Additional inspections for Laois roads ahead of Electric Picnic and Ploughing Championships

The Electric Picnic 2018 line up is HERE

placeholder image — The Electric Picnic 2018 line up is HERE

The council is planning to carry out additional inspections to ensure the roads are in a good condition ahead of Electric Picnic and the Ploughing Championships.

Councillor PJ Kelly raised the matter at the latest meeting of Graiguecullen Portarlington Municipal District. “When we have so many hundreds of thousands of people coming to the area in August, September, it would be no harm having that area looking proper,” he said.

He tabled a motion asking: “That Laois County Council re-examine the local roads around Stradbally and Ratheniska for any minor repairs that might need to be done leading up to the Electric Picnic and the World and National Ploughing Championships.”

In response, Senior Executive Engineer Philip McVeigh said “Laois County Council will be carrying out additional inspections from early August and will carry out minor repairs if required in advance of these events.”

Tens of thousands of revelers are expected to attend the Electric Picnic takes place in Stradbally in early September. At the end of the month, the National Ploughing Championships together with the World Ploughing Championships are expected to attract a further quarter of a million people to the Ratheniska site.

Cllr Paschal McEvoy agreed that “it is very important that we do have them right and that we don’t have people going away saying the roads in Laois are in an awful state.” He welcomed the council's response.