Given Opticians in Clane

I finally got around to getting reading glasses after having difficulty reading my notes at our last council meeting. I highly recommend Given Opticians in Clane, which is owned by local woman Natasha Given. Natasha provides a very friendly service and expert advice. Support your local business owners!

Climate Action Plan Meeting

I met with Ministers Simon Coveney and Martin Heydon recently to discuss the new Climate Action Plan 2021. I raised the need for the Government to finalise the Draft Revised Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These guidelines will provide rural communities with the technical guidance they need in order to allow them to participate fully in…

Kildare Climate and Energy Week

This week is Kildare Climate and Energy Week and there are some good events taking place in-person and online over the next few days. There are a couple of talks featuring peatlands which I am interested in myself, but there is something for everyone. Check out the full list of events and register at https://kildare.ie/…/Clima…/KildareClimateandEnergyWeek/

Register to Vote

If you are living in Ireland and over 18, or will be 18 on February 15th 2022, then you can register to vote now by FREEPOST, without needing a Garda witness. Simply print out and fill in the form at https://b-wy.se/voting-form and send it to: Kildare County Council Áras Chill Dara Devoy Park FREEPOST Naas…

Speed Limit Review

Kildare County Council are currently carrying out a review of the speed limits in the entire county. A draft copy of the proposed changes is now open for public consultation. It is intended to increase the speed limit in many rural areas and I raised concerns about this in January, some of which have been…

Green Kilometre Scheme

The Environment department of Kildare County Council run the ‘Green Kilometre’ scheme every year, to encourage groups or individuals to look after a stretch of road near where they live. My Green Kilometre is the R414 road to Lullymore, and I am taking advantage of the lack of growth at the moment to get it…

Meeting with Maria Walsh MEP

Maria Walsh MEP met with us this morning, and I spoke to her about the full inclusion of Kildare in Just Transition funding and the match funding criteria for this scheme. I also asked Maria about how Irish law needs to comply with the EU Habitats Directive, particularly in relation to Annex V species, which…

Loco in Lodge Bog

This Bord na Móna Locomotive drawing milled peat is a rare sight in the bogs these days, and sadly coming to an end, but I fully support Bord na Móna’s new strategy to go from brown to green. Many of us have Bord na Móna to thank for why we live where we do today,…