‘Someone is going to be killed’: Councillors call for action on dangerous Kilkenny junctions

Councillors from the Callan-Thomastown Municipal District warned of the inevitability of serious accidents and criticised inaction from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) at junctions entering the N10 from the Danesfort and Bennettsbridge side.

Discussing the matter at their monthly meeting, councillors recounted their own experiences of close calls around the junctions near Danesfort GAA club.

When asked about measures that could be taken to address the safety issues, Area Engineer, Declan Murphy, replied that TII were the only body who could take measures to improve the road, but had no plans to do so currently.

The elected members of the district highlighted the fact that their local knowledge was being ignored by the state agency with Cllr Michael Doyle saying: “The TII are a disgrace” and “someone is going to be killed”.

Cllr Deirdre Cullen echoed these sentiments asserting that TII “come along with their clipboards and say there’s nothing wrong”.

The district members proposed to have a letter drafted to Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien TD to urge his department to direct TII to address the junctions as a priority for 2026.

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Elsewhere in his roads update, Mr Murphy gave information on a number of projects that had been progressed around the district including improvements to the Ballyhall Crossroads such as the removal of ditches and trees along with a new fence and completed line markings.

Cllr Joe Lyons responded that the Ballyhall Cross has received “lots and lots of positive comment” while Cllr Joe Sheridan praised the amount of work done in the area this year saying: We’re really getting value for money in the Callan-Thomastown area”.

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Article funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme