QUINN CHALLENGES MCDOWELL ON POOLBEG INCINERATOR
Labour Party Deputy for Dublin South East, Ruairí Quinn, has challenged constituency colleague and Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, to allow a motion on the proposed incinerator in Ringsend to be debated in the Dail. Deputy Quinn said it is important that locals know precisely where Minister McDowell stands on the issue.

Deputy Quinn commented, “The residents of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount, as well as the wider community of Dublin Bay, are getting their fingers burned by the proposed Incinerator at Poolbeg.

“Michael McDowell and his Fianna Fáil friends promised at the last election that no incinerator would be built in Ringsend. The proposed incinerator contravenes the Dublin City Development Plan, and yet Michael McDowell allows it to be Government policy.”

LITTLE CONSOLATION TO LOCAL RESIDENTS
Green Party Chairman and Dublin South East TD, John Gormley, said that the Progressive Democrats, at the last election, had stated clearly in their manifesto that, in government, they would “ensure no mass burn incineration”, a promise that they have now broken. “Michael McDowell is making great play of the fact that the planning application for Ringsend will be dealt with under existing legislation,” said Mr Gormley. “This is of little consolation to local residents who expected much more from him.”

DOOLAN-DAIL MOTION TO STOP DUBLIN INCINERATOR
Councillor Daithí Doolan, said “Sinn Féin will be tabling a Dáil motion calling on the Minister for Environment to ensure that no further work is carried out in relation to the proposed incinerator on Dublin’s Poolbeg Peninsula.”

“If the proposed incinerator goes ahead in Dublin then incineration will get locked into the waste management cycle and becomes virtually impossible to remove.”

FINE GAEL ANTI-INCINERATOR CAMPAIGN BEGINS
Councillor Lucinda Creighton has criticised the Minister Michael McDowell’s failed record on the issue as the promises he made to his own constituents in Sandymount and Ringsend in 2002 have been flagrantly breached. “The Minister, who claimed he would stop the development of the incinerator (below, left), has participated in a government, which recently signed a contract with Elsam Ltd to design, build and operate the incinerator. When Dick Roche signed the agreement in November of last year, Minister McDowell did not object, despite his posturing on the issue.”

ABSENCE OF LITIGATION ON PLANNING VIOLATION ALARMING
Dublin City Council initiates less than one hundred legal actions annually in relation to planning violations– just 8 % of the overall number of complaints received. This is despite a huge increase in recent years in the number of enforcement complaints recorded by Dublin City Council. This response is wholly inadequate, according to Councillor Lucinda Creighton “Over the period of 2003 to 2005, the total number of legal actions taken amounted to 267. This is a mere drop in the ocean relative to the total number of planning violations taking place annually. While warning letters are frequently sent to developers who are violating the planning laws, it seems that there is rarely any follow up in terms of legal action,” commented Cllr. Creighton.

CITY GRAFFITI PLAGUE
Chris Andrews, Fianna Fáil candidate for Dublin South East, has today called on City Council for urgent action to address what he calls the current “graffiti epidemic plaguing the city” and to provide all local businesses and retailers with full information regarding the upcoming Business Improvement District– BID– scheme. He said, although the council does provide a service to remove graffiti from public property, a concerted effort was now needed by all– Council, Community and Garda “to stem this unprecedented scourge before it gets out of control.”

Cllr. Kevin Humphreys says that with the noticeable increase of graffiti appearing on walls and public spaces across the city it is essential to put in place a pilot programme to deal with this growing graffiti problem in an organised and systematic manner.

“This graffiti is an unsightly and lasting symbol of anti-social behaviour sweeping the city, it is a symptom of lawlessness that this government has failed to respond to. Clearing the graffiti will not tackle the root cause of the plague of anti-social behaviour but it’s a step in the right direction.”

USE OF SEWAGE SLUDGE
Labour Cllr. Kevin Humphreys has challenged Dublin City Managers to answer the charge that they permitted the blatant breaches of the ‘Use of Sewage Sludge’ in Agriculture Regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency findings show that the treated sewage from Ringsend Treatment Plant was spread on land in Carlow that exceeded the legal limits for metal content. Since the opening of the Waste Treatment plant in July 2003 in Ringsend the local residents have suffered from foul odours emanating from the plant.

CBS WESTLAND ROW SCHOOL MAY BE CLOSED
Chris Andrews, Fianna Fáil Dáil Candidate, Dublin South East says that CBS Westland Row school is being closed by stealth. “This is not acceptable. The Minister for Education, whom I have been lobbying consistently on the issue, and will continue to do so, must address the issue as a matter of urgency,” says Andrews.

“Pearse Street is a RAPID area and it needs its own school. The regeneration of the Pearse Street area is one of the many good news stories, however it will all be undermined if the school does not have the cloud of uncertainty currently hanging over it, removed. The Christian brothers and the Minister for Education need to sort it out between them and make it clear that the CBS has a future. The school has a very proud history and an excellent standard of education. It is particularly innovative in its teaching methods and plays a central role in the community.”