THIS week, Cork County Council has clarified that the €670,000 spent on the Bantry sign/portal was not just for the sign itself in Wolfe Tone Square, but for a much larger project.
The Council has itemised the project – citing the erection of other signs, including six ‘totem’ signs, eight ‘lectern structures’ and eight ‘directional fingerpost’ signs at key locations around the town.
The money, we are told, also covers the removal of 20 existing signs from various locations across the town; improving seating and street furniture; lighting and paving; and the erection of new streamlined stainless steel signs to replace the old heritage trail signs.
All in all, it is appears to be a very worthwhile project. But at a time when the public is so cognisant of public expenditure and its value for money, or otherwise, one would have to wonder at the amount involved for just one town.
The amount is not far off three-quarters of a million euro in expenditure, from the public purse. This is also at a time when both housing and healthcare waiting lists are increasing, when the state of the roads is the perpetual ‘water cooler’ conversation around the region, and the lack of water infrastructure is halting progress in many West Cork towns.
To see hundreds of thousands being spent on a town that has a natural beauty and a vantage point that speaks for itself seems incongruous to many.
Some people rightly noted that the new structure replaces a four-sided bus shelter, yet provides no shelter now.
The timing of the project could have been better, too – the cost emerging not long after it was revealed that €326,000 was spent on restoring the iconic busman’s and fireman’s shelter on Patrick Street in Cork city.
And, of course, we all remember the backlash that greeted the revelations last year that a bike shed at Leinster House had cost €350,000.
The danger is that we may soon start to become immune to these large numbers. Especially in a country which, we are told, is awash with money. And similar statements were made several times during last November’s general election campaign, no doubt in the hope that the public would link our good fortune with the policies of the current government.
And if that was the intention, it may well have worked.
But the money will not last forever. And if the new US president has anything to do with it, our coffers could be about to be negatively impacted by his ‘America First’ tax policies.
Now might be a very good time to be frugal with what we have. Rather than criticising those who question the levels of expenditure around the country, we should thank anyone who makes us take a closer look at how our taxes are being spent and if we are really getting value for money.
The sign – now being reclassified as a ‘portal’ – was described by a Council official recently as providing ‘an uninterrupted and spectacular view … out onto the harbour.’
It begs the question, if the ‘portal’ wasn’t there at all, would the view of wonderful Bantry Bay not be even better?
Lucky escape from Éowyn
FOR once, it seems, West Cork escaped the worst of the bad weather, when Storm Éowyn came calling last week.
It’s not often the south west doesn’t bear the brunt of an Atlantic storm, but this one certainly seemed to cause a lot more destruction the further north it moved.
And yet, several hundreds of customers of ESB were still without power for a time after the storm ripped through the region, although most got back online within a day or two. The local crews were working around the clock and had to draft in support from abroad when the full extent of the damage was discovered.
Of course, getting help from across the water was another challenge as the UK’s western seaboard was also reeling from Éowyn’s arrival.
But with or without the back-up, the power crews did trojan work restoring supplies and clearing dangerous lines off fallen trees and property. More power to them!
