ESB fall silent on timeline for repairing pothole littered bridges in west Wicklow
The Wicklow PeopleA local councillor is losing patience at the lack of action to repair pothole-littered bridges crossing Blessington Lakes.
The three bridges date back to the mid-1930s and were erected after the Poulaphouca Reservoir was formed between 1937 and 1947 by damming the River Liffey at Poulaphouca as part of an ESB project to build a second hydroelectric station in Ireland.
In March 2025, Cllr Gerry O’Neill was informed that Wicklow County Council had sought legal advice from their law department over the matter and Baltinglass Municipal District were informed they could not carry out any works to Knockieran Bridge in particular as the ESB are the owners of the bridges and therefore responsible for maintenance of same.
The ESB subsequently said they are responsible for the maintenance of the structure of the bridges in question while Wicklow County Council is responsible for the maintenance of the road surface.
Cllr O’Neill has repeatedly raised the poor condition of the bridge surface at municipal district meetings, highlighting how the bridge is in “dire need” of resurfacing, while complaining about the build up of weeds and the depth of potholes, which pose a safety risk to local commuters.
In previous years, the cost for the Council to take over the resurfacing was estimated at around €18,000; a figure Cllr O'Neill pushed the council to absorb to ensure the work was completed.
Raising the issue again during the January district meeting Cllr Gerry O’ Neill said a solution needs to be found.
“There are huge amounts of money the ESB are making out of the lake. How long will we have to wait before the council can throw a few buckets of tarmacadam to resurface the area?” “We need to cop on, we’re not taking it seriously enough. We’re going nowhere.”
Cllr O’Neill previously proposed using some of the €19 million allocated towards the Blessington Greenway to instead be spent on a new replacement bridge at Knockieran, which he believed would act as a ‘gateway’ for any plans for the greenway, after an application was refused by An Bord Pleanála in December 2024.
“We need to stop dawdling and act about the lack of investment we get here in the west.”
“The ESB need to wake up and tell us what the story is going forward.” he added.
In response district administrator Liam Cullen acknowledged no update had been received from the ESB, but agreed to correspond with the semi state body, seeking a timeline on works that need to be completed.