The recent changes to the City Council electoral districts by Environment Minister John Gormley have resulted in questions by opposition parties about the new arrangements, in particular the moving of a large part of Sandymount into the South East Inner City zone with Ringsend.

Sandymount was previously under the Pembroke ward, where the Council representatives were Dermot Lacey of Labour, Paddy McCartan of Fine Gael and John Kenny of the Progressive Democrats.

The other South East Area representatives were Michael Donnelly of Fianna Fail, Mary Freehill, and Oisinn Quinn of Labour alongside Eddie Wynne of Fine Gael in Rathmines.

Down in the old South East Inner City there was Daithí Doolan of Sinn Féin, Kevin Humphreys of Labour and Sarah Ryan of Fianna Fáil.

Due to the council district area changes, Councillors Kevin Humphreys, Sarah Ryan and Daithi Doolin find themselves canvassing in Sandymount. Dermot Lacey has moved into the new Pembroke-Rathmines sector along with John Kenny, whose political party, the PDs, might not be around any longer than the next issue of ‘NewsFour’.

Cllr. Paddy McCartan and the Fine Gael group have introduced a new face to the new South East Inner City area by the name of Catherine Noone, who hopes to be the prospective candidate after ratification by her local party.
I spoke with Catherine on the seafront in Sandymount, where she told me about her background and why she is running in next year’s local election.

Catherine, pictured above, is from Claremorris in County Mayo and first studied Italian and Classics before going on to qualify as a solicitor after Law School at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Rathmines. Her speciality is defence work in Litigation.

She gave me her reaction to the City Council boundary changes by saying “It has left people bemused in the sense that Sandymount is your quintessential village and they have split it down the middle, and I would like some explanation as to why this has happened. Both Paddy McCartan and myself are proposing to have, in the next few weeks, a public meeting on the issue.”

Catherine spoke about her family and how Fine Gael sympathies go back a long way. She said that none of her family had previously taken an active part in politics, but in her home there was always an interest in current affairs.

Just now, the state of the economy predominates the campaign message: “There has been very little foresight from the current government. Basically, they haven’t insulated us in any way from this storm. Now we see the effects everywhere, with banks coming down and so on.”

Talking by the Strand, I asked for her views on the proposed buildings by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, about which she is not completely happy. She said: “What we need to do is to preserve the amenity that is here, I walk here all the time and I don’t think that this is what is wanted by the people of Sandymount. There needs to be proper consultation on the issue.”

Making reference to the Dublin Bay Task Force set up by Minister John Gormley, she said that the area doesn’t have proper representation on that group from the area. “Development on this scale is unsuitable for the area.”
Returning to the campaign ahead, she says that there will be a swing away from Fianna Fãil: “The government to me isn’t a government that deserves an endorsement of a huge vote at the local elections.

Brian Cowen has proved himself to have been a terrible Minister for Finance. We’re in a situation where we had huge wealth, but it has been squandered on everything from electronic voting and the like and now we’re in a position where the taxpayers and, in particular those on lower incomes, are likely to be the major sufferers.”

For further information regarding the issues she intends to raise, look up her website www.catherinenoone.ie, or call her on 087 982 2334 or e-mail catherinenoone@hotmail.com