This funding is very welcome news for Sallins village, Clane, Prosperous, and the wider areas which have had bottle neck traffic building up at morning and evening times. The bypass is exactly what these areas need and I am delighted to see the council receive funding for this project. Only as recently as this week have I contact Minister Ross to lobby for funding. It has been one of my main projects since being elected and am delighted to see this pressure pay off and funding secured for this part of the overall project.
I have been campaigning for this development, and the wider M7 Widening project, for nearly ten years now. Since being elected to the Dáil I have repeatedly raised funding matters regarding both projects in the chamber.
From figures previously obtained it is my understanding €110 million is needed to complete the entire project of the M7 Widening and the Sallins Bypass. As they both went out in the same tender I intend to keep further pressure on the Minister to fight for the remainder of the €100 million needed to see this project completed.
Despite the recent publication of the Report of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce, communities in Kildare will still have to wait until 2023 at the earliest to access high quality broadband services. This is simply not good enough from the Government. 
Great day at the Young Scientist exhibition with Micheál Martin. Saw lots of great projects from Kildare schools including St. Mary’s Naas, St. Wolstans Celbridge, Scoil Mhuire Clane, Maynooth Education Campus and Gaelcholaiste Cill Dara. Some inspiring exhibits from around the country and all the key teaching, STEM and science agencies present including the Institute of Physics (where I bumped into a former lecturer of mine!). It’s a great exhibition with a great history and really showcases the talent in our schools.
A varitation of this story was covered by the Sunday Independent from 8th January 2017. It can be read here: 