Old wounds reopened as Enniscorthy councillors recall horror of 2018 – ‘For the love of Christ leave Templeshannon as it is’
Wexford PeopleA wound which had only just begun to heal has been unwittingly reopened by Fine Gael councillor Pat Kehoe at a special meeting of the Enniscorthy Municipal District (EMD). Held to discuss the regeneration of Templeshannon, the meeting resulted in a positive update on plans for the area with council officials confirming plans to apply for €10m in government funding by the end of 2026.
However, as the conversation broadened and councillors aired additional ideas for the redevelopment of Templeshannon, Cllr Kehoe suggested a move which had some of his colleagues recoiling in horror.
“Can we look at a long-term plan to deal with the traffic in Templeshannon?” he asked. “Once it gets to 3 p.m. you’re stuck out by Mr Price trying to get into town, could we introduce a one-way system in conjunction with the Town Centre First plan?"
“Certainly it’s a bottleneck, there was a one-way plan previously presented to councillors,” replied director of special projects Alan Quirke. “But if the willingness is there we can explore it.”
Mention of the previous plan emitted a nervous laugh from Cathaoirleach Barbara Anne Murphy who was on the council in 2018 when a proposed one-way system led to threats of a judicial review from a local hotelier. That plan was ultimately jettisoned but for Cllr John O’Rourke, who was also on the council at the time, the scars remain.
“For the love of Christ leave Templeshannon as it is,” he said in response to Cllr Kehoe’s proposal.
Cllr Murphy offered a more nuanced explanation.
“We looked at a one-way system in 2018 and it was an absolute disaster, the alternative route was 3.5 km away,” she recalled. “With the price of fuel people can’t afford to go that far to come into town, unless we could devise a system where the route was close to the river it wouldn’t work.”
The third veteran of this particular war is Cllr Jackser Owens and he too expressed a reluctance to resume hostilities with the people of Templeshannon.
“We had meetings about a one-way system and the people there said they didn’t want it. That was the case in 2018, I don’t know if it’s the same now.”