‘Let’s make Kilkenny great again’

Over the past number of months, we have seen and heard all about the way we should make our city a living, breathing space to bring people back into the city centre, namely High Street. Now, a stroll or drive up High streetwhichever way the tra c goes - for if there is anything that is a dead cert, is it will be changed again, again and again. Speaking of something that is ‘dead’, how sad it is to see all the empty shops, big and small on our main thoroughfare. Everyone is in agreement: ‘Let’s Make Kilkenny Great Again’.

e plans for High Street look very impressive. Wonderful landscaping, a leafy main street, families with strollers, kids gleefully playing with parents relaxing on the strategically placed seating, and a street with walkways and bikeways running both directions. All that is missing is a canal and one would believe you were ‘Somewhere in Europe’, as Liam O’Reilly proudly sang for Ireland in the Eurovision, when it was the song and not the dancers and acrobats that was the recipe for success.

Imagine the afternoon stroll, a slight breeze rustling through the leaves of the young saplings while the buzzing bees seek the pollen from the manicured beds of owers. eir colourful displays calling birds and bees to pollinate as the city’s ‘Bring Back the Bees’ initiative aims to highlight how important bees are to our everyday life. Ah yes, the drawings look like something from a Disney family movie or a Mills & Boon romantic novel.

As we wish to pedestrianise High Street as step one, and then maybe Rose Inn Street and Kieran Street joining it, we have the Golden Triangle. Or could it be the Kilkenny version of the Bermuda Triangle? On closer inspection, something is missing; the parking facilities for people with mobility issues and easy access for seniors who need assistance. If you cannot walk 100 metres - the criteria for the blue disk - how do you now experience these new developments? How do they call to the Credit Union, the greatest example of a community bank, where they have been promised to always have sta manned cubicles to serve all, including our Seniors? And how do Seniors stroll the High Street and browse the current, and hopefully new, stores that ll the many gaps on both sides of the street from smaller units, to ag ship units like Argos and Monsoon, now departed. One has to ask why they have up sticks and left? Can’t be the rates as we are the second lowest rates. Maybe it’s the rental terms? For we have to be honest they are out of sync with the footfall gures which we sometimes in ate by selling our retail space on the tourism gures that visit our Castle but never set foot on any of our streets as it’s an ‘on – o ’ bus stop tour. Major retailers see the number of tourists visiting Kilkenny, deciding to locate a store here, but the turnover does not match their projections, so it’s let’s cut our losses and close the doors.

A person with mobility issues, no matter what age, needs to have motorised access to our main thoroughfare. Otherwise we are making our city centre an exclusive venue. For those who make these plans, two things that should be remembered are, our seniors, those with private pensions, have tremendous spending power. is is recognised by major toy stores. ey now have a targeted advertising campaign as it is grandparents who spend more on toys than parents. And all those who are now the t and nimble decision makers, your ‘father time’ clock is ticking away as your body starts to lose its mobility. e changes you make now will exclude you too! We have to have a socially inclusive, equal society. And that includes ‘Access for All’.

I did ask the question as to how I could get to the stores and nancial institutions on the High Street if it is completely pedestrianised. I am one of those who cannot walk the full length of the street due to mobility issues. I was told, “Sure use Dunnes Stores car park”. Well, if I can’t get up two ights of stairs trying to navigate our wonderful medieval laneways like the Butterslip, it is just a distant memory. en I was told “Sure park in Mary’s car park as it’s all downhill to High Street”. My mother always said ‘think before you open your mouth’, advice I should pay heed to more to be honest, and so should have this individual. I decided to remind him of the old rhyme that all you seniors will remember, e Grand Old Duke of York. ‘ e Grand old Duke of York he had ten thousand men. He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again, and when they were up, they were up, and when they were down, they were down…’ I hope the penny - or is that now a cent - dropped. If I went down the James’ Street hill like the Duke of York’s men, I'd have to make it back up the hill somehow to St Mary’s car park! Our great national sporting organisation, GAA, also seems to be forgetting those who made Kilkenny great. eir new Digital purchase scheme is another action that has consequences to our Seniors in particular, just as our High Street banks want to create a cashless society where all your spending power is out of your hands and in theirs. As to use the card, the cash has to be in your, or should we call it, ‘their’, account. Seniors and many people believe cash is still King. Ordering online is alien to us. e navigation of purchasing a ticket for a match in Nowlan Park, like last Sunday’s Championship game versus Galway, is out of reach to most seniors and the result is sadly missing the game they love and have supported for a lifetime. Some have given over all their free time and free labour to the community cause. is was recently highlighted when an elderly widower told me his disappointment in missing Sunday’s big game in his beloved Nowlan Park. He lives alone and has never used a laptop, iPhone or tablet. Actually, when I mentioned a tablet, he o ered me Panadol as he thought I may have a headache! ere are those who say they don’t want to be handling cash anymore for hygiene concerns, the city sleeker ticket sellers and cash collectors who complain that the bovine farmers were handing in their ‘soiled vers’ with hands that hadn’t seen water since the left the eld the day before after spreading slurry on the vegetables that his missus will gladly have on his kitchen table daily. Now, I suppose the GAA had to gure out how when the ‘Park’ was full, the gate was allegedly showing a half full one, how so many people got to watch the game for free is unbelievable!

As we look to upgrade our city to make it user friendly and people centred, and as the three big Banks want you to give up your cash, in which the GAA doesn’t want either - unless it comes in a government grant - do not forget our Seniors. We are the people who made our city, built the GAA into an organisation envied all over the globe, and bailed out banks. Exclude us at your peril. WE made Kilkenny great before and we will be the ones you will rely on tomorrow so ‘Let’s Make Kilkenny Great Again’ TOGETHER!