OPW Minister Kevin Boxer Moran must clarify comments he made today which failed to distance Castletown House community groups from illegal activity, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who represents Kildare North, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an interview on Morning Ireland today, the Minister was asked for an update about his engagement with community groups at Castletown House and a Garda investigation into \u20ac500,000 of damage caused by vandals at an OPW site, Donaghcumper House, in Celbridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegrettably, in his response, the Minister failed to make clear that community groups, formed after M4 access to Castletown House was closed off 18 months ago, are entirely peaceful and have condemned the despicable vandalism that occurred at an adjacent OPW site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Minister was right to highlight the worrying concerns and experiences of OPW workers, he should also have been clear that community groups he has met with have consistently condemned any intimidation or ill-treatment of workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister, in his public commentary, should be trying to reduce tensions surrounding this issue, not inflame them. The fact is the previous government\u2019s ineptitude resulted in the M4 access to Castletown House being closed \u2013 endangering this hugely important local amenity.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, the current government appear to have no plan \u2013 or even desire \u2013 to remedy the situation. Campaigners feel like they are not being listened to at all, which is why one community group has now initiated legal action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister must now clarify his regrettable comments, which failed to distance community groups from illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
16th May, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OPW Minister Kevin Boxer Moran must clarify comments he made today which failed to distance Castletown House community groups from illegal activity, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who represents Kildare North, said: \u201cIn an interview on Morning Ireland today, the Minister was asked for an update about his engagement with community […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,661,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-opw","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n