The €89.96 million budget passed by Kilkenny County Council for 2021 is being described as “historic”.
Cathaoirleach Andrew McGuinness noted it’s the second year in a row that councillors have voted upon the investment unanimously.
He says the strong support it received reflects the Council’s efforts to tackle the pandemic;
“It was certainly an historic occasion, in that I was the only elected member in the Council Chamber and everybody else was onscreen. I suppose it was also historic because we all voted in favour of the budget” he told KCLR News. “Actually this year is the second year in a row that we’ve had unanimous approval for our budget, and I think it’s a reflection of the amount of work that has been put in over the last number of months, in preparing the budget and in responding to the crisis that we’re currently in, in terms of Covid.”
It’s an increase on last year, which saw the council agree to an €83.56million budget for 2020.
Cllr McGuinness says the larger spend will benefit the county greatly; “While we’re in very difficult times, many of us expected a very tough budget” he explained. “It comes as very positive news that we have managed to maintain all of our essential services and continue our vital supports at the same level as 2020 for fantastic local amenities such as the Watergate Theatre, Castlecomer Discovery Park, The Watershed, Ossory Youth and many other projects.”
Meanwhile, Carlow’s 2021 budget is their largest yet- read more about that here.
