Dublin Deputy Lord Mayor Aodhan O’Riordain has welocmed the decision of the North Central Area Committee to reject Dublin City Council’s proposal to rezone sporting land at Alfie Byrne Road.
He said: “The City Council attempted to rezone these lands two years ago and this was rejected by the elected members.
“In a move which can only be described as undemocratic and arrogant, City Council management attempted to dispose of these lands at last month’s North Central Area Committee meeting in total disregard to the ongoing discussion process with the stakeholders who use Alfie Byrne Road as a football amenity’.
“Although this area is physically within the North Central area it is sporting clubs from the Central area that use it exclusively. City Council officials who in my view have deliberately allowed these facilities to deteriorate in order to facilitate rezoning have tried to outdo the councillors and cash in on these valuable lands. ‘
‘These actions are disgraceful, undemocratic and underhanded. Thankfully this issue had been reverted to the Central Area Committee for discussion and our unanimous rejection of the proppsal has been cemented by the North Central Area Committee’.
“These playing fields are a vital sporting amenity to the area and must be maintained. It is now the responsibility of Dublin City Council to upgrade these lands so that local football clubs can fulfill their potential.’
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
DUBLINERS LIVING IN FEAR INDICATIVE OF McDOWELL’S FAILING POLICIES – DEPUTY LORD MAYOR
Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Aodhan O Riordain has criticised the failure of Minister McDowell’s record in tackling crime, after visiting the family of the late Gerry Byrne yesterday. Cllr O Riordain, a teacher in Sheriff Street, knows the Byrne family well and taught the sister of Gerry Byrne for three years. ‘The family are absolutely heartbroken and are struggling to make sense of what has just happened. Blood was still being cleared form the street outside the Mace in the IFSC this afternoon and the community are terrified about the repercussions of the shooting. ‘‘I have already received numerous calls from constituents who are extremely fearful about the current situation spiralling out of control and are terrified about their children being caught in the crossfire.’‘
Last month a neighbour of mine in Ballybough Ray Collins was gunned down in broad daylight, and this week has seen three murders in Dublin with numerous other non-fatal shooting incidents occuring in Cabra and Coburg Place also.‘It is clear that the current situation is spiralling out of control and I am extremely fearful that the gang feud which lead to Gerry Byrne being murdered last night will result in many more deaths over the coming months. The underlying tensions surrounding the feud have now been blown onto a new level and it is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice to reassure those living in fear in the locality that the State takes this crisis seriously.’
‘We need more than governmental gimmicks of a few gun wielding Gardai to reassure our citizens. We need the government in the short term to allocate extensive extra Garda manpower to potential trouble spots with a guarantee that they are there for the long hall. We also need the government to accept that their socially divisive policies have driven a wedge between the rich and poor in our society and that many young working class people are now finding the empowerment and the fulfilment they crave in criminality because our society refuses to respect them in a meaningful way.’
‘We still have one of the most unequal societies in the world. We have one of the largest child populations at risk of poverty in the western world. We have some of the poorest child literacy statistics in Europe with one in three children in disadvantaged areas having basic reading problems. We also have the second lowest percentage spend on education in Europe’
‘The minister’s policing polices have failed. His government have created a society that is steeped in disadvantage and this deprivation is now screaming so loud that not even he can ignore it. There will be another shooting and soon. It remains to be seen if the minister can move beyond kite-flying to prevent that from happening.’
Last month a neighbour of mine in Ballybough Ray Collins was gunned down in broad daylight, and this week has seen three murders in Dublin with numerous other non-fatal shooting incidents occuring in Cabra and Coburg Place also.‘It is clear that the current situation is spiralling out of control and I am extremely fearful that the gang feud which lead to Gerry Byrne being murdered last night will result in many more deaths over the coming months. The underlying tensions surrounding the feud have now been blown onto a new level and it is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice to reassure those living in fear in the locality that the State takes this crisis seriously.’
‘We need more than governmental gimmicks of a few gun wielding Gardai to reassure our citizens. We need the government in the short term to allocate extensive extra Garda manpower to potential trouble spots with a guarantee that they are there for the long hall. We also need the government to accept that their socially divisive policies have driven a wedge between the rich and poor in our society and that many young working class people are now finding the empowerment and the fulfilment they crave in criminality because our society refuses to respect them in a meaningful way.’
‘We still have one of the most unequal societies in the world. We have one of the largest child populations at risk of poverty in the western world. We have some of the poorest child literacy statistics in Europe with one in three children in disadvantaged areas having basic reading problems. We also have the second lowest percentage spend on education in Europe’
‘The minister’s policing polices have failed. His government have created a society that is steeped in disadvantage and this deprivation is now screaming so loud that not even he can ignore it. There will be another shooting and soon. It remains to be seen if the minister can move beyond kite-flying to prevent that from happening.’
Sunday, December 10, 2006
DEPUTY MAYOR’S ‘RIGHT TO READ CAMPAIGN’ URGES DUBLINERS TO BUY CHILDREN A BOOK THIS CHRISTMAS
Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Aodhan O Riordain has urged Dubliners to purchase a book for children this Christmas. Speaking as his ‘Right to Read’ campaign gathers pace, Cllr O Riordain called on parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents and indeed any adult who will be purchasing a gift for a child this Christmas, to buy them a book.
‘Unfortunately, our literacy statistics make uncomfortable reading, with one in three children in disadvantaged areas having basic reading problems. Therefore I believe it is the duty of adults to take on the responsibility of encouraging the development of a learning society by giving a book as part of their Christmas gifts to children this year.’
Cllr O Riordain has spent the last month distributing 20,000 free books to children across Dublin as part of his Right to Read Campaign. The campaign, which is focused on the local authorities response to educational disadvantage, has already achieved provision of €1 million from Dublin City Council for an improved library service and the establishment of homework clubs citywide.‘Giving a child the gift of reading is by far the most important gift that any child can receive. I encourage Dubliners to give children the gift of reading this Christmas’
‘Unfortunately, our literacy statistics make uncomfortable reading, with one in three children in disadvantaged areas having basic reading problems. Therefore I believe it is the duty of adults to take on the responsibility of encouraging the development of a learning society by giving a book as part of their Christmas gifts to children this year.’
Cllr O Riordain has spent the last month distributing 20,000 free books to children across Dublin as part of his Right to Read Campaign. The campaign, which is focused on the local authorities response to educational disadvantage, has already achieved provision of €1 million from Dublin City Council for an improved library service and the establishment of homework clubs citywide.‘Giving a child the gift of reading is by far the most important gift that any child can receive. I encourage Dubliners to give children the gift of reading this Christmas’
Monday, December 04, 2006
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL PASSES MOTION FROM DEPUTY MAYOR CALLING FOR INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO DEATH OF TERENCE WHEELOCK
The following motion in my name was passed by Dublin City Council tonight:
‘This council expresses its concern at the death of one its tenants, Terence Wheelock of Sean O Casey Avenue, as a result of injuries sustained in Garda custody in 2005. This Council calls for a full and independent inquiry to reach the full truth of the events surrounding Mr Wheelock’s death. This Council acknowledges the vital service that the Gardai provide in Dublin City. This Council believes that the rights of the Wheelock family and the reputation of the Gardaí are best served by an independent inquiry into those events.’
The motion was passed unanimously and members of the Wheelock family were in attendance in the public gallery.
‘This council expresses its concern at the death of one its tenants, Terence Wheelock of Sean O Casey Avenue, as a result of injuries sustained in Garda custody in 2005. This Council calls for a full and independent inquiry to reach the full truth of the events surrounding Mr Wheelock’s death. This Council acknowledges the vital service that the Gardai provide in Dublin City. This Council believes that the rights of the Wheelock family and the reputation of the Gardaí are best served by an independent inquiry into those events.’
The motion was passed unanimously and members of the Wheelock family were in attendance in the public gallery.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Bernard Dunne can be a true Champion - Article for Metro Eireann Newspaper
For many reasons boxing makes uncomfortable viewing. The modern day sight of two young, invariably working class men slogging it for the entertainment of the celebrity set amidst the over-hyped glow of exploitative satellite television coverage doesn’t sit easily with me in many ways. One well-known sports journalist in a national newspaper has described his notepad being splattered with blood and struggling at that moment to find any justification for the spectacle he was reporting on. However, despite all this, and indeed the unfortunate whiff of scandal and corruption that lingers around the pro-boxing scene, bowing is truly the sport of champions.
Bernard Dunne is our latest offering and his victory over Englishman Esham Pickering to claim the vacant European super bantamweight title in front of a sell-out crowd at the Point Depot earlier this month was a compelling contest. His victory has already been listed as one of the highlights of the Irish sporting year, alongside the triumphs of the Munster Rugby team and Derval O Rourke, yet in many ways I feel that this victory has the potential to outshine them both. Because Bernard Dunne has the potential to be one of the great Champions of our time.
Every generation, boxing has produced a figure that has unified an often divided people behind the power, charisma and determination of this one man. Sport in general can be divisive as we have often seen. The various loyalties and tribal identities are played out on playing pitches across this concerti and every country weekly in exercises often deliberately promote division and disharmony. The bigoted dog-fight of the Rangers-Celtic clashes in Glasgow get the racist and sectarian juices flowing in Scotland and Ireland. Every weekend Gaelic fields see players lumping the heads off each other in the name of county / parish / my-side-of-the-hill-not-yours ‘pride’. Indeed, recently one of the most promising hurlers in Ireland consider retiring at the tender age of 18 years because of the mauling he received at a club match in Galway this summer. Rivalries between private fee-paying secondary schools are at fever pitch as their teams lock horns in the annual nauseating spectacle that is the Leinster Schools rugby competition. So why is the most violent sport of them all more unifying?
Mohammed Ali was widely acclaimed as the greatest sportsman of the 2oth century. However this wasn’t on the basis of his many sporting achievements. Ali managed to win the Heavyweight Championship of the World on three separate occasions, but it was his other fights that made him such a sporting legend and a true champion. At a time when the black people of America needed a figure to raise their self esteem and confidence and prove that they could aspire to their rightful place as equals in their society, Mohammed Ali spoke with their message, reached to their hearts and became a world figure that no man, however prejudiced or racist, could ignore. People were lifted by his courage and by his refusal to be anything else than himself. He understood the problems in his country and strove to change them. He was undeniably a man of his time and gave oxygen to the dreams that many in the black community held quietly in their hearts. He was a true champion in a time of great unease and change in American society.
In our own land too, when Northern streets were battlefields and television screens told the daily horror of the terrible conflict called ‘The Troubles’, both sides of the sectarian divide took time out of their hatred to cheer on one man. Barry McGuigan, the Clones Cyclone. His representation of Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth games endeared him to Unionists; his Catholic faith and his Monaghan upbringing made him the daring of Nationalists. And on packed nights in the Kings Hall in Belfast, a divided people roared their approval as ‘wee Barry’ won title fight after title fight. It didn’t last long, but for a time, Barry McGuigan distracted us, and maybe even united us when nothing else could. Northern Irish sport has always been riddled with sectarianism – that November night in Windsor Park in 1993 taught us that. Catholics generally play GAA and Protestants generally play rugby. The problem has reached such heights that an ice-hockey team is now seen as the way forward. But no matter what silverware the Belfast Giants claim over the coming years, it will never mean as much as when Barry was bobbing and weaving.
We have more since. Wayne MacCullough, the Protestant from the Shankhill Road representing Ireland at Barcelona in 1992 and bringing home silver. Francie Barrett, a member of the travelling community carrying the Irish flag at the opening ceremony in Atlanta four years later. Barrett represented a country who consistently discriminate against him yet he united people behind him. Again, like McCullough, a true champion.
My hope for Bernard Dunne is that he can do the same. Dunne does not have a fashionable address and Dublin accents like his are frequently derided in radio and television advertisements. Yet he has the potential to unite a people behind him. We are A divided people. We are an incredibly class-conscious, property-obseesed race who are fast losing whatever sense of community spirit we ever had. We need Bernard Dunne probably more than he needs us. He can remind us of the honesty of human endeavour and the power of the human spirit that has nothing to do with accent or address. He has the potential to make us re-examine our values and the gross inequalities in our land by just being himself. Maybe I am asking too much. Maybe Bernard should just be allowed box.
Well done Bernard. You’re a true champion.
Bernard Dunne is our latest offering and his victory over Englishman Esham Pickering to claim the vacant European super bantamweight title in front of a sell-out crowd at the Point Depot earlier this month was a compelling contest. His victory has already been listed as one of the highlights of the Irish sporting year, alongside the triumphs of the Munster Rugby team and Derval O Rourke, yet in many ways I feel that this victory has the potential to outshine them both. Because Bernard Dunne has the potential to be one of the great Champions of our time.
Every generation, boxing has produced a figure that has unified an often divided people behind the power, charisma and determination of this one man. Sport in general can be divisive as we have often seen. The various loyalties and tribal identities are played out on playing pitches across this concerti and every country weekly in exercises often deliberately promote division and disharmony. The bigoted dog-fight of the Rangers-Celtic clashes in Glasgow get the racist and sectarian juices flowing in Scotland and Ireland. Every weekend Gaelic fields see players lumping the heads off each other in the name of county / parish / my-side-of-the-hill-not-yours ‘pride’. Indeed, recently one of the most promising hurlers in Ireland consider retiring at the tender age of 18 years because of the mauling he received at a club match in Galway this summer. Rivalries between private fee-paying secondary schools are at fever pitch as their teams lock horns in the annual nauseating spectacle that is the Leinster Schools rugby competition. So why is the most violent sport of them all more unifying?
Mohammed Ali was widely acclaimed as the greatest sportsman of the 2oth century. However this wasn’t on the basis of his many sporting achievements. Ali managed to win the Heavyweight Championship of the World on three separate occasions, but it was his other fights that made him such a sporting legend and a true champion. At a time when the black people of America needed a figure to raise their self esteem and confidence and prove that they could aspire to their rightful place as equals in their society, Mohammed Ali spoke with their message, reached to their hearts and became a world figure that no man, however prejudiced or racist, could ignore. People were lifted by his courage and by his refusal to be anything else than himself. He understood the problems in his country and strove to change them. He was undeniably a man of his time and gave oxygen to the dreams that many in the black community held quietly in their hearts. He was a true champion in a time of great unease and change in American society.
In our own land too, when Northern streets were battlefields and television screens told the daily horror of the terrible conflict called ‘The Troubles’, both sides of the sectarian divide took time out of their hatred to cheer on one man. Barry McGuigan, the Clones Cyclone. His representation of Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth games endeared him to Unionists; his Catholic faith and his Monaghan upbringing made him the daring of Nationalists. And on packed nights in the Kings Hall in Belfast, a divided people roared their approval as ‘wee Barry’ won title fight after title fight. It didn’t last long, but for a time, Barry McGuigan distracted us, and maybe even united us when nothing else could. Northern Irish sport has always been riddled with sectarianism – that November night in Windsor Park in 1993 taught us that. Catholics generally play GAA and Protestants generally play rugby. The problem has reached such heights that an ice-hockey team is now seen as the way forward. But no matter what silverware the Belfast Giants claim over the coming years, it will never mean as much as when Barry was bobbing and weaving.
We have more since. Wayne MacCullough, the Protestant from the Shankhill Road representing Ireland at Barcelona in 1992 and bringing home silver. Francie Barrett, a member of the travelling community carrying the Irish flag at the opening ceremony in Atlanta four years later. Barrett represented a country who consistently discriminate against him yet he united people behind him. Again, like McCullough, a true champion.
My hope for Bernard Dunne is that he can do the same. Dunne does not have a fashionable address and Dublin accents like his are frequently derided in radio and television advertisements. Yet he has the potential to unite a people behind him. We are A divided people. We are an incredibly class-conscious, property-obseesed race who are fast losing whatever sense of community spirit we ever had. We need Bernard Dunne probably more than he needs us. He can remind us of the honesty of human endeavour and the power of the human spirit that has nothing to do with accent or address. He has the potential to make us re-examine our values and the gross inequalities in our land by just being himself. Maybe I am asking too much. Maybe Bernard should just be allowed box.
Well done Bernard. You’re a true champion.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Planning Offenders ‘Name and Shame’ Policy adopted by Strategic Policy Committee
Cllr Aodhan O Riordain proposal for a ‘name and shame policy’ in relation to planning offenders has been adopted by the Planning, Economic Development and European Affairs S.P.C. of the City Council today.
‘The people of Dublin need to know that the planning process is fair and works equally for all people. The establishment of The Planning Information Service has helped to educate citizens about the protections that exist for them within the planning system. However many citizens are increasing concerned about the number of unauthorised developments that are apparently going unpunished throughout the city’, Cllr O Riordain said.
‘In my own constituency there have been continuous reports from concerned residents about developers sub-dividing properties into multiple unit dwellings without planning permission and renting them out to marginalized families in scenes reminiscent of Strumpet City. The ‘name and shame’ policy that I have proposed to the Strategic Policy Committee will send a strong message to all developers that unauthorised development that is not reversed will result in conviction in the courts and embarrassment in the media’, Cllr O Riordian continued.
‘For too long, residents of our city have felt that developers are getting away with breaking planning law. From now on, any person or business that is convicted in the courts will face the embarrassment of being named in advertisements in the media’, Cllr O Riordain concluded.
‘The people of Dublin need to know that the planning process is fair and works equally for all people. The establishment of The Planning Information Service has helped to educate citizens about the protections that exist for them within the planning system. However many citizens are increasing concerned about the number of unauthorised developments that are apparently going unpunished throughout the city’, Cllr O Riordain said.
‘In my own constituency there have been continuous reports from concerned residents about developers sub-dividing properties into multiple unit dwellings without planning permission and renting them out to marginalized families in scenes reminiscent of Strumpet City. The ‘name and shame’ policy that I have proposed to the Strategic Policy Committee will send a strong message to all developers that unauthorised development that is not reversed will result in conviction in the courts and embarrassment in the media’, Cllr O Riordian continued.
‘For too long, residents of our city have felt that developers are getting away with breaking planning law. From now on, any person or business that is convicted in the courts will face the embarrassment of being named in advertisements in the media’, Cllr O Riordain concluded.
Monday, November 27, 2006
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT €1 MILLION 'RIGHT TO READ' PACKAGE AS PART OF ESTIMATES TONIGHT
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT €1 MILLION 'RIGHT TO READ' PACKAGE AS PART OF ESTIMATES TONIGHT
STATEMENT FROM CLLR AODHAN O RIORDAIN
Deputy Lord Mayor Monday November 27th 2006Dublin City Council is expected to adopt a €1 million package aimed at addressing the objectives of the Deputy Lord Mayor's Roght to Read CAmpaign tonight.
The Right to Read Campaign, an initiative of the Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Aodhan O Riordain is seeking council investment in three key areas in order to tackle educational disadvantage.'One in three children living in disadvantaged areas have basic reading problems and I believe the local authority has a huge role to play in tackling this issue.
The three basic steps of the Right to Read campaign concentrate on housing policy, the establishment of homework clubs and the improvement of our public libraries' Cllr O Riordain, a teacher in Sheriff Street, said today.
The Council is expected to adopt the €1 million library service package which will include:
1 extension of 6 day openings
2 social inclusion programmes
3 €385k additional book fund resources
4 historian / educational support
5 enhancements in technology
'These improvements will help us tackle a major social ill in our city and I am delighted that the City Councillors and the City Manager have responded to the Right to Read Campaign in such a positive manner' Cllr O Riordain continued.
The campaign is to be presented to Dublin South County Council on December 11th.
STATEMENT FROM CLLR AODHAN O RIORDAIN
Deputy Lord Mayor Monday November 27th 2006Dublin City Council is expected to adopt a €1 million package aimed at addressing the objectives of the Deputy Lord Mayor's Roght to Read CAmpaign tonight.
The Right to Read Campaign, an initiative of the Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Aodhan O Riordain is seeking council investment in three key areas in order to tackle educational disadvantage.'One in three children living in disadvantaged areas have basic reading problems and I believe the local authority has a huge role to play in tackling this issue.
The three basic steps of the Right to Read campaign concentrate on housing policy, the establishment of homework clubs and the improvement of our public libraries' Cllr O Riordain, a teacher in Sheriff Street, said today.
The Council is expected to adopt the €1 million library service package which will include:
1 extension of 6 day openings
2 social inclusion programmes
3 €385k additional book fund resources
4 historian / educational support
5 enhancements in technology
'These improvements will help us tackle a major social ill in our city and I am delighted that the City Councillors and the City Manager have responded to the Right to Read Campaign in such a positive manner' Cllr O Riordain continued.
The campaign is to be presented to Dublin South County Council on December 11th.
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