No appetite to allow stalls back on Athy's Emily Square
Emily Square, Athy
The road closure implemented every Tuesday on Emily Square, Athy to facilitate the town’s market will continue to be in place after Kildare County Council opposed calls from local councillors to reevaluate the closure and to keep the road open.
At a recent meeting of Athy Municipal District (MD), cllr Mark Leigh proposed that the council reevaluate the closure, whilst cllr Brian Dooley motioned that the council keeps the road open to combat traffic congestion in the town.
Cllr Dooley claimed that the congestion is affecting retailers, businesses and school traffic, and proposed that market traders be “allowed to put stalls on Emily Square but not to block the road with vehicles, and to provide an area for vans be kept in the back square once stalls are in place.”
The council’s position – articulated through a response to the motions by administrative officer in the corporate services section Ruaidhri McLoughlin - is that traders operate directly from their vans and because they do not unload stock, they require space to park and trade. Therefore, the temporary road closure remains necessary, with the council saying that there is “a strong reluctance among traders to park or trade outside the road closure area".
Trading is also permitted on the quays of the Barrow but according to the council, the traders have “consistently expressed a strong preference” to trade on the square.
The council gave notice in August 2025 that it would temporarily be closing the road at the east-side of Emily Square, from the junction with Leinster Street to the junction with meeting lane.
The closure – implemented from 16 September last year every Tuesday until 15 September of this year – blocks off the primary route used to access the Carlow road for traffic coming from the Monasterevin road and Stanhope street.
The council said that the closure was designed “to facilitate the Tuesday Market and other public events which necessitate the closure of the road.” The closure will expire in September unless it is re-advertised through the statutory process.
The council noted in its responses to cllr’s Dooley and Leigh at the recent MD meeting that it received no submissions or objections from businesses or retailers in the vicinity of the square with regards to the temporary road closure or the new Casual Trading Bye-Laws for the municipal district, which were approved and made in October 2025 and came into effect the following month.
The council’s response also referred back to a question from the January meeting about acquiring land to accommodate trading on the opposite side of the square but noted that moving stalls there would require a bye-law change and is not being considered as an option due to surface and damage concerns.
The council also noted that road closures must be proportionate and that they will only be in place during trading hours from 7 am. Speaking at the meeting, Mr McLoughlin said that the council had written to the traders the previous week reiterating the correct trading times to combat traders who have been staying too long.
