STOP! Penrose fury as traffic lights dumped in Inny

“This is happening every weekend and it has to stop!” declared an angry Cllr Johnnie Penrose as he stood by the Ballycorkey Bridge, Ballynacargy, on Sunday morning, looking into the river Inny where temporary traffic lights and bollards had been thrown again.

“It took more than one person to do this damage,” he said.

The traffic lights have been vandalised on “several different occasions” and “I fear the council will have to consider closing the road, as a last resort”, Cllr Penrose warned.

The road is the main route that leads from Kilbeggan to Rathowen and on to Edgeworthstown and Longford, he pointed out.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner on Sunday morning, Cllr Penrose said that Westmeath County Council would have to get a digger out to remove the traffic lights from the river. He said the vandalism is costing Westmeath County Council “a considerable sum of money” – money that could be better spent in other areas.

Cllr Penrose said the issues have been reported to the gardaí “on several different occasions”, and “there is an ongoing effort” to stop it.

“After all, we are looking to get the bridge repaired as it is an essential transport link and these issues should not be occurring when the conclusion is of benefit to everyone,” Cllr Penrose stated.

He beseeched the culprits to desist and hoped that if they failed to do so, they would be apprehended, charged and fined.