Call for potholes to be fixed at Hilltop in Dundalk

An advocacy group for service users at Hilltop on the Ardee Road in Dundalk have started a campaign to get potholes fixed at the entrance to their facility, which is run by St John of Gods North East Services.

The group, which is chaired by Peter Monaghan, with Brian Wallace as secretary, wrote to Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú and Dundalk Municipal District Chairperson Cllr. Kevin Meenan, to highlight the issue.

In the letter, Mr Monaghan and Mr Wallace said: “We are writing to you from Saint John of Gods, North East Services. We are located on the Ardee Road and our Day Service Hub (The LINKS, Hilltop) currently supports 17 adults on a daily basis.

“We are contacting you in relation to ongoing issues we have at our main entrance. We have previously contacted the Louth County Council directly but to no avail.

“We have very substantial potholes at our entrance and it is causing lots of access issues. Transport is finding it difficult to come and go from our premises and it is also a huge risk for service users here as many have an unsteady gait.

“We would like to invite you to call up here to have a look at the issues and we can discuss it over a coffee. We have enclosed some photographs of the potholes.”

Mr Monaghan hand-delivered the letter to the Sinn Féin office in Crowe Street and invited the two representatives to see for themselves the potholes.

On Friday, Deputy Ó Murchú and Cllr. Meenan visited Hilltop. Deputy Ó Murchú said: “It is clear that there are substantial problems at the entrance to Hilltop and these potholes are certainly impeding those who use this service.

“It was great to meet staff and those who use the service and to spend some time seeing the impressive set-up here.

“I have no doubt that buses and cars have problems getting over these potholes and those who use the service have to navigate their way through them on foot. These potholes didn’t appear overnight; this is a problem that has been festering for some time.”

Cllr. Meenan said: “We were given a warm welcome at Hilltop and we spoke to those who use the service about the problems the potholes are causing. As a result, I have been in touch with Louth County Council who have committed that an engineer will prioritise this issue for response and resolution.

“We intend to follow up with the council to ensure that these potholes are fixed as soon as possible.”