A public meeting organised by local parents in Kiltimagh on Wednesday night was packed to the gills as parents protested against the lack of free access to the facility.
Sinn Féin councillor Thérèse Ruane has since pledged her full support to the Kiltimagh Public Playground Campaign insisting that parents and children in Kiltimagh are being discriminated against. Calling for Mayo County Council and the local IRD to meet with concerned parents to ensure that the existing playground is made available to the people of the town free of charge and at family friendly times just like every other playground in the county, Cllr Ruane stated:
“I attended the meeting which was standing room only in the hall, such is the frustation and depth of feeling among parents and the people of Kiltimagh about this issue,” Cllr Ruane said. “Parents and children in Kiltimagh are being discriminated against. Public playgrounds are mushrooming throughout the county, in Swinford, Foxford, Irishtown, Charlestown, Balla, Kilkelly, Castlebar, and this is very welcome but in Kiltimagh we have a situation where parents and children have to pay to use their local playground. Neither can they access the playground at weekends or after six in the evening.
“The existing playground in Kiltimagh is a wonderful amenity to the town; public money contributed to the building of this playground for the benefit of the local community. It is totally unacceptable that parents and children must pay for access to it or can’t use it at family friendly times.”
Cllr Ruane is now calling on Mayo County Council and the local IRD to sit down with the newly formed Kiltimagh Public Playground Committee and come to an agreeable solution.
