Dublin City Council will establish a Community Gain Fund if an incinerator is built in the area. This will be financed out of the proceeds of the incinerator.

The purpose of the fund is to enhance the Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount area and thereby compensate for any perceived or real inconveniences associated with the location of the incinerator in the area.

The fund will comprise several million euro over the initial years and continue at a substantial level thereafter for as long as the plant is operational.

On the face of it this sounds like a good proposition, however, some residents look upon it as a bribe. The Combined Residents Against the Incinerator (CRAI) has suggested that the ‘Community Gain’ initiative is an attempt by Dublin City Council to buy off opposition to the proposed Poolbeg incinerator.

May Kane of Ringsend and Irishtown Residents’ Association said: “Why should we be expected to roll over and accept the incinerator to get public amenities? It’s the duty of public authorities, which we elect and fund with our taxes, to provide such amenities. Accepting an incinerator in return for public amenities was not in the manifesto of any party for which we voted in any election that I recall. We want amenities but we do not want an incinerator. It’s about time the council got that message.”

Catherine Cavendish Secretary of the Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association, said: “We should not be deflected by the authorities’ cheap tactic. Let’s keep our focus on the main issue: the people don’t want an incinerator, with good reason.

“Incinerators produce dangerous dioxins. They actually discourage recycling and reduction because a private company stands to gain the more waste there is to burn. The huge increase in traffic taking hazardous waste and ash in and out of the incinerator will cause a traffic nightmare in the area. In a democracy, the people are supposed to be supreme. We will fight this anti-democratic disregard for the people’s views.”

To find out what the views and needs of the community are, Dublin City Council has asked Trutz Haase to identify initiatives that could enhance the area.

Trutz Haase, is an independent consultant whose task it is to see what improvements can be achieved for the local communities. Mr Haase says: “As the Community Gain Fund would be directly related to the incinerator, I will naturally also take into account people’s views on the incinerator itself. However, the main emphasis will be to find out what kind of community services or facilities are particularly lacking in the area.”

Mr Haase will be holding meetings every Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 5 pm in the Ringsend Regional Office of Dublin City Council, Cambridge House, Cambridge Road, Ringsend. Everyone is welcome to attend or you can email thaase@iol.ie to express your views.

‘NewsFour’ would like to receive your views on the building of an Incinerator on the Poolbeg Peninsula and the Community Gain Fund.

Pictured above: Children at St Andrew’s, Pearse Street rehearse for the musical ‘Honk.’
Left: Great fun at the annual Active Retirement party in the CYMS, Irishtown Road.