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27 Nov 2025
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27 Nov 2025
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Pictured: Rathdowney's playground to see total revamp this winter
Laois County Council have closed a local playground to allow for major works to take place.
Rathdowney playground, Darú na nÓg, will close from Monday December 1 until further notice.
In February, the playground received €95,000 through the Community Recognition Fund to oversee the replacement of all wooden features in the playground, and the enhancement of the regularly used MUGA pitch.
Pictured: Rathdowney playground on the day of its 2013 opening.
Most of the park's features are wooden, with the exception of the smaller play area to the left of the park.
"All of the wood in the playground will be taken away and replaced, and the all weather pitch will be replaced too," Rathdowney Fine Gael Cllr John King told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
"It will take a few weeks to do, it is a full revamp. Anything wooden will be replaced, including the castle climbing structure. The fencing will also be repaired. The park has been open for almost 13 years now, and the works are necessary. It will be a super job when it is done," Cllr King praised.
"The funding was secured earlier in the year and we are doing it now so that it will be ready for the summer, it is much quieter now in the winter. The playground has been used by children every day, since the day it opened.
"It is one of the busiest playgrounds in Laois, along with being the biggest. It has brought a great amount of people to the town, and great joy to children in the local area and further afield," he said.
"We had the track installed and it allows for parents to drop their children to the park, and go walk a few laps. We had lights installed along the track too. This playground is one of the best amenities in the town, and its used by all communities in Rathdowney," Cllr King highlighted.
"There are school buses coming far and wide to use this park for school tours, as far as Kilkenny and Tipperary. I would hate to see it without children using it. The Council and myself have observed that the equipment has worn out, and these works will allow the park to thrive for another 13 years.
"A playground is no good unless it can be used," Cllr King finished.
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