Immediate Repair Work Planned for Damaged Meetings of the Waters
April 11th, 2001
Wicklow County Council yesterday agreed to carry out immediate repair work at the famous Meetings of the Waters where, as revealed exclusively by WicklowToday.com last Friday, no remedial work has been done since the area was damaged by flooding last November.
The matter was raised at yesterday's meeting of the Council by Councillor Nicky Kelly who
Blocked Off Area Of Tourist Trail
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said that half a million people visit this famous landmark each year but cannot use the facility due to fallen trees and damaged slabs.
Backed up by Councillors Bill O'Connell, Vincent Blake, Pat Doran and Sylvester Bourke, Councillor Kelly said that tourism in the county has suffered enough due to the foot and mouth precautions and it was time the Council carried out major repair work at the Meetings.
County Engineer, Mr. Michael Looby admitted that considerable damage was caused to the Meetings last November. The riverbank has been undermined and the platform there is unsafe. `As an interim measure the Council will erect a timber fence to keep people back from the water edge. We will remove the two trees that have fallen and we will have to examine two other trees that seem to be badly damaged. The work will start in the next month', said Mr. Looby.
He added that the work will cost between five and ten thousand pounds but he did not know where the Council will get the funding for this job. Mr. Looby pointed out that the river needs strengthening for 100 metres which will cost a lot of money. However, it needs to be looked at, he explained.
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