Old town wall site to become a car park???

The embankment that runs along the southern side of Patrick Street, part of the old medieval walled defences of Drogheda, is set to be levelled and turned into a car park, according to informed local political sources. Residents living in the Patrick Street, Bolton Square and Bolton Street area of the town were notified late on Friday afternoon (August 22nd) that traffic and parking restrictions would come into force, first thing on Monday morning (August 25th) to facilitate a two day, “Time Team” – style, archelogical excavation of the embankment.

O’Tuille the hun – a reply

Gearroid O’Tuille (or Gerry Floyd) from Mell, Drogheda is a disaffected Fianna Fail member but when it comes to elections he’ll still vote “the right way”. I’m not sure if he left the party or was thrown out.

A “NEW LOW” at the D.I.

The management of the Drogheda Independent newspaper has been trumpeting the paper’s imminent re-invention (on Wednesday next) as a tabloid.

Right of Reply: to Dermot O’Gara

Dermot O’Gara (a political associate of Cllr. Ged Nash) of 3 Chestnut Grove, Drogheda, Co. Louth wrote a particularly odd letter to the editor of the Drogheda Independent, which was published on August 6th.
I describe the letter as being odd for a number of reasons, not least because the D.I. (generally regarded as being a quality journal of record as opposed to a trashy tabloid) even chose to award Mr. O’Gara’s contribution it’s “Letter of the Week” accolade. The award was seemingly given to Mr. O’Gara’s contribution despite the fact that his letter was littered with false assertions, mis-information and indeed downright lies.
I subsequently learned that Drogheda Independent editor Marie Kierans was abroad on her annual leave, hence the likely reason for the appaling (but unsurprising in the circumstances) temporary lapse in the paper’s usual rigorous editorial standards.
1). Mr O’Gara, in his letter, points out that elected local councillors have no legal authority to interfere in what level (private) waste collectors set their bin charges at.
When did I, either publicly or privately, ever claim otherwise? Although Cllr. Paul Bell, and Cllr Nash, quite obviously think it can be done given their much (self) publicised dealings with the Panda Waste collection company.
2). Mr. O’Gara also asserts that the Socialist Party failed to have bin charges scrapped in local authority areas where we have elected councillors. What he fails to mention is that the so-called establishment “political elite” in those areas i.e. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, PD, Greens and Labour councillors regularly and routinely come together in various voting pacts and permutations to ensure that every time we put down a motion to scrap bin taxes they vote our proposal down. The only “bigger” political grouping ever to back us on this issue is Sinn Fein.
3). Mr O’Gara, rather patronisingly, goes on to lecture me on the functions of local authority members and publicly preach that I should familiarise myself on this before next years local elections. I will therefore take the opportunity (below) to educate Mr. O’Gara on my level of knowledge in this regard, i.e.The Local Government Act 2001.
Within our Local government system, major decisions of policy legally reside with the elected members, I suggest that Mr.O’Gara reads the Local Government Act 2001 himself, or if this is beyond him that he asks a helpful official in the Department of the Environment and Heritage to give him an “idiot-proof” explanation. In any event, I’ll try to reduce it all to a “childrens portion” for him so that he may be able to grasp the general idea.
A wide range of “reserved” functions is specified both in the Local Government Act 2001 and an extensive body of other relevant legislation. Fuctions performed by the elected council members are known as reserve functions. They are adopted by resolution and passed at a meeting of a local authority, by majority vote of the elected members. They involve major matters of policy and finance such as…
a) Adopting the annual budget (for council services) – like, a public refuse collection!.
b) Determining the annual level of commercial rate to be charged.
c) Borrowing money.
d) Making or varying a development plan.
e) Making a “Special Amenity Area” order (which if carried out would have protected
the Bridgeford site from unsightly and tasteless development).
f) Adopting a scheme of letting priorities for local authority dwellings.
g) Demanding legitimate expenses from other local authorities.
h) Making, amending or revising Bye-laws.
i) Bringing enactments into force in the local authority functional area.
j) Nominating persons to act on committees or other public bodies.
k) Nominating a candidate for the Presidency – applicable only to County/City Councils.
Consequently, on foot of “a” above, it is my intention, if successful in the local elections
next June, to propose that a budget heading is included in the 2010 estimates for the reinstatement of Drogheda’s public household bin collection on the basis of how it operated prior to the year 2000 that is without a direct charge to households – funded from the Borough Council’s block grant from central government.
I make no apologies for nailing my colours firmly to the mast on this one, nor do I give a damn who’s toes I stand on. After all, it is the job of an elected public representative to represent and advance the interests of those who vote for him or her. I repeat, having personally (and my family) come close to paying a very heavy price for my involvement in DRABCAP’s Anti-Bin Tax “No Pay” campaign, this issue (as far as I’m concerned) is still very much UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

Bin Charges – Pensioners protest

The Drogheda Senior Citizens Interest Group were very evident, by all accounts, on a protest picket outside the offices of the Panda Waste collection company today (Friday August 1st). The local senior citizens group are to be congratuled on pushing the issue of rising domestic refuse collection charges right back into the news, not just locally but also onto RTE Television’s 6-One News programme.