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23 Jan 2026
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23 Jan 2026
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O'Dempsey's GAA Club
Safety works at a dangerous bend near a Laois GAA Club have yet to get the go ahead, despite being raised numerous times by local councillors.
Councillor Aidan Mullins asked Laois County Council for an update on the proposed Safety Scheme at a "bad bend" near O'Dempsey's GAA Club at the January meeting of the Portarlington / Graiguecullen MD. The issue was raised by Cllr Mullins early last year.
Safety issues on the road have been highlighted previously, with Cllr Vivienne Phelan requesting traffic calming measures be installed on the approach road to Killenard from the GAA club in July of last year.
That junction, which Cllr Phelan described as the "most dangerous junction in the whole area", is just 500 metres up from the bend that Cllr Mullins raised issue with.
Senior Executive Engineer for Laois County Council, Tom Drennan, had told Cllr Phelan back in July that the junction was the subject of a previous motion to be considered for the road safety scheme for 2026.
He said he would meet with Cllr Phelan at the site and he explained that ramps would not be considered as an option at the location. He said they would be suitable normally in an urban area but he would look at signage options.
In response to the bend near the GAA club, Drennan told Cllr Mullins that Laois County Council submitted a Safety Scheme grant application to the Department of Transport in 2025.
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He said that the council is still waiting for confirmation of the approved 2026 schemes, however they should be announced before the end of quarter one of this year.
When pressed by Cllr Mullins as to whether the council can do anything to make the junction safer if it is not approved by the Department, Drennan said: "We'll see what comes out of it. If it doesn't, we'll take a look then and see what our options are in terms of maybe some interim measures we can carry out like taking back the hedge.
"We can look at discretionary funds and see if there's any options there."
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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