Kinsale residents demand County Council return Pipers LiveingWagon to Short Quay and the return of the Funfair to the Town Park without increased Council rents.
In the continuing community action to return Pipers to Short Quay, a gathering in Solidarity with the plight of the Pipers family has been organised for Short Quay in Kinsale on Sunday 22nd at 3pm.
Cork County Council have forced the Pipers family to remove their LiveingWagon from Short Quay under threat of seizure. At the same time they have levied increased rents on Pipers Funfair by €1000 this year, €2500 next year and €5000 the following year making the running of the funfair uneconomical and impossible to host. The Council then want Pipers gone from the Town Park forever. The community are shocked and appalled by these unilateral actions by the Council, without any community engagement. Only Cllrs Sean O’Donovan and Alan Coleman have fought Pipers corner in Council published minutes from March 2021.
The LiveingWagon and the ‘Merries’ have been a part of Kinsale since 1932 and it an integral part of the community and children’s memories for almost a century and part of our intangible cultural heritage.
We do not want to see a Family effectively run out of town, and we, as a community, are going to stand by them! I am just off the phone with Brendan Piper and they just want to run a fun fair for the kids of Kinsale and into a 4th generation. It’s absolutely heart-breaking, Marc Ó Riain, Local Green Party representative said.
Whilst the Council have tried to defend the increased rents and the action to eject Pipers Wagon from Short Quay, the community, 2000 of whom have signed a petition for its reinstatement, are likely to turn out in force on Sunday in solidarity with the Pipers family.
The petition and the gathering have been organised by Marc O’Riain, Local Green Party representative and Helen Hickey who once worked in Pipers funfair.
Help support Cork Safety Alerts by becoming a member – Click Here