The state of the road at Garrane Boreen on the Limerick Road in Mitchelstown has got so bad that residents have to drive into town if they want to let their children cycle or if they wish take the baby for a walk in the pram. 

The residents told The Avondhu that the road had not been resurfaced in 28 years, while neighbouring roads had been kept in good order. Now, after more than a quarter of a century of watching their road detiorate into nothing and crumble away, they have decided to ask the council to put their road on an improvement scheme.

Cllr Noel McCarthy said that the council have been doing patch jobs by filling up potholes and he said that while this is appreciated, it is simply not enough as the road needs to be completely resurfaced and proper drainage works need to be done.

A resident said that when potholes are filled, they are in the same sorry state a week later. He said it would save the council money in the long run if they did one big job to fix it properly, instead of a variety of smaller fixes, which do not last.

"It was a forgotten road for a long time and unless we get onto a restoration programme, it will never be done," the resident said.

This week, the members of the Fermoy Electoral Area Committee heard a deputation from the residents and while their case was convincing, the bottom line was that unfortunately, it seems there is no funding available to fix roads like this.

A cCommunity Involvement Scheme which would require a hefty contribution from the residents, was put on the table, but many councillors said that this would not be feasible. However, engineer Brendan O'Gorman told the residents he would get a costing of the job and return to them with a response at the next meeting.

Speaking to the councillors, one resident said that they hadn't complained much over 28 years, but something must be done.

"We can't tolerate it any more, something has to be done. Surely in 28 years, it is not much to ask. Surely fair play and common sense have to prevail?"

Cllr McCarthy appealed to the councillors for some positive news at the next meeting, saying that the residents have waited long enough, suffering in silence, with roads that are in a deplorable condition.

Cllr Frank O'Flynn added that the road requires a proper job with drainage to take the water off the road and resurfacing, adding that the council are wasting good money on patch job after patch job.

The residents had previously rejected a Community Involvement Scheme a number of years ago to fix the road and Cllr McCarthy and Cllr Pa O'Driscoll argued that it would not be acceptable now, when the residents have less money due to the recession.

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