Madam, - I am alarmed at the proposal to construct a road through the centre of Kilkenny between the cathedral precinct and the rest of the city. When the Anglo-Normans established their new town of Kilkenny, they grafted it on to the cathedral enclosure, which they preserved as Irishtown. The two existed for centuries side by side as parts of a whole urban community. For modern planners to allow a wide, busy road to slice through the junction of the two roots of the city is disgraceful.
The idea of putting inner ring roads and the like through the centres of cities and towns is one which comes from the middle of the last century. The space between the cathedral and the market centre is one which has developed as a peaceful area close to the centre of the city as a whole. Putting a noisy monument to traffic, so often destined, as we have seen, to become a traffic jam, through such an area is simple vandalism.
As a visitor to the city, who has for decades appreciated it as a place of Irish civilisation, joining the two major traditions in our history, as well as a major tourist attraction, I cannot see how such a plan can be supported. I trust that the planning authorities will do the proper thing and reject it, - Yours, etc,