- 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!

Groups in Naas town should contact (045) 980990 or tclerk@naasudc.ie whilst groups outside the town or more specialist queries should be directed to the relevant contact below.

Kildare County Council announces Grant Schemes available for 2009
Kildare County Council announces Grant Schemes available for 2009

With effect from 2007, Kildare Co. Council is engaging in a system of advertising grants available on a co-ordinated basis.
Please see below, a list of the grants available to the citizens, local communities and local development bodies of County Kildare for this year.
Please note, the closing date for receipt of applications is:

Wednesday 18 March 2009 for all grants unless stated otherwise.

COMMUNITY GRANTS SCHEMES 2009
We are now inviting applications for the various grants administered by the Community & Enterprise Department in Kildare County Council. These include Festival Grants, Community Grants and Amenity Grants Schemes.

Festival Grants
These grants aim to promote and support local festivals and celebratory activities in the county that have a tourism, cultural/artistic or community perspective.
Conferences, seminars and commercial activities are excluded from the Scheme.
Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

Community Grants
These grants pertain to community groups and organisations within County Kildare, whose activities promote the well-being of communities in the County and which contribute toward meeting the goals of the County’s 10-year strategy, ‘Kildare 2012.’
Projects in areas concerned with the following will be considered for funding:

Social Inclusion – projects involving groups such as travellers, youth, people with disabilities, refugees & asylum seekers
Community Integration – coming together to jointly address local problems
Community Participation – improving facilities for community use
Joint projects with the local authority
Technical Assistance – preparation of local development and action plans, research, training & facilitation
Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

Amenity Grants
These grants are aimed at community groups engaged in environmental type activity in public open spaces, not within housing estates.
Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

Application Forms
Application forms for all the above schemes are available from:
Maria Allison, Community & Enterprise Section, Kildare County Council, Áras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas.
Tel: 045 980535.
Email: mallison@kildarecoco.ie
They are also available to download www.kildare.ie/countycouncil

GRANTS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF PROTECTED STRUCTURES
Applications are presently being invited by Kildare County Council for the 2009 Conservation Grants Scheme. Please note this scheme is based on the allocation of funding from the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government.
further information please contact Triona Dowling/Sandra Gannon, Kildare Co. Council, Áras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Tel: 045 / 980765/980611
Email: jhannigan@kildarecoco.ie

NOTE: Closing date for receipt of applications for Conservation Grants ONLY is Friday 30 January 2009.

KILDARE COUNTY COUNCIL ARTS SERVICE
AWARDS OPPORTUNITIES 2009

Kildare County Council Arts Service invites applications for the following:

Arts Act Grants Scheme

Bursary awards for individual Kildare based artists for the development of their work.
Assistance to groups/organisations/schools towards the cost of projects or events that stimulate public interest in and improve arts practice in the county.
Assistance to groups / organisations for the purchase of equipment
Cecil Day Lewis Literary Bursary Award
The annual Cecil Day Lewis Literary Bursary Award is open to both established and emerging writers and critics in all genres to enable

Research: towards the production of new writings
Formal or informal training: Participation in a professional or post-graduate course, mentoring, or other initiative, which will expand existing practice.
Kildare Dance Summer School Bursary Award
Two bursary awards will be made to dancers, teachers or facilitators to participate in the Kildare Dance Summer School at NUI, Maynooth 20- 24July 2009. The Summer School will have workshops in Choreography, Education, Youth dance and Dance with Disability. The awards include tuition fees and light refreshments.

Music Recording Bursary Award
Two bursary awards will be awarded to musicians, across music genres for a three-day recording opportunity, with Sound Engineer provided, in the Platform 4 Recording Studio in Leixlip Library. Further information about the Platform 4 project is available on www.kildare.ie/artsservice

Tyrone Guthrie Residency Bursary Award
Two bursary awards will be made to artists from all fields for a two-week stay at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, the artist’s workplace in Monaghan. Artists will be selected on the basis of their previous achievements and the project they intend to further during their working residency.

For information about the Tyrone Guthrie Centre see www.tyroneguthrie.ie

Drama League of Ireland Summer School Bursary Award
Two bursary awards are offered for participation on the DLI Summer School 1 – 8 August 2009. For information about the Drama League of Ireland see www.dli.ie

Application forms and further information are available from:

Kildare County Arts Service, Riverbank, Main Street, Newbridge, Co Kildare
Contact Kildare County Council Arts Service Tel: 045-448328, Email: bbrady@kildarecoco.ie

Information is also available on the web www.kildare.ie/artsservice
Closing date for receipt of applications for each scheme is
Wednesday 18 March 2009.

CAPITAL GRANTS
FOR RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2009

We have now opened our 2009 Capital Grants Scheme for Recreational Development.

The purpose of the scheme is to give practical support to local sporting clubs and organisations by helping to fund their development.
Application forms and full details of the scheme are available from:
Cheryl Wilson, Leisure Services Dept., Áras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas,
Co. Kildare.
Tel: 045 / 980262
Email: cwilson@kildarecoco.ie
Closing date for receipt of completed applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION GRANTS – PRIVATE ESTATES
Grants are awarded towards expenses incurred on estate maintenance, e.g. landscaping, flowerbeds, tree planting and other minor works.
For further information please contact: Pearl Voigt, Kildare Co. Council, Áras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Tel: 045 / 980588
Email: pvoigt@kildarecoco.ie
Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION GRANTS – LOCAL AUTHORITY ESTATES
Grants are paid to residents associations for the maintenance and improvement of housing estates. Work such as tree planting, shrubberies, etc. is eligible.
To obtain further information please contact the following:
Mary Behan, Community Worker, North Kildare.
Tel: 045 / 980693
Email: mailto:mcbehan@kildarecoco.ie or
Doreen Daly, Community Worker, South Kildare
Tel: 045 / 980596
Email: ddaly@kildarecoco.ie

Please note closing date in respect of these grants ONLY: Friday 24 April 2009

LOCAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEME 2009
Applications are invited for the above Scheme, which applies to repairs to non-public accommodation roads and bog roads. To qualify, the project must be of benefit to agricultural production and benefit two or more parcels of land owned / occupied by different persons.
Further details and application forms can be obtained from the Roads Administration Section of the Council – Tel: 045/ 980421 and also on www.kildare.ie
Completed applications should be returned to Sonya Kavanagh. Senior Executive Officer, Transportation Department, Kildare Co. Council, Aras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Tel: 045 / 980394
Email: : skavanagh@kildarecoco.ie

Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT SCHEME
This scheme applies to repairs to public roads only.
For further information please contact: Sonya Kavanagh, Senior Executive Officer, Transportation Department, Kildare Co. Council, Aras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Tel: 045 / 980394
Email: skavanagh@kildarecoco.ie
Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 March 2009.

All grants awarded, are subject to a maximum amount available, within limited budget allocations and in accordance the terms and conditions pertaining to individual grant schemes. If a group / organisation is granted an award of monies one year, a fresh application must be made in all cases for support in subsequent years.

Application does not guarantee an award of grant.

All applications are judged on merit of the project/initiative submitted for consideration.

The Naas facilities are close enough by but they’re overcrowded and awkward to access e.g. the ones at Tesco are in a very tight little corner of the car park. The Ballycane ones are better with open space in front and the Osprey/KCC campus has them but it’s something every village should have and Sallins and Kilcullen remain the only large villages in the county without.

So after Christmas I finally cracked. With a stockpile of glassware and empties of various sorts I resolved not to recycle until I could do so locally. First week of January I rang the Council Environment Section and spoke to Dara Wyer whom I’d dealt with previously when I kicked off my composting operation a few years back. Dara explained the council and himself as Environment officer were very keen to get such facilities in place but the locality had to meet them half way with site provision etc. There were a number of regulations such as access for the collection lorries, distance from residences, safe and open access, secured monitored site and so forth which had to be met.

I already had the Waterways campus (next to the train station) in mind as it is a mixed use development combining retail (SuperValu, Dominos, Ladbrokes), offices, services (medical centre, pharmacist, crèche), residential (apartments) and leisure (hotel). When I approached the owners, GK Developments they were willing to facilitate providing there was no imposition on themselves or their tenants. Similarly SuperValu as the anchor tenant were quite open to the idea. It’s a common pattern to bundle your recycling and your shopping and if there’s an increased footfall they won’t have any complaints.

The location should also be convenient to residents in and around Monread and it gives anyone who drives to the train station the option of incorporating recycling into their commuting routine as they can offload the boot while they’re there.

At this stage the site owner, key tenants, the council and myself are on the one page. We still need to identify the exact location within the complex and the various planning conditions need to be satisfied but I would say we are a good ways there. I will keep on it and fingers crossed we will have those local recycling bins soon.

I don’t know if my back garden can take many more empties!

First up is our own Kildare North Labour Deputy Emmet Stagg.. Now Emmet I’ve met once or twice seems an affable chap and by all accounts he got on with the business of government and was well regarded by FF colleagues during coalition days gone by.. but these days his speciality appears to be recycling government press releases with his own unique spin.. issuing a missive to welcome some new government development or other (which is a little odd for an opposition deputy anyway) but then petulantly attempting to find fault with some aspect or nuance..

His latest victim is the Kildare Route Project rail upgrade which he this week welcomes to great acclaim itemising the many benefits in his press release.. but somehow manages to claim that despite attempts to “derail it” it was now “a runaway train” that could not be stopped..Nice puns aside one could be forgiven for thinking the shining light of Labour came to the rescue after a change of guard perhaps rescuing the project from the plundering hordes.. but no for the entire period in question Labour were in opposition, Fianna Fáil were in power.. It was Brian Cowen himself who comitted the hundreds of millions being welcomed.. and neither Stagg nor any other Labour Deputy had either hand, act or part in the project.. a history lesson required or perhaps just a calendar..

The other act of confused politics lies with the various Naas Town Councillors who turned out an EGM of the Lakelands Residents association recently, and queued up to one by one denounce the draconian pay-parking regime foisted upon the estate by the totalitarian council.. again amnesia reigned supreme as they seemingly forgot that at the previous town council meeting, they to a man had voted for it.

In a nutshell I have taken Ballymore/Kilcullen out of the ward (which are population centres in Kildare South) and have swapped in Bodenstown and Oughterard from Kildare North to make up a new unit. Bodenstown in particular has an excellent case for being in the same local area as Sallins and Naas as is practically the same community yet is currently divided. The new ward I have created is shown below.

Click on map to view full size

The principal difficulty with the current Naas area is that we are under represented. Kildare county is grossly under represented in the first place and Naas is the worst offender within Kildare. We have fewer councillors per head of population and more constituents than nearly anywhere else. To put it in context, Dáil constituencies are constitutionally bound to a minimum and maximum population per TD ratio. This is to ensure fairness, equal access and consistency of representation across the board.

In contrast no such stipulation exists at local level which means Kildare has one councillor per every 7,500 residents whereas even some neighbouring counties have one councillor per 2 or 3,000 residents.

For instance Carlow-Kilkenny has 47 Councillors to its 5 TDs, Longford-Westmeath has 44 to its 4 TDs and yet we have 25 for our 7 TDs (as the TD number must constitutionally reflect the population size it is obvious we have much greater population with far fewer councillors to go round)..

Unfortunately the review freezes the totals in any one county, however at the very least internal variances should be addressed.

There were a number of other submissions on Kildare and on the Naas area, most of which were broadly in agreement. The comission reports mid-June so we’ll see what they’ve got in store for us then.

A full copy of my submission is available here.

However like any good puzzle, the last piece may be the hardest,  being the perennial question of “why can’t the trains run on time?!”

Funnily enough this seems to a particular problem on our route (the Kildare line). Colleagues on the Maynooth line and elsewhere tell me whilst there may be other issues, their trains at least come when expected. We did get a few answers though and reassuring to hear at least they are cognisant of the problem and that there is work being done in the background. Points in detail below.

Heuston Station ; Multi-modal transport hub!

1. Punctuality
Deterioration of service recently. 8.04 always problematic but other services also becoming less reliable. 7.30, 6.22, 8.49, 8.24 all mentioned as regularly late. Some problems with evening services since Christmas.

Irish Rail response that punctuality was acknowledged below par in December/January and apologised for that. Currently examining timetable to reshuffle some services to remove bottlenecks. 6.30 ex Portlaoise (7.08 thru Sallins), 7.20 ex Portlaoise (8.04 thru Sallins), 6.30 ex Carlow (7.13 thru Sallins), amongst routes being remodeled at present to remove congestion. Will not result in any changes to timetable but will be applied in priority order at signal points etc.

2. Car Park Situation
Two fares currently in operation at car park as previously discussed. Irish Rail share NASRUG frustration and are working on issue in tandem.

3. Feeder Bus
Number of issues identified with feeder bus. Irish Rail committed to review of feeder bus operation. May consider centralising stops rather than current ad-hoc pickups. Acknowledged that traffic in Naas grown considerably since feeder bus journey time originally planned.

4. Kildare Direction Services
Limited service in Kildare town direction from Sallins/Dublin. Irish Rail stated that vast majority rolling stock deployed on inwards journeys morning time, reverse in evening. Leaves few options around opposite travel. Agreed to look at in next timetable.

5. Station Upgrade
NASRUG requested accessibility option, e.g lift across tracks. Not currently in scope but NASRUG to follow up request in writing. Station overall to be refitted and disused buildings to be opened as waiting room, offices, toilets, café etc.

6. Late Night Security on Trains
Security Detail employed around Heuston station and sometimes travel on night trains. NASRUG stated had never seen on Kildare trains. Irish Rail agreed to correct this and ensure included on routes. May not be on every train but randomly. Minimum Irish Rail staff should be present and visible on every train.

View Larger Map

Many thanks to Tom Cross for plotting out the paper route for me.

1. Punctuality
2. Car Park situation (fare structure below ground)
3. Feeder Bus
4. Kildare direction services
5. Station Upgrade – more details
6. Security on late trains

Though never great, punctuality has been a particular problem of late. Most people have long given up on the 8.04 ex-Sallins ever being on time but the malaise has spread to other services since the new year. This can also lead to overcrowding as a couple of train loads are waiting by the time one finally pulls in.

The car park goes from overcrowded to overcharged as previously discussed and there have been several requests to enhance the feeder bus service. The other items relate to plan by IR to upgrade Sallins station along with queries on the quality of service the other direction (away from Dublin) and lastly a few nasty incidents on night time trains over Christmas.

The next meeting is tomorrow but we meet up regularly, if there are other burning issues people are aware of please do get in touch.

The glut of submissions received on this August issue included me and er, one other. Labour party, Naas Branch made a submission along the lines of population increase while my submission argued the precedent by highlighting the huge disparity in representation ratios across different town councils (full doc here).

To recap, this imbalance is best illustrated by the fact that Ballbay in Co. Monaghan, with 401 residents has the same number of councillors to look after it, as Naas does for 20,000 residents…

Naas Town Hall

Next step is for Councillors to go behind closed doors for a more detailed consideration. Initial discussion suggested that sub-dividing the town could be a stumbling block with concerns over the creation of wards within the town.

I shared this concern, which is why my own submission argued for the retention of a single constituency. Whilst multiple smaller wards would be easier from an electoral point of view, and probably better suited to the big parties (so selfishly I should be in favour) I would fear an extreme form of parish pump politics were the town to end up multi-constituency. Really issues should be considered on a town basis, not merely the impact upon a particular ward – and given the town size, each ward would be not much bigger than a collection of estates.

Of the towns that have created extra council seats, only one has actually sub-divided, and it (Drogehda) has a population of 37,000 almost double the size of Naas.

Anyway the protocol committee should make a decision soon.

The guidelines for the review state that the minimum number of councillors in any given ward should be four and that local boundaries should be kept in line with Dáil boundaries. The guidelines state that whilst the total number of councillors in any given authority should remain unchanged, areas and seats can be reshuffled across wards.

What this means for politicans and the electorate is as follows. Sitting councillors shall remain in situ until June next year when the next local elections are due to occur. Those elections will be fought on the basis of the new local areas and the revised number of seats in each.

Map showing current wards within Naas LEA

The commission will be inviting submissions and I intend studying the various Kildare wards more thoroughly in the coming weeks, but my initial observations are as follows:

Unfortunately as the review effectively freezes the total number of councillors in each authority (in our case KCC) it does mean we will still have a higher than average variance, whatever way it pans out. In a nutshell this means Kildare people have less councillors to serve the same number of people as elsewhere. Anway, more on all this anon..