Potholes remain but €100k spent on roadside art

LOCAL authorities have been left without funding to repair roads riddled with potholes but tens of thousands of euro, it emerged, are still available for roadside artwork.

Limerick County Council, however, has decided road sculptures may help lift the gloom for those travelling along its busiest highway.

But the proposal is not going down well in some quarters.

A move by the council to spend more than €100,000 on roadside art has turned elected members of the council red with anger.

The council has invited the art industry to come forward with ideas for permanent roadside artwork along the N7 between Limerick and Nenagh and, also, adjacent to the new tunnel being built under the Shannon.

The council is setting aside €110,000 to pay for work commissioned.

But Councillor Patrick O’Donovan is leading the charge to block the move.

He has called on his colleagues on the council to knock the idea.

“At the moment, you can’t get money to put up a crash barrier, to put in a pedestrian crossing or even to get potholes filled. It’s just crazy. As to how a local authority is perceived by the public, this could not come at a worse time.

“You have people being laid off and a situation where the council is unable to provide basic services,” he said.

“It will just get up people’s noses and I don’t think it is something they should be doing.”

Mr O’Donovan said roadside art may be a matter of taste.

“But with the value of such projects in the current climate, it’s not the right time to be doing it.”

Mr O’Donovan has written to other councillors to support his move to block the spending of council funds on roadside art.

“The process will now proceed to tenders being invited. When tenders arrive at the council office, an elected member of the council has to be present before the envelopes with the tenders can be opened. If we, the elected members, stand together against this road art project, the tenders will remain unopened and that will be an end to this,” he added.