Aodhán on Morning Ireland

Listen to Aodhán on Morning Ireland talking about the closing of Clonturk House, residential home for elderly blind men.

Click on the link below:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0225/morningireland_av.html?2497228,null,209

New HSE low as Centre for Elderly Blind Men closed with loss of 24 staff jobs from St Josephs, Drumcondra

This evening I have learned the appalling news that the Rosminian Order located at the St Josephs Centre for the Visually Impaired and the HSE are to close Clonturk House, a residential facility for elderly blind men.

This closure means that 13 elderly blind men between the ages of 70 and 90 will have to be re-located and 24 staff will have to lose their jobs, as the HSE state they do not have the funds to upgrade the facility.

Only last month, I attended a public meeting where the Rosminian Order explained in great detail their plans to lodge a planning application for the construction of apartment blocks on a seven-acre site within the campus to fund the upgrading of their school. The application is for 7 blocks of 362 apartments ranging in height from four to eight storeys. It is hoped that this development will fund the school building costs of approximately €35million - only €15 million of which was provisionally promised by the Department of Education five years ago with no firm commitment.

No mention was made at any meeting, and I attended two such meetings, of any intention to change the status of the long-serving residents, or that they weren't to be included in the long term plans for the centre. Some of these residents have lived in Clonturk House for 50 years.

I am demanding immediately a full statement from the HSE and the Rosminian Order in relation to this matter and a reversal of this appaling decision, made in a cruel and underhanded fashion with little regard to the residents their carers or the families that care for them.

Appearance on Marian Finucane Show - Sun Feb 8th

Appearance On Marian Finucane Show last
Sunday February 8th on RTE Radio One.

Use the link below to listen to the show:
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/marianfinucane/

Eamon Gilmore Visit, Thursday February 12th.

Eamon Gilmore to visit the Clontarf Ward next Thursday, February 12th.

Please find below the itinerary for the day.

2.20pm
Meeting principal, teachers and parents of Belgrove Junior Boys School, Seafield Road, Clontarf

3.00pm
Lunch / Tea - Killester

4.00pm Launch of 'Senior Citizens Forum' Policy Document, Carlton Hall, Marino

5.00pm Open canvass around narrow streets of Marino with local members.

6.00pm
Meeting Officials and Parents of Marino Boys FC, Marino

6.45pm
Crobh Chiaran GAA Club, Donnycarney

7.30pm
Campaign Launch with Eamon Dunphy Graingers, Malahide Road, Marino.

Quote in Irish Times re: Parents in Education

Quote in today's Irish Times about parental involvment in education:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2009/0203/1232923383165.html

Aodhan O’Riordaín, principal of St Laurence O’Toole primary school for girls in Sheriff St, Dublin, believes that the programme will be supportive to parents of children attending the school.

“Courses like these acknowledge that parenting is difficult. Parents often think that they don’t need help and that they have a good relationship with their children but society is changing so rapidly that every parent needs to know how to maximise the potential of their children. And children react more to parents than to anyone in a school. They love their parents so when education becomes part of the relationship between a parent and a child, the effect is unstoppable.”

Fianna Fáil Motion to Cut Councillor Salary by 10% Hypocritical

The motion proposed tonight by members of the Fianna Fáil group on Dublin City Council is hypocritical in the extreme and classic cheap electoral politics.

The proposal that each member of Dublin City Council should take a 10% pay cut has been referred to the Protocol and Selection Committee however it goes nowhere to uncovering the real scandal of payments to Councillors at the taxpayers expense?

Will the Fianna Fáil members agree to a root and branch review of Councillor Expenses?
Why are councillor mobile bills paid to the tune of €30,000 per year?
Why are lavish expenses paid to councillors who attend meaningless conferences around the country?
How many councillors in the Fianna Fáil group have taken lifts in colleagues cars to meetings in other counties and then claimed travel expenses?
Why is there no attempt to take 10% or more from the tax-free expenses afforded to councillors which would amass a greater saving for the council.
Fianna Fáil representatives attempts to distance themselves from the mess that their government colleagues have made and to present themselves as guardians of the solution is pathetic and unworthy of council support.

Letter published in the Irish Times.

Letter published in the Irish Times. See rte.ie/drivetime for follow-up interview on today's programme with Mary Wilson.

Madam, – In the wake of the the disturbing details of the Roscommon incest and child abuse case, it is imperative now that we close all loopholes that limit the State’s capacity to react to suspicions of neglect for the benefit of all our children.

One such legislative barrier is the provision within the 2000 Education Welfare Act which states that the functions of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) are limited to children between the ages of six and 16. Crucially, there is no statutory requirement for children to be enrolled in school before the age of six, which in effect means that teachers, principals and NEWB officers are powerless to intervene in the case of chronic absenteeism of a child who is enrolled in a school under that age. At that most important developmental stage in a child’s education, the infant years, the NEWB has no statutory grounds to intervene in a case of serious absenteeism, which many educators identify as a key indication of child neglect.

It is clear now that this legislation must be amended to ensure that whenever a child is enrolled in school, the powers afforded to the NEWB under the Educational Welfare Act can be enforced, regardless of the child’s age. Such a change would ensure that those in the school community and those charged with the responsibility of monitoring school attendance can make the maximum difference at the earliest opportunity. – Is mise,

Cllr AODHÁN Ó RÍORDÁIN,

Clonliffe Avenue,

Ballybough,

Dublin 3.