Minister of State for the OPW visited Callan last week to view the work undertaken on the Kings River and to meet up with candidate for the General Elections, Cllr Michael Doyle. He was welcomed to the Town by Cllr Joe Lyons who gave him a detailed report on the Kings River Project. He inspected the work complete around the eye of the bridge which had been completely blocked for many years. The work was funded under the Climate Action Programme. Cllr Lyons showed the Minister the area of the River, between the bridges, that will be completely desilted and all associated works will be carried out to rid the Towns amenity of the unsightly sand dunes and shrubbery and improve the visual aspect of the Kings River that is adjacent to two Public Parks. Cllr Lyons said, he worked very closely with Minister Heather Humphreys, Department of Rural Affairs and Minister Patrick O Donovan Department of the OPW, to obtain the funding of €247,800, which is copperfastened to carry out this work in July ’25.
The Minister met many of the public on his walkabout, and also some business people in the Town. He heard the problems, issues and challenges of being self-employed in an Irish rural Town. He was extremely impressed with his visit to Keoghs Bakery, and Billy’s story of The Family Baker in Callan for generations (and the famous rustics).
