TD slams cost of Dáil bike shed as Carlow Courthouse railings decay

DEPUTY Jennifer Murnane O’Connor has said it is “completely unacceptable” that the Office of Public Works (OPW) would spend €335,000 on a bike shed at Leinster House while leaving Carlow courthouse railings in such a deplorable condition.

The local TD demanded an explanation for what she called extraordinary overspend of public funds while important projects such as the railings at Carlow courthouse are overlooked. “I have been on to the Office of Public Works numerous times about the courthouse railings, meetings, PQs … it is just totally unacceptable that the OPW have not completed the work on the courthouse railings. It’s such a beautiful building of huge historical significance, yet they can spend €335,000 on a bike shed at Leinster House,” she told The Nationalist.

“The OPW need to complete the work on the railings; it just shouldn’t happen that that a bike shed receives funding while our beautiful courthouse is left. It is incredibly frustrating,” she added. The upkeep of the historic railings is the responsibility of the OPW and the Courts Service. For years, there have been repeated calls for urgent conservation works to be carried out on them, while numerous ministers have visited the site and countless representations have been made by the local council to the OPW.