Annual Report 2006 - Kildare.ie

Annual Report 2006 

Kildare Review 

Annual Report and Accounts of 

Kildare County Council 

For year ended 31 st December 2006

FOREWORD 


The year 2006 saw continued investment by the county council in services 

and infrastructure for the benefit of local communities. Over €200 million went 

to roads which gave access to markets and supported local employment. 

Water services with a value of €69 million helped to protect public health, and 

€95 million provided that basic human necessity – housing. The council’s 

accounts for the year are summarised in this report and readers can see the 

sums spent on protecting the environment, providing recreational facilities, 

supporting education and fostering good development. 

All of these services contribute to quality of life in a very real way, as well as 

making economic activity possible. Kildare’s population has continued to grow 

at an above-average rate, and we are all challenged to be part of a process 

that protects our heritage and other public assets while seizing opportunities 

for developments that have distinct local benefits. 

This is not just about conserving architecture and the countryside. It is also 

about looking after our towns and villages and participating in the life of local 

urban and rural communities. It is about fighting litter, supporting local sports 

organisations, welcoming newcomers and giving a helping hand to a 

neighbour. Many of the county’s citizens already do this with a will and a 

smile: we owe them a debt of thanks for the way they share their time and 

talent. The service of one’s neighbour is a noble and generous thing, and we 

are all the richer for it. If you are not already involved in a community 

organisation, please make 2007 the year in which you change that – you and 

those around you will be the richer for it. 

The county council for its part will continue to support community 

organisations with aid to projects for young people, festivals, tidy town 

committees, residents associations, environmental improvement groups, 

sports clubs and other organisations. 

In January 2006 the county council opened new offices at Devoy Park, Naas 

to provide better facilities for the public and to meet the needs of a growing 

population. The new building includes the offices of Naas Town Council and 

the county vocational education committee. It was designed to reflect the 

changes in local government over the last century and to express the spirit of 

a modern progressive, county.


The year under review also saw the retirement of Mr. Niall Bradley as county 

manager. His time in office was marked by unprecedented growth in the level 

of public services and record levels of investment in essential infrastructure. 

His break from the demands of the local government service was indeed wellearned. 

We hope that you find this report interesting and helpful. You can get more 

information about the county council at www.kildarecoco.ie at any of our 

sixteen libraries by writing to us or simply calling us at 045 980200. 

Best wishes 

Mary Glennon Michael Malone 

Mayor County Manager


OFFICES AND OPENING HOURS 

Headquarters Opening Hours 

Áras Chill Dara 9.00 am – 1.00 pm 

Devoy Park 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm 

Naas Monday to Friday 

Co Kildare 

Exceptions 

Telephone: 045-980200 

Motor Tax 

Fax: 045-980240 9.30 am – 4.00 pm 

E-mail: secretar@kildarecoco.ie Planning 

9.00 am – 1.00 pm 

Website: www.kildare.ie/countycouncil 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm 

24 Hour Emergency Number 1890 500 333 

Fire Service Library Headquarters 

Emergencies 999 or 112 Riverbank, Newbridge 

Central Fire Station 045-431370 045-431109 

Area Offices 

Athy Area Office Rathstewart, Athy 059-8631329 

Clane Area Office The Woods, Clane 045-892695 

Kildare Area Office Market Square, Kildare 045-521416 

Maynooth Area Office Leinster Street, Maynooth 01-6286236 

Naas Area Office Áras Chill Dara, Naas 045-980425 

Town Councils 

Athy Town Council Rathstewart, Athy 059-8631444 

Naas Town Council Áras Chill Dara, Naas 045-980990 

Newbridge Town Council Town Hall, Newbridge 045-980560 

Leixlip Town Council Newtown House, Leixlip 01-6245777

MEMBERSHIP OF KILDARE 

COUNTY COUNCIL 


Membership of Kildare County Council 

There are 25 members representing 6 electoral areas – Athy, Celbridge, 

Clane, Kildare, Leixlip and Naas 

Name: Councillor Rainsford Hendy 

Electoral Area: Athy 

Political Party: Fine Gael 

Contact Details: 059-8624155 

Name: Councillor Martin Miley Jnr 


Political Party: Fianna Fail 

Contact Details: 087 - 3998478 

Name: Councillor Mark Dalton 



Contact Details: 059-8638601


Name: Councillor Geraldine Conway 

Electoral Area: Celbridge 


contact Details: 086-8032538 

Name: Councillor Katie Ridge 




Name: Councillor Kevin Byrne 


Political Party: Labour 


Name: Councillor Michael Fitzpatrick 

Electoral Area: Clane 



Name: Councillor Liam Doyle 




Name: Councillor Brendan Weld 




Name: Councillor Tony McEvoy 


Political Party: Non Party 



Name: Councillor Pat Black 

Electoral Area: Kildare 



Name: Councillor Francis Browne 




Name: Councillor Fiona O'Loughlin 




Name: Mayor Fionnuala Dukes 




Name: Councillor Suzanne Doyle 




Name: Councillor Michael "Spike" 

Nolan 





Name: Councillor Gerry McDonagh 

Electoral Area: Leixlip 

Political Party: Non-Party 

Contact Details: 087 6782207 

Name: Councillor John McGinley 




Name: Councillor Senan Griffin 




Name: Councillor Paul Kelly 





Name: Councillor JJ Power 

Electoral Area: Naas 

Political Party: Green Party 


Name: Deputy Mayor Mary Glennon 


Political Party: Independent 


Name: Councillor Paddy MacNamara 




Name: Councillor Billy Hillis 




Name: Councillor Willie Callaghan 



Contact Details: 045 875565


CORPORATE MANAGEMENT TEAM 

Mr Joe Boland 

Director of Transportation/ 

Health and Public Safety 

Mr Peter Minnock 

Director of Housing 

Mr Des Page 

Director of Corporate and 

Cultural Affairs/Environment 

Mr Eamonn O’Sullivan 

Head of Finance 

Mr Michael Malone 

County Manager 

Mr John Lahart 

Director of Planning 

Mr Michael O’Leary 

Director of Water Services 

and Human Resources 

Mr Tommy Skehan 

Director of Community and 

Enterprise/Forward Planning 

Mr Niall Bradley, former County Manager, retired from Kildare County Council 

on 22 December 2006


STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEES 

– 

MEMBERSHIP 

Housing & Social Inclusion Environment and 

Services 

Cllr Suzanne Doyle (Chairperson) Cllr JJ Power (Chairperson) 

Cllr Katie Ridge Cllr Brendan Weld 

Cllr Senan Griffin Cllr Tony McEvoy 

Cllr Gerry McDonagh Cllr Paul Kelly 

Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick Cllr Pat Black 

Cllr Tom Neville (Leixlip T.C.) Cllr Darren Scully (Naas T.C.) 

John Cummins (Business/Commercial) Linda O’Neill 

Peter Fenton (Community Voluntary Forum) (Business/Commercial 

Gerry O’Donoghue (Community Dermot O’Donnell(Community 

Voluntary Forum) Voluntary Forum) 

Larry Martin 

(Agriculture/Farming) 

Local, Urban & Rural Development Transportation 

Cllr Fiona O’Loughlin (Chairperson) Cllr Kevin Byrne (Chairperson) 

Cllr Michael Nolan Cllr Fionnuala Dukes 

Cllr Mary Glennon Cllr Paddy MacNamara 

Cllr Francis Browne Cllr Geraldine Conway 

Cllr Martin Miley Jnr, Cllr Willie Callaghan 

Cllr John O’Neill (Newbridge T.C.) Cllr Richard Daly (Athy T.C.) 

John O’Connell (Business/Commercial) Tim O’Dea (Business/ 

Francis O’Callaghan (Community Commercial) 

Voluntary Forum) Matt Browne (Community 

Gerard Smith (Agriculture/Farming) Voluntary Forum) 

Nominee (Development/ 

Construction) 

Economic Planning & Development 

Cllr Billy Hillis (Chairperson) 

Cllr Rainsford Hendy 

Cllr Liam Doyle 

Cllr Mark Dalton 

Cllr John McGinley 

Cllr Aoife Breslin (Athy T.C.) 

Deirdre Coughlan-Murray (Business/Commercial) 

Sean Reilly (Development/Construction) 

Tessie Curry (Community Voluntary Forum)

Membership of Other Bodies 


Vocational Education Committee County Kildare Failte 

Cllr Mary Glennon Cllr Brendan Weld 

Cllr Gerry McDonagh Cllr Suzanne Doyle 

Cllr Brendan Weld Cllr Paul Kelly 

Cllr Katie Ridge Cllr Mark Dalton 

Cllr Francis Browne Cllr Pat Black 

Cllr Fionnuala Dukes Cllr Billy Hillis 

Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick 

Cllr Mark Dalton Irish Public Bodies 

Cllr Willie Callaghan Mutual Insurance 

Cllr Michael Nolan 

Association of County & 

City Councils Kildare Co Enterprise Board 

Cllr Michael Nolan Cllr Mary Glennon 

Cllr Rainsford Hendy Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick 

Cllr Liam Doyle Cllr JJ Power 


County Development Board 

Mayor (ex-officio member) KELT 

Chairpersons of the SPC’s Cllr Billy Hillis 

are also members Cllr Liam Doyle 

Strategic Arts Management Company Mid-East Regional Authority 

Cllr Michael Nolan Cllr Tony McEvoy 

Cllr Pat Black Cllr John McGinley 

Cllr Paul Kelly 

Kildare Heritage Town Company Ltd Cllr Martin Miley Jnr 

Cllr Fionnuala Dukes Cllr Michael Nolan 

Cllr Suzanne Doyle Cllr Pat Black 


Kildare Community Partnership Mayor (ex-officio member of 

EU 

Cllr Martin Miley Jnr Operational Committee) 

Cllr Francis Browne 

Cllr Willie Callaghan Oak Partnership 

Cllr Billy Hillis 

Kildare Community Network Company 

Cllr Gerry McDonagh Leixlip Amenities Centre 

Cllr Pat Black Cllr Gerry McDonagh 

Cllr Fiona O’Loughlin Cllr Paul Kelly


Athy Investment, Development and Athy Heritage Company Ltd 

Employment Forum Cllr Mark Dalton 

Cllr Mark Dalton 

Cllr Martin Miley Jnr MERTO 

Cllr Michael Nolan 

Southern Eastern Regional Assembly 

Cllr Rainsford Hendy Regional Drugs Taskforce 

Cllr Paul Kelly Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick 

Kildare Horse Development Company Ltd AthyRhyl Regeneration 

Project 

Cllr Billy Hillis Cllr Martin Miley 

Cllr Rainsford Hendy Cllr Rainsford Hendy 


Cllr Katie Ridge Kildare Heritage Forum 

Cllr Fiona O’Loughlin Cllr Geraldine Conway 

Cllr Willie Callaghan Cllr Tony McEvoy 

Cllr Francis Browne Cllr Fionnuala Dukes 

Board of the Meath Foundation Eastern River Basin District 

Cllr Geraldine Conway Advisory Council 

Cllr JJ Power 

South Eastern River Basin Cllr Billy Hillis 

District Advisory Council 

Cllr Martin Miley Jnr Dublin Mid-Leinster 

Regional 

Cllr Mark Dalton Health Forum 

Cllr Brendan Weld 

Ballymore Eustace Community Cllr Katie Ridge 

Liaison Committee Cllr Geraldine Conway 

Cllr Billy Hillis Cllr Mark Dalton 

Cllr Mary Glennon Cllr Kevin Byrne


Membership of Council Committees 

Grúpa Stiúra Faoi Úsaid na Gaeilge County Library 

Cllr Fiona O’Loughlin Committee 

Cllr Fionnuala Dukes Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick 

Cllr Paul Kelly 

Cllr Tony McEvoy Local Traveller 

Accommodation 

Consultative 

Twinning Committee Committee 

Cllr Katie Ridge Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick 

Cllr Pat Black Cllr Martin Miley Jnr 

Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick Cllr John McGinley 

Cllr Mary Glennon Cllr Suzanne Doyle 

Cllr Brendan Weld Cllr Mary Glennon 

Cllr Liam Doyle Cllr Katie Ridge 

Cllr Billy Hillis 

Affixing of Seal 

All Council Members 

Protocol and Procedures Committee Traffic Technical Committee 

Cllr Katie Ridge All Council Members 

Cllr J J Power 

Cllr Billy Hillis Local Rural Water Monitoring 

Cllr Fionnuala Dukes Committee 

Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick Cllr Michael Nolan 

Cllr Willie Callaghan Cllr JJ Power 

Cllr Martin Miley Jnr Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick 

Cllr Kevin Byrne Cllr Martin Miley Jnr 

Cllr John McGinley Cllr Francis Browne 

Cllr Gerry McDonagh 

Finance Committee 

County Museum Committee Cllr Liam Doyle 

Cllr Tony McEvoy Cllr Martin Miley Jnr 

Cllr Fionnuala Dukes Cllr Gerry McDonagh 

Cllr Mark Dalton Cllr Katie Ridge 

Cllr Senan Griffin Cllr Pat Black 

Cllr Katie Ridge Cllr JJ Power 

Cllr Fiona O’Loughlin 

Cllr Paddy MacNamara Burrin Drainage Board 

Cllr Pat Black 

Barrow Drainage Board 


Cllr Martin Miley Jnr


Civic Office Committee Rural Housing Policy 

Cllr Mary Glennon Committee 

Cllr Rainsford Hendy Cllr Paul Kelly 

Cllr Willie Callaghan Cllr Martin Miley Jnr 

Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick Cllr Suzanne Doyle 

Cllr JJ Power 

Cllr John McGinley

MEETINGS HELD DURING 2006 

17 Full Council Meetings 

10 monthly meetings 

4 budget meetings 

1 special meeting 

2 annual meetings 

65 Area Meetings 

6 Athy Area Committee meetings 

12 Clane Area Committee meetings 

16 Kildare Area Committee meetings 

10 Celbridge Area Committee meetings 

11 Leixlip Area Committee meetings 

10 Naas Area Committee meetings 


30 Other Meetings 

5 Finance Committee meetings 

6 Protocol Committee meetings 

10 Twinning Committee meetings 

3 Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee meetings 

3 Kildare Museum Committee meetings 

3 Rural Water Monitoring Committee meetings 

The following meetings were also held during the year: 

13 Corporate Policy Group meetings 

5 Economic Planning and Development SPC meetings 

3 Environment and Services SPC meetings 

4 Transportation SPC meetings 

3 Housing and Social Inclusion SPC meetings 

5 Local, Urban and Rural Development SPC meetings 

Contact Details: 

Tel: 045-980206 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: secretar@kildarecoco.ie

CUSTOMER SERVICE 


The primary service point for Kildare County Council is Áras Chill Dara, which 

is situated at Devoy Park, Naas. There is also a network of Libraries 

throughout the county, together with five area offices, all of which have 

extensive customer contact. A project undertaken during 2006 further 

developed the level of service available at these contact points and also 

identified additional service points, such as Comhairle offices and health 

centres, throughout the county where information relating to our services is 

now available. 

Our move to Áras Chill Dara in January 2006 made it possible to separate the 

Reception and Switchboard functions of the Council. This allowed us to 

provide an enhanced customer service both to direct callers to our offices and 

to customers wishing to contact us by telephone. 

The installation of a new telephone system gave all Departments the 

opportunity to have direct contact numbers, thereby reducing the number of 

calls going to the main switchboard. New telephone numbers for our services 

were published a number of times during the course of the year and are 

available on our website. 

Splitting the two customer service points allowed staff working at our 

Customer Service Desk the time to provide one-to-one assistance and advice 

to customers who call to our offices. This service has been much welcomed 

by our customers. 

A key part of our customer service strategy is the development of our website. 

Increasingly we are facilitating our customers by improving the means to do 

business on-line. Examples of this would include motor tax or payments in 

respect of refuse charges and we would encourage people to use these 

excellent facilities as much as possible. 

For some time now customers have been able to comment on the service 

they received by completing Comment Cards while attending our offices. This 

area was further advanced during 2006 by the development of an on-line 

comment card. This is proving very popular with our customers and we 

receive a number of queries and comments each week. These comments 

help us to check and change the way we do business with and for our 

customers.


During 2006 our Citizen Charter was reviewed and re-launched and is 

available at our customer service points and on-line. The Charter is a 

statement of our commitment to provide services in a courteous, professional 

and respectful manner. 

Accessibility 

In accordance with the Disability Act 2005, Kildare Local Authorities are in the 

process of carrying out an Accessibility Audit on all their buildings and public 

places. During 2006 29 staff members received training from the University of 

Ulster on Accessibility Auditing. Five sessions of Disability Awareness 

training was provided for staff members, which was facilitated, by the Irish 

Wheelchair Association, National Association for Deaf People and National 

Council for the Blind of Ireland. 

A Disability Consultation Day was held in Áras Chill Dara, it was a very 

successful day with a large gathering of people with disabilities, their family 

members, Kildare Local Authority staff, carers, and advocates coming 

together for this landmark event. 


Tel: 045-980206 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: customercare@kildarecoco.ie

EVENTS DURING 2006 


Áras Chill Dara 

When the county council was set up in 1899, it took rooms in Naas 

Courthouse. Over following decades, extra responsibilities and duties made it 

necessary to move to new premises, and in 1958 staff moved to the former 

fever hospital at St Mary’s. By the year 2000, the need to provide even more 

expanded services to a growing population was quickly making St Mary’s 

redundant as a headquarters building. 

So it was that a decision to build new offices was made. The Devoy Barracks 

site (8.5 hectares) at Newbridge Road, Naas, offered an ideal location, and 

new offices were provided for the county council, Naas Town Council and the 

county vocational education committee. For the first time in over a century 

the county council was to have a purpose-built head office – Áras Chill Dara, 

which opened to the public at 2.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 January 2006. 

Áras Chill Dara is the result of a very deliberate choice to create a landmark 

building and a twenty-first-century facility for the people of County Kildare. It 

was designed to be an open, welcoming building which would reflect the more 

democratic nature of modern local government. It has won the following 

prizes for excellence: 

∎ The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland Best Public Building Award 

2006 

∎ An architectural award from the Royal Institute of British Architects – one 

of (then) only six awards for building in the European Union 

∎ The Opus Award, sponsored by the Bank of Ireland, recognised the 

building performance in terms of excellence in design and construction 

∎ First prize in the Excellence in Building Design or Specification category 

of the Sustainable Energy Ireland Award, sponsored by E.S.B. Customer 

Service. 

Sustainable Energy Ireland also awarded a maximum grant of €500,000 at 

construction stage for energy efficiency in lighting, heating and ventilation 

systems. 

An Honoured Guest 

February 1 st , St Brigid’s Day, is a special day in the life our county. February 

1 st 2006 was extra special as President Mary McAleese visited Áras Chill 

Dara in the morning and later joined the people of Kildare Town to celebrate 

the public re-kindling of an eternal flame – successor to a perpetual fire 

traditionally associated with St Brigit and her abbey.


The President received an enthusiastic welcome from county and town 

councillors and members of the staff at Áras Chill Dara. Her natural warmth 

and friendly manner were much in evidence and her praise for the building 

was very much appreciated. 

A Clash of Champions 

The county council was one of the principal organisations supporting and 

facilitating the world’s most prestigious golf tournament as Europe and 

America contested the Ryder Cup 2006. 

With a television audience estimated at up to a billion people and thousands 

of visitors to the K Club, there was plenty of work to be done. The roads 

leading to Straffan, the club’s picturesque home village, were improved. The 

village itself underwent a transformation, special traffic management 

operations were devised in consultation with the gardaí, water supplies were 

laid on and firefighters were on hand. Kildare County Council invested over 

€17 million in improved services and facilities in the Straffan area – an 

investment from which the community will benefit for years to come. 

On Monday 18 September Mayor Dukes hosted a breakfast reception at Áras 

Chill Dara, Naas to mark the Ryder Cup competition and welcome American 

visitors who included Mr Jonathan Benton, Deputy Chief of Mission from the 

American Embassy and representatives of American firms which have 

contributed so much to the economy of the county and the country. The 

European side was represented by Kildare man and European Commissioner 

Charlie McCreevy. 

Departure of Mr Niall Bradley 

Niall Bradley started in local government in his native Kilkenny. His path to 

Kildare took him through service in Counties, Cavan, Wicklow, Meath, Carlow, 

Cork and Laois. He served as Kildare County Manager from May 1997 to 

December 2006.


His time in Kildare coincided with unprecedented population growth and 

demands for more extensive services. In the 1997-2006 period the county’s 

population rose by almost 46,000 or 33% and the county council’s annual 

investment in services and infrastructure increased by over €250 million or 

112%. In the same period, the demand for water supplies grew by 54% to 

72,000 cubic metres a day or 26 million tonnes per annum. Mr Bradley was 

known for commitment to long hours of hard work and for a personal interest 

in the welfare of the disadvantaged. 


Tel: 045-980206 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: secretar@kildarecoco.ie

HOUSING 


In response to local need this Council has progressed a substantial 

programme of social housing construction over the five-year period 2004 - 

2008. 174 units were completed at the following locations in 2006: 

Clogherinkoe 

Kilcock 

Leixlip (Respond) 

Celbridge (Respond) 

Prosperous 

137 houses were started during the year at the following locations: 

Clane 

Rathangan 

Kildare (Coolaghknock Glebe) 

Kilmeague 

Construction is ongoing on 125 dwellings at Newbridge (Rickardstown) and 

40 dwellings at Ballitore (Phase 2). 

Negotiations with private sector developers continued throughout the year to 

secure affordable housing for citizens with great success. To date, 119 

affordable and 65 units have been secured through the Part V process and 

provisional agreements reached to purchase a further 307 affordable and 158 

social units in 2007. 

The housing function of county councils continues to develop. A local 

authority is no longer a mere provider of accommodation, but is an active and 

involved supporter in the life of housing estates. In this regard a team of 

specialist personnel has been employed to (a) facilitate local communities in 

their own development and (b) combat anti social behaviour in local authority 

housing. 

16 

38 

61 

29 

30 

25 

10 

72 

30


Community Workers have been employed to actively pursue community 

involvement in social housing projects and in doing so to improve quality of 

life by promoting active citizenship and social inclusion. The Community 

Workers also support residents associations, recreational initiatives for young 

and old and educational programmes for local authority residents. Pretenancy 

training now forms part of the process of facilitating new tenants to 

move into and become actively involved in their new communities. 

Furthermore, Kildare County Council recognises that managing Local 

Authority estates has become more challenging over recent years from a 

range of perspectives, in particular problems arising from anti-social 

behaviour. In this regard Kildare County Council recently adopted a policy on 

Preventing and Combating Anti-Social Behaviour. It is this Council’s objective 

to provide a service which is dedicated to eliminating anti-social behaviour 

and to adopt a proactive approach in the development of our local authority 

communities. 

It is also recognised that the most efficient method of combating anti-social 

behaviour is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Kildare County 

Council proactively prevents anti-social behaviour by employing Tenant 

Liaison Officers who are based in the Housing Department. These officers 

are responsible for dealing with all tenant complaints or reports of anti-social 

behaviour / nuisance. The officers are also involved in pre-tenancy training 

for new tenants. 


Tel: 045-980705 

Fax: 045-980704 

E-mail: housingasst@kildarecoco.ie

WASTE MANAGEMENT 


Disposal & Recycling 

In 2006 the Council provided a weekly refuse collection to approximately 

25,500 households, each producing an average 1¼ tonnes of waste every 

year – or 64,000 tonnes (including private operators) from all the homes in the 

county. In addition to the weekly residual waste collection, a dry recyclable 

collection currently takes place every four weeks. 

More people are recycling and composting their household waste and the 

introduction of pay-by-use refuse charges has reinforced this trend. The total 

dry recyclable material collected from households for processing was 4,510 

tonnes. 

The Council operates Civic Amenity Sites at Silliott Hill, Kilcullen and at 

Gallowshill in Athy. In addition to the standard bring-banks for glass, 

aluminium cans and textiles, the range of materials accepted at the recycling 

centres is expanding as new outlets for materials are developed. The list 

below sets out the range of materials currently accepted: 

Recyclables Household Hazardous 

Waste 

Corrugated Cardboard 

Greyboard 

Newsprint 

Magazines 

Waste Paper 

Plastics of Categories 1, 2 & 

4 only 

Glass Bottles 

Flat Glass 

Aluminium & Metal Cans 

Scrap Metal 

Clothes 

Electrical Goods 

Paints 

Varnishes 

Medicines 

Chemicals 

Aerosols etc 

Waste Oil 

Car Batteries


1,890 tonnes of waste was processed through the council’s recycling centres 

at Silliott Hill and Athy, which represents a slight increase on the previous 

year. 

Public bring banks were maintained by the council at forty sites around the 

county and these yielded a total of 2,800 tonnes of glass and 60 tonnes of 

cans. 

Battery collection facilities in 125 primary and secondary schools and the two 

civic amenity sites continued to be a success. The schools battery collection 

project helps to prevent this damage and to educate young people in the need 

for careful waste disposal. 

As well as providing recycling bins and bring banks the council continued to 

offer composting bins to the public at cost price. 

The community composting project for grass cuttings continues with three 

community groups utilising large custom-built composting units provided by 

the Council. 

Pollution Control 

The Council exercises its functions and duties under environmental pollution 

legislation by way of information, licensing and enforcement. It issues 

licenses to discharge trade effluent to waters/sewers in respect of premises 

used for carrying on a trade or industry, and issues Section 12 Notices 

requiring the carrying out of works necessary to prevent water pollution. 

Enforcement 

There is a continuing emphasis at national and local level on the enforcement 

of waste management legislation. To help achieve this the Council’s Waste 

Enforcement Officers concentrate on ensuring that Waste Operators hold the 

necessary permits for all waste operations including the operation of sites for 

the recovery of inert construction/demolition/excavation materials. 

Inspections took place at waste management facilities and activities to 

enforce regulations including waste permits, waste collection permits, illegal 

burning of waste and general waste management complaints. 

In 2006, the Council received 63 applications for waste collection permits. 51 

permits were granted and a further 27 renewed during the year. 

Upwards of 2,000 environmental complaints/queries were received during 

2006. Each complaint received in writing, via email, telephone, and the public 

counter is logged on the Environment database. All complaints are then 

referred to the Enforcement Team or other relevant staff member for attention. 

A Statutory Notice, warning letter or other relevant action may be required 

following investigation and depending on the nature of each complaint.


Education & Awareness 

Our Environmental Awareness Officer made 80 visits to schools and 

community groups (e.g. tidy towns) to create public awareness of waste 

issues and to promote good waste disposal practice in the community. 

The Green Flag Campaign is helping in this effort; 39 of the county’s schools 

had been awarded green flags by the end of the year and a total of 70 schools 

are registered for this distinction. The Council acts as a facilitator for schools 

who wish to become involved in this programme and actively encourages all 

schools to join this project. 

The Green-Schools Programme is funded by all participating local authorities, 

including Kildare County Council, through an annual payment directly to An 

Taisce. In addition, the Council provides materials and/or financial aid for 

appropriate projects for participating Green-Schools. 

As part of Kildare County Council's commitment to education in environmental 

matters, school tours of the Integrated Waste Management facilities at Silliot 

Hill and Athy take place on a regular basis during the school year. 

The council has also been creating awareness of waste management and 

other environmental issues through photographic competitions. The winning 

photographs from the 2006 environmental photographic competition were put 

on display in Newbridge, Celbridge and Naas libraries during the year. 

The litter wardens are the visible face of the Council’s various litter prevention 

strategies and represent a considerable opportunity to increase public 

awareness of the litter problem and the Council’s response to it. The wardens’ 

information activities include- 

∎ Attendance at meetings of community groups, residents associations 

and Tidy Towns committees to advise on their activities and discuss any 

litter-related problems. 

∎ Ongoing informal contact with involved parties, which enables the 

wardens to take immediate action in relation to new litter blackspots, 

fresh incidents of illegal dumping, abandoned cars etc. 

∎ Visits to retail, industrial and commercial premises in the county to 

advise owners, occupiers and staff members of their responsibilities 

under the Litter Pollution Act. 

∎ Meeting members of the public to discuss litter matters directly affecting 

them. 

∎ Visits to schools to publicise their presence and to discuss litter issues 

with students. 

A two-man mobile environmental crew is employed to undertake a range of 

functions including clean-ups of litter blackspots and illegal dumping, erection 

of “No Littering“ and related signage and monitoring of recycling facilities for 

littering. The crew liaise closely with the litter warden service in responding to 

such incidents.


Unfortunately education alone has not been sufficient to eradicate litter and 

the council has found it necessary to penalise offenders with over 1,000 fines 

issued for litter offences in 2006. 

National Spring Clean 

As usual the month of April was dedicated to promoting the National Anti- 

Litter Campaign – National Spring Clean. Tidy Towns Committees and 

Residents Associations received support through the provision of refuse and 

recycling bags, litter pickers, gloves and awareness raising of events taking 

place throughout the month. 

Various programmes aimed at community groups and residents associations, 

including Amenity Grant Schemes, Pride of Place Initiatives, etc are available 

to assist local voluntary effort. These schemes allow for the provision of litter 

bins, street furniture, plants and shrubs, and the improvement of green areas. 

Council staff also assisted individual tidy towns groups in the participation 

process of the National Tidy Towns competition. 


Tel: 045-980588 

Fax: 045-980587 

E-mail: environ@kildarecoco.ie

WATER – VITAL FOR LIFE 


The population of Kildare in 2002 was 163,944 and this has risen to an 

estimated 186,075 in the 2006 Census Report. This population growth 

requires expanding services and impacts heavily on water services. 

The total county demand per day is 79 million litres, which equates to 28 

million tonnes of water per annum. Of this supply 40% is used to serve the 

industrial/commercial sector. The average person uses approximately 150 

litres per day for everything from brushing teeth to showering. 

Kildare County Council purchases 95% of its water requirements from outside 

the county, primarily from Dublin City Council (at Ballymore) and Fingal 

County Council (at Leixlip). Kildare County Council is developing its own 

resources and has plans to abstract water from the wellfields at 

Hybla/Rathangan and Johnstownbridge /Robertstown. It is also proposed to 

abstract water from the River Barrow at Srowland, Athy. Construction on the 

Hybla/Rathangan wellfield is underway and is expected to be operational 

during 2007. 

It is hoped to commence construction on the Johnstownbridge /Robertstown 

project during 2007. It is expected that construction on the Srowland Athy 

project will go to tender in 2007. 

These indigenous resources will account for 40% of total water demand for 

the county by 2010. 

A number of major improvement projects were under construction in 2006; 

including the North East Kildare Regional Water Supply Scheme, Allenwood 

Sewerage Scheme, Straffan Sewerage Scheme, Ballymore Eustace to Old 

Kilcullen Watermain and Sludge Handling Facility at Osberstown. 

Water conservation continues to play a pivotal role in the control of the water 

supply in the county. The distribution network is regularly monitored to 

identify and repair leaks. Monitoring is assisted through the telemetry system, 

which provides information on network flows to our water supply section in 

Newbridge.


Water quality is tested on a regular basis to continue providing potable water 

to a high standard in the County. 


Tel: 045-980360 

Fax: 045-980359 

E-mail: watersection@kildarecoco.ie

HELP WHEN IT’S NEEDED 


The role of civil defence has been focussed almost entirely on peacetime 

activity for some years now, but the work of this voluntary service is still 

valuable and represents a significant contribution to the life of the community. 

The county’s sixty or so civil defence volunteers are trained in fire fighting, 

rescue, welfare, warden and radiation monitoring, first aid, search and 

recovery and communications. Training is very much a part of their life, with 

training ongoing on a weekly basis. Training sessions were held during the 

year in Athy, Naas and Carbury. 

Kildare Civil Defence were very busy this year due to their involvement with 

the Ryder Cup at the K Club. Kildare Civil Defence were assisted by Meath, 

Louth, South Tipperary, Dublin, Cavan and Waterford City Civil Defence 

Members. It was a fantastic experience for everyone 

Throughout the rest of the year Kildare Civil Defence gave their usual support 

to community events such as: 

∎ St. Patrick’s Day Parades 

∎ Easter Parade 

∎ Newbridge College Horseshow 

∎ Ballyteague Football Tournament 

∎ The Annual Turf Cutting Competition at Ticknevin 

∎ Nissan Irish Open Golf Tournament 

∎ Athy Water Festival 

∎ Punchestown Racing Festival 

∎ Budweiser Irish Derby and other racing events 

Kildare Civil Defence, in conjunction with Dublin Civil Defence, hosted the 

National Exercise in Maynooth on 9 September 2006 and it was a great 

success, with over 16 teams participating in the Casualty and AFS aspects.


On behalf of the wider community we would like to say “Thank you” to the 

people in Civil Defence who give of themselves and their time to help others. 


Tel: 045-980529 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: pmcneela@kildarecoco.ie 

Web: www.civildefence.ie

FIRE SERVICE 


Fire Brigade Operations 

During the past five years the Fire Service has attended a total of 7,771 calls; 

1,426 in 2002, 1,437 in 2003, 1,538 in 2004, 1,590 in 2005 and 1,780 in 2006. 

These figures show an increase of 25.5% over the five years, with the most 

rapidly growing category being outdoor fires, increasing by 154% over that 

period. 

The numbers of calls per station are shown in this table: 

Station 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 

Newbridge 414 374 372 410 454 

Naas 274 284 384 441 487 

Maynooth 261 220 250 268 318 

Leixlip 143 173 212 147 193 

Athy 216 248 237 215 205 

Monasterevin 118 138 119 109 123 

These calls are broken down by call type as follows: 

Fire Type 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 

Chimney 362 314 294 291 286 

Dwelling Fires 215 168 154 195 171 

Other premises 89 93 113 121 129 

Road Traffic Crash 206 171 148 192 156 

Other Rescues 49 33 38 42 43 

Flooding 38 8 2 3 9 

Outdoor Fires 204 370 440 358 518 

Motor Vehicle Fires 135 140 196 180 170 

Miscellaneous 74 17 24 44 61 

False Alarms 54 109 101 164 237 

Chimney Fires continue to decline, which is good. Attendance at Road Traffic 

Crashes also declined showing a decrease in the numbers of serious 

accidents requiring the service of the Brigade to extract people. There were 

no fire fatalities in 2006. 

As a result of the increases in outdoor fires, the Fire Service is purchasing 

additional equipment and special vehicles in order to increase its 

effectiveness and to protect the firefighters while engaged in this fire fighting 

activity.


The average turnout times for the various stations over the past five years are 

contained in the following table: 

Station 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 

Newbridge 6.6 7.2 7.5 6.6 6.6 

Naas 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.3 4.9 

Maynooth 5.6 5.7 5.5 4.5 4.3 

Leixlip 4.8 5.5 5.5 6.0 6.6 

Athy 7.9 5.4 5.4 6.0 5.8 

Monasterevin 5.8 5.8 5.5 5.7 5.8 

The Fire Brigade Attendance times for the year 2006 are as follows: 

Less than 10 minutes 26.4 % 

Between 10 and 20 minutes 59.8 % 

Greater than 20 minutes 13.8 % 

The high percentage of calls attended between 10 and 20 minutes is 

indicative of the number of calls received from outside the Station town 

environs. 

One of the highlights of the year in the Operations Department was the 

working of a day-manning system in Newbridge, during the construction of the 

new road-works associated with the Whitewater Development, to cope with 

the traffic congestion. This system worked well and may point the way to the 

future expansion of the service. 

The other highlight of the year was the Ryder Cup and the operation of the 

Fire and Rescue Service on the Heliport at the K Club, which was for the 

period the busiest Heliport in Europe. This service was provided from 

Monday through to the Sunday evening of the event and involved firefighters 

from across the county who were specifically trained by the Airport Training 

School at Dublin International Airport. Two four wheel drive fire tenders were 

adapted (with grant aid from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and 

Local Government) to provide this service. 

Other training provided during the year was for Recruits Induction and 

Breathing Apparatus and Basic Fire fighting. A new Jeep for the Duty Senior 

Officer was also purchased, as was a new Firefighters Alerter System with 

Grant Aid.


Fire Prevention and Safety 

The number of Planning Referrals dealt with by the Chief Fire Officer during 

the year was 962. 

The Prevention Department dealt with 510 Fire Safety Certificate applications, 

which was an increase of 17% over 2005, of which 447 were granted, I was 

refused, 77 were invalidated and additional information was requested on 146 

applications. 

There were 199 inspections of premises, 4 fire safety talks and 8 fireworks 

display applications dealt with. Two complaints were investigated and 21 

premises were inspected during performances. 


Central Fire Station, Newbridge, Co Kildare 

Tel: 045-431370 Fax: 045-432530 

E-mail: fireadmin@kildarecoco.ie


PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 

The implementation of the policies and objectives of the County Development 

Plan 2005-2011 continued throughout the year. A statutory manager’s report 

on the progress achieved in implementing the Plan will be prepared and 

presented to Members in 2007. Similarly, a manager’s report on the Naas 

Town Council Development Plan will be prepared for the Members of Naas 

Town Council in 2007. 

Progress continued on the preparation and adoption of local area plans for 

towns and villages in the county. A large number of local area plans are due 

for review during 2007 and 2008 and preliminary work has commenced on the 

preparation of these Plans. All local area plans are set within the context of 

national, regional and local planning policies, including the Regional Planning 

Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area and the County Development Plan 

2005-2011. We also strive to ensure that all plans accord with the principle of 

sustainability, facilitate economic and social progress, promote efficient use of 

land and safeguard the natural and built environment. The statutory 

requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulations 2004 

are also adhered to and a specialist interdepartmental SEA team has been 

established to aid this process. 

Work continued on the preparation of Action Area Plans for: 

∎ Carton Avenue, Maynooth (completed) 

∎ Rathangan Mill Site (completed) 

∎ Newbridge Town Centre (on-going) 

∎ Kildare Town Centre (on-going) 

∎ Craddockstown, Naas (on-going) 

∎ Donaghcomper, Celbridge (on-going) 

It is envisaged that these Action Area Plans will be completed in 2007. 

A number of projects arising from commitments in the Development Plans 

have also been commenced including: 

∎ Mayfield Cherryville Feasibility Study 

∎ Masterplan for North West Quadrant Naas 

∎ Architectural Conservation Area Naas and Athy 

∎ Athy Retail Study 

∎ Rural Housing Strategy Guidelines 

Other statutory commitments in 2006 included the implementation of the 

Court Order in relation to a proposed amendment to Newbridge Local Area


Plan and a variation of the County Development Plan in respect of the Kilcock 

Architectural Conservation Area, both completed. 


Tel: 045-980532 

Fax: 045-980540 

E-mail: mfoley@kildarecoco.ie

PLANNING 


Planning Applications 

A total of 2,989 planning applications were received during 2006. Of these 

283 were deemed invalid and returned to the applicants. The Planning 

Authority issued 1,777 decisions to grant and 499 decisions to refuse 

permission and 112 appeals were made to An Bord Pleanala. 

Pre-Planning Meetings 

Pre-planning meetings are designed to deal with prospective applicants for 

large scale residential or commercial developments. 284 formal pre-planning 

meetings were held in-house in 2006, which represents an increase of 62% 

on the number of meetings facilitated in 2005. 

Pre-planning clinics are designed to deal specifically with prospective 

applicants for a one-off house or small scale commercial development. Eight 

pre-planning clinics were held in our new offices during 2006, which were 

attended by 336 prospective applicants. 

Planning Enforcement and Prosecutions 

433 complaints of unauthorised development were investigated in 2006. 189 

warning letters were issued to developers. 130 enforcement notices were 

served on unauthorised developments. The Planning Authority initiated legal 

proceedings in 37 cases. 

Development Contribution Scheme 

The current development contribution scheme was adopted by Kildare County 

Council in February 2004. The Planning and Development Act 2000 required 

the local authority to make a development contribution scheme in order to 

fund the provision of public infrastructure and facilities that benefits and 

assists the County’s development. 

The scheme as adopted made provision for a review. This review has now 

commenced and is necessary in order to provide for the required public 

consultation process and to have in place an appropriate funding scheme that 

will ensure a continuation of the provision of the Capital Works Programme 

2007-2009. 

In 2006 Kildare County Council collected €45,170,954 which represents an 

increase of 85% on development contributions collected in 2005.


Urban and Village Renewal Programme 

The current Urban and Village Renewal Programme covers the period 2000– 

2006. Grants in the sum of €537,298.31 were received from the Department 

of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and these were applied 

to projects in Ballitore, Rathangan, and Clane. An extension of this 

programme was received during 2006 and projects for Naas and Kilcock will 

commence in 2007. Local funding of 8% of overall expenditure is a 

requirement of the scheme. 

Seven towns in the county qualify for tax incentives under the Urban and 

Town Renewal Schemes. The qualifying towns are Athy, Kildare, 

Castledermot, Kilcock, Kilcullen, Monasterevin and Rathangan. It was a 

requirement of the Urban Renewal Scheme (Athy and Kildare) that 

owners/developers of designated sites received certification from the local 

authority that a minimum of 15% of total expenditure had been incurred on or 

before 30 June 2003. The Minister for Finance confirmed in 2006 that the 

Urban and Town Renewal Schemes deadlines would be further extended by 

which qualifying expenditure can be incurred under the Urban Renewal and 

Town Renewal Schemes. This extension also applies to Registered Holiday 

Cottages, Holiday Camps, Hotels and Rural Renewal projects. In all cases 

the deadline is extended from 31 July 2006 to 31 December 2006 where 

existing conditions are met and further extended to 31 July 2008 where 

additional conditions are met. 

Prospective developers and property owners are advised to contact the 

council’s Planning Department for information on these schemes. 

Architectural Conservation 

The main body of work carried out in Architectural Conservation involved 

additions from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage to the live 

Record of Protected Structures for the County, including Naas & Athy, and the 

establishment of Architectural Conservation Areas, through the Development 

Plan review process. This work continued in 2006. The council’s 

Architectural Conservation Officer technically co-ordinates an annual 

Conservation Grants Scheme and also provides ongoing reports to the 

Planning Department, and other sections, on Declarations (Section 5 and 

Section 57 Exempt Development of the Planning & Development Act 2000 to 

2002), pre-planning meetings, current planning applications, local area plans, 

enforcement, compliance, Part 8 and Part 10 of Planning & Development Act 

2000 to 2002, Heritage Plan and Monuments (RMP, SMR, NMAC). 

Controlling Development 

Considerable progress has been made in the area of taking-in-charge of 

housing estates. 33 estates were advertised for the statutory taking-in-charge 

process in 2006 and, subsequently, 30 estates were formally taken-in-charge 

by full council. A total of 28 new residential developments commenced in 

2006. By the end of the year there were 293 active and completed estates 

being monitored by the Development Control Department.


Building Control 

1,087 commencement notices were received under building control law. 517 

applications were received for Fire Safety Certificates during the year. 


Tel: 045-980840 

Fax: 045-980834 

E-mail: plandept@kildarecoco.ie


SUPPORTING COMMUNITY AND 

ENTERPRISE 

County Development Board 

The Council, through its Community and Enterprise Directorate, provides the 

practical and financial support necessary to secure the work of the Kildare 

County Development Board. During the year the Board continued its work on 

the implementation of the country strategy Kildare 2012. Its function is to 

ensure that the policies of the bodies and interests represented on the Board 

accord generally with the strategy and that resources are optimised for the 

common good of the community. 

The Board conducted a review of its activities during 2005, analysing progress 

with the actions proposed for the first three years, 2002 to 2005, and 

identifying successes and lessons to be learned. Following this review, the 

Board launched its Kildare County Development Board review entitled, 

“Rural–Urban Dynamics in Kildare: Socio-economic Patterns and Trends” and 

the Kildare County Development Board, Education Audit. Based on findings 

from the review process, and on comprehensive research, it set out a revised 

Action Plan containing 18 main actions for the period 2006 to 2008. The 

Actions contained therein are as follows: - 

∎ County Research & Statistic’s Office 

To establish a County Research and Statistics Office, which facilitates 

the collation of up to date information to provide a centrally based data 

resource. 

∎ County Promotional & Marketing Strategy 

To develop and implement a countywide marketing and promotional 

strategy. 

∎ Community Service Providers Network 

To develop a countywide community service providers network aimed at 

providing a two-way link between operational staff in community 

organisations and the County Development Board. 

∎ Kildare Local Anti Poverty Strategy 

To develop an integrated countywide local anti-poverty strategy.


∎ Co-ordination of Youth Services 

To develop a co-ordinated approach to youth work provision in County 

Kildare, identify gaps in current service delivery and devise a countywide 

plan for youth services. 

∎ Interagency Response to the needs of Travellers 

To develop an interagency response to Traveller needs in County 

Kildare by actively and collectively supporting the local Traveller 

Development Agency – Kildare Traveller Action Ltd, in order that it may 

pursue its aims. 

∎ Parent Support Services 

To audit the current provision of support services for parents in the 

county and develop appropriate responses. 

∎ KNIT Project 

The Kildare Newbridge Intercultural Togetherness Project 

∎ Play Plan 

To prepare a co-ordinated, multi-agency County Play Plan, in 

consultation with children and communities, for the provision of improved 

play opportunities. 

∎ Community Voice in Policing 

To identify community safety needs in target communities and use 

models of best practice to develop area based responses. 

∎ Active Citizenship 

To support individuals and communities to participate in the local 

democratic process, to influence decisions which affect their lives, and to 

work collectively to build a strong sense of ownership and civic pride 

amongst the community in which they live. 

∎ Early School Leaving 

To implement a Youth Education Initiative specifically targeting young 

people at risk of early school leaving. 

∎ Outreach Training 

To co-ordinate inter-agency training opportunities in order to increase 

shared learning between agencies and provide a basis for increasing 

inter-agency work. 

∎ Education 

To develop an outline of education service provision in the county. 

∎ Rural Transport Services 

To develop a viable integrated rural transport service, which achieves full 

county coverage. 

∎ Transport Services 

To co-ordinate the delivery of public and private transport services in the 

county. 

∎ Tourism Strategy 

To review the current Tourism Strategy and revise its projections for the 

next three years.


∎ Community Impact Assessment 

To develop a model community impact assessment for use as an 

integral part of assessing developments in communities. 

The Board also made a submission to the Department of Justice, Equality & 

Law Reform in relation to community policing in Kildare. A Joint Policing 

Committee is now in place in Athy, representing a partnership process at local 

level involving the Garda Sìochana, the democratically elected Councillors, 

Oireachtas Members and the Community and Voluntary sector. This 

committee will inform best practice going forward with a view to the 

establishment of other Joint Policing Committees around the county. 

The Social Inclusion Measures Working Group (SIM), a sub-structure of the 

Board, continued its work during 2006. The main area of activity was the 

development of cohesion between the Local Development agencies (OAK, 

KELT and KCP) and the endorsement of the work plans of these and other 

agencies to ensure consistency with the County Strategy and to eliminate 

gaps and overlaps in service delivery. 

County Research & Statistics Office 

In September 2005 the County Research and Statistics Office (CRSO) was 

set up, as a result of recognition by the County Development Board that such 

a resource was greatly needed in the county. Its focus is on the collation of 

up-to-date information to provide a centrally based data resource. 

Its aims are as follows: 

∎ To gather data from all of the relevant agencies operating in County 

Kildare on all aspects of life e.g. social, economic, educational etc. 

∎ Secure a consensus on the recording, storing and sharing of Kildare 

specific data. 

∎ To gather such data to the finest geographic level possible, in particular 

on a sub county level to ED or sub ED level where possible. 

∎ To enhance the potential for information sharing between organisations 

within the county. 

∎ To conduct small neighbourhood area research within the county. 

∎ To collaborate with research and third level institutions in gathering and 

analysing data. 

∎ To use GIS to analyse and display data. 

The bulk of the offices work in 2006 was taken up with the compilation of a 

county profile entitled “Rural-Urban Dynamics in Kildare: Socio-economic 

Patterns and Trends”, which was launched in May 2006. A Strategic 

Mapping exercise for the Kildare County Childcare Committee was completed 

in Autumn 2006. For further information on the CRSO please contact Dr 

Martina Roche 045-980533.


Tourism and the Work of County Kildare Fáilte 

The Community and Enterprise Directorate works in partnership with local and 

regional tourism authorities to support the development of tourism within the 

county. The Council provides substantial financial support to County Kildare 

Fáilte and worked closely with it on several initiatives in 2006, including: 

∎ Supporting the production of marketing material and opportunities 

∎ Embracing information and communication technology for tourism 

development 

∎ Presenting a co-ordinated marketing approach 

∎ Developing links with adjoining counties 

∎ Engaging the trade 

Making Rapid Progress 

Athy’s designation as a RAPID area in 2002 led to the appointment of a 

RAPID Co-ordinator and the establishment of an Area Implementation Team, 

a partnership between residents, the town council and statutory and local 

development bodies. The RAPID Programme is managed through the 

Community and Enterprise Directorate. 

During 2006 RAPID secured and assisted access to funding from a number of 

sources in order to continue the implementation of the Athy RAPID Strategic 

Plan. 

This funding was available from a number of sources including the RAPID 

Leverage Funding schemes, which enable the delivery of actions to address 

issues identified by residents as priorities. In 2006 three schemes were 

completed: 

∎ Local Authority Housing Estate Enhancement Scheme 

∎ Traffic Measures Scheme 

∎ Sports Capital Top Up 

(Awarded to groups that are supported by RAPID to secure Sports 

Capital Funding) 

Other local and national funding was secured during 2006 to implement 

projects such as: 

∎ Installation of Community Based CCTV 

∎ The establishment of a Youth Café 

∎ Installation of a Mini Pitch 

∎ Capital and programme support for almost all local voluntary groups 

∎ Sports facility development

Key issues addressed by RAPID during 2006 included: 

∎ Facilities for Youth 

∎ Community Safety 


Community Participation is a key element of the RAPID Programme and 

during 2006 the RAPID Community Participation strategy included: 

∎ Community Voice in Policing 

∎ Neighbourhood watch established in local authority housing estates 

∎ Support for participants in Young Citizen Awards 

∎ KCC/FAI Development Officer providing activity sessions in local 

authority housing estates 

∎ Film skills programme for primary school children 

∎ Support for the establishment of Athy Outreach of Kildare Volunteer 

Bureau 

∎ Establishment of Athy Youth Forum. 

Grant Assistance to Communities 

The Community and Enterprise Directorate supports many community groups 

and continues to administer a series of grant schemes aimed at a wide range 

of activities in the county. €43,200 was paid to 38 community groups for 

projects involving young people, people with disabilities, women’s groups and 

local development. €30,700 was paid to support 25 festivals countywide and 

€45,500 was granted to assist the work of over 41 groups engaged in 

environmental type work under a new Amenity Grant Scheme, which was 

introduced in 2005. 

Education Bursaries 

The Council established a scheme to award two bursaries, specifically 

designed to provide third-level study opportunities to people who may not be 

in a position to undertake a course of study because of serious disadvantage 

or disability. The William G Carroll Bursary is mainly, but not exclusively, for 

third level courses in the field of community development. The Kildare 

Education Bursary for People with Disabilities is for any third level course. In 

2006, four bursaries were awarded to people with disabilities and five 

bursaries under the William G Carroll Scheme. Awards granted in 2006 

totalled €11,350. 

Tidy Towns and Pride of Place 

The Community and Enterprise Directorate continues to support the activities 

of the excellent work by many communities in the annual Tidy Towns 

competition. In 2006 €38,900 was paid to 33 Tidy Towns Committees in the 

form of grants and prizes to assist them in this work. A new local competition 

for Tidy Towns Committees was launched in 2006 - Kildare Where I Live – 

and €3,600 was paid out in prizes to eight winning towns, divided between 

three population categories.


The purpose of this competition was to increase interest in Tidy Towns 

activities and to boost local groups. Another new feature in 2006 was a grant 

scheme to encourage towns and villages to make an extra effort in September 

to create a welcoming atmosphere for the thousands of visitors who came to 

Kildare for the Ryder Cup. €19,000 was paid to eight communities who 

engaged in a wide range of exciting activities. 41 groups availed of the 

Amenity Grant for environmental type work in public open spaces and 

€45,500 was paid under that scheme. The Council was delighted to nominate 

Bishopsland, Kildare Town, (pop. < 500), Rathangan, (pop. >1,000 < 2,000), 

Athy, (pop. > 2,000 < 10,000) and Leixlip (pop. > 10,000) to represent the 

County in the all-Ireland Pride of Place competition. This competition aims to 

reward high levels of community activity and co-operation that help to improve 

the quality of life for everyone in an area. We were delighted with our 

performance again in 2006. Bishopsland and Leixlip, who both finished 

second in their categories, were justly rewarded for their efforts and Athy and 

Rathangan felt they had benefited from the experience and were proud to 

represent Kildare. 

Barcelona Declaration Project 

The Council signed the Barcelona Declaration in 2004, the aim of which is to 

advocate the rights of people with disabilities to equal opportunities and to 

recognise their contribution to society and the environment in which they live. 

By signing the Declaration the Council undertakes to improve access to public 

buildings, facilities and services. In 2005 an action plan for improved delivery 

of services was drawn up. 

Community and Voluntary Forum 

The Council continues to work with, and offers practical support to, the 

Community and Voluntary Forum as it develops a strong, representative voice 

for the community and voluntary sector in the county. The forum represents 

the sector on the Council’s Strategic Policy Committees and on the County 

Development Board, the County Childcare Committee and Kildare Sports 

Partnership, as well as on a number of other partnership projects. 

A Voice for Young People 

In 2006 the fourth Comhairle na nOg was held in Naas GAA Centre. The 

main aims of the Comhairle are: to consult with, and ascertain, from the youth 

of Kildare, opinions on issues affecting their day-to-day lives. Topics 

discussed at the Comhairle included; the Negative Stereotyping of Young 

people and Road Safety. A copy of the report can be obtained from Siobhan 

O Rourke, Community and Enterprise Department, 045 980538. 

County Kildare Twinning Committee Activities 

The year began with the running of the Twinning Committee’s Art Competition 

to select an entrant for the Sister Cities International Young Artist Program. 

The overall winner was Killian O Criodain from the Dominican College, 

Newbridge, and his entry “The Blossom of Global Citizenship” represented 

County Kildare in the worldwide Sister Cities International competition.


The Student Exchange Programme for Second and Third Level Students also 

took place in 2006. High school students from Lexington visited Kildare in 

June. Three students travelled from Maynooth College as part of the Third 

Level Exchange Programme. 

2006 marked the 50 th Anniversary of the Sister Cities International movement. 

Lexington invited a number of delegates from the Twinning Committee to 

participate in these celebrations from 13 th to 15 th July in Washington D.C. 

Participants at the conference noted the beneficial learning experiences 

derived from the process. Information sharing and networking served to add 

value to outcomes achieved. It was also felt that the process adopted in this 

twinning project could be used to inform best practice elsewhere. 


Tel: 045-980538 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: dce@kildarecoco.ie

ON THE ROAD 

Major Road Improvements 


N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme 

Work on improving the N7/M7 route from Dublin to the South progressed 

during 2006, with the completion of a third lane in both directions on the 15km 

section of Dual Carriageway between Rathcoole and the M7 Naas By-Pass 

Motorway. The work completed includes the construction of four 

interchanges, which eliminated the old signaled controlled junctions at Kill and 

Johnstown, and a number of unregulated crossings of the old dual 

carriageway. Despite the scale of the works, and the complexities imposed 

by the traffic volumes, the scheme was completed ahead of schedule and in 

advance of the Ryder Cup event. 

M7/N7 Route 

Following the completion of the Monasterevin By-Pass in 2004, and the 

landscaping and accommodation works in 2005, the “Enhanced Groundwater 

Monitoring Programme” in respect of Pollardstown Fen continued through the 

past year. 

N9 Kilcullen Waterford Northern Section - Kilcullen Powerstown 

This project involves the construction of 46km of high quality dual carriageway 

from the southern end of the M9 Kilcullen By-Pass to Powerstown, south of 

Carlow, on the existing N9. The project has been sub-divided into two 

contracts. 

The section from Prumplestown, South of Castledermot, to Powerstown, 

South of Carlow, 19kms in length, is currently under construction by Ascon 

Ltd with an expected completion date of mid-2008 

The remaining section of the project, from the southern end of the M9 

Kilcullen to Prumplestown, a distance of 27 km, will go to tender in 2007 and 

construction is expected to start in early 2008. This contract will also include 

an additional 12km of link road from the new dual carriageway to Athy. 

M4 Kilcock to Kinnegad 

The national primary route to the West of Ireland through North Kildare was 

improved in 2006 with the construction of the 39km wide-median motorway 

running from the M4 at Kilcock to west of Kinnegad.


This was a major Public Private Partnership scheme, which was completed 

ahead of schedule by the EuroLink consortium, and the road was officially 

opened on 12 December 2005. The project included the construction of 19 

overbridges, 7 underbridges and 3 underpasses with outstanding landscaping 

and accommodation works completed in 2006. 

Non National Road Improvement Work 

∎ Millennium Link Road, Naas 

∎ Caragh Road, Naas Re-alignment 

∎ Barberstown Cross to Straffan 

∎ Windgates to Taghadoe, Maynooth 

∎ Bond Bridge, Maynooth reconstruction 

∎ Kildare Bridge, Dunboyne Road, Maynooth 

∎ Turf Bog Lane, Kill 

∎ Improvements to Liffey Bridge in Leixlip 

∎ Newbridge Inner Relief Road 

∎ Improvements to Rickardstown Road, Newbridge 

∎ Improvements to Kill-Straffan Road 

A number of the above projects were undertaken in areas close to Straffan, 

the venue for the Ryder Cup. All of the work in these areas was completed on 

schedule, including work on the Straffan Village Improvement scheme, which 

greatly enhanced the appearance of the village during the event. 

The extensive infrastructural works associated with the opening of the 

Whitewater Shopping centre in Newbridge were completed in 2006 and has 

allowed the town to cope with the increased traffic flows generated by this 

development. Significant environmental improvements, in particular at St. 

Conleth’s Bridge, have been made as a result of this work. 

Work commenced on sections of the R402 (Edenderry to Enfield), and the 

part VIII planning process for areas subject to major improvement under this 

scheme was completed. This will facilitate further improvements work on the 

R402 during 2007. 

2006 Activity Levels 

In 2006, a new 3 year road restoration plan commenced to cover the period 

up to 2008. In 2006, 60km of roads were improved by means of the 

Restoration Improvement Scheme and 132km of the county’s roads were 

surface dressed under the Restoration Maintenance Scheme. 

All of the above works were managed through the Council’s Road Design, 

Construction or Maintenance sections.

Kildare Road Infrastructure 

County Kildare has an extensive network of roads totalling some 

2,243 kilometres as follows: 

Motorways 

National Primary 

National Secondary 

Regional Roads 

Local Roads 

64 

50 

30 

387 

1,712 


This extensive road network, coupled with increasing traffic volumes, will 

require Kildare County Council to continue to increase its investment in road 

improvements on all categories of road in the county in the coming years. 

Bye-Laws 

The following bye-laws were adopted by the members of Kildare County 

Council during 2006: 

On 31 July 2006 County of Kildare Speed Limit Bye-Laws 2006 were adopted 

and on 25 September 2006 Draft Parking Bye-Laws for Celbridge were 

adopted. 


Tel: 045-980421 

Fax: 045-980420 

E-mail: roads@kildarecoco.ie

HUMAN RESOURCES 


Training and Development 

The demands on the provision of services reflects the need for a modern, 

flexible, multi-skilled workforce, and training schemes are tailored accordingly, 

with the co-operation and participation of staff. 

Recruitment 

The staff complement for Kildare Local Authorities at 31December 2006 was: 

Core Staff Number Whole Time 

Equivalent 

Managerial 

Professional/Technical 

Clerical/Administrative 

Outdoor 

Supernumeries 

Total Core Staff 

6 

152 

384 

418 

35 

995 

Other Staff Number Whole Time 

Equivalent 

Contract Posts 

Site Supervisory Contracts 

Temporary/Seasonal Staff 

Others 

Total 

Overall Totals 

11 

16 

144 

11 

182 

1,177 

6.0 

150.5 

348.0 

347.0 

35.0 

886.5 

11.0 

16.0 

126.5 

5.0 

168.5 

1,045.0 

Retained Firefighters 60 30.0


The Department processed applications for various positions in relation to 48 

competitions that were held during the year. Applications were received as 

follows: 

660 male applicants 

652 female applicants 

As a result of the competitions held for the posts, the following numbers of 

applicants were deemed qualified and placed on panels: 

187 males 

129 females 

The following persons retired during 2006, having completed 482 years 

combined service: 

Mr Niall Bradley 

Mr Brendan Fanning 

Mr Edward Carberry 

Mr Edward Tracey 

Mr Patrick Loughrey 

Mr Joseph Woods 

Mr Andrew Piggott 

Mr Michael Dooley 

Mr Christopher Nolan 

Mr Patrick Kenny 

Mr Charles Love 

Mr John Murphy 

Mr Michael Kavanagh 

Mr John Keogh 

Mr Mary Lynch 

Mr James Doyle 

Mr Edward Noonan 

Mr Joseph McDermott 

County Manager 

Head of Information Technology 

General Operative 

Library Caretaker 

Road Foreman 

Library Assistant 

Road Foreman 

Senior Executive Technician 

Driver 

Ganger 

Caretaker 

Senior Engineer 

Executive Librarian 

General Services Supervisor 

Clerical Officer 


Mobile Library Driver 



Tel: 045-980740 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: hr@kildarecoco.ie

LEISURE FOR ALL 


The Council established a leisure services department in 1997 in response to 

growing demand for public-sponsorship of recreational facilities. The 

department was involved in the following activities during 2006: 

∎ Operation and development of swimming pools in Naas and Athy 

∎ Operation and development of Newbridge Sports and Leisure Centre 

∎ Co-ordinating phased development of North Kildare Sports Campus 

∎ Sports development in the county 

∎ Parks programme 

∎ Upkeep and development of walking routes 

∎ Grants for local sport and recreation clubs 

∎ Promotion of water safety 

∎ Development and maintenance of playgrounds 

Swimming Pools 

Naas Swimming Pool Continue to provide “cradle to grave” swimming 

experiences for the public. Pool staff provided a wide range of coaching 

including swimming lessons, aqua-fitness, snorkelling, water-safety, and 

canoeing for everybody from infants to senior citizens. The pool was open for 

3,465 hours during the year and had over 138,400 visitors. Development of 

the new pool is programmed to commence in the first term of 2007. 

Athy swimming pool was open for 2,220 hours during the year and had 

67,500 visitors. Essential plant maintenance necessitated some reduction in 

opening hours. It is hoped that work will start on the new pool in April 2007. 

Newbridge Sports and Leisure Centre 

Approximately 102,250 people visited Newbridge Sports and Leisure Centre 

with over 4,200 opening hours in 2006. The centre was awarded the leisure 

industry’s white flag for hygiene and environmental quality for the sixth 

successive year. The centre has grown in popularity from year to year and is 

a well-established part of recreational life in mid-Kildare. In 2006 the centre 

will undergo changes that will include upgrading the changing and toilet 

facilities and making the centre more accessible by providing a lift.


The playground attached to the centre is very popular and still attracts around 

90,000 visits per year. It has received recognition from special needs groups 

and very favourable comments from the Department of Health and Children, 

which identified the playground as an example of good practice, supporting a 

rich play environment 

North Kildare Sports & Leisure Campus 

In 2006 agreement was reached by all parties at Leixlip Amenities Centre for 

a three-phased approach to deliver the North Kildare swimming pool. It is 

envisaged that commencement of phase one, which will involve the Leixlip 

Amenities Centre gaining four astro pitches and Leixlip Tennis Club gaining 

six tennis courts, will take place early in 2007. 

Parks Programme 

An extensive tree maintenance and grass-cutting programme was undertaken 

in 2006. Major works completed and in development include: 

∎ Lishandra House amenity ground development (Celbridge) 

∎ Bishopsland improvement (Kildare Town) 

∎ Lourdesville (Kildare Town) 

∎ Fairgreen (Naas) 

∎ Avondale Drive landscape improvement (Kilcullen) 

∎ Castledermot Pitch and Putt Club re-development 

Supporting Community-Based Sport 

The council is a lead agency in the Kildare Sports Partnership Strategic Plan. 

Through this partnership a number of sports development programmes are 

offered to schools and communities. Our Leisure Services and Housing 

Departments work together to provide sport and recreational programmes, 

coaching and equipment to estates in towns and villages around the county. 

The service also facilitates the Kildare retirement activity network, which is 

based at our Sports Centre in Newbridge. 

Walking Routes 

The Leisure Services Department carried out maintenance work on walking 

routes and developed plans for the creation of new routes in Kildare Town 

and at Ballinafagh Lake. These projects are being undertaken in co-operation 

with Kildare Sports Partnership and the council’s heritage service.


Sports and Recreational Grants 

The following organisations in the county benefited from sports assistance 

grants:- 

Enable Ireland 

Ballyteague Football Club 

Setanta Archery Club 

Celbridge Paddlers 

Maynooth Football Club 

Liffey Celtic Basketball Club 

1 st /10 th Scouts Leixlip 

Celbridge Community Centre 

Kilcock Canoe Club 

Confey Football Club 

Kilcullen Tennis Club 

Leixlip Amenities Centre 

€20,000 

€15,000 

€950 

€9,500 

€10,000 

€900 

€6,150 

€9,000 

€6,000 

€10,000 

€10,000 

€17,500 

Water Safety 

New ring buoys were provided on high-risk waterways in Leixlip, Celbridge 

and Ardclough. New risk waterways have been identified and additional 

warning signs and ring buoys will be provided. Kildare Water Safety held a 

number of safety awareness weeks and classes in association with the 

council’s leisure services department. 

Playgrounds 

Plans for new playgrounds were developed, implemented and opened within 

2006 in the following areas : 

∎ Lourdesville Park (Kildare Town) 

∎ Bawnogues (Kilcock) 

Potential sites have been identified for inclusion as possible playgrounds 

within 2007 in the following areas: 

∎ Clane Village 

∎ Kilcullen 

∎ Kill/Johnstown 

∎ St. Laurence’s (Athy) 

∎ Monastervin 

∎ Clocha Rinca School, Moyvalley


Co-operation 

As part of the council’s link with Northern Ireland, a sports delegation, under 

the leadership of Mayor Dukes, travelled to Lisburn to strengthen sporting and 

cultural ties. 


Tel: 045-980203 

Fax: 045-980240

ICT ACTIVITIES 

Main Infrastructure Projects 


∎ Áras Chill Dara – IT move and co-ordination. Patching of telephones and 

PC points. Servers moved, installed and comms tested. 

∎ Planning, preparation and move of Motor tax office IT equipment 

Network Management and Maintenance 

∎ Back up procedures in place for all relevant servers (currently 3 servers). 

Procedures for test restores to ensure data is going to tape. 

∎ Antivirus software maintained on all servers. 

∎ 8,600 calls to the support desk dealt with during 2006 (13% increase 

over 2005) 

∎ SUS (Software Update Services) server upgraded to WSUS to deploy 

security updates to workstations. 

∎ 152 PC’s (up 30% over 2005) and 31 laptops (up 30%) and 7 servers 

were purchased, built and deployed during 2006. Older PC’s were 

rebuilt and re-assigned to other users. Below Spec PC’s were wiped, rebuilt 

and donated to schools and charities, others were dismantled and 

parts kept for re-use. Any unusable equipment was sent to Silliot Hill 

recycling facility for proper disposal. 

New Systems Introduced 

∎ Payroll (required 1 server) 

∎ Agresso 54 upgrade (required 2 servers) 

∎ Home System (required 1 server) 

∎ Identity Manager (required 1 server) synchronises Novell’s eDirectory to 

Windows Active Directory 

∎ Asset Management (required 1 server) comprehensive asset 

management utility. 

∎ Securemail for Naas Town Council parking fines system. 

∎ Phone system /IVR (management and configuration and updates) 

∎ Lights control system (Implementation and updates) 

∎ Window controls (management)

Infrastructure Improvements 

∎ WAN extension to all Fire Stations 

∎ Incident Room set-up in Áras Chill Dara 

Systems Upgrades 


∎ Fileserver upgrade NetWare 6 to 6.5 

∎ E-mail upgrade: GroupWise 6 to GroupWise7.1 – Includes webmail, 

Groupwise Mobile for synchronising between phone and mail server. 

Development Team Update 

∎ Development work was completed on the Public Planning Enquiry 

system. Enhancements to allow planning documents to be viewed online 

and changes made to make the system compliant with Accessibility 

standards. 

∎ Development work completed in preparation for the rollout of the 

employee Time Management System. Integration work was carried out 

to fully integrate the existing HR system with the new clocking system. 

∎ Pre-Planning: Implementation of Local Government Computer Services 

Board Pre-planning system in the Planning Department, to facilitate the 

process of pre-planning, to manage and report on the pre-planning 

process and assist in the compilation of Service Indicator information. 

∎ Councillors Training: Began eCitizen training programme for Councillors. 

The programme aims to make candidates aware of online information 

and service from a wide variety of areas and is divided into 3 blocks. 

Training programme will be continued during 2007. 

∎ Continued support, maintenance and enhancement of iPlan, HR System 

and Parking Fines systems. 

∎ ICT participated in an Excellence through Accessibility award. The 

National Disability Authority carried out this audit on the 8/9/11 August 

2006. It was recognised by the NDA that the County Council's website 

has been developed with accessibility in mind.

GIS Update 


∎ Update of the MapGuide Corporate Browser on the intranet, which 

allows all KCC staff access to all available Ordnance Survey mapping as 

well as relevant third party data sets for query and information purposes. 

∎ Update of all Ordinance Survey data to the relevant Map libraries and 

GIS systems. 

∎ Implementation of the following sections of the new Planning Register 

Datasets (PRD) system: Section 254, Section 97 and Section 5. 

∎ Development of a new GIS system for the County Development Plan for 

use on the intranet and for subsequent release to the public. This 

system allows users to view the County Development Plan in a GIS 

browser environment. 

∎ Final development of the public version of the GIS Planning System for 

release in the first quarter of 2007. This allows members of the public to 

view a map of all planning application sites on line. 

∎ Update of all Corporate Browser Data Sets. 

∎ Delivery of ‘Ask AutoCAD’ functionality to all MapGuide data capture 

systems. 

∎ Design Functionality Specification carried out for a Universal Online 

Digitising Tool to be delivered in the second quarter of 2007. 

Staff Training 

∎ Microsoft Certified Applications Developer (3 modules) IPA 

� Developing Web based Applications with VB.Net 

� Developing Windows based Applications with VB.Net 

� Developing XML Web services using ASP.net 

∎ Accessibility work shop 

∎ GroupWise 7 Installation and administration 

∎ ZenWorks 4 - 7 upgrade and NW 6 to NW 6.5 upgrade, Identity Manager 

installation- Advanced training 

∎ Citrix GoToAssist training 

∎ Telephone system training 

∎ Manual Handling Course 

∎ Higher Diploma in Computer Studies –(2 staff) 

∎ Course 3071- Linux fundamentals 

∎ SafePass course 

∎ GPS Basics Course 1 day 

∎ GPS Mapping Course 1 day

∎ Introduction to VB.NET - 2 Staff Members 

∎ Microsoft Certified Applications Developer - 2 Staff Members 

∎ Cascading Style Sheets - 3 Staff Members - 2 KCN 

∎ Accessibility Workshop - 2 Staff Members - 1 KCN 



Tel: 045-980483 

E-mail: his@kildarecoco.ie

ARTS SERVICE 


‘Making Inroads: An Arts Development Plan for Kildare County Council 2006- 

2011’ was adopted by Council in October 2006. 

The plan outlines strategic objectives for key development areas including 

Arts in Health, Youth Arts, Arts in Education, Public Art, Social Inclusion and 

in specific art forms - Visual Arts, Theatre, Film, Dance, Architecture, Music 

and Literature. 

The implementation of the Per Cent for Art was a key part of the 2006 

programme, with 13 commissions awarded for housing schemes countywide, 

including permanent art works and a portrait series. 

Julian Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed trainer facilitated a weeklong workshop 

series, for artists and community workers, examining social issues, through 

forum theatre. 

Temporary Foray, a critical debate arts lecture series, was established in early 

2006 and was complemented by an autumn Artists Symposium which took 

place in Whites Castle, Athy. 

Renowned musician Frankie Lane was commissioned by Council to work with 

a group of traditional musicians from the County to produce a quality 

recording of traditional music. The CD, ‘Ceol Galore’, was launched in 

Riverbank. 

The Laban Guild Community Dance Leaders course continued and a new 

dance programme, exploring dance with disability, was established in 

association with Moore Abbey Services. 

Graduates of the second Certificate in Community Arts for Community 

Development course, co-ordinated by the Arts Service, were awarded 

certificates by Dr Anne Ryan, NUI, Maynooth in November.


Meanwhile, Riverbank Arts Centre embarked on a series of partnership 

projects. An open submission, group exhibition ‘Blank Canvas’, took place in 

Riverbank and in Whitewater Shopping Centre, to extend the audience for 

visual arts. Also supporting the arts outside the walls of the centre, the 

acclaimed Dublin Gospel Choir with special guests performed in St Conleth’s 

Church, Newbridge. 


Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare 

Tel: 045-448318 

Fax: 045-432490 

E-mail: lrussell@kildarecoco.ie 

Web: www.kildare.ie/library


LIBRARIES – MILESTONES IN 2006 

Leixlip library opened in 2006 with a wide range of new services. Additional 

financial investment by the Council resulted in the service being available to 

the community for fifty one hours per week, including two late nights, 

Saturdays and lunchtime opening. The library service is actively involved in 

the provision of accessible services to people with disability and this 

commitment is reflected in the design and fit-out of this particular library. 

Information on services is provided in a variety of languages, while the 

bookstock includes multi-media and multi-lingual material. Study facilities, 

access to IT facilities and internet and generous accommodation/services for 

children and young people are key features of this contemporary community 

library. The provision of music rooms, complimented by a music residence 

programme, signals Kildare County Council’s determination to provide 

opportunities for citizens to engage with literature, the arts, information and 

education in their own local community. 

A five year Development Strategy for libraries will come before Kildare County 

Council in 2007. This strategy will link directly with the County Strategy and 

Kildare County Council’s Corporate Plan. Books and reading will remain a 

cornerstone of library service, but other ‘technologies’ such as the spoken 

word, film, theatre, music, dance and storytelling will increasingly feature in 

library programmes, with continued commitment to providing access to 

information technologies and systems. The community library network 

countywide will actively develop its role as a key agent in promoting the 

intrinsic value of ideas and knowledge within the Council’s overall role in 

nourishing active citizenship. 

The National Economic and Social Forum announced a call for submissions 

on Cultural Inclusion in 2006 in the areas of Libraries, drama and the Arts. 

Kildare County Council made a substantial submission highlighting the role 

that Library and Arts Services play in providing culturally inclusive 

opportunities. The Council also participated in a number of follow-up 

workshops. We look forward to the publication of the final report. 

The Council was invited to participate in the National Disability Authority’s 

Annual Research Conference in 2006, which resulted in a presentation on 

‘Changing Minds/Changing Practices’; Kildare County Council’s experience in 

piloting accessibility training programmes for staff.


Monasterevin library will move to new premises in 2007, thus fulfilling our 

objective of creating an accessible, enhanced service to the local community. 

A submission to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local 

Government was made in relation to a new Community Library for Kildare 

town. We look forward to progressing this project in 2007. 

Given the growing population of the County, and the need for accessible 

cultural/educational opportunities, the Council has made a submission to the 

Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to design and 

develop a Central Library for the County at Newbridge. We look forward to 

working towards the design of this exciting cultural educational project in 

2007. This project, if realised, will be a flagship nationally in that it will be 

designed to provide access to lifelong learning opportunities through new 

relationships with education providers. Kildare County Council will actively 

participate in a new initiative, led by An Chomhairle Leabharlanna, to provide 

people with joined-up access to cross-sectoral libraries including universities, 

the National Library and specialist library collections. 

The library service completed a draft marketing plan in 2006, which will be 

implemented in 2007 onwards in order to alert citizens to the broad range of 

services and programmes available throughout the network. 

2006 saw the launch of ‘Kildare History and Society’ by the Mayor. This is a 

rich collection of contributions from eminent historians who reflect on the 

diverse aspects of this county’s history. Kildare County Council, through the 

Local History and Archive Department, supported the research for this 

publication and also made a financial contribution. The publication is a major 

milestone in the conservation and promotion of this county’s history. 

The purchase of a new accessible mobile library is now well advanced and 

will be launched in 2007. This is a very well used service and is a key 

element of our commitment to inclusion, in that it serves smaller communities 

who do not have a permanent library. 

Our County Archivist joined us towards the end of 2006 and will be working 

with our Local Studies Librarian and Genealogist to develop enhanced 

facilities as part of the Central Library concept. A development strategy for 

archives will be published as part of our five year Development Plan.


The Quaker Museum in Ballitore enjoyed a very successful year, with an 

increased number of visitors over the summer period. An exhibition, reflecting 

the village’s Quaker heritage, was completed in 2006 and will be on 

permanent display at the museum from 2007. This exhibition of needlework 

was created by local adults and children and represents an ‘archive’ of how 

local people value their heritage in the 21 st Century. 

The Council’s services to teachers and students in primary schools was 

developed in 2006 to include an innovative reading development programme, 

which combines reading, storytelling and textile skills. Entitled ‘Threading 

Tales’ the initial programme took place with schools in the Curragh 

community. This first phase culminated in a visit by President McAleese who 

welcomed the programme as an imaginative and effective way to promote a 

love of reading and storytelling with parents, teachers and children. 

Threading Tales is now up and running in Athy, at the Travellers Centre. This 

phase of the programme is co-ordinated by a member of the Travelling 

Community, working with our schools librarian, storyteller in residence and 

textile artist in residence. This phase is entitled ‘Pictureogs’ and we look 

forward to publishing the many stories, songs, paintings and textile works 

emerging in 2007. 

Kildare County Council will provide a series of workshops for teachers 

interested in the ‘Threading Tales’ process beginning in January 2007. The 

workshops will be hosted by Kildare Education Centre. The ‘Threading Tales’ 

initiative will also be available as a resource pack and publication in late 2007. 

The introduction of Broadband to some of our libraries has greatly enhanced 

the quality and speed of our public IT services and we have received very 

positive feedback from users. We will continue to introduce Broadband to the 

remaining libraries in 2007. 

The Council’s determination to provide accessible services to people with 

disabilities made good progress in 2007 in libraries. Works to Naas, 

Celbridge and Kilcullen libraries is well advanced, while a whole range of 

assistive technologies were introduced countywide. Our library collections 

significantly increased to include multi-media materials suitable for different 

needs including toys and games. 

A staff awareness handbook relating to disability was introduced by the library 

service complimented by staff guides on furniture, signage and good practice 

generally. A series of staff training presentations were also developed. 

Online library services and website were completely reviewed in 2006 and is 

now available on www.kildare.ie. 

A new delivery van was acquired in 2006, which facilitates faster delivery of 

books and multi-media to our countywide network.


National Children’s Book Festival was very successful in our library network in 

2006 with a programme of events in all main libraries and is a key example of 

the benefits of Library and Arts Services. 

Over 500 events relating to writing, storytelling, exhibitions, local history, 

music, art and many more occurred throughout our library network in 2006. 

A new staffing structure will be introduced in 2007 as part of a National 

Programme, which will strengthen library services planning and development 

strategies 

Stock Collection Policy is now in place. The aim of this policy is to ensure that 

Library Service enables access to all citizens of Kildare to learning, 

information and cultural expression. Each Library will target particular key 

groups for whom appropriate material will be provided. This will be closely 

monitored to ensure that real community needs are being met. 

The principle of valuing cultural diversity spans all library policies and in 

relation to stock will result in specific and generous investment in inclusive 

formats. Our focus is to reflect diversity in cultural mores, faiths and 

languages and all forms of creative expression appropriate to public library 

service. 

Headquarters: 

Riverbank, Newbridge, Co Kildare 

Tel: 045-431109 

Fax: 045-432490 

E-mail: colibrary@kildarecoco.ie 

Web: www.kildare.ie/library

HERITAGE 

Heritage Plan Projects Implemented in 2006 


∎ Guidelines on the appropriate use of farmhouses and associated 

buildings were published. 

∎ A database on natural heritage datasets as they relate to County Kildare 

was prepared. 

∎ A survey of hedgerows in the County, to include extent, composition, 

condition, management and historical aspects, was conducted. 

∎ A study of Museums and Heritage Centres in Co Kildare was carried out 

and a training course held for museum operators. 

∎ A Graveyard Management Training Course was held. 

∎ Two Conservation Plans were prepared – Donacompher Graveyard and 

Passlands. 

∎ For the second year a Birds in the Schoolyard Project was carried out. 

Other Heritage Projects Included: 

∎ Heritage training for Tidy Towns Groups. 

∎ Development of a Heritage website. 

∎ Co-ordination of Heritage Week and production of “Heritage Week 2006 

in Kildare” leaflet. 

∎ Co-ordination of biodiversity and conservation training for all Kildare 

County Council staff. 

A total of €110,000 was spent on the implementation of the Heritage Plan and 

other heritage projects in 2006. €75,500 was secured from the Heritage 

Council and €5,000 from other Heritage Plan partners, including Kildare 

Education Centre and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local 

Government.


The Heritage Officer continues to provide on-going advice to Local Authority 

staff and members of the public on all aspects of heritage. 


Tel: 045-980200 

Fax: 045-980834 

E-mail: heritageofficer@kildarecoco.ie

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 


The number of applications received in 2006 was 38, of which 2 were 

requests for personal information, with 36 being requests for non-personal 

information. 

Requests were dealt with as follows: 

12 requests granted 

11 requests part-granted 

10 requests refused 

1 request was withdrawn and dealt with outside of Freedom of Information. 

There were 4 applications for internal review and no appeals were lodged with 

the Information Commissioner. 


Tel: 045-980200 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: foi@kildarecoco.ie


MAKING EDUCATION POSSIBLE 

This Council provides grants, on a means-tested basis, for third level 

education. In 2006 480 new grant applications were received and these were 

processed in addition to 583 grants renewed from previous years. The 

number of new applications increased by 3% over that received in 2005, while 

the number of renewals increased by 4.9%. 

The Higher Education Grant consists of two parts; a maintenance grant, 

where applicable, and a fees grant that covers the College Registration Fee at 

undergraduate level. Tuition fees at postgraduate level are covered, subject 

to a maximum fee limit, set annually by the Department of Education and 

Science. 

Grant applicants can do a great deal to help themselves, and have a muchimproved 

change of early payment, by ensuring that application forms are 

fully completed and that complete details of family income are submitted 

before the closing date. Submission of incomplete applications will invariably 

delay the payment of grants to applicants. 

The value of grants paid in 2006 was €3.65 million, representing: 

∎ A significant contribution to equality of access to education 

∎ A vote of confidence in students 

∎ A major investment in the county’s economic future. 


Tel: 045-980202 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: heg@kildarecoco.ie

REGISTERING YOUR VOTE 


Each year the council publishes a list or register of all those entitled to vote in 

the county. This includes voters in local, Dáil, presidential and European 

elections as well as referenda. 

While each voter is responsible for ensuring his or her own registration, this 

year, in order to secure significant improvements in the accuracy and 

comprehensiveness of the Register, the Council, in conjunction with all other 

local authorities, launched a campaign to update the Register for 2007/2008. 

As part of this campaign 75 additional staff were employed and subsequent to 

this work approximately 40,000 amendments were made to the Register. 

An extensive publicity campaign also accompanied the campaign and has 

raised the interest in the Register to an all time high and encouraged 

individuals to play their full part in ensuring that they are correctly registered. 

All of this work ensured that the Register published at the end was an 

improved Register. 

The draft register for 2007-2008 was published on 1 November 2006 and the 

total number of electors on it was 123,491. The draft register was put on 

public display in post offices, garda stations, libraries and county council 

offices across the county. 

In addition to the register being available in post offices, garda stations, 

libraries and council offices, you can now check the register on-line – just log 

on to www.kildare.ie/countycouncil and follow the menu. 


Tel: 045-980201 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: regelectors@kildarecoco.ie

WORKPLACE PARTNERSHIP 


‘Workplace Partnership’ is the ‘way we do things, not something we do’’ 

in Kildare Local Authorities. It is the agreed method for managing change 

within the local authority sector. Each local authority has its own respective 

Workplace Partnership Committee. Kildare Local Authorities Workplace 

Partnership Committee is nominated by and representative of management, 

unions and employees within Kildare Local Authorities. 

Consensus is the method used for decision-making. The ‘‘Workplace 

Partnership Framework’’ is recognised as the method for implementation of 

the 

“Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act 2006’’. 

During 2006 the committee met on ten occasions and dealt with the following 

agenda items :- 

∎ Implementation of recommendations from Workplace Review 

∎ Return to Learning 

∎ Flexitime 

∎ Time Management System 

∎ Sustaining Progress Action Plan and Progress Report 

∎ Absenteeism Policy 

∎ Induction Training 

∎ Flexible Opening Hours 

∎ Áras Chill Dara (issues associated with moving to and occupying new 

civic office) 

∎ Provision of information on Public Private Partnership’s 

∎ Employee Well Being Programme 

∎ Staff Identity/Dress Code 

∎ Review of Dignity at Work Policy 

∎ Provision of Corporate Health Screening Programme 

∎ Production of Staff Newsletter 

∎ Implementation of recommendations from Review of Workplace 

Partnership 

∎ Introduction to Performance Management Development System 

∎ Protocol for Decision Making in Workplace Partnership process 

∎ Development of Internal Communications Policy 

∎ Canteen Monitoring

∎ Staff Recruitment 

∎ Sustaining Progress Action Plan and Progress Report. 



Tel: 045-980273 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail: pmooney@kildarecoco.ie

MEASURING UP 


Nationwide service indicators for local authorities were introduced in 2003 and 

applied formally in 2004. The tables below show the 2006 results for Kildare 

County Council. 

The indicators give a picture of how the council performed 42 of its functions. 

While this information is useful for citizens, government departments and for 

the council itself, it must be borne in mind that the indicators are not balanced 

between one local authority and another to take account of disparities in 

resources, especially in funding. 

Arts and Cultural Services 

A&C 1 Number of Arts Grants Total value of arts grants paid 

paid 

per 1,000 population 

Community Participation and Co-operation 

85 1404.03 

CP 1 % of local schools involved in the 

local Youth Council/Comhairle na 

nÓg scheme 

41 

Corporate Issues 

Sick Leave 

C 1 % of working days lost to sickness absence 

through: 

Staff Training 

Certified 

leave 

Un-certified leave 

3.64 0.678 

C 2 Expenditure on training and development as a % of total payroll costs 

5.94

Environmental Services 

River Channels 


E1 Percentage of river channels which are: unpolluted slightly moderately seriously 

polluted polluted polluted 

33 35 28 4 

Drinking Water 

E2 - Percentage of drinking water analyses results Public Private schemes (where 

in compliance with statutory requirements 

with regard to: 

schemes appropriate) 

99.4 97 

Fire Service 

E3 Average time, in minutes, to mobilise fire 

brigades in: 

Fire Service 

Full-time Part-time stations 

stations (retained fire services) 

N/A 5.77 

E4 Percentage of attendances at scenes where: First First attendance is First attendance 

attendance is at scene after 10 is at scene after 

at scene minutes but within 20 minutes 

within 10 

minutes 

20 minutes 

26.5 60 13.5 

Fire Safety Certificates – Fire Prevention 

E5 Total Number of fire safety Total number of fire safety certificate applications 

certificate applications received processed 

517 497 

Household Segregated Waste 

E6 Percentage of households provided with segregated waste collection 

97.5 

Household waste collected which is sent for recycling: 

E7 Tonnage 14,408 

% of household waste collected 26.8 

Household waste collected which is sent to landfill: 

E8 Tonnage 39,339 

% of household waste collected 73.2

Recycling Facilities 

E9 Total number of 

facilities: Glass 


E9 Total number of 


Cans Textiles Batteries Oils Other 

40 40 22 126 2 2 


locations per 5000 

population: Glass 

1.07 


1.07 0.59 3.38 0.053 0.053 

E9 Tonnage of waste 

collected for recycling 

per 5000 of population: 

Glass 


75.12 1.62 6.64 0.83 0.75 49.13 

Number of bring sites: Cans 

Textiles Batteries Oils Other 

Glass 

38 

38 

20 124 0 0 

E9 Number of civic amenity 

sites: Glass 


2 2 2 2 2 2 

Litter Wardens 

E10 Total number of litter 

wardens: 

Litter Prosecutions 

Full-Time Part-Time Number of Litter Wardens (both 

Full-Time and Part-Time) per 

5000 population 

2 7 0.2419 

E10 Number of on-the- Number of 

Number of prosecutions secured 

spot fines prosecution cases 

taken because of 

non-payment of onthe-spot 

fines 

1461 68 12

Litter Pollution 

E10 Percentage of 

areas within the 

local authority that 

are: 

unpolluted ( litter- 

free) 

Slightly polluted 

with litter 


Moderately 

polluted ( 

with litter) 

Significantly 

polluted (with 

litter) 

Grossly 

polluted 

21.2 47.9 17.8 13.1 0 

Environmental Complaints & Enforcement 

E11 Environmental Total number of Number of Number of enforcement procedures 

Complaints and cases complaints complaints taken 

Enforcement: concerning 

environmental 

pollution (relating to 

waste, litter, water 

pollution, noise 

pollution, airpollution) 

investigated 

2,112 1,634 169 

School Environmental Campaigns 

E11 Percentage of 

schools 

participating in 

environmental 

campaigns: 

Primary Schools Secondary Schools 

64.4 55.5 

HOUSING 

HOUSING VACANCIES 

H1 Total number Overall % of Overall % of Overall % of % of empty % of empty 

of dwellings in dwellings that dwellings that dwellings that are dwellings dwellings 

local authority are let are empty subject to major unavailable available for 

stock 

refurbishment 

schemes 

for letting letting 

2005 2,958 98.24 1.76 0.068 53.85 46.15 

H2 Average time taken to re-let dwellings available for letting (in weeks) 

14.15 

H3 Number of repairs completed as a % of the number of valid repair requests received 

88.76 

(with 

litter)


H4 Average time (days) Shared Ownership application for housing authority 

taken to inform housing scheme housing loans housing 

applicants of local (in days) 

scheme 

(in days) 

authority's decision on 

applications for: 

(in days) 

5.9 5 7.96 

H5 Traveller Accommodation - Total number of traveller families accommodated as a % of 

the targets set in the local traveller accommodation programme 

80 

Library Services 

Public Opening Hours 

L 1 Average number of opening Average number of opening hours per week 

hours per week for full-time 

libraries 

for part-time libraries 

Membership 

34.58 14.6 

L 2 

Items issued 

Number of registered library members as a % of the local population 

17.31 

L 3 Number of items issued per 

head of population 

(county/city wide) for: 

Books Other Items 

Internet access 

2.23 0.21 

L 4 % of libraries that offer internet access to the public 

100 

L 5 Number of internet sessions provided per 1,000 population served 

Motor Tax 

M1 Number and % of motor 

tax transactions which are 

dealt with: 

163.89 

over the 

counter 

No. 123,492 

%54.06 

are dealt with 

by post 

No. 40,130 

%17.57 

Number that are dealt 

with in other ways (e.g. 

on-line or phone) 

64,816 

%28.37

M2A 

Number of postal 

applications which are 

dealt with (i.e. disc/driver 

licence issued) from 

receipt of the application: 

on the same on the third 

day day or less 


on the fifth 

day or less 

over five 

days 

2,544 10,593 5,769 21,224 

M2B % of overall postal applications which On the On the On the 

are dealt with (i.e. disc/driver licence same third day fifth day 

issued) from receipt of the application: day or less or less 

6.34 26.40 14.38 

M3 Public opening hours - average number of opening hours per week 

27.50 

Over five 

days 

52.89 

Planning and Building Control 


P1 A Number of applications Individual Housing 

Other not Other requiring 

decided: 

House Development requiring an EIA an EIA 

951 147 1,388 12 


P1 B Number of decisions Individual House Housing Other not requiring Other 

decided within 8 weeks 

Development an EIA 

requiring an 

EIA 

342 42 724 1 

Number of decisions which 

required the submission of 

further information 

606 101 657 11 

Number of decisions where 

an extension of time was 

agreed to by the applicant, 

under section 34(9) of the 

Planning and Development 

Act 2000 

3 4 3 0 

P1 C Average length of time (in Individual House Housing Other not requiring Other requir- 

days) taken to determine an 

application where further 

information is sought (days): 


ing an EIA 

66.82 91.55 66.09 121.42



P1 D % of Grants Individual House Housing Other not requiring Other 


requiring an 

EIA 

57.2 76.19 94.45 83.33 


P1 E % of Refusals Individual House Housing Other not Other requiring 

Development requiring an EIA an EIA 

42.797 23.8 5.54 16.66 


P1 F % of cases where the Individual House Housing Other not Other requiring 

decision was confirmed with 

or without variations, by An 

Bord Pleanála 


66.03 81.81 76.66 83.33 

P1 G % of cases where the Individual House Housing Other not Other requiring 

decision was reversed by 

An Bord Pleanála 


33.96 18.18 23.33 16.66 

Enforcement 

P2A Total number of cases Total number of Number of Number of Number of pros- 

subject to complaints that cases subject to enforcement enforcement ecutions 

were investigated 

complaints that procedures procedures 

were dismissed taken through taken through 

warning letters enforcement 

notices 

493 47 216 138 38 

P2B Total number of cases 

subject to complaints that 

were resolved through 

negotiation: 

59 

Planning Opening Hours 

P3 Public opening hours - Average number of opening hours per week 

33.58


Planning Consultations 

P4A Pre-Planning Consultation – Number of pre-planning consultation meetings held 

639 

P4B Average length of time (in days) from the request for 

7.06 

consultation with local authority planner to actual 

formal meeting for pre-planning consultation. 

Planning - Buildings inspected 

P5 Building inspected as a % of new buildings notified to the local authority 

2005 27.41 

Recreational Services 

Playgrounds 

Rec 1 Number of children's playgrounds directly provided by 

per 1,000 population: 

the local authority 

facilitated by the local 

authority 

0.075 1 

Swimming Pools 

Rec 1 Number of visitors to local authority facilitated swimming facilities per 1,000 

population 

1196 

Revenue 

Housing Rent 

Rev 1 Amount collected at year % of arrears 4-6 % of arrears 6- % of arrears more than 

end as a percentage of 

amount due 

weeks old 12 weeks old 12 weeks old 

81 N/A N/A N/A 

Housing Loans 

Rev 2 Amount collected at year Percentage of Percentage of Percentage of arrears 

end as a % of amount arrears 1 month arrears 2-3 more than 3 months old 

due 

old 

months old 

75.83 

Commercial Rates 

N/A N/A N/A 

Rev 3 Amount collected at year end as a % of amount due 

96.09 

Refuse Charges 

Rev 4 % of households paying refuse charges at year end 

79.62

Non-domestic water charges 

Rev 5 Amount collected at year end as a % of amount due 

Roads 

Surface Dressing 

R 1 Local and Regional roads surface 

66.99 


% of local and regional road surface 

dressed per annum (square 

metre) 

dressed per annum 

646,645 5.1 


Tel: 045-980206 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail:


MEMBERS CONFERENCES – 

HOME & ABROAD AND TRAINING 2006 

HOME 

Theme Venue Date No of 

Delegates 

Total 

Cost 

Spring Seminar Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny, 10/11.02.06 

Co Donegal 

5 3683.44 

Celtic Tourism Conference Marriott Druids Glen Hotel 

and County Club, 

Newtownmountkennedy, 

Co Wicklow 

15/16.02.06 2 875.05 

21 Century Infrastructure for The White House Hotel, 16.02.06 4 2216.17 

21st Century Tourism Ballinlough, 

Co Roscommon 

12th Annual Conference – Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis, 17.02.06 4 2277.33 

The Region and the N.D.P. 

2007-2013 

Co Clare 

17th Colmcille Winter Heritage Colmcille Heritage Centre, 24/26.02.06 3 2552.53 

School 

Gartan, Churchill, 

Letterkenny, Co Donegal 

Maintaining a sense of Castle Hotel, Macroom, 02.03.06 2 1429.26 

community in rapidly 

expanding towns. 

Co Cork 

Environs Business 2006 RDS 

Dublin 

Annual Conference 2006 Fairways Hotel, Dundalk, 

Co Louth 

Green Waste Composting Clanard Hotel, 

Athy, Co Kildare 

Safe Driving Conference - Old Ground Hotel, 

Death on Roads - What can 

we do 

Ennis, Co Clare 

Annual Conference 2006 Dolmen Hotel, 

Kilkenny Road, Carlow 

Sustainable Development in Ostan Manor West Hotel, 

Designated Sites 

Tralee, Co Kerry 

The Global Energy Picture 

Business Forum 

NUI Galway - Charles 

O'Connor - Ballinagare 

Conference 

Mansion House, 

Dublin 2 

Cruachan Ai Heritage 

Centre, Tulsk, 

Co Roscommon 

08/09.03.06 2 206.30 

09/11.03.06 3 1664.19 

14.03.06 0 0 

22/24.03.06 4 3320.91 

23/24.03.06 2 899.97 

31.03.06 2 1234.22 

05.04.06 2 295.22 

07/09.04.06 5 3096.56

Conferences Contd./… 


The Law of Defamation Earl of Desmond Hotel, 

Tralee, Co Kerry 

08.04.06 4 2699.89 

Local Government – 

Newpark Hotel, 

20/21.04.06 5 2719.80 

Delivering the Future Now Kilkenny 

Women's Journey Knockranny House Hotel, 

Westport, Co Mayo 

21/22.04.06 4 2837.68 

International Festival 

of Peace 

Tipperary Town 21/23.04.06 2 847.15 

Dealing with Waste Downings Bay Hotel & 

Conference Centre, 

Downings, Co Donegal 

24/26.04.06 2 2047.57 

Annual Kerry Environmental Golf Hotel, Ballybunion, 26/29.04.06 5 4653.85 

Recognition Conference Co Kerry 

The Battle of the Boyne Europa Hotel, 

Drogheda, Co Meath 

27/29.04.06 4 2660.16 

What Lies Ahead - how will we Longford Arms Hotel, 28/01.05.06 2 950.07 

heat our homes and 

businesses in an uncertain 

energy future 

Longford 

Hard to Reach Croke Park, 

Dublin 3 

03.05.06 2 680.15 

Composting Marriott Johnstown House 

Hotel, Enfield, Co Meath 

04.05.06 4 1768.64 

The Cost of Waste Disposal Carrigaline Court Hotel, 

Carrigaline, Co Cork 

04/05.05.06 3 2641.13 

Road Safety National Concert Hall, 

Dublin 2 

11.05.06 2 

The Importance of the Arts in Kerry Literary & Cultural 11/12.05.06 3 2315.98 

Urban Regeneration 

Centre, Listowel, Co Kerry 

The Potential for Local and Mount Errigal Hotel, 12.05.06 2 1507.58 

Regional Tourism North and 

South 

Letterkenny, Co Donegal 

ACR Dublin City Council Dublin Castle, 

17/20.05.06 2 1447.91 

International Waste Mgt 

Conference 

Dublin 2 

Local Authorities, Public Knockranny House Hotel, 18/19.05.06 3 2297.61 

Service Providers or Private 

Sector Regulations 

Westport, Co Mayo 

Who owns Irish Health Care? Auburn Lodge Hotel, 


18/20.05.06 4 2537.05 

Enhancing an Enterprise Glór Irish Music Centre, 25/26.05.06 3 1720.62 

Culture - the role of local 

authorities 

Ennis, Co.Clare 

Delivering Community and Killashee House Hotel, 26.05.06 1 125.00 

Local Development: The Case Naas, Co Kildare 

for Structural Reform 

Exercising your Mental Health Gleneagle Hotel, 

26/27.05.06 4 3431.66 

- the role of elected members Killarney, Co Kerry


Stoking the Marine Leisure 

Engine 

Centenary Commemoration of 

the Death of Michael Davitt 

1906-2006 

Social Inclusion and Equality: 

A Fairer Economy and Society 

Holy Trinity Heritage 

Centre, Carlingford, 

Co Louth 

Davitt Centre, Straide and 

Pontoon Bridge Hotel, 

Straide, Co Mayo 

The White House Hotel, 

Ballinlough, 


31/01.06.06 3 1561.98 

02/04.06.06 4 2934.79 

08.06.06 4 1777.17 

Building a sustainable future 

Co Roscommon 

Bush Hotel, Carrick-on- 

Shannon, Co Leitrim 

08/09.06.06 3 2054.04 

Local Government and Ferrycarrig Hotel, 23.06.06 4 1666.82 

Planning System – 

Ferrycarrig Bridge, 

North and South 

Co Wexford 

A Wake up Call for 

Mullingar Park Hotel, 23.06.06 2 909.76 

Regional Policy 

Mullingar, Co Westmeath 

Easter 1916 Christian Brothers School, 

Wexford Street, Gorey 

Co Wexford 

23/25.06.06 5 2456.68 

Perceptions of Women in O'Rahilly Building, 07.07.06 4 2253.91 

Politics 

University College Cork 

Forgotten Hero: 

Avondale House and 13/18.08.06 3 4176.08 

Michael Davitt and 

Forest Hotel, 

Irish Democracy 

Rathdrum, Co Wicklow 

Celebrating Humbert at 20 and Ballina, Killala, Lacken and 17/20.08.06 4 4102.41 

Davitts Centenary 

Kilcummin, Co Mayo 

Sport and Leisure 

Kilkee Bay Hotel, 31/01.09.06 5 3769.81 

Development: The Role of the Kilkee, Co Clare 

Local Authority 

Environment Ireland 2006 Burlington Hotel, 

Dublin 4 

04/05.09.06 3 3000.31 

Local Solutions to Local Croke Park, 

07.09.06 2 151.22 

Problems 

Dublin 3 

Annual Conference Cavan Crystal Hotel, 

Cavan 

14/16.09.06 4 2728.26 

From Country to City: Castletroy Park Hotel, 20.09.06 1 1284.09 

How local economic 

development, the national 

blueprints and social inclusion 

will support economic growth 

in urban Ireland 

Limerick 

Local Authorities and Charlesland Golf and 29/01.10.06 2 1143.10 

Minorities 

County Club Hotel, 

Greystones, Co Wicklow 

Women's Health and Suicide West County Hotel, 


29/30.09.06 1 1111.70



Getting a Grip 2006 - Brehon Hotel, 

05/06.10.06 3 2638.82 

Questions and Answers Killarney, Co Kerry 

9th Annual Conferences - Radisson SAS Hotel, 06.10.06 3 1937.06 

Sustainable Energy 

Ballincar, Rosses Point 

Road, Sligo 

From Muck to Millions - How RDS, Merrion Road, 09/10.10.06 2 378.78 

Should we use our Land? Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 

Transport 21 - Making it a Red Cow Moran Hotel, 12.10.06 2 333.05 

Reality 

Naas Road, Dublin 22 

What is Republicanism? Letterkenny Institute of 

Technology, Letterkenny, 

Co Donegal 

13/14.10.06 4 2318.37 

Social Policy in Ireland Tara Towers Hotel, 

Merrion Road, Dublin 4 

17.10.06 2 140.00 

Business Improvement Mount Wolseley Hilton 20.10.06 3 908.17 

Districts 

Hotel, Tullow, Co Carlow 

Many Streams, One Broad St. Nathy's College, 20/22.10.06 4 2555.79 

River 

Ballaghaderreen, 

Co Roscommon 

Engineering Economic Park Inn Hotel, 

26.10.06 4 1872.06 

Success 

Dundalk, Co Louth 

Engaging with a Transforming West County Hotel, 07/08.11.06 4 2691.35 

Ireland 


Annual Winter Seminar Arklow Bay Hotel, 

Arklow, Co Wicklow 

10/11.11.06 5 1342.61 

E-Towns - A Shannon Burkes Armada Hotel, 14/15.11.06 3 1579.68 

Development Live/Work Spanish Point, Miltown 

Initiative 

Malbay, Co Clare 

Promoting Co-Operative Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, 24/25.11.06 4 2940.31 

Tourism Marketing 

Co Clare 

Suicide Prevention - School as Sligo Park Hotel, 

29/1.12.06 5 3606.43 

Place of Healing 

Sligo 

2007 Budget Breakfast Ballymascanlon Hotel, 07.12.06 2 552.58 

Briefing 

Dundalk, Co Louth 

Intensive Course on Planning The Davenport Hotel, 07/08.12.06 2 1410.22 

Law 

Dublin 2 

ABROAD 


Delegates 

Tackling anti-social behaviour 

and improving community 

safety 

How to make tourism work for 

you 

Monklon Hotel, 

York 

Dunadry Hotel and Country 

Club, Muckamore 

Total 

Cost 

13/15.01.06 2 2945.18 

03/04.02.06 4 2944.36


Conference on Nuclear 

Hazards – 

Chernobyl 20 years on 

National Transport Awards 

Dinner and 9th UK Chairs of 

Transport Conference 

Carleton, Clogher and St. 

Macartan 

City Hall, 

London 

London Hilton On Park 

Lane and CBI Conference 

Centre, London 

Corick House Hotel, 

Clogher, Co Tyrone 

Urban Regeneration London and 

Scandinavia 

A September Miscellany Silver Birch Hotel, 

Omagh, Co Tyrone 

1916: A Time of Rising and a City Hall, Queens Quay, 

Time of War 

Derry 

Housing Issues Ramada Hotel, 

Belfast 

Crossing Divides City Hotel, 

Derry 

The National Transport Edinburgh International 

Strategy: Implications for Conference Centre, 

Transport Policy Making in 

Scotland 

Edinburgh 

Services for the Elderly - A Killyhevlin Hotel, 

Focus on Care and Transport Enniskillen, 

Co Fermanagh 


23.03.06 1 787.19 

18/19.07.06 1 1130.63 

07/11.08.06 4 4581.46 

22/25.08.06 1 241.24 

15/17.09.06 4 2603.64 

12/13.10.06 4 2699.55 

07/08.11.06 3 3831.27 

09/10.11.06 2 2350.31 

16/17.11.06 1 522.24 

08.12.06 3 1858.91 

TRAINING AND 

DEVELOPMENT 


Delegates 

Total 

Cost 

The Local Government Clonea Strand Hotel, 03/04.02.06 2 1174.18 

Planning Service 

Clonea, Co Waterford 

The Councillor and Community Raheen House Hotel, 03/04.03.06 5 2508.07 

Leadership 

Raheen Road, 

Clonmel, Co Tipperary 

Does Media reporting on Great Southern Hotel, 31/01.04.06 4 1643.76 

opinion polls during an election Rosslare, Co Wexford 

affect the result 

Housing Services – 

Shannon Key West Hotel, 28/29.04.06 3 1575.23 

Local Government 

The River Edge, Rooskey, 

Co Leitrim 

Local Government Planning Baltimore Harbour Hotel, 06/08.07.06 5 5070.53 

Service as an instrument for 

rural/urban development 

Baltimore, Co Cork 

Local Government and the Silver Tassie Hotel, 24/26.08.06 4 4058.14 

Arts 

Millford Road, Letterkenny, 

Co Donegal

Training & Development Contd./… 

The Local Government Walter Raleigh Hotel, 

Environment Service Youghal, Co Cork 

Anti-Social Behaviour Carraig Hotel, Main Street, 

Carrick-on-Suir, 

Co Tipperary 

Local Government – 

The Carlton Millrace, 

Budget 2007 

Bunclody, Co Wexford 


28/30.09.06 3 2279.10 

27/28.10.06 4 2048.99 

09.12.06 1 998.69 


Tel: 045-980206 

Fax: 045-980240 

E-mail:

REVENUE ACCOUNT 


Expenditure 2006 2005 2004 2003 

€ € € € 

Housing and Building 13,352,687 11,010,208 10,561,203 9,899,000 

Road Transportation and Safety 32,504,972 28,729,485 27,040,674 25,628,143 

Water Supply and Sewerage 23,556,626 20,287,330 18,566,100 16,817,531 

Development Incentives and 

Controls 9,391,304 8,487,784 6,652,269 5,767,707 

Environmental Protection 25,319,276 21,551,123 22,002,349 20,490,204 

Recreation and Amenity 6,514,413 5,915,448 5,388,983 5,234,176 

Agriculture and Education 7,442,306 7,929,656 7,545,794 5,228,056 

Miscellaneous Services 5,538,560 4,586,004 4,573,989 3,181,383 

Total 123,620,144 108,497,038 102,331,361 92,246,200 

Receipts (Grants, Goods and 

Services) 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

Year ended 31 December 2006 





Controls 5,948,867 4,973,147 3,234,085 3,267,739 


Recreation and Amenity 1,139,886 1,206,245 941,898 922,059 

Agriculture and Education 6,143,346 6,525,808 6,131,872 4,070,823 


Sub-Total 68,721,059 62,090,865 58,525,565 49,484,163 

Urban Authority Accounts 3,040,293 2,642,069 2,351,310 1,766,638 

Local Government Fund 23,893,115 20,498,065 18,245,273 15,355,528 

County Rates 32,286,656 27,061,388 24,653,637 25,639,871 

Total 127,941,123 112,292,387103,775,785 

92,246,200

Transfers to/from Reserves -3,152,833 -1,872,170 894,107 

Surplus/Deficit for year 1,168,146 1,923,180 550,317 


Opening Balance -8,863,513 -10,786,692 -11,301,056 (9,803,981) 

Closing Balance -7,695,366 -8,863,513 -10,750,739 (11,301,056) 

CAPITAL INVESTMENT 2006 2005 2004 2003 

€ € € € 





Controls 624,876 1,158,651 1,426,861 383,000 


Recreation and Amenity 1,353,294 1,640,006 1,067,127 2,059,000 

Agriculture and Education 99,352 151,340 


Total 315,965,495 265,642,613 191,935,788 190,316,000

TOWN LOCAL GOVERNMENT 


Local government structure in the county includes the county council and the 

town council’s of Athy, Leixlip, Naas and Newbridge. 

While the five local authorities co-operate in many areas of activity and 

provide a uniform service, the town council’s have each separate legal 

identities from that of the county council and concomitant independence. 

Although there are, in some cases, instances of common membership of the 

governing bodies and all of the authorities operate under the managership of 

the County Manager.

NAAS TOWN COUNCIL 2006 


The town of Naas has had a long and colourful history and was the seat of the 

Kings of Leinster up to 904. Naas Urban District Council was established 

under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and officially came into being 

on 1 April 1900. It was a quiet beginning for the new Town Council with no 

elections and sitting members of the old Town Commission elevated to Urban 

Councillor status. 

In 2001 the Local Government Act 2001 changed the Urban District Council 

status to that of Town Council. Naas was also a smaller town in 1900 with a 

population of just 3,836, compared to a bustling, vibrant town with a 

population of 20,044 today. 

Elected Members & The Executive 

Naas Town Council has nine elected Members as follows: 

Cllr. Anthony Creevey Cllr. Pat Clear 

(Mayor) (Deputy Mayor) 

Cllr. Paddy Behan Cllr. Pat McCarthy 

Cllr. Willie Callaghan Cllr. Mary Glennon 

Cllr. Seamie Moore Cllr. JJ Power 

Cllr. Darren Scully


Councillors Callaghan, Glennon and Power are also members of Kildare County 

Council. 

The Town Council meet on the third Tuesday of each month in Naas Town Hall on 

the Main Street, where meetings are open to the press and public. The administrative 

staff were also based in the Town Hall until April 2006 when they moved to the new 

Council offices located at Áras Chill Dara, Devoy Park. 

The Community Hall in the Town Hall is hired out to a number of community groups 

for a diverse range of activities from karate to weight watchers, not to mention the 

Naas Country Market. 

The Town Clerk, the first lady Town Clerk for Naas, Maura McIvor took up office in 

February 2005. The Town Engineer, Colm Flynn, also arrived in 2005. Mr John 

Lahart, Director of Services, Kildare County Council, took up the office of Town 

Manager in March 2006 from Mr Tommy Skehan, Director of Services. 

Budget 

The budget for 2006 was €9,567,776, that represented a 7.91% increase on 2005. 

The housing budget increased by €75,194 to address repairs to vacant properties, a 

planned maintenance programme for the Council’s housing stock of 302 and an 

increased provision for open spaces in the Council’s housing estates. The Council 

also saw the merit in hiring an additional School Traffic Warden for the town, bringing 

the total to four school traffic Wardens. Work also commenced on a new street name 

programme for the town and it is hoped that this will be finalised in 2007. 

Considerable work was carried out on the installation of meters for commercial 

properties to comply with the Polluter Pays Principle and €20,000 was allocated for 

the supply and installation of bulk meters in old estates to monitor water usage and 

detect leakages. Water was charged at €1.10 per 1000 litres for commercial usage. 

A new allocation of €5,000 was provided for graffiti removal, however, due to 

elevated incidents of graffiti around the town this sum was quickly utilised. There 

were also a number of new provisions in the budget for 2006, such as provision of 

lighting in our parks, imaging of cemetery records, boundary treatments to Monread 

Pumping Station and Ryder Cup Festival to name a few. 

Projects 

2006 was a significant year for new projects with the commencement of the public 

consultation on the following projects: 

∎ CCTV Proposals for Naas 

It is expected that a decision on the Part 8 for CCTV cameras on the Main 

Street in Naas should be made mid-2007


∎ Naas Urban Renewal Project to the front of the Courthouse and at Poplar 

Square 

It is anticipated that the Urban Renewal Project will be completed mid-2007 

∎ Civil Improvement Scheme at Fleming’s Lane 

Works completed in 2006 

∎ Closure of the Pathway at Roselawn 

Works completed in 2006 

∎ Naas Southern Interceptor Sewer 

The Part 8 process also commenced on the proposed Naas Southern 

Interceptor Sewer and two pumping stations at Ballymore Road and the 

Blessington Road. 

∎ New Swimming Pool & Leisure Centre 

Considerable progress was made on the provision of a new swimming pool and 

leisure centre at Carragh Road in 2006. The Council had completed the public 

consultation at the end of 2005 and, under a section 85 Agreement, Kildare 

County Council took over the procurement for the project. 

∎ Skateboard Park 

The Council have set aside money towards the provision of a skateboard park 

for Naas and set up a sub-committee to progress the project. The committee 

have met with the Minister to discuss funding and it is anticipated that this 

project will be advanced in 2007. 

Naas Ryder Cup Festival 

September 2006 was a very busy month for Naas when the county hosted the Ryder 

Cup for the first time. Kildare Local Authorities staff, in partnership with the Civil 

Defence and the Gardai, put in a lot of hard work and effort to organise a very 

successful event. In order to celebrate the occasion Naas hosted a Ryder Cup 

Festival that included four free concerts on the Main Street and a Family Fun Day at 

Áras Chill Dara, organised by Naas Town Council with sponsorship from Allianz and 

with the support of Kildare County Council. 

There was a carnival atmosphere at the Market Square in Naas for the 

concerts, as young and old enjoyed performances by the Rhythm of the 

Dance, The Fureys and Davey Arthur, Zoo2 and The Sullivan Brothers. 

There was further fun, thrills and spills at the Civic Park at Áras Chill Dara 

where the Family Fun Day had something for all the family, where even the 

sun came out for the party. The death defying “Circus of Horrors” delighted 

everyone with their amazing and astounding acrobatic performances while 

Shakers Hip Hop Dancers charmed onlookers between performances 

throughout the afternoon. Children loved the “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, 

Puppet Shows, Balloon Making and Magic Shows. Bouncy Castles and a 

climbing frame also proved big hits.


Naas Civic Awards 

In 1996 the Urban District Council wanted to recognise the outstanding 

activities and energies of the town’s community groups by way of a Civic 

Award, and the Civic Award tradition was born. On Friday, 24th November, 

Naas held its Annual Civic Awards Night, where 45 Residents Associations 

received their Residents Associations Grants and 29 social, sporting and 

cultural groups were honoured for their contribution to the community. Among 

the special awards were Naas Lions Club, Naas CBS, Niall “Slippers” 

Madden, Naas GAA football and hurlers, Naas Boxing Club with Eroline O’ 

Keefe being presented with a special Courage award and Eoin O’Brien being 

awarded with a special bravery award. 

Community Grants 

Naas also supports many community groups by means of Community Grants 

and in 2006 Naas awarded Nás na Riogh Housing Association a capital grant 

of €300,000 towards the provision of a community centre for the town. 

Twinning in Naas 

Naas Town Council also help and support the efforts of the very active Naas 

Twinning Group. Naas is twinned with five towns, Allaire in France, Dillingen in 

Germany, St. David’s in Wales, Casalattico in Italy and Omaha in America. 2006 was 

a very busy year for the Twinning group who hosted a contingent from Omaha in the 

summer and another group from Allaire in September. The Twinning Group also 

made a trip to Dillingen in March where they attended the local trade fair and were 

guests of honour at a civic reception to celebrate the resilience of the twinning over 

the decades. 

Planning & Development for Naas 

Following the adoption of the Naas Town Development Plan 2005-2011, 

implementation policies and objectives included in the Plan continued during 2006. 

The Manager will prepare a report on progress achieved in implementing the Plan 

and a report will be presented to the members during 2007. 

The Development Plan contained commitments to produce a Local Area Plan for 

Naas and work is under way. In 2006 pre-draft submissions were sought from the 

public and it is expected that the draft will be completed in 2007, when it will go 

through a public consultation process. 

Work also began on the Action Area Plan for Craddockstown, the North West 

Quadrant Masterplan and the Masterplan for Devoy. It is expected that these plans 

will be completed in 2007.


PLANNING APPLICATIONS 

Naas Town Council received 253 planning applications in 2006. Of these 44 

were invalid leaving 209 valid applications. 143 decisions to grant and 13 

refusals were issued. 14 appeals were sent made to An Bord Pleanala. 

PRE-PLANNING MEETINGS 

We held 25 pre-planning meetings in 2006 and we will continue this practice, 

which we consider has benefits both for the organisation and the applicant, in 

ensuring Naas is developed appropriately and in accordance with the Naas 

Development Plan 2005-2011. 

PLANNING ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTIONS 

Naas Town Council received 40 complaints of unauthorised development in 

2006. 25 warning letters were issued with 8 enforcement notices served on 

unauthorised developments. We instigated legal proceedings in one case 

and the case was successful 

DEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTION SCHEME 

Naas Town Council adopted the Development Contribution Scheme on 2 

March 2004. Its purpose is to clearly identify the manner in which 

development contributions are levied and how the amounts collected are 

spent. A list of projects is being drawn up so that the Council can allocate 

monies collected in a strategic manner. 

Urban Renewal 

The public consultation process was completed in 2006 for Naas Urban 

Renewal Scheme for Poplar Square and the Courthouse. It is expected that 

work will be completed by August 2007. 

Derelict Sites 2006 

Naas added two properties to its Derelict Sites Register in 2006 and will 

actively pursue other sites in 2007. 

CONTROLLING DEVELOPMENT 

Considerable progress is being made in the area of taking-in-charge. We 

commenced consultation on 31 estates, including 3 roads in Naas, and it is 

envisaged that further progress will be made on taking these estates in 

charge in 2007. 

WASTE MANAGEMENT 

Disposal 

Naas Town Council does not operate a refuse collection for Naas. The refuse 

collection service is provided by private operators, who are licensed by 

Kildare County Council. 

Naas Town Council are responsible for 4 recycling centres at the following 

locations: 

∎ Fairgreen 

∎ Ballycane Church Car Park

∎ Áras Chill Dara 

∎ Tesco Shopping centre 


Enforcement & Fines 

Our Environment Department operate an environmental complaints Database 

whereby all complaints are logged for report and an appropriate action 

assigned. In 2006 we received 97 complaints and all 97 cases were 

investigated. Following investigation appropriate action, whether through 

statutory notices or warning letters, was taken. Naas Town Council collected 

approximately €21,000 in litter fines in 2006. We also now operate a “Name 

and Shame” campaign, where future convicted offenders will be publicly 

named in the local press. 

Education and Awareness 

Naas are very fortunate to have five Community Wardens who champion the 

Council’s fight against Litter. Naas Community Wardens operate a Litter Education 

and Awareness Programme in the schools, which has been very successful. A 

number of schools have set up litter picking teams and hope to work at achieving 

Green Flag status. 

In 2006 the Community Wardens in Naas received permanent status. Naas 

has five Community Wardens who provide an essential link between the Town 

Council and the Community. While one of their key roles is the enforcement 

of the town’s pay parking system and the Litter Pollution Act, they also liaise 

with Residents Associations, the local Gardai and businesses 

Housing 

The housing function of local authorities has developed over the years. While we are 

often considered accommodation providers, the Council now has a greater role in 

developing the life of housing estates. In 2006 Naas Town Council commenced the 

recruitment of a Tenant Liaison Officer who would actively liaise with Tenants, build 

relationships and encourage and promote good estate relations. 

Naas Town Council at the end of 2006 had a housing stock of 302 houses that 

include a good mix of single and family type accommodation. In 2006 14 new 

tenancies were allocated. We had 77 new applications for housing in 2006, bringing 

the total number looking for housing to 354 at the end of 2006. 

We purchased one property in 2006 and commenced design for 125 social and 

affordable units for the site at Devoy. It is envisaged that the public consultation 

process will commence in 2007 on this project. 

Part V 

Negotiations with private developers continued in 2006 to secure affordable 

units for citizens and it is expected that these units will start to come through 

in 2007.


Roads 

A number of improvement works were carried out on roads in 2006, with the 

assistance of Kildare County Council, including the realignment of the Caragh 

Road, construction of the Jigginstown Bridge and construction of the 

Millenium Link Road, which opened in October 2006. Works on completing 

the network of inner relief roads will continue into 2007. 

Naas Town Council also completed road improvement works in Naas to the 

value of €587,000 in 2006. 


Tel: 045 980990 Fax: 045 980985 

E-mail: townclerk@naasudc.ie 

Web: www.naastownouncil.ie

ATHY TOWN COUNCIL – 

2006 REVIEW 


The following highlights some of the activities of Athy Town Council during 

2006. 

Housing 

∎ Gas central heating was installed in 21 council housing units in Castle 

Park Athy. This figure is the highest in County Kildare. 

∎ 12 housing units were secured through Part V of Planning and 8 

allocated in 2006. 

∎ 10 housing units at Woodstock Street have gone through the Part 8 

process and tenders are due to be sought early in 2007. 

∎ 89 Respond housing units were granted planning permission; 52 units 

for Athy Town Council, 6 units for Kildare County Council and 31 units 

for Respond. Construction work on this project is due to commence 

early in 2007. 

∎ Tenders were received for the Townparks/Carbury Remedial Works 

Scheme and the contract is due to be awarded in mid-Summer 2007. 

∎ Athy Town Council were successful in an application to secure funding 

for 2 Community Wardens on a one year contract. The community has 

welcomed this project. 

∎ Athy Town Council housed 28 families in new and existing housing units 

∎ Through the RAPID programme we received funding to install CCTV in a 

large housing estate this will commence in 2007. 

Planning 

∎ Athy Town Council has granted planning permission for premises, which 

will accommodate the decentralisation of the Revenue Commissioners to 

Athy. 

∎ 610 housing units were granted planning permission in 2006. 

∎ Athy Town Council adopted a new Town Development Plan, which sets 

out the vision for the town for the next 6 years. Through the 

Development Plan the retail strategy has been initiated. An objective of 

the Development Plan was to carry out a feasibility study on the roads 

and have a report back to council on the northern orbital route within 12 

months.


Environment 

∎ Athy town entered the “Pride of Place” competition this year for the first 

time and did well in the competition and the competition has brought a 

new vision for Athy and we look forward to next year. 

∎ Athy town won the IBAL award, which indicates litter free status for the 

second year running. Athy was the only town in Kildare to receive this 

award. This award was won due to the dedication of the outdoor staff, 

litter warden and the community and business sector working together 

for the good of Athy. 


Tel: 059-8631444 Fax: 059-8631083 

E-mail: athyudc@kildarecoco.ie 

Web: www.kildare.ie/athytowncouncil

LEIXLIP TOWN COUNCIL 2006 


Leixlip Town Commissioners was established in 1988. Leixlip has a current 

population of approximately 17,000 compared with a population of 

approximately 1,000 30 years ago. The Local Government Act 2001 provided 

Town Council status to former Town Commissions. 

Elected Members 

Councillors, Teresa Byrne, Bernard Caldwell, Ivan Casey, Shane Fitzgerald, 

Paul Kelly, Kevin O’Connor, Tom Neville, Colm Purcell and Sean Purcell who 

was elected Cathaoirleach in June 2006 for a term of one year. Councillor 

Kelly is also an elected member of Kildare County Council. 

The Town Clerk, Ann Heffernan, has her offices in Newtown House, Captain’s 

Hill and the Town Council pay an annual rent of €25,000 (plus expenses) to 

Leixlip Youth Project Group for use of the premises. The Council meet on the 

first Tuesday of each month in the new Council Chamber and meetings are 

open to the public and press. 

Town Manager, Mr Peter Minnock, Director of Services, Kildare County 

Council, took up office in March from Mr John Lahart, Director of Services, 

who had been Manager for four years. 

Budget 

The Budget for 2006 was €318,000 and this funding is received from Kildare 

County Council and Local Government Fund. The council do much of its work 

through the following sub-committees; Town Improvement, Arts Heritage and 

Tourism, Environment & Waste Management, Policing, Industry & Commerce, 

Traffic & Transport, Public Lighting. 

Pride of Place 

Leixlip came second in the large category all Ireland Pride of Place 

competition in 2006. This competition is a cross border competition run by the 

Department of Environment Northern Ireland and Department of the 

Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Republic of Ireland. The 

competition was led by the Town Council and involved community groups and 

businesses.

Plaza 


Plaza ‘Confluence’ Monument on the Main Street was redesigned and was 

unveiled to the public on 30 November 2006. The work included a polished 

granite plinth for the sculpture, laying new ground flagstones, new 

floodlighting, remounting plaques on the wall and engraving the Town Crest 

“Leim an Bhradain” on the monument. The new works replaces the old 

fountain. 

The Confluence represents the meeting of the Rye River and the River Liffey. 

The Architects for the project were Hannigan Hogan Maguire and the Sculptor 

was Jarlet Daly. 

Tidy Estates 

The Council give Tidy Estate Grants each year to residents associations who 

apply and the amount of grant depends on the number of houses in the 

estate. Open Space Grants are allocated for amenity type work within 

estates and payment is made upon producing receipt for payments. 

Adopt an Area 

In conjunction with Intel and Hewlett Packard the council run an ‘Adopt an 

Area’ scheme each year. This is to encourage community groups to take 

responsibility for an area in the town that is outside estates. Intel provide a 

grant of €200 to each participant to purchase plants or tools. The prizes are 

sponsored to the value of €2,000 by Hewlett Packard and each winner 

receives a voucher. 

Front Gardens 

The council also run a Front Garden competition each year. Rachel Doyle 

from Carlow Arboretum judged the gardens in July. The winners were as 

follows; First: 17 Rye River Grove, Second: 1027 Avondale, Third 5 Cedar 

Park. Leixlip Garden Centre, Celbridge Orchard Garden Centre and Leixlip 

Town Council sponsored prizes. 

New Lights 

The town council provided new lighting in Avondale and Riverdale. 

Community Grants 

The first community grants scheme was ran in 2006 with a total of just under 

€10,000 grants allocated to community groups as follows:

Leixlip Scouts 

Leixlip Musical Variety Group 

Leixlip Intercultural Friends Group 

Leixlip Walks & Talks 

Leixlip SPA Well 


Councillors Paul Kelly, Kevin O’Connor and Shane Fitzgerald represent the 

Town Council on the SPS Committee. The Council, together with Kildare 

County Council, have recently reconvened the Leixlip Spa Committee and 

plan to carry out work to restore and enhance the area. Their first meeting 

was held on 28 November to discuss the future of the SPA well and 

surrounding area. Further meetings will be held during 2007 with a view to 

preparing a conservation plan for the area. 

Floral Display 

Each year the council provide either hanging baskets or window displays on 

the upper windows of business premises or residential properties on the Main 

Street. In light of the Ryder Cup being held at the K Club during 2006, 

additional ground displays of large round pots were provided on the Main 

Street. Floral displays are also hung on lampposts on the Main Street. The 

Council contractor waters the plants three times a week. 

Community & Environmental Projects 

The council provide a budget each year for community and environmental 

type projects and have a person contracted to the council to carry out these 

works. Works include hedge cutting, mowing grass, spraying weeds, 

leaf/debris cleaning from pathways etc, painting, replacing/repairing bins. The 

budget provided for this work is €20,000. 

Civic Awards 

€5,000 

€4,000 

€650 

€160 

Civic Awards are held annually and the council invite the general public to 

nominate people whose achievements brought honour to Leixlip. The 

Cathaoirleach presented the awards at a function in Leixlip House Hotel as 

follows: 

Civic/Social – Professor John Monaghan 

Sporting – Eoin Burke 

Cultural – David Geraghty 

Young Person – Stephen Church 

Stephen also received the Finbar Kelly memorial medal presented by Mary 

Kelly.

Tree Pruning 


A budget of €15,000 was allocated which allowed for tree pruning to be 

carried out at the following locations: 

Castlepark, Riverdale, Oaklawn, Dun Carraig, Ryevale Lawns, Louisa Valley, 

Main Street and the Captain’s Hill from the Lights at River Forest Hotel to San 

Carlos schools. 

Fines 

The Gardai act as agents for the Town Council in issuing on the spot fines for 

the consumption or possession of alcohol in public places. A total of thirty 

fines were issued in 2006 and twenty-nine paid. The Council’s solicitors 

process unpaid fines and offenders are convicted for non-payment of fines. 

The total received in payments during 2006 was €1,750. 

Litter Bins 

A budget of €3,000 was allocated in 2006 to allow the Council provide 

litterbins in new locations as needed and replace old ones. 

Presentation 

The members made a presentation of a framed Aerial Photo of Leixlip to Mr 

Niall Bradley, County Manager to mark the occasion of his retirement in 

December 2006. 

Conferences 

At the Annual General Meeting, Councillors Colm Purcell and Bernard 

Caldwell were elected delegates to the Association of Municipal Authorities of 

Ireland. They attended the Annual AMAI Conference held in Cavan in 

September. 

The Councillors’ delegate Councillor Paul Kelly attended the AGM of the 

IPBMI in May. 

Councillor Shane Fitzgerald is the Council delegate for attending Kildare 

Failte meetings. 

Intel 

Trevor Holmes, Public Affairs Manager, Intel invites the Town Council to a 

briefing session at the plant annually. The Council were also invited to the 

launch of the Intel 24.2 in June 2006.

Broomsday 


The Council held a Broomsday in May at Silleachain Lane and in June at Rye 

Bridge, inviting people from Leixlip to join them in a clean-up of the area. 

Grants 

The Town Council give grants to the following committees each year to 

support their work; Leixlip Festival, Christmas Lights, Leixlip Twinning 

Association. 


Tel: 01-6245777 Fax: 01-6246666 

E-mail: townclerk@leixliptowncouncil.ie 

Web: www.leixliptowncouncil.ie


DROICHEAD NUA TOWN COUNCIL 

– 

2006 REVIEW OF OPERATIONS 

Housing 

The Town Council continued to administer its housing function in 2006. 

Revenue Collection and housing maintenance services were provided for the 

Council’s 25 houses in Newbridge. Major repairs were carried out in one 

house. 

Environment 

A key feature of 2006 related to a further programme of works in the town 

park. This involved the replacement of footpaths as well as the provision of 

enhanced seating facilities. This project was jointly funded by Kildare County 

Council, Droichead Nua Town Council and KELT. 

The Town Council continues to make funding available to the Tidy Towns 

Committee and Newbridge is now ranked third in the county’s National Tidy 

Town league table. 

The Christmas lighting programme is currently being reviewed with a view to a 

further upgrade. 

Roads 

A programme of footpath repairs took place during the year, financed by 

grants from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local 

Government. Kildare County Council effected further improvements from the 

proceeds of its pay parking funds. 

A plaque taken from the bridge is currently being upgraded for placement in 

the park. 

Representational Functions 

Twinning with Bad Lippspringe 

Newbridge hosted a delegation of over 50 German visitors in March 2006. 

The visit coincided with the St. Patrick’s Day Festival and activities were 

arranged over the weekend. In turn, a delegation from Newbridge was 

welcomed to Bad Lippspringe for the July Festival.


In September 2006 the Town Council held a very successful public concert in 

Newbridge in conjunction with the Ryder Cup event. 

The Town Council, in conjunction with the Irish Lebanese Cultural foundation, 

planted a cedrus libani tree in the park to commemorate the 47 Irish soldiers 

who died in Lebanon in the course of peace-keeping duties. 

The Town Council made a presentation to Mr Keith Egan, on the occasion of 

his winning the senior club championship at the Curragh Golf Club at the age 

of 13 years. Keith currently has a handicap of 4 and is a member of the 

Golfing Union of Ireland under 14 panel. 

Other functions 

The Town Council offered financial support and assistance to local 

organisations in 2006. These included groups involved with the Newbridge 

Tidy Towns, Community Games, Christmas Lights, Newbridge Twinning and 

St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Financial assistance for these organisations will be 

a feature of the annual budget for the forthcoming year. 

The Town Council launched its website in November 2006. 

Bye laws for the Control of Consumption of Alcohol were introduced for the 

park during 2006. 


Tel: 045-980560 Fax: 045-980985 

E-mail: tc@newbridgetowncouncil.ie 

Web: www.kildare.ie/newbridge

Annual Report 2006 - Kildare.ie

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