Day in the Life of Tim Butler, Kilkenny's Director of Services

Tim Butler, Director of Services at Kilkenny County Council is a familiar face to many of us. He kindly agreed to have a chat with me ahead of today's celebration of Kilkenny Day, on October 9.

Tim Butler was born and bred in Dominic Street, right in the heart of Kilkenny City. He lived 30 seconds walk from his primary school and three minutes’ walk from his secondary school and church. In his words, he was doing active travel before anybody!

When Tim left school, he worked for Kilkenny County Council for 20 years, before leaving for three years to work for the Department of Environment when he qualified as an accountant. He then went to Carlow County Council, where he was Housing Officer for nine years.

He came back to Kilkenny County Council as Director of Services in 2016 and we are glad to have him in a role that leaves him responsible for a lot of infrastructure in Kilkenny.

Tim is married to Catherina, and they have two sons, one has just finished college and the other is attending college in Cork. In his spare time Tim loves nothing more than a good club hurling match. He is often spotted on walks around Kilkenny’s many amenities or jogging along Kilkenny's Canal Walk. 

He was a keen hurler in his day, with both his primary and secondary schools steeped in hurling - Kilkenny CBS. He claims he was an average intermediary hurler and junior hurler, but he always enjoyed the game.

Here is a glimpse into Tim’s world…

Tim, you believe that sport is vital for everybody, particularly young people growing up.

Whatever sport, hobby, or interest that young people have is important as long as they are meeting people. It will stand to them and has a huge part to play in their comradeship, that they never lose that type of friendship.

You will always have a connection with people that you won or lost a championship with. It’s critical to be involved and vitally important that people have an interest, especially from a young age. It will also help keep them out of trouble!

You are very passionate about Kilkenny thriving and have your finger on the pulse of everything that happens here. What is the job of Director of Services about?

As Director of Services, I am responsible for the roads, transportation, water services, corporate and human resources. We are also given a municipal district to look after and mine is fortunately Kilkenny City. For me that’s great because I am from the city, and I know every street and laneway.

Like everybody working in the Council, I have a huge passion for Kilkenny, and we really want to see both the city and county thrive. If we can attract business here and build up the infrastructure so that we can make it easier for people to deliver houses, that’s really what the job is about.

I don’t work in isolation; I have great teams around me.

The latest budget is really going to affect construction costs and young couples getting onto the property ladder with the concrete levy. Do you think the Government is right in getting us to pay for the sins of mica?

It’s challenging to deal with these issues. The first thing you have is general inflation and none of us can really control that. We also have the energy crisis which has an impact on any building, construction of houses, businesses and even roads.

To be fair to the Government they are trying to focus their financial resources to the areas of concern and try to give as much support as they can. As with every issue no solution will be perfect for everyone

I can see what the general view about the mica issue and the difficulties of charging a percentage on concrete to pay for the essential refurbishment of homes impacted. The money is going to have to come from somewhere. It’s a difficult decision for the Government and whether it’s the right decision or not will only come out in time.

You are also heavily involved in Kilkenny's many festivals. It will be the first year not to have a virtual Kilkenny Day, instead we have the real thing this weekend. What are you looking forward to the most in celebrating our city and county on this day?

First thing I will say is that we are blessed to have Marian Flannery, who is our event director for Kilkenny Day. She is somebody who can think outside the box and comes up with great events.

Kilkenny Day is about celebrating our place and what Kilkenny means to us. It will take place this year on Sunday, October 9, and we are asking people to wear the Kilkenny colours and be proud to be from Kilkenny by visiting somewhere in our community and supporting local.

We have a lot planned for the day itself, with much of the city-based entertainment focusing on the Canal area in the heart of the city. There will be kids shows, stilt-walkers, jugglers entertainment, amusements, and animals from Nore Valley Pet Farm. There will also be lots of live music on the bandstand at Canal Square.

This year will feature a memorable moment for Kilkenny as a very special sculpture, featuring Adam King’s legendary ‘Virtual Hug’ which will be unveiled by Adam and special guest, Paralympian Mary Fitzgerald. The public will be led along the Canal Walk by Adam’s dance group for the unveiling at 3pm on the day.

This permanent sculpture will serve as a reminder of how the people of the city and county stayed strong and connected during the difficult times of the pandemic and will provide a place to reflect and contemplate.

What has been your greatest achievement so far as Director of Services in Kilkenny County Council?

I don’t think you should be looking at achievements, until you are finished completely. Someone else can decide whether it was good or bad!

The infrastructure around Breagagh Valley, with the new road around it from the Callan Road to the Kilmanagh Road has been a great achievement. The water services, the footpaths and the cycle ways are all going to facilitate about 3,000 homes, two post primary schools and a primary school over the next ten years.

We were successful in a bid to get funding for this under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund in 2017 which is co-funded by Kilkenny County Council. It took about four years between securing the part funding and delivering this infrastructure. That’s something that will stand out for me.

There are smaller projects that you would feel proud of as well. If I was to pick one in the county, it would be the foot bridge in Castlecomer. It’s going to do so much for Castlecomer and anybody visiting the Castlecomer Discovery Park, as well as connecting the two. It was important to have the footbridge from a safety point of view and hopefully it will help business in the area too.  

Will we ever have a third level presence in Kilkenny?

The SETU – the South East Technical University is now established and that’s the amalgamation between Carlow Institute of Technology and Waterford Institute of Technology. One of the objectives is to have a campus or a presence in Kilkenny. As a Council we will be doing all within our remit to support a campus of 1,000 students.

There is a newly appointed President of the SETU, Veronica Campbell, and my understanding is that there is a public consultation coming up. We will be doing everything in our remit to try to ensure that there is a campus here in Kilkenny.

Personally, I think to have a campus here would do wonders for the city itself and bring new life to it.    

Last question Tim, who were you shouting for last Sunday, James Stephens or Dicksboro?

Unfortunately, I was away for the weekend but listened to Adrian and Eddie on KCLR live for what sounded like the best game of the season! I’m delighted to have my club to support in the County Final!

Kilkenny Day was created to celebrate the memory of St Canice, a 6th century monk who founded Kilkenny city. For more information on the day’s celebrations visit Kilkenny Day