Greening of concrete area proposed outside Funeral Home in Portlaoise

LAOIS County Council is considering landscaping the concrete area in front of Keegan’s Funeral Home in Portlaoise with biodiversity and pollinator friendly plants before the end of Summer.

The reason why the Cathaoirleach of the Portlaoise Municipal District Council cllr Paddy Buggy said he was proposing such a motion was because he is “a firm believer that we should introduce more biodiversity into urban settings. I live in the countryside and my little farm is more biodiversity than the whole town of Portlaoise. We need to rectify that.

“Also, we see now with climate change and downpours, where you have concrete and tar there’s more water going into the system and sometimes wastewater treatment plants are not able to cope and polluted water gets into the rivers. We have to try and stop that.”

He told his fellow councillors at the February district council meeting: “Part of how you stop that is to have soft ground to soak up the water, whether it’s gravel or soil. Clean water is going to be vitally important for us going forward. If you look at the present situation at the moment there’s no guarantee that we’re going to have the tech of farm industries in this country that generates so much revenue for the state. We may have to fall back on farmers again, like we did after the last crash to try and keep the country going. But, because of the nitrates derogation we could lose that based on poor water quality, which would mean that farmers would have to cut back on production, which in turn would mean the country and the economy would lose out.” 

“We all have to play our part in assuring clean water. Until wastewater treatment plants are upgraded to be able to cop with the extra water that comes from the heavy downpours we have to do all we can,” he said.

Cllr John Joe Fennelly said: “Portlaoise Tidy Towns and the council have done huge work in regards to biodiversity projects around Portlaoise and that has to be acknowledged.” 

Clarifying his position Cathaoirleach Buggy said: “I wasn’t running them down. It was in all urban areas I was talking about. But, I do want acknowledge the great work the tidy towns in Portlaoise do. They are years ahead of a lot of towns around the country in terms of biodiversity.” 

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley who seconded cllr Buggy’s motion agreed with what cllr Fennelly said: “While I agree with the motion I too also want to acknowledge the great work done by the council and by the Portlaoise Tidy Towns. It would be lovely to have that (biodiversity) across from the church (Keegan’s Funeral Home).