ONE local councillor was pitching a fit last week, questioning Limerick City and County Council on alleged plans to spend tax dollars on mini golf greens on roundabouts in the wilds of West Limerick.
Or so at least was the claim by Fine Gael semoniser Adam Teskey.
It would appear the gang in Merchant’s Quay had so much fun at the Ryder Cup in New York, Teskey believed, that they can’t imagine a morning commute without a quick stop off at the greens. As the song goes, they like big putts and they cannot lie.
Forget Ryder Cup 2027 in Adare, it’s a couple of rounds of crazy golf on the N69 they are after now.
Over the hills and fore away out in Rathkeale, Fine Gael’s finest pontificator certainly saw an opening and he latched onto it like it was a seven iron.
“Can you confirm or deny about speculation around 18 roundabouts in the Adare-Rathkeale District being converted into mini putting greens in advance of Ryder Cup 2027, at a supposed cost of €1million?” Cllr Teskey inquired.
Poor auld Vincent Murray, Director of Adare-Rathkeale District, didn’t know where to look.
“I was not aware of it,” he confessed, before promising he would go search around in the rough for answers.
The Council came out strong against Cllr Teskey’s aspersions, acknowledging that there is indeed an ongoing discussion to “enhance 18 Limerick roundabouts to promote Limerick as a golfing destination”, but that discussions are at very early stages, and the Councill will only engage in the project via private sponsorship. “There is no request for €1m, or any money, for this project,” the Council confirmed, adding that the discussions are “entirely separate from the Ryder Cup”.
And when it wasn’t mini putting greens upsetting the Rathkeale set, it was a Punch and Judy show they were giving out over. You couldn’t make it up.
“Is Sean Mellor here?” they ask at the top of the every meeting. I’m like the Scarlet Pimpernel to this lot.
“Puppet shows” were up for the discussion at the monthly pow-wow. Not any kind of marionettes, mind. It was puppet theatre of the new Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP), replacing the former Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meetings, that had them hot and bothered.
Cllr Teskey, former Chairperson of the Limerick JPC, is not a man to hold his whist. News of only one member per district allowed a place on the pilot LCSP scheme had him well riled up.
“You may not be aware of the issues that face Rathkeale town. The population triples at Christmas and we’ve had shootings, stabbings, robbings of cars, gross misconduct in relation to criminals, and we’ve had seizures in terms of weapons and violent disturbances,” he fumed.
“Our district goes from Kilteery all the way into Ballyneety and Ballybricken. It stretches from Kildimo all the way out to Ballingarry and up as far as Lee’s Cross. I request that we get a minimum of two members,” he boomed.
Cllr Stephen Keary (FG), Cagney to Teskey’s Lacy, was not enamoured either.
“If I express my opinion and I want to get a response at national level, and it does not work for me, then it’s a total waste of time, it’s only a puppet show,” he declared.
Ah, well, at least Fine Gael have Christmas in Limerick to look forward to.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
