Category Archives: Naas

Lawless appointed Naas Area Rep for Fianna Fail

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Statement

Micheál Martin TD
Party Leader
29 June 2012
FF Appoints Local Area Representative for Naas Electoral Area – Martin
Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin has announced the appointment of James Lawless as a Local Area Representative for the Naas Electoral Area as part of the party’s ongoing renewal strategy.
Deputy Martin said: “I am delighted to announce that James Lawless will be a Local Area Representative for the party in Naas.  The Kildare North constituency is a key target area for the party and I recently announced the appointment of Áine Brady as a Local Area Representative for the Clane Electoral Area.
“I have been delighted to see the energy and commitment displayed at all levels of the party at meetings I have held in Kildare and around the country.  I am committed to ensuring that Fianna Fáil renews from the grassroots and that all levels of the party have significant input into policy development.  It is essential that Fianna Fáil continues to play a constructive and positive role in politics, bringing forward policies and solutions to the problems being faced by people in their daily lives and ensuring there is a strong team on the ground in all communities.”
James Lawless lives in Sallins where he is married with a young family and is involved with several community groups.  He is a campaigner and spokesperson for the commuter group Naas and Sallins Rail Users, he is also involved with Sallins GAA and several local community organisations.
James studied Maths and Finance at Trinity College and has over a decade’s experience working in systems development.  James is now training as a Barrister at Kings Inns.  He is a member of the Fianna Fáil Ard Comhairle and was recently appointed to party’s internal Justice Policy Committee.
James Lawless said: “It is an honour to be appointed a Local Area Representative for Fianna Fáil in the Naas Electoral Area.  I see this as an important step in the party’s local and national renewal strategy.  I am looking forward to working alongside Councillor Willie Callaghan who has been elected as Mayor of Naas. Willie is playing a crucial role in representing the community and Fianna Fáil on Naas Town Council and Kildare County Council.
“James has actively campaigned for community facilities including the successful zoning of lands back to amenity use in the last round of local area plans. James was very involved in flood relief efforts when Sallins and surrounds were hit by severe weather and flooding in late 2009.”
Cllr. Callaghan commented: “There is a genuine commitment from grassroot members of Fianna Fáil to make sure the party is rebuilt and that the voices of ordinary people in our communities in Naas are listened to as we go about that process.  I welcome James’ appointment and I think he will be an important asset to the party in Naas Electoral Area.”

Accessibility at last for Sallins station

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Good news at last for disability access at Sallins train station as accessibility works have finally started this week.

The works have been sought for some considerable time, practically since the station re-opened a decade or so ago and whilst newer stations such as Adamstown got accessibility access from the off, we had to wait for the upgrade works to commence and there were a number of false dawns along the way.

Still better late than never and it’s great to now see the construction phase begin, the machinery is finally on site and the project is commencing. The accessibility access issue has been the most pressing item in terms of station works for some time. It will be a huge relief primarily for disabled passengers of course and am sure it will also be welcomed by anyone who has ever had to push a buggy or cart a load of shopping over the existing stairway.

The works will not put in an elevator as I understand it but rather a set of footbridges and ramps. This is probably not ideal as an elevator would be more convenient but this seems to be the model Irish Rail are going with now as it is lower mainteance and less vandalism prone given lesser complexity and fewer moving parts.

I do think longer term the station has a lot of development potential – there are a fine set of buildings there and there is a lot more that could be done in terms of facilities including an enhanced ticket office, waiting area and even a little café in the future. But we’ll certainly welcome the accessibilityworks for now as a basic requirement of the station’s users and an essential first priority for any station upgrades.

New Sallins Rail Timetable

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Irish Rail recently ran a consultation period on the new timetable which they have now unveiled. A number of submissions were sent in from our NASRUG group and from many individuals using the online process (which is a welcome addition to the timetable loop). The new timetable is broadly similar to the old one but here are a few new highlights:

– More morning services between 8 and 9 am
– New morning train at 9.25am
– Extra train home in the evening at 19.40
– Better Sunday service with later train home (for post Croker :) )

That’s about the main ones. I am told this incorporates our various submissions. There is also a slight change on the Naas feeder bus – I am told it will now stop/start at Post Office.

Happy commuting!

New Draft Kildare Timetable

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Irish Rail have just released the new draft timetable due to come effective in April of this year. NASRUG (Naas & Sallins Rail Users Group) would typically sit down with then and review and this year they have opened the process up even further by inviting submissions on their website here.

Here is a visual summary of how the changes will affect Sallins station (Thanks to Chris in NASRUG for the graphics):

Morning service:
ttable1

Evening Service:
ttable2

My initial thoughts are:

PROS-

  • Later last train home on a Sunday ; handy for Croke Park
  • A new train service at 09.26 am

CONS-

  • Big gap between 7.48 and 8.18
  • And again from 8.18 to 8.59
  • Gap still there in evenings 18.50 – 20.10

I will be making a submission so if you want to comment here, I can include your points, or alternately make your own views direct to IrishRail as per link above.

Disability access at Sallins and Naas station

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I was advised last week that accessibility works at Sallins and Naas train station are at an advanced stage of design and that Irish Rail have met with council officials in pre-planning sessions re the required works. I was told they expect to apply for planning permission in July and work will commence as soon as planning is received.

Obviously this would be very welcome but we have had false starts before. This is probably the most concrete update I have had though so hopefully it will happen this time.

On a separate note I am trying to get the station cleaned up for the Tidy Towns at present. Am sure all readers of this blog are model citizens with regard to litter etc but if everyone could make a special effort as the tidy towns judging is running at present and the station cost them points last year.