opportunity now to solve the issue once and for all.
“The members have made a decision on the one-way system, and if the council don’t get the Railway Field it will have implications for traffic flow. We are back to square one and it’s going nowhere at the moment.
“Now the Minister is fully briefed. We have something unique in the current minority-led Government, and we’re in a position now to stop talking about it and get something done.”
