*Photograph: Joe Buckley
INACTION to remove an illegal encampment in Sixmilebridge has been ongoing for “far too long,” a Clare TD has said.
Public lighting has been reinstated in the car park area of Sixmilebridge railway station following a two month absence. Electricity supply was cut after an “illegal connection to the public electricity supply,” according to Cathal Crowe TD (FF).
Up to 14 street lights had been switched off since early September on a precautionary basis “after the ESB discovered that one of the secure panels on a lamp post had been tampered with and that somebody had attempted to run an illegal domestic electricity connection from it,” Crowe outlined.
“Whilst I appreciate the high safety risks involved in this, the people most impacted by this were the many individuals who use the rail service out of Sixmilebridge station and also the local children who attend beaver, cub and scout meetings in the Old Station House building, which is on a long-term lease to the local scout group. I recently met with some of the concerned parties and saw first-hand how dark the carpark area was,” he added.
Difficulties had been experienced by parents dropping their children off to scout meetings and the users of the train, the Meelick native stated.
Deputy Crowe has said the “long-standing issue of the illegal encampment” at the car park of the railway station needs to be progressed by Clare County Council and An Garda Síochána. “This has gone on for far too long and I think it’s entirely an inappropriate place, in a public carpark, to have an encampment. I hope that all parties involved can use the instruments of law to bring about a resolution here in the quickest possible time”.
