Local town council may curb late night opening hours of takeaways in Kells

Town centre residents in Kells have called for a by-laws to be introduced to stop local fast food outlets from staying open until the early hours of the morning. A petition from residents in the centre of the town has been sent to Kells Town Council and, at last week's meeting of the council, area engineer Shane Carroll said some of the newer outlets had their hours curtailed by planning regulations and he would point that out to them. Cllr Brian Curran said some outlets were staying open until 4am and they should pass by-laws to ensure they closed their doors earlier. He said it was not acceptable to have people on the streets at unearthly hours in areas populated mostly by elderly people. He said that when he was out with the Kells Tidy Towns, tidying up in the early hours of the morning, they had seen people going home at 6.30am. Cllr Sean Drew welcomed the principle behind the petition but said the ratepayers should put forward their proposals on how to stop people gathering outside such outlets. Cllr Bryan Reilly said that it was something they would have to regulate as people living in the town were suffering because of it. Cllr Tommy Grimes said he agreed with the principle of it, but pointed out that these outlets relied on the business they do when people are coming out of pubs and nightclubs. He said extra Gardai at night time would cut a lot of the problems out. Cllr Oliver Sweeney said that, years ago, the town closed down at an earlier time. He sympathised with those who were affected and said takeaways should be away from residential areas. Cllr Sarah Reilly said they needed to talk to the Gardai about the problem. Town clerk Jarlath Flanagan said that older outlets might not have any restrictions on them, but newer outlets would have planning restrictions on operating late at night.