BOYNE VALLEY WALKING FESTIVAL

The Boyne Valley walking festivalwill take place over three days from Friday June 3rd – Saunday June 5th 2011 

 

The 3 Boyne Walks for 2011 1. Drogheda Town Heritage Walk 7pm on Friday June 3rd Departs from The Tourist Office, The Tholsel , West St, Drogheda at 7pm (About 3 km- 2 hours) A highly entertaining guided evening tour looking into Drogheda’s rich heritage and history.. Visiting the famed St Laurence Gate, one of the finest examples of a barbican defence gate in Europe and the old town walls,  Magdalene Tower, part of the Dominican Abbey built in 1224, St Peter’s Churchyard with it’s cadavar stone, where the dead arose and hear tales of the infidelity of one of Ireland’s best known writers, St Oliver Plunkett’s Shrine, see Millmount Matello Tower built on a 3,00 year old mound,overlooking the town.. Learn about the sacking of Drogheda by Oliver Cromwell, the Battle of the Boyne, about the Irish parliments meeting in Drogheda and hear about the many famous people with connects to Drogheda including St Patrick, King John, Robert Bruce, the last High King of Ireland, King The Duke of Wellington, Captain Blyth of the Bounty, John Philip Holland, the inventor of the submarine and many more. Pre Booking Essential €5 bookings 041-9872843 .   2. Bru Na Boinne Walk  10am Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre (about 15km – 4 hours) Walk the ancient highways and by-ways of Bru na Boinne. The route takes to the fields, farms and lanes, around the famous Boyne Valley Neolithic Tombs. The river Boyne is associated with many legends and myths from the Salmon of Knowledge to the burial of Cormac Mac Art, the first Christian King of Ireland.Bru na Boinne is a UNESCO World Heritage siteand it’s monuments predate Stonehenge and the Pyramids. The walk will provide  unique views of Newgrange and we will visit the tombs at Knowth. The walk will finish at the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre and public transport will be available back to Drogheda. Pre-booking Essential €15 bookings 041-9872843   3. Battle of the Boyne Walk Walk from Drogheda  along the banks of the Boyne.St Patrick walked along this route on his way to Slane where he litthe firesignalling the arrival of Christianity to Ireland. Walk benight the spectacular Cable Bridge onwards to the Boyne Canal. The walk will visit  the Battle of the Boyne site to explore the area and visit the new interpretive centre where a living history displays with  black powder musket firing and cavalry manoeuvres: will take place .A guide will accompany the group at Oldbridge to cross the river to enter Townley Hall estate with it’s nature trail. Pre-booking Essential €15 bookings 041-9872843   All three walks for €30   Rember to dress appropriately as weather conditions can change Adequate footwear must be worn All walks led by experienced guides and leaders Leader’ decisions are final Participants should carry a rucksack with rainwear and a packed lunch and water for the longer walks All walks are for those over 16 yearsexcept for Drogheda Town walk Strictly no dogs allowed     Register at Drogheda Tourist Office, The Tholsel, West Street, Drogheda e-mail tourism@drogheda.ie  .

OLD DROGHEDA SOCIETY EVENTS

Liam Reilly, of Drogheda’s Millmount Museum, notified the following upcoming Old Drogheda Society events (below).

Old Drogheda Society Film Show – ” Bridge of the Ford” a film commissioned by the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1948 and some other old film footage – Wednesday February 23rd in the Governor’s House, Millmount at 8pm – All Welcome

The Tholsel – Historical Talks Series – The Old Drogheda Society in conjunction with Drogheda Tourist Office will run 15-20 minute mini lectures on local topics, each Thursday Lunchtime at 1.05pm – The first talk- “History of the Tholsel” by Brendan Matthews February 24th. Admission is free

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MELL WATER SUPPLY DISRUPTION

The Environment Section of Drogheda Borough Council issued the following notice (below) today, Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 concerning disruption to the water supply at the Mell and Trinity Street and Loughboy areas of Drogheda.

Drogheda Borough Council wish to advise that due to essential maintenance to the water distribution network there will be disruption to the water supply in the Trinity  Street, Loughboy and Mell areas between 10am and 6pm on  Wednesday 2nd February 2011.  The Council wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused.   

WATER PRESSURE ALERT 27/01/2011

Drogheda Borough Council wish to advise that due to a burst watermain, customers in the north Drogheda area may experience a reduction in water pressure with possible loss of supply this evening.

The Council is working to repair the watermain and expect to have supply restored later tonight. The Council wishes to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

ENTENTE FLORALE 2011

Drogheda Borough Council issued the following Press Statement (below) today, Thursday, January 27th., announcing that the town had been nominated to represent Ireland in the 2011 Entente Florale competition.

 

DROGHEDA NOMINATED TO REPRESENT IRELAND

IN ENTENTE FLORALE COMPETITION 

Drogheda Borough Council and Drogheda Tidy Towns Committee are delighted that the town has been nominated to represent Ireland in the Towns Category of Entente Florale 2011. Marie Eagleton, Chair of the Tidy Towns Committee said that “the nomination was a great boost for the Committee’s work and would provide focus to their endeavours for 2011″. The nomination was also welcomed by the Mayor, Councillor Paul Bell, who said that it was “a great honour which owes much to Drogheda’s excellent performance in both the National Tidy Towns Competition where we were again awarded a Gold Medal and the IBAL competition where we obtained 5th place”. Drogheda’s success to date has been built on excellent co-operation between the various groups and interests in the town. Entente Florale gives us a new opportunity to come together as Council, community, schools and businesses to showcase the town on an international platform. A Steering Committee to represent all sectors will be formed in the coming weeks to develop and implement an Entente Florale Action Plan. We are confident that Drogheda will do Ireland proud and that all the people of the town will play their part, big or small, in ensuring that Drogheda looks its very best for the occasion.

Cllr. Paul Bell, Mayor.

 Marie Eagleton, Chair, Drogheda Tidy Towns Committee.

 

Note on Entente Florale : Entente Florale Europe is a European competition for Towns and Villages. Each participating Country puts forward a representative Town and Village. The Town and Village are visited by the Jury and an assessment is made. The competition was founded more than 25 years ago, initially between Great Britain and France. At present there are twelve member countries and further applicatiions are being processed. Organisation is by the ” Association Européenne du Fleurissement et du Paysage” (A.E.F.P.),  a company incorporated under Belgian Law. Each participant country has its own organisation and is entitled to membership on the Board of Directors of the AEFP. The competition has enjoyed the support of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) since its inception. In individual countries the competition is supported and organised by Ministries/Departments of Agriculture, Environment, Tourism as well as horticultural bodies and associations. In Ireland the lead Department is the Department of Heritage Environment and Local Government. The overall aim of the competition is the improvement of the quality of life for local urban and village communities. To this end the competition fosters: •the greening of towns and villages •flowers, shrubs, green spaces, parks •development which is environmentally and ecologically sensitive •educational and communication initiatives which promote environmental awareness.

GENERAL ELECTION 2011

The Socialist Party has taken a decision not to contest the upcoming general election in the Louth constituency. We recognise, however, that there is a huge opportunity for a big breakthrough for the Left in this election, with a number of candidates from the Socialist Party and United Left Alliance set to seriously challenge for seats. Therefore, we have decided to concentrate our resources in Louth on assisting these targeted constituencies.

 

The election of a group of five or six United Left Alliance TDs would mark an historic step forward for the left, and working people gnerally, across the country. Facing a likely Fine Gael / Labour government committed to carrying through IMF/EU austerity programmes and cutbacks, the left will give principled opposition to these deflationary policies and crucially use the platform of the Dail to organise mass opposition to attacks on working people like cutbacks, water charges and a home tax.

 

Members of the Socialist Party in Louth will be vigorously campaigning in other targeted constituencies to get genuine left TDs elected in the upcoming election. Post-election, we will  continue building the Socialist Party and the forces of the left in Louth. We are committed to challenging for a Louth County Council seat in 2014 and building for a serious future challenge for a Dail seat in the Louth constituency.

 

A SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE

The capitalist media say that there is no alternative to the thrust of the economic policies being advanced by the government, the EU and the IMF.  This is completely untrue. There is an alternative – a socialist alternative. Here www.socialistparty.net puts it forward in the form of a ten-point programme.

Shut down Anglo Irish Bank

The bailout of Anglo Irish Bank is set to cost the taxpayer between €29.3 billion and €34.3 billion according to the Government and up to €40 billion according to some economists. The bank should be closed down immediately and the losses should be taken by bondholders, private banks who lent to Anglo and wealthy depositors.  The same applies to the Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Nationalise the banks under the democratic control of working people

AIB, Bank of Ireland and other banks should be nationalised.  The banks should be amalgamated into one state bank with jobs guaranteed and employment provided for Anglo and INBS staff.  The boards should be sacked.  A new board under the democratic control of working people should be established including elected representatives from the workplace and representatives elected from society as a whole.

End the bank bailouts which could end up costing as much as €90 billion -  redirect this investment to job creation and protecting social services.    Bondholders and private lenders from the banking world should be given no guarantee of repayment.  The bank should gear its resources and future profits towards reducing mortgages (all mortgages should be brought in line with current house valuations), defending jobs and providing cheap credit to small business and individuals.

For an emergency programme of socially useful public works

Under capitalism schools are unbuilt, communities are left without centres, health, sport and youth facilities and masses of homes are uninsulated at the same time as huge numbers of construction workers languish on the dole.  End this contradiction by launching a socially useful programme of public works to employ construction workers at trade union rates of pay.

For a 35 hour week without loss of pay

It makes no sense to have people working 39 hours a week plus overtime at the same time that 450,000 people are on the dole.  Cut the working week to 35 hours without loss in pay and share out the work among the unemployed.  This would create 165,000 jobs.  It costs an average of €20,000 per annum in dole payments and lost income tax revenue to keep a person unemployed for a year.  Measures which take a quarter of a million people off the dole could save the taxpayer up to €5 billion and this money should be used to finance the emergency programme of socially useful public works.

For a progressive tax system

33,000 Irish millionaires own €133 billion wealth.  The taxation system should be changed, not by bringing the lowest paid into the tax net, but by forcing this elite to pay their fair share.  A hefty wealth tax should be introduced; tax loopholes for the rich abolished and corporation tax significantly increased.  No to property tax on the family home and to water charges.

Abolish sky-high pay rates

The Taoiseach is paid €228,000 per annum. A government minister is paid €191,000 per annum. A Supreme Court judge is paid €257,872 per annum.  These sky-high wages and others should be abolished along with perks such as the ministerial car fleet.  This should be done, not to “set an example” to encourage ordinary people to accept austerity, but to strike a blow at a viciously unequal capitalist society.

Reverse the cuts

Not only are massive cutbacks an assault on the “social wage”, striking hardest at working people and the poor, they are also severely deflationary with the potential to cripple the economy as pointed out recently by the ESRI.   Every €1 billion in cuts is estimated to shave €500 million off economic growth for the following year.  Use the new tax revenues accruing from the introduction of a progressive tax system to stop the flow of cutbacks and reverse all the cuts of recent years.

No to privatisation

The author of the An Bord Snip Nua report, right-wing economist Colm McCarthy, has been put in charge of a review of state assets and this is, no doubt, a prelude to proposals for privatisation on a massive scale.  It makes no sense whatsoever to privatise when the private sector is responsible for the crisis in the first place. We need more nurses, teachers, doctors andsocial workers. Public sector employment should be increased not cut!

End the rule of the market

Capitalism has failed spectacularly – 450,000 on the dole, a banking disaster and €15 billion in cuts on the way.  If capitalism cannot afford to provide jobs, decent living standards, decent social services and a future then the working class cannot afford capitalism.  This system needs to be ended.  Nationalise the banks, the building industry and all the major companies which dominate the economy under the democratic control of working people and use their profits to meet the needs of the people.

For a socialist plan of production, in Ireland and internationally

Gear the economy towards meeting the needs of ordinary people not the superprofits of the capitalist elite.  Match unused resources with social need  -  e.g. finishing “ghost estates” to tackle massive social housing waiting lists.  Instead of bailing out banks use state funding and state industry to end unemployment.

End the rule of capitalism internationally and the power of unelected financial “markets” to bully millions of people, and entire countries.  For a socialist Europe instead of a capitalist European Union.  Instead of the anarchy of the market with its catastrophic rollercoaster of boom and slump, plan the world economy rationally to end poverty, starvation, mass unemployment and vicious social inequality.

TWENTIES LANE TRAFFIC MAYHEM

The re-opening of the Drogheda Institute of Further Education (DIFE) in September, after the summer break, brought with it an unprecedented increase in vehicular traffic movements along the Twenties Lane at the peak morning rush hours.

At the October monthly meeting of the Borough Council (on Monday October 4th. 2010), I tabled the the following Motion on behalf of the residents of the locality (Mayfield, Moneymore, St. Laurence’s Park/Drive).

NOTICE OF MOTION – Councillor F. Gallagher: In view of the huge and unprecedented increase in vehicular traffic movements along the Twenties Lane since the re-opening of DIFE, the elected members request that a road traffic study / survey is undertaken in the area immediately, and that a report is prepared for the members containing recommendations / proposals to reduce the unacceptable traffic congestion and delays that are now prevalent in the area.

REPLY: The traffic signalised junctions at R132 / C ross Lanes and The Twenties / Crosslanes / Windmill Road are currently under review and traffic movements are being monitored. It is our intention to revise traffic light sequencing to limit congestion by balancing traffic flows as far as possible at these junctions. When this study is completed a report will then be prepared for the members’ consideration. The long term plan as part of the ‘port access cross route’ (PANCR) is to realign and extend the Twenties Lane to link to the PANCR, within Louth County Council’s jurisdiction.

Although the traffic lights have been re-sequenced, as outlined in the reply (above), it is, however, highly unlikely that the proposed relief (PANCR) will be built in the forseeable future because of the savage budget cutbacks being implemented by the government as a result of the economic crisis. This is another stark example of local communities and ordinary working people having to pay for an economic and banking collapse that was caused by a clique of local and  national bankers, auctioneers, land speculators and developers.

CHORD TERRACE ROAD CLOSURE

The roadway at the “back of the Chord” (Chord Terrace) is to remain closed to vehicular traffic and pedestrians, at least,  until Friday December 10th to facilitate the completion of emergency road works.

Traffic will be diverted (as per the diversion signs that are in place) until the completion of this work,  according to a recently issued circular to all Borough Councillors from the Town Clerk’s office. The present heavy snowfalls and freezing weather conditions will, undoubtedly, add to the hazard in the area and possibly delay the finishing of these road works.

THE STEPHEN O’BRIEN CAMPAIGN

A recent Coroner’s Inquest into the circumstances of the death of 24 year old Stephen O’Brien from the lower Rathmullen Road, Drogheda in October 2007 when a boiler exploded at the Haribo confectionary factory in Finglas (now closed) might lead to prosecutions for criminal negligence.

The fact that prosecutions may now result in this tragic case is down to the dignified determination and persistence of Stephen’s parents, Ann-Marie and Sean, over a 3-year period. Stephen’s parents refused to accept the outcome of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) investigation which sought to portray the tragedy as an accident and consequently did not, at the time,  see fit to refer the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

However, the research and independent enquiries undertaken by Stephen’s parents into the incident (helped by the fact that Stephen’s father Sean is an experienced maintenance supervisor  with a thorough knowledge of health and safety requirements) ensured that the Coroner’s Inquest heard how the company ordered that vital safety control circuits on the boiler that exploded and killed Stephen were bypassed to ensure continuity of production. It would appear that this decision by the company which was taken in consultation with boiler maintenance contractors  KB Combustions Ltd.  created a serious safety hazard that lead directly to the explosion.

The Coroner’s Inquest determination of  ”death by misadventure” (as opposed to accidental death) means that responsibility for Stephen O’Brien’s death can be  apportioned to the company. The evidence amassed by Stephen’s parents, Sean and Ann-Marie, and their 3-year campaign proved crucial in this regard and has resulted in the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) looking at the case again, and this time, sending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

See also: “Parents’ fight for justice” in the October issue of The Socialist (the monthly newspaper of the Socialist Party).