Sinn Féin TD strongly denies claim of providing incorrect information on Ballagh public realm

Local Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane has strongly denied a claim that she misled or provided incorrect information publicly on the Ballaghaderreen public realm project following comments made at a council meeting yesterday.

Speaking at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Roscommon County Council, Fianna Fáil councillor John Keogh said that once a Part 8 was passed, it was a final decision and “there’s no scope for amendment”.

Cllr Keogh added: “I know that the community were told that there could be (scope for amendment) but the person that told them there didn’t back it up with the facts”.

In a strongly worded statement circulated today to all councillors, Deputy Kerrane said she “never and would never mislead or provide incorrect information publicly and your comments suggesting that I did are false and disappointing”.

Taking issue with such comments, Deputy Kerrane said she had asked and sought for a “revised (new) part 8” which she said was possible under the legislation.

In directing her correspondence to councillors, she said they should be familiar with planning legislation and if they were not, she advised them to read the paragraph below which was contained in correspondence from Roscommon County Council to her and other elected representatives:

“The Part 8 planning process operates in a similar manner to standard planning permission applications in that, under the legislation, a new application can be made at any time that, if approved, would then supersede the original planning permission if carried out.” 

On raising this at a recent meeting with the chief executive, Deputy Kerrane said that this option was off the table as the council could not guarantee it could get funding for a new project.

“If we cannot make the case for funding for the town in our county with the highest deprivation and unemployment rates in the county, then we should look at our purpose of being in our positions at all," she said.

Pointing to the strong engagement by the the public in Ballaghaderreen during the consultation period on this plan, she outlined that more that 520 submissions were submitted to the council, “one of the largest I would imagine to any part 8 planning application”.

She concluded by saying: “I hope you might better inform yourselves before any further public commentary on this matter or better, listen to the people of Ballaghaderreen who put us in the positions we are in."

At the council meeting yesterday, the council executive made a commitment to engage in mediation talks in a bid to resolve the long-running dispute over the public realm works but also cited four pages of legal advice to insist that the Part 8 project could not be changed.