A report into the November 2011 crash which damaged Castleisland’s best known landmark, The Fountain recommends its removal to another location for its own safety.
Though the damage sustained by the town’s most loved structure was mainly superficial and repairable, the consequences of another accident there may not be so easily overcome, according to the report compiled from historic and current details.
Hit for a Second Time
“Remember that this is, at least, the second time that the structure has been hit and badly damaged – it may not be a case of third time lucky,” said the report citing the occasion in the 1970s when a lorry belonging to local hardware merchants Hogans struck and rendered the fountain inoperable at a time when may local people depended on it for their drinking water.
The report, which is due to be submitted for examination and approval at an upcoming meeting of the Castleisland Corca Dhuibhne Municipal District Council, is sharp in detail and contains drawings and photographs of its current location and of areas of the town where it could be relocated to.
Original Source Lost
Its relocation can, more easily be facilitated by the fact that its no longer attached or dependent on its original source of supply which was from a nearby well in a field nearby.
“While I don’t think the relocation of the fountain will become an election issue and it is, after all, for it’s own good and for the safety of the people who use it.
“We do however, expect there will be objections to the plan on historical grounds and because of it’s fond associations with this part of the town.
Traditional Meeting Place
“It was, after all, a regular and traditional meeting place for the people of the locality and a dáil of the area where news and views were gathered and shared since it was built there in the late 1840s.
“I expect that the area’s local representatives will be making the plans public after giving it due consideration and consulting with members of the public here. It may even need a public meeting before any of the recommended moves are made on it,” according to the consultants’ glossy report which runs to 38 full colour pages.
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