By Peter Kelly (Liffey Champion, Front Page)

Fianna Fail TD for Kildare north Michael Fitzpatrick is vowing to carry on in public office after he confirmed his recent diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

He is determined to stay in Dáil Eireann as long as he possibly can but will not contest the next General Election. Fitzpatrick says that “physically and mentally , I feel fine at the moment.”

The former County Councillor first noticed there was something wrong over Christmas when his arm began to give him trouble.  After going for tests he was diagnosed with the disease two weeks ago. He is still attending hospital and having treatment and has received tremendous support from his family, constituents, former fellow councillors in Kildare County Council and from other TDs in Dáil Eireann.

“I’m coping with it” says Fitzpatrick. “I know what the end result is. It’s a terminal illness but you can last a long time.  I’m on treatment and I’m hopeful that treatment can slow down that process. I know what it is and I can live with it.”

Drunk driver crashes on the motorway at Kilcock

By Sarah Egan (Liffey Champion, Page 4)

A drunk driver crashed his car on the M4 near Kilcock last Friday night (19^th Feb) after hitting the verge and losing control of his car. No other vehicles were involved in the incident.

Leixlip Gardai arrived at the scene of the accident at 8.45pm and fire brigades from Maynooth and Leixlip were called out to get the man out of the car. When they arrived he had already gotten himself out of the car.

He was taken to Connelly Hospital by ambulance with minor injuries and while at the hospital his blood alcohol level was found to be over the legal limit.

He was then charged with drink driving.

Entries being sought for Kilcock St. Patrick’s Day Parade

(Liffey Champion, Page 15)

Entries for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Kilcock are now being accepted by the committee.

Anyone who would like to take part but who has not received an entry form yet should contact Caroline on 087-2312455 to get one.

All of the businesses, community groups and organisations are welcome to enter a float.

All-Ireland bid by Kilcock School

By Henry Bauress (Leinster Leader, Feb 18^th)

Eleven volleyball players from St. Joseph’s Boys School in Kilcock are to travel to Limerick on 9^th March to try and lift an All-Ireland title. They’ve beaten five school teams in Kildare and five in Leinster to make it to the final where they will play Mary Immaculate School in Limerick.

Last year the group reached the Leinster final and hope to go one better this time around.  The team plays a modified form of volleyball called ‘Spike Ball’ under the guidance of their teacher Ms. Orla Fitzsimmons.

Everyone here at ourkilcock.ie wish the team the very best of luck in the final.

The team: Jason Gibbons, Kevin Costello, Patrick Bermingham, Barry Redmond, Nathan Murphy, Daniel Kyne, Matthew Capley, Sean Eves, Danny Coss-Heneghan, Rory O’Brien, Gavin Tyrell.

Therese Brady is a local aspiring writer and writes mainly about food, fiction – novels and short stories, restaurant, movie and book reviews and I have my own website www.theresebrady.com and blog called Writer’s Cramp. This is where I keep my creative juices flowing during those down moments of writer’s block. I’ve completed one novel and am currently working on the second. Find me on Facebook and Twitter.

This is my first weekly roundup of Kilcock Local News. I’m really looking forward to bringing you this regular update on what’s happening in our town and what’s being said about it in local news. I’ll be scouring the newspapers and Internet for anything that concerns where we live and if there is anything newsworthy going on in the area that you’d like me to write about, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Anger at Kilcock court rumours

http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/Anger-at-Kilcock-court-rumours.6059454.jp

In the Leinster Leader (10th February 2010), an article by Conor McHugh brought our attention to the rumour that Kilcock Court’s fortnightly sittings could be moved to Naas in the future. However, it seems that no decision has been made on the matter at this stage and reviews of all court locations are taking place, according to a Court Service Spokesperson.

The issues concerning Kilcock locals and business owners were outlined by Councillor Liam Doyle to the Leinster Leader. If the court is moved to Naas, business in Kilcock will be greatly decreased. The lack of adequate parking facilities in Naas combined with poor public transport links between the towns is of huge concern to those without transport. Moving the court would also have a detrimental effect on security in the area as it would mean that the Garda Station (which is currently able to stay open during court days) would have to close due to lack of resources.

Kilcock Business Association spoke out upon hearing the rumours and echoed Cllr. Doyle’s concerns about local business by saying that it will have “huge negative implications on Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilcock, Newtown, Tirmohan, Johnstown Bridge and Carbury.” They are also concerned that currently there are up to 10 Garda Cars visible and patrolling the area on a court day and if the court is moved to Naas they would no longer be centrally located to respond to any emergencies in the District with minimum delay.

Another issue concerning the KBA is that people involved will have to take public transport into Dublin and back out again to Naas which would incur extra costs and considerable time lost from work.

Cllr. Doyle suggests that the local GAA Club, which currently lies empty during the day, could be considered as a venue for Court sittings as there is ample parking and a good sized hall that could accommodate people. “I’m sure that the committee of the GAA would be open to discussions on making their facilities available to the court services, until such time as new facilities could be provided within the confines of the town” commented Cllr. Doyle.

The spokesperson for the Court Service added that the proposed building of a new courthouse in Maynooth was being pursued, subject to funding availability.

Unemployment continue to rise in north Kildare

The level of unemployment in North Kildare continues to rise as 93 more people signed onto the Live Register for Unemployment Assistance at Maynooth Social Welfare Office in January 2010.

An article in the Liffey Champion (13^th February page 11) by Sarah Egan tells outlines how the total number of people signing on in Maynooth at the end of January rose to 5,853 according to the Central Statistics Office.

This is an increase of 1,669 in North Kildare in the last 12 months. The number of unemployed people in the whole County has more than doubled in the last two years with 367 people signing on in January 2010, with the overall figure of rising from 17,229 in Dec 2009 to 17,596 in January 2010.

Therese Brady is a local aspiring writer and writes mainly about food, fiction – novels and short stories, restaurant, movie and book reviews and I have my own website www.theresebrady.com and blog called Writer’s Cramp. This is where I keep my creative juices flowing during those down moments of writer’s block. I’ve completed one novel and am currently working on the second. Find me on Facebook and Twitter.