There were some angry scenes outside the County Council offices on Saturday. A crowd of several 100 had gathered awaiting for news on the special meeting to debate and vote on the motion to review the works on the bridge over the River Nore. However the review did not take place. Legal advice to the council advised that a review may not have any legal standing. Many councillors felt they were then left completely poweless.
Meanwhile the campaign was extended into the River Nore as pile driving commenced in the river.
The campaign at this stage was entering its third week and had become a 24 hour vigil. Despite this, during a thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning, the pile driving equipment arrived, accompanied by a large number of guards (approx 30).
People were taken aback by such a show of force. There was hardly much need for such a presence- there were only 2 campaigners left at the bridge at that stage, but thankfully there was no one hurt or injured.
During preliminary work on the bridge, unwashed stone was dumped into the river and not long afterwards a green scum was evident downstream. Water levels were low at the time and some dead fish were taken from the water. The inland fisheries were made aware of this and the building contractors were contacted.
The campaigners on the Bridge decided at this stage to walk up and down along the footpath at the Greensbridge Street entrance – asserting that they had a reasonable excuse to do this. This had the effect of delaying the lorry loads of stone arriving at the site. At this stage Gardaí took a small role in proceedings – primarily making sure that there was no blockade of traffic in the area.
At all times the protest was conducted in a peaceful fashion.
Just after the site was fenced off and work started, a handful of Kilkenny people, dismayed by the events at County Hall and the whitewashing of any review at the previous meeting in June, started a vigil at the main site entrance at Green’s Bridge.
News spread quickly and growing numbers of ordinary Kilkenny people from all walks of life took to the pavement at the entrance to the building site. By the end of the week the #Save Kilkenny Campaign began in earnest through the social media (twitter and facebook).
This was the first ordinary meeting of the new council. After the local election results in May, hopes were high that a proper discussion/review on the pros and cons of the Central Access Scheme could be undertaken by the newly elected Council. A vocal crowd of about 100 people gathered outside the County Council building, calling for a review. Before the meeting started much of the crowd filed into the council chambers but were subsequently told that under standing orders, only 20 observers would be allowed to remain. The others then filed back outside. Cllrs Noonan and Funchion were ready to table a motion but the motion was never heard and after the meeting the bombshell was dropped – the contract for the 1st phase of the scheme had already been signed.
This sombre video by videographer Darragh Byrne captures the feelings of the ordinary citizens outside the council that day. The actions of the council only served to galvanise the resolve of the people.
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