€6,500 to go towards creation of mural for one Kildare town

The reallocation of €6,500 in Local Property Tax (LPT) will to go towards funding a mural for Newbridge.

The request was made by Social Democrats councillor Chris Pender at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District (MD) meeting, which was held on Wednesday, June 18 last.

Specifically, Cllr Pender requested that the €6,500 previously allocated in October 2021 from LPT to be reallocated to the Arts Officer "for a proposed mural on the Water Tower be reallocated, or the focus of the project amended, to support a mural or street art installation in Newbridge Town Centre".

He added: "A central location would offer greater visibility, increase community engagement, and contribute positively to the town’s public realm."

This is not the first time that Cllr Pender has raised the Newbridge Water Tower at an MD meeting —for example, back in October of 2023, he suggested that a mural could be painted on the structure.

In addition, just last month, Cllr Pender queried the ownership status of the Water Tower.

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PAST CALLS

There have been other different calls in the past to have the structure painted with the town’s name and logo, in order to attract tourists. 

For example, back in 2017, one former councillor, Mark Doyle, suggested that Kildare County Council could explore the use of the water tower to provide bird boxes for endangered or wintering species of birds.

A separate LPT request was also made by the Mayor of the MD, Fine Gael Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer to allocate €4,820 to the Roads Department of the MD Office.

This request was also approved.

In other news related to Cllr Pender, he also made headlines yesterday (June 24 last) when he accused the Department of Education of having a "deeply damaging" approach to special schools in Kildare.

Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender. File photograph