My family has a long history in this area. I'm the sixth generation here. My great-grandfather lived on the Upper Green and my son is building a house there now, so he's going back to his roots. There's a great sense of belonging in Kilcoole. The price of houses is the problem now. I've three children and the two youngest - 17 and 21 - both want to stay in the area. I live on the Sea Road. It's at the end of an ancient mass path from Kilcoole. I got married 26 years ago to a man from the Sea Road and we built our house in his parents' garden. On our cul-de-sac, all the houses were on half an acre and the children built in the garden. Now the next generation want to live here too.

Kilcoole got slated by RTE for being a dirty town and that was a total misrepresentation. We were targeted because of our high profile with Glenroe. The fact is that we are the seventh tidiest village in Wicklow. When the Glenroe people come, they're glad to have our lovely flower beds at the bottom of the town. This is a very positive place to live, with a nice country feeling. There's a sense of history here. Its very hard to fault Kilcoole.

There's a great backbone and a strong solid community that would stand by you. The marsh area and the wildlife on the beach is wonderful. We don't say no to change, but we would like to be consulted as to how the changes occur. The new houses will be a good thing if the prices are right. If we could work with the developers, we could get what's right for everybody.