Fifteen of the 20 people who presented themselves as homeless to Louth County Council in the last two weeks did so because of their financial circumstances.
The revelation was made at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Dundalk Municipal District Committee where it was also revealed that the remaining five people who presented to the council did so with addiction issues.
Tweeting about the matter afterwards, local councillor Edel Corrigan called on people to come together to help “end homelessness”.
Cllr John McGahon
Local councillor John McGahon is reportedly being lined up to replace Peter Fitzpatrick on the local Fine Gael ticket for the next General Election.
Fitzpatrick announced yesterday that he would not be seeking a nomination from the party to run in the next election when their selection convention takes place on July 9th.
That leaves a vacancy in the north of the county with today’s Irish Independent reporting that Cllr McGahon, a representative in Dundalk-Carlingford, could be set to fill the void.
The 24-year-old, from Seatown, received 7.77% of the first preference votes in his constituency in last year’s local elections, eventually taking the fourth of six seats behind Sinn Féin pair Edel Corrigan and Jim Loughran and newly appointed county council chairman, Peter Savage of Fianna Fáil.
A nephew of former Louth TD Brendan McGahon, who represented the county in the Dáíl from 1982 until 2002, John is vying for one of two possible positions.
Sitting TD Fergus O’Dowd has confirmed he will run for election once again while there is said to be disagreement in the party whether they should run two candidates or three, with Ardee-based councillor Dolores Minogue tipped to be in the running to satisfy gender quotas.
Cllr Edel Corrigan
The chair of the Dundalk Municipal District Committee will continue to receive an annual allowance of €12,000 after a vote to remove it was defeated last night.
The sum was approved following last year’s local elections but Sinn Féin councillor Edel Corrigan looked to overturn that. However, her motion was defeated by seven votes to six after much discussion and debate.
The five Sinn Féin members on the committee – Cllrs Corrigan, Jim Loughran, Jennifer Green, Kevin Meenan and Tomás Sharkey – all voted to scrap the allowance and were supported by independent councillor Maeve Yore.
However, the remaining members of the committee – Cllrs Mark Dearey, Conor Keelan, John McGahon, Peter Savage, Declan Breathnach, Marianne Butler and Maria Doyle – opted to keep the allowance by voting against Cllr Corrigan’s motion.
Cllr Corrigan told LMFM this morning that she felt it was the people’s money and she could see no justification for such an allowance. She vowed her party would continue to oppose the allowance.
Commenting on the matter to Talk of the Town, Cllr Maria Doyle said: “Sinn Féin hold several chairs on both Municipal District Committees and Councils throughout the country, for which they receive sizeable allowances, and which they have not sought to abolish or even reduce.
“My argument at last night’s meeting was that they do not have a coherent national policy in relation to this issue and are only seeking to reduce the allowances on the Councils and Committees on which they do not hold Chair positions. Sinn Féin will soon take up the Chair of Dublin City Council which has an allowance of €65K on top of the basic salary. I won’t hear them seeking to abolish that.
“They currently hold the Chair on Dublin South Council and the Sinn Féin Councillor Fintan Warfield received an additional €30K for holding that Chair. Finally, Sinn Féin Councillor Imelda Munster is currently Chair of the Housing SPC of Louth County Council which pays her €6K per annum in additional to her salary. That committee are obliged to hold only 4 meetings per annum.”
Cox’s Demesne
An information evening will take place in the Clan na Gael GFC clubrooms on Tuesday detailing what is involved in the next phase of the Cox’s Demesne Regeneration Project.
The second phase of the project is due to commence in early January and will see 14 new houses built in the estate.
While welcoming the next phase of the project, Sinn Féin councillor Edel Corrigan has urged as many residents as possible to attend Tuesday’s meeting, which will get underway at 7pm.
““While I welcome the investment into the area for the improvement and supply of much needed additional housing units, community consultation and involvement needs to be top priority at all times to ensure the community’s needs are top priority. Who knows a community better than those who live in it?
“I welcome the council’s suggestion that the community and residents should have direct engagement with the project management team and I hope that at Tuesday’s meeting, those in attendance will consider putting forward a number of residents to represent them at any site management meetings throughout the construction process.
“A strong clear line of communication needs to be established and maintained between residents and the local authority to ensure all the needs and objectives of this project are met to improve the quality of provision of services to the community.
“I would encourage residents from the area to attend the meeting on Tuesday evening where information on the project works programme will be available and hopefully people will have an opportunity to have their questions answered,” said Cllr Corrigan.
Cllr Edel Corrigan
Sinn Féin councillor Edel Corrigan has hit out at Irish Water workers who are obstructing cycle lanes while installing water meters in the area.
In a statement, the Mountpleasant woman said the workers were “endangering the lives of cyclists” and showing “disregard for residents.”
Cllr Corrigan said several people in the area had contacted her about the matter in recent weeks and expressed her concern, describing it as a “safety issue”.
She said: “I have contacted Irish Water and the Council about this asking if the contractors had sought a permit to close the cycle lanes. No alternative access routes have been provided for the cyclists and this has had a knock on effect on the traffic and pedestrians alike.
“I am sure Irish Water have informed their contractors that it is illegal to block cycle lanes. If they have then they are being ignored by their own contractors. Well they are not the only ones being ignored by the contractors. Residents are supposed to receive advance notice of when works are commencing. That is not happening and I have logged this concern with Irish Water also who informed me the contractors must give this advance warning as part of their contract.
“Unfortunately the only notice some residents get is when they are awoken at the crack of dawn by loud drilling and hammering.”
Cllr Edel Corrigan was not happy with the Budget put forward for Louth County Council
Commercial rates for businesses in Co Louth are set to remain unchanged next year.
The decision not to alter the current rates was made at yesterday’s Budget meeting of the council at County Hall.
From next year, Louth County Council has 10 years to bring rates throughout the county in line with those in the towns following the abolition of the town and borough councils earlier this year. However, County Manager Joan Martin told the meeting that she hoped to do this over a period of five years instead.
An extra €78,000 was also allocated for housing adaptation grants for the elderly in the county. The extra funds came about after councillors agreed to transfer the money from funding that had been earmarked for the chairperson’s allowances for Louth County Council, the Municipal Districts of Dundalk, Ardee and Drogheda and the local authority’s Special Policy Committees. The motion, put forward by Sinn Féin, also applies to the vice chairperson’s allowances.
Sinn Féin opted to vote against the Budget, however, with Cllr Edel Corrigan insisting the people of Louth could not take further austerity.
She said: “Time and time again Louth County Council have been told to provide more for less, by this Fine Gael / Labour government. We didn’t seek election to sit idle and let the people of our communities suffer again. We in Sinn Féin cannot and will not support a budget that will have a very real and negative impact on the day to day lives of people in this county.
“The adoption of this budget will see no improvement to housing services, road services, or further investment in projects and services that support and build communities, while people and their families are forced to pay more. The people who will suffer at the adoption of this budget are the same people who were passed over by the Celtic Tiger.
“Louth is the most deprived border region in all of Ireland, and, this is not going to change unless we make a stand as elected representatives. We must stand up for the people and communities who elected us, and the onus is on us to look out for their best interests. Louth has had enough, and we deserve more.”
“Dundalk is the most deprived area in the border region and Louth Local authorities need to make provisions so we are not solely relying on others to provide for cross border development. For that reason, the one thing that I do welcome in the budget report are the plans for the cross border and European Relations Unit in the local authority.
“Now is the time to set out aims, objectives and targets in this local authority as to how we can develop and improve this cross border region to see real economic and social changes to better the quality of life for those in the area who have been affected by partition on this island.”
The land on the Armagh Road set to be secured
Sinn Féin Councillor Edel Corrigan has welcomed the news that land between Lennon Melia and Coulter Place on the Armagh Road is to be secured.
In a statement on the matter, Cllr Corrigan said she hoped this would lead to less anti-social behaviour in the area.
“This unsecured land has contributed to anti-social issues in the area. I have been in correspondence with the Planning Enforcement Staff Officer since receiving complaints from residents and on Wednesday I was informed the developer had ‘advised that he will within the next couple of weeks try and secure some workers to carry out the necessary work.
“This will be a relief for those living nearby, as this area has been a gathering place for anti-social elements and has been a matter of grave concern for a lengthy period of time.”
The four syringes found in the Hillview/O’Hanlon Park area
Concern has been expressed after four used syringes were found in a local housing estate in recent days.
A resident of the Hillview estate, near O’Hanlon Park and Ice House Hill, came across the needles while out walking with his children.
The man told LMFM that it was fortunate that his four year old didn’t come across the syringes before he did.
He said: “Luckily the wee fella, who is only four years of age, I had him behind me. If he had been in front of me he would have come across it whereas the other fella, who is 13 he was in front of me and he saw another two needless lying along a ditch.
“Plus when we were coming around by my house there was a needle lying in the gutter so that was four needles.”
Local councillors have been made aware of the issue and have expressed their concerns. Cllr Edel Corrigan told Michael Reade on LMFM’s Loose Talk programme this morning that it had been an ongoing issue where needles and other drug use kits had been discarded around the town area, particularly in the Hillview/O’Hanlon Park area.
She said it was important to educate and prevent this from happening in the future through the Needle Exchange Programme.
People are asked to be vigilant of such items throughout the town following a recent incident in Cork, which required a five year old boy to require treatment after being pricked by a used syringe in a playground.
Cllr Declan Breathnach
Fianna Fáil councillor Declan Breathnach was yesterday evening elected the first chairman of the new Municipal District of Dundalk.
The Municipal District is the successor to the old Dundalk Town Council and is made up of those elected in the Dundalk South and Dundalk Carlingford constituencies.
As expected, an alliance involving members of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party ensured that they retained power over the largest party, Sinn Féin – a move that was replicated at the first County Council meeting recently.
That meant that Cllr Breathnach defeated Sinn Féin’s Tomás Sharkey by seven votes to five, with independent councillor Maeve Yore abstaining. He takes up the role just days after handing over the reins as chairman of Louth County Council to Cllr Oliver Tully.
Cllr Mark Dearey of the Green Party was then elected the new vice-chairman after defeating Sinn Féin’s Edel Corrigan by the same margin.
The new Dundalk Municipal Committee have agreed to meet on the first Tuesday of every month at 5.15pm in Dundalk Town Hall.
Cllr Edel Corrigan
The first meeting of the new Municipal District of Dundalk takes place later today.
The Municipal District will be made up of those elected to Louth County Council from the Dundalk South and Dundalk Carlingford constituencies and will look after the needs of the town of Dundalk, similar to the old Dundak Town Council.
A new chair will be appointed at the first meeting but it appears that we are in for a repeat of what happened at the recent Louth County Council AGM when a voting pact denied Sinn Féin power despite them being the biggest party.
Commenting on the matter on her Facebook page last night, Cllr Edel Corrigan – who topped the poll in Dundalk-Carlingford last month, said: “Tomorrow is the first meeting of Municipal District of Dundalk. Sinn Féin has again put forward a proposal for the d’Hondt system to be used but it appears this will once again be ignored.
“I am hearing this evening that all other parties met this evening excluding Sinn Féin. Invitation must have got lost in the post. There will be 13 members of this committee which covers Dundalk Carlingford and Dundalk South. Voters used their voice when they elected five Sinn Féin councillors and Sinn Féin topped the poll in both areas yet the other parties will once again group together to block Sinn Féin.”
Talk of the Town 