A CORK CITY councillor has called for an electronic pay meter installed for the Coca-Cola Zero bike rental scheme to be removed from Kent station.

Local Workers’ Party councillor Ted Tynan said the meter is blocking the view of a monument to Thomas Kent at the Cork train station named in his honour.

Councillor Ted Tynan Councillor Ted Tynan

Kent was one of the 16 executed leaders of the Easter Rising.

Tynan said the decision to locate the pay meter directly in front of the monument is inexplicable and called for it to be moved immediately, describing it as “affront to the memory of Thomas Kent and his comrades who gave their lives”.

Tynan wants the bike racks to also be removed to elsewhere in the city as a sign of respect for Kent. He has raised the issue with Cork City Council, tabling a motion calling for the meter to be moved.

I am calling on the city council, in conjunction with Irish Rail who own the site, to see to it that this ugly electronic meter is moved immediately as we enter the peak of the tourist season and when interest in the 1916 Rising is higher than it has been in many decades.

Tynan said he hopes the motion will be discussed at a public meeting next Monday evening.

TheJournal.ie has contacted the council for comment. An Rothar Nua operates the bike scheme on behalf of the National Transport Authority, both of which have also been contacted for comment.

Read: From ‘bullet books’ to Seán O’Casey watercolours: A different look at the Easter Rising

Read: The 15 Irish railway stations named after the executed 1916 leaders