‘Please listen to the people’
Kinsale residents have convinced Cork County Council to halve its initial €60,000 bond for the use of the town’s carpark by an iconic funfair.
The news comes after hundreds of locals took to the streets of Kinsale last weekend to rally for the return of Piper’s Funfair to the town this summer.
Protestors armed with signs and banners reading ‘Bin the Bond’ gathered on Sunday afternoon to call on Cork County Council to reconsider the unaffordable bond.
Last month, the funfair’s owners were informed by the council that the purpose of the bond was to cover any repair costs should the surface of the recently tarmacked Town Park be damaged.
In the 90 years that Piper’s Funfair has been coming to Kinsale, it has never been required to pay a bond.
Although the bond has now been reduced to €30,000, owner of Piper’s Funfair Brendan Piper said the cost was still too high and not in line with national precedents for small funfairs. He argued that the funfair had not operated since before the Covid-19 pandemic and was not “awash with money”.
Mr Piper met with council engineers last Friday to appeal for a more affordable bond. He had identified a company to make remedial repairs to the tarmac when the funfair leaves in September, but he could not identify a company that would offer a bond for such activities.
Addressing the crowd on Sunday, local Green Party Representative Marc Ó Riain called on Cork County Council to reconsider its decision, pointing out that a typical bond for such an event should be €800, not €60,000.
“The bond is unsustainable, and the council executive is throwing more barriers in front of the return of the funfair," said Mr Ó Riain.
He continued: “Please listen to the people and see sense. All we are asking for is an affordable bond for the return of our traditional funfair. We are not looking for special treatment; we are looking for fairness."
Local Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O'Sullivan also spoke on the day, saying he felt a breakdown in communication had occurred between the council and residents.
He said: "There is a disconnect to the people on the ground. This park was gifted to the people of Kinsale to be used as an amenity space and we should not be told by Cork County Council what we should use the park as."
Independent TD Michael Collins also expressed his feelings on the actions of the council, saying: "We have an issue here with communication – the goalposts are constantly changing."
Last year, a demonstration similar to Sunday’s rally in Kinsale saw Cork County Council reverse its decision to remove Piper’s Showman’s Wagon from Short Quay.