Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak about amendments Nos. 35 and 36. I commend my colleague on the wording because it echoes back to the words of the Proclamation in the hall outside about the right of the people to the ownership of Ireland. I will speak about two issues in my constituency, Kildare North, involving two key heritage sites, one of which is Connolly's Folly. I am raising this issue as I was once a councillor on Kildare County Council. Built at the time of the famine of 1740, it is a beautiful obelisk called "bliain an áir", the year of the slaughter. It was built by the Connolly family to ensure that local people would have work at the time rich people believed that poor people should have to work for their money at all times, even if they were starving to death. They did that to put food on the table and keep their families alive. It is an obelisk; I have a painting of it. A local person painted it and gave it to me. It is in my constituency office. The folly is surrounded by the most awful, ugliest railings you could possibly imagine. Local people in Maynooth, Leixlip and Celbridge have told me they remember visiting it as children. Some of the things they used to do were possibly a bit dangerous, like cycling up the sides of it, but it belonged to the people of north Kildare and the area. That is really important. It is a landmark locally, which is vital for young people. It was built on the product of the labour, craftsmanship and talent of our forebears. It belongs equally to all the people of the Irish nation. I recall when I brought it up as a councillor, some of the Fine Gaelers were kind of laughing at me for seeking to have this beautiful obelisk built by very wealthy local family preserved. However, it was built by the people for a reason and they worked on it for a reason - to keep food on their families' tables. It is important that it now belongs to the people of Ireland and north Kildare.

Amendment No. 36, states that "existing rights of way to access, appreciate or view heritage should be vindicated and that, where possible, rights of way should be established in the case of monuments where they have not yet been established". I refer to Castletown House in this context. The situation in north Kildare, in the middle of Celbridge, is of huge concern to the people of the area. I have never before seen such numbers of people coming out to protest when the Office of Public Works, OPW, let us know at 8.30 p.m. on a Friday evening that access from Leixlip would be closed. Half past eight on a Friday was the earliest the OPW could tell us that, yet there were lorries there at 7.30 a.m. on the following Monday morning. The people of Celbridge came out in their hundreds. One guy spoke to me about the lorry coming in trying to put down a temporary car park in one of the meadows just adjacent to the house. The lack of access to Castletown House has lit a fire among the people of north Kildare. I support them 100%, as do all the Deputies and the Green Party Senator in County Kildare. The people will not be backing down.

The OPW was unfortunate that it was not able to bid enough to buy the site. It has since come to my attention, from a freedom of information, FOI, request by Suzie Miller in Celbridge, who sent a letter to me, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, that the final paragraph of the brokerage report of 2020 states: "We have been informed that Janus Securities have confirmed that the subject lands are to be brought to the market imminently but we have presented the OPW with the opportunity to purchase the property off market". This is critical. Why did the OPW not buy the property off-market when it was not going into a sealed tender? I want an answer to that question. I bring my grandson there for walks. If we got those lands, I would love for a linear walkway to be developed out to Connolly's Folly in north Kildare to connect the two sites. Those lands also form a green belt barrier between Leixlip and Celbridge. While I am sure people a few hundred years ago wanted their little village of Rathgar to be separate from the village of Rathmines, that separation is gone. We can still protect it in a rural county such as Kildare which is not the capital city.

The Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW has serious questions to answer. I would like the Government side to support this amendment. The owners of Castletown House did not need a right of way because they owned all the land. it may not have been called a right of way but one can still see it. The produce to these old houses came in from the canals. It came into the canal there at Leixlip. There is a straight linear path which can still be seen on old maps, from Leixlip into Castletown House. It is like one of the milk roads. It is a dead straight road and is still called the Leixlip gate. It is important that it is protected. It was closed temporarily because the motorway was built but it must still be considered a right of way. I hope the Minister of State will accept this amendment.

It would give backing to support the people of north Kildare who fought valiantly to support this land.

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