135 year-old Athy Rugby Club fears major routeway will destroy them

An emergency meeting is being held tonight by a leading Co Kildare sports club surrounding fears that a major distributor road will have a 'catastrophic impact.'

Athy Rugby Club are holding a public meeting tonight at 8pm following the announcement of three possible routes for the Athy Distributor Road.

There are now major fears that the Distributor Road will run through the Athy Rugby Club pitch which has 500 under-age members.

One of the routes has been spoken of for many years. Known as route C it would cross the Dublin to Waterford rail line over a new bridge near the existing Aughaboura Bridge and would cross the River Barrow at a new span bridge near the existing railway bridge.

The second route, known as route C1 would cut directly through the Gaelic, soccer and rugby pitches in the area, which is what is bringing objections from people involved within the club. A third route, known as route A would be on the northern side of the town.

Athy Rugby Club member Oliver Henry said: "Firstly we would like to emphasise that we in Athy RFC fully support the building of a new Distributor Road, just not one that ruins the community. This meeting relates to the proposed routes for the new Distributor Road, one of which cuts through the Sports Pitches in the Showgrounds and will have a catastrophic impact on the opportunity for our young people to play sport. This is an OPEN MEETING so please attend and bring anybody else who cares about the young people of Athy. There are alternatives!!!”