Sunday, March 21, 2010

Head Shop Protest:
It was great to see such a large turnout at the Head Shop Protest at 53 Clontarf Road yesterday. If rumours are to be believed then the pressure generated by the protest may already have had the desired effect but we will wait and see. The next protest is for next Saturday at 12noon at the same location. You can sign up to the online petition here:
Appeal Against 100-Bed Private Hospital Proposal:
I organised two meetings with residents last week to help lodge an appeal against the proposed 100-bed Maternity Hospital on the Howth Road, The main concern is the impact that the development would have on the surrounding community, particularly in terms of traffic and transport. You can view the application here:

Local Media:
Myself and Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague are determined to roll out the Dublin Bikes scheme to further afield. Read more here: http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/blogsection/8/95/

Lord Mayor's Commission on Employment:

I am a member of the Lord Mayors Commission on Employment which has been meeting regularly over the last number of months and has been so successful that Fine Gael are even beginning to steal some of its ideas - Brian Hayes getting excited over foreign students is a classic example. The commission are organising a conference for Friday the 23rd of April in Croke Park - for more details see www.dublincity.ie


Spending Mother's Day with Leo Varadkar:

Woke up last Sunday realising that I had bought nothing for Mothers Day and that I had to run into Today fm for the Sam Smyth show. On the panel last Sunday was Leo Varadkar and Marion McKeown. Have a listen here, especially interesting is my description of the Huckle-Buck on the Late Late Show.....Leo had never heard of it! He'll never be Fine Gael leader with that sort of snobbery.....

http://www.todayfm.com/Shows/Weekends/Sunday-Supplement/Podcast/PodcastAudio.aspx



Craobh Chiaran Dinner Dance
Had a great night last Tuesday at the Craobh Chiaran Dinner Dance. It was great to see All-Star Alan McCrabb given the Clubman of the year award. The women's football team certainly were high profile all night...great speech given by their manager....brought the house down...
After all that hectic activity, I'm off on a school trip to France with 28 children for 4 days.....Just to take a break from politics.....