The withdrawal of Capel Developments from the proposed development of the lands at Clontarf Golf Club serves as a lesson for arrogant developers. The manner in which this developer has conducted himself from the beginning of this process has displayed an arrogant disregard for the democratic process. Claims that each member of the club would receive €100,000 from the sale of the land were at best misguided and at worst deliberately misleading.
The sale of Clontarf Golf Club was totally dependent on the support of Dublin City Councillors for the disposal of the lands at the club. The level of green space within the City Boundaries is fastly diminishing and the protection of open green land in the city is a priority. The suggestion that members of the club were in line for a massive payout was an attempt, in my view, to pre-empt the process and to present the sale as a fait accompli. The largest group on the City Council, the Labour Party, were against the disponsal of these lands from the outset under these circumstances.
The process of land disposal is quite clear. The lands of the city is placed in the guardianship of the councillors by the people of the city, a responsibility that the vast majority of councillors take extremely seriously. No land may be sold without the expressed agreement, by means of a vote, by the local representatives. Any attempt to disregard that process was extremely arrogant and the falling through of that plan should serve as a warning to any future developers as to their conduct in relation to these lands.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Cllr O Riordain launches 'Text your Protest' Campaign against DART Car Parking Fee
This morning I launched my 'text your protest' campaign against the planned introduction of Car Parking Fees in Dart Stations from September. The introduction of these fees will not only penalise those commuters who are willing to use public transport but will inevitably lead to parking problems in residential areas that surround DART stations. This morning I have already received remarkable support from commuters at Clontarf DART station who are extremely angry over the proposal.
I am asking all those who oppose the introduction of these fees to text 'NO PARKING FEE' to 086-8190336 followed by their name and address. The petition will be sent to the Chief Executive of Irish Rail and to the Minster for Transport.
I am asking all those who oppose the introduction of these fees to text 'NO PARKING FEE' to 086-8190336 followed by their name and address. The petition will be sent to the Chief Executive of Irish Rail and to the Minster for Transport.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin's move to Clontarf explained
My reasons for my move to the electoral area of Clontarf has created some interest amongst political writers.
Since my election as a Councillor in the North Inner City in 2004 I have been working tirelessly for the benefit of all those who live in this remarkable area of our city and I have been privileged to have been given the opportunity to pursue the issues that I greatly care about, primarily educational disadvantage.
However with my appointment as principal in my beloved school in Sheriff Street I consider it impossible to be able to represent the same area politically. Staying politically active in an area where I serve the community as a school Principal would lead to too many conflicts of interest and I need to be fully focused on the job at hand.
Simultaneously there is another constituency on my doorstep which is bereft of Labour Representation and with needs a strong Labour voice to promote those eternal ideals of equality, comminty and justice. I was asked by Labour members to consider to move to the Clontarf ward which includes Marino, Donnycarney, Fairview, Killester and Clontarf.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to represent a new area and I was honoured that the membership of Dublin North Cenral backed me to run for the Labour Party in the Clontarf ward in 2009.
I have begun working on important issues already, Croke Park Event day parking, the rezoning f Marino,m the proposed redevelopment of Clontarf Golf Club and the CCE dispute with the disbanded Clontarf Branch. This proud area of Dublin needs Labour. I am happy to provide that representation and hope that it will result in a council seat in 2009.
Since my election as a Councillor in the North Inner City in 2004 I have been working tirelessly for the benefit of all those who live in this remarkable area of our city and I have been privileged to have been given the opportunity to pursue the issues that I greatly care about, primarily educational disadvantage.
However with my appointment as principal in my beloved school in Sheriff Street I consider it impossible to be able to represent the same area politically. Staying politically active in an area where I serve the community as a school Principal would lead to too many conflicts of interest and I need to be fully focused on the job at hand.
Simultaneously there is another constituency on my doorstep which is bereft of Labour Representation and with needs a strong Labour voice to promote those eternal ideals of equality, comminty and justice. I was asked by Labour members to consider to move to the Clontarf ward which includes Marino, Donnycarney, Fairview, Killester and Clontarf.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to represent a new area and I was honoured that the membership of Dublin North Cenral backed me to run for the Labour Party in the Clontarf ward in 2009.
I have begun working on important issues already, Croke Park Event day parking, the rezoning f Marino,m the proposed redevelopment of Clontarf Golf Club and the CCE dispute with the disbanded Clontarf Branch. This proud area of Dublin needs Labour. I am happy to provide that representation and hope that it will result in a council seat in 2009.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Wheelock Investigation
The decision by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to open its first ever public-interest investigation to inquire into the death of Terence Wheelock is to be welcomed. I have been campaigning with the Wheelock family since Terence’s death in September 2005 for an independent inquiry to find answers to the many questions that remain unanswered to this day.
Terence Wheelock died at the Mater hospital in Dublin. He had spent three months in a coma after he was found unconscious in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd 2005. Gardaí told the coroner’s inquest that he had attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. His family continues to dispute this and claims he was mistreated in Garda custody.
Many questions remain unanswered and demand to be answered if An Garda Siochana are to continue to have any credibility in Dublin’s North Inner City or indeed nationwide. Why did it take almost a year of legal wrangling with the Garda Commissioner's office until the Wheelocks were granted access to his clothes last November?
The clothes worn by Terence Wheelock were extensively stained with blood and vomit, according to a forensic report commissioned by his family's legal team. No gardaí who arrested Mr Wheelock or who were at Store Street Garda station in June 2005, when he fell into a coma, mentioned blood or vomit on his clothes at the inquest. However, at the adjournment of the inquest last year, Michael Norton, forensic scientist at Garda headquarters who examined Mr Wheelock's clothes, said there were bloodstains on some of the undergarments. According to the independent forensic analysis of the clothes, commissioned by the Wheelock family legal team, these bloodstains could have been caused by injuries and trauma to the anal area.
Photographs taken in the Mater hospital by a hospital photographer of Mr Wheelock's body and seen by myself show extensive bruising on his arms, legs and torso as well as cuts on his knuckles and single ligature mark around his neck. The photographs of his clothes show clearly bloodstains on his boxer shorts and T-shirt. I have been quoted widely as stating that these photographs are particularly troubling.
A T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and boxer shorts were examined on behalf of the family at the Dublin Forensic Science laboratory by Lee John Fagan, a forensic scientist with Keith Borer consultants in Durham, England. An opinion on his findings was given by Dr Carl Gray, consultant forensic pathologist based in Leeds. Mr Fagan, in his report dated December 8th, 2006, notes bloodstaining on the tracksuit bottoms, including a heavy soaked-in stain on the upper inside back of the trousers. The blood is said to have soaked through to the outside of the tracksuit bottoms.
Mr Wheelock's boxer shorts are found to have similar stains on the inside back. Mr Fagan is of the opinion that this blood is likely to have soaked through the shorts and tracksuit bottoms from the inside and while they were being worn. He notes vomit-staining down the front of the T-shirt as well as bloodstaining.
In his opinion on Mr Fagan's report, Dr Gray says that although vomiting may occur from an initial hanging attempt which would be nauseating, he notes that there was no double ligature mark on Mr Wheelock's neck to suggest repeated attempts at hanging and he says the most likely explanation is that the T-shirt was previously vomited upon. He also says anal bleeding is not a usual feature of hanging cases. Though it could be explained by minor anal trauma or a cut caused by constipation, it could also have been caused by injury and trauma to the anal area.The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of death by suicide earlier this summer, but only by the narrowest of margins – by four votes to three. There are other issues in relation to the surgical cleaning of the cell that Mr Wheelock was held in the day after the events in Store Street. Hopefully the Garda Ombudsman Commission will find the answers so that the family can put the death of their son behind them. They deserve no less, decent Gardai deserve their good reputation, and society in general needs to know that everyone has the right to know the truth.
Terence Wheelock died at the Mater hospital in Dublin. He had spent three months in a coma after he was found unconscious in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd 2005. Gardaí told the coroner’s inquest that he had attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. His family continues to dispute this and claims he was mistreated in Garda custody.
Many questions remain unanswered and demand to be answered if An Garda Siochana are to continue to have any credibility in Dublin’s North Inner City or indeed nationwide. Why did it take almost a year of legal wrangling with the Garda Commissioner's office until the Wheelocks were granted access to his clothes last November?
The clothes worn by Terence Wheelock were extensively stained with blood and vomit, according to a forensic report commissioned by his family's legal team. No gardaí who arrested Mr Wheelock or who were at Store Street Garda station in June 2005, when he fell into a coma, mentioned blood or vomit on his clothes at the inquest. However, at the adjournment of the inquest last year, Michael Norton, forensic scientist at Garda headquarters who examined Mr Wheelock's clothes, said there were bloodstains on some of the undergarments. According to the independent forensic analysis of the clothes, commissioned by the Wheelock family legal team, these bloodstains could have been caused by injuries and trauma to the anal area.
Photographs taken in the Mater hospital by a hospital photographer of Mr Wheelock's body and seen by myself show extensive bruising on his arms, legs and torso as well as cuts on his knuckles and single ligature mark around his neck. The photographs of his clothes show clearly bloodstains on his boxer shorts and T-shirt. I have been quoted widely as stating that these photographs are particularly troubling.
A T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and boxer shorts were examined on behalf of the family at the Dublin Forensic Science laboratory by Lee John Fagan, a forensic scientist with Keith Borer consultants in Durham, England. An opinion on his findings was given by Dr Carl Gray, consultant forensic pathologist based in Leeds. Mr Fagan, in his report dated December 8th, 2006, notes bloodstaining on the tracksuit bottoms, including a heavy soaked-in stain on the upper inside back of the trousers. The blood is said to have soaked through to the outside of the tracksuit bottoms.
Mr Wheelock's boxer shorts are found to have similar stains on the inside back. Mr Fagan is of the opinion that this blood is likely to have soaked through the shorts and tracksuit bottoms from the inside and while they were being worn. He notes vomit-staining down the front of the T-shirt as well as bloodstaining.
In his opinion on Mr Fagan's report, Dr Gray says that although vomiting may occur from an initial hanging attempt which would be nauseating, he notes that there was no double ligature mark on Mr Wheelock's neck to suggest repeated attempts at hanging and he says the most likely explanation is that the T-shirt was previously vomited upon. He also says anal bleeding is not a usual feature of hanging cases. Though it could be explained by minor anal trauma or a cut caused by constipation, it could also have been caused by injury and trauma to the anal area.The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of death by suicide earlier this summer, but only by the narrowest of margins – by four votes to three. There are other issues in relation to the surgical cleaning of the cell that Mr Wheelock was held in the day after the events in Store Street. Hopefully the Garda Ombudsman Commission will find the answers so that the family can put the death of their son behind them. They deserve no less, decent Gardai deserve their good reputation, and society in general needs to know that everyone has the right to know the truth.
Wheelock Investigation
As the summer comes to a close, it is time to review some of the events of the summer. The decision by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to open its first ever public-interest investigation to inquire into the death of Terence Wheelock is to be welcomed. I have been campaigning with the Wheelock family since Terence’s death in September 2005 for an independent inquiry to find answers to the many questions that remain unanswered to this day.
Terence Wheelock died at the Mater hospital in Dublin. He had spent three months in a coma after he was found unconscious in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd 2005. Gardaí told the coroner’s inquest that he had attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. His family continues to dispute this and claims he was mistreated in Garda custody.
Many questions remain unanswered and demand to be answered if An Garda Siochana are to continue to have any credibility in Dublin’s North Inner City or indeed nationwide. Why did it take almost a year of legal wrangling with the Garda Commissioner's office until the Wheelocks were granted access to his clothes last November?
The clothes worn by Terence Wheelock were extensively stained with blood and vomit, according to a forensic report commissioned by his family's legal team. No gardaí who arrested Mr Wheelock or who were at Store Street Garda station in June 2005, when he fell into a coma, mentioned blood or vomit on his clothes at the inquest. However, at the adjournment of the inquest last year, Michael Norton, forensic scientist at Garda headquarters who examined Mr Wheelock's clothes, said there were bloodstains on some of the undergarments. According to the independent forensic analysis of the clothes, commissioned by the Wheelock family legal team, these bloodstains could have been caused by injuries and trauma to the anal area.
Photographs taken in the Mater hospital by a hospital photographer of Mr Wheelock's body and seen by myself show extensive bruising on his arms, legs and torso as well as cuts on his knuckles and single ligature mark around his neck. The photographs of his clothes show clearly bloodstains on his boxer shorts and T-shirt. I have been quoted widely as stating that these photographs are particularly troubling.
A T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and boxer shorts were examined on behalf of the family at the Dublin Forensic Science laboratory by Lee John Fagan, a forensic scientist with Keith Borer consultants in Durham, England. An opinion on his findings was given by Dr Carl Gray, consultant forensic pathologist based in Leeds. Mr Fagan, in his report dated December 8th, 2006, notes bloodstaining on the tracksuit bottoms, including a heavy soaked-in stain on the upper inside back of the trousers. The blood is said to have soaked through to the outside of the tracksuit bottoms.
Mr Wheelock's boxer shorts are found to have similar stains on the inside back. Mr Fagan is of the opinion that this blood is likely to have soaked through the shorts and tracksuit bottoms from the inside and while they were being worn. He notes vomit-staining down the front of the T-shirt as well as bloodstaining.
In his opinion on Mr Fagan's report, Dr Gray says that although vomiting may occur from an initial hanging attempt which would be nauseating, he notes that there was no double ligature mark on Mr Wheelock's neck to suggest repeated attempts at hanging and he says the most likely explanation is that the T-shirt was previously vomited upon. He also says anal bleeding is not a usual feature of hanging cases. Though it could be explained by minor anal trauma or a cut caused by constipation, it could also have been caused by injury and trauma to the anal area.The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of death by suicide earlier this summer, but only by the narrowest of margins – by four votes to three. There are other issues in relation to the surgical cleaning of the cell that Mr Wheelock was held in the day after the events in Store Street. Hopefully the Garda Ombudsman Commission will find the answers so that the family can put the death of their son behind them. They deserve no less, decent Gardai deserve their good reputation, and society in general needs to know that everyone has the right to know the truth.
Terence Wheelock died at the Mater hospital in Dublin. He had spent three months in a coma after he was found unconscious in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd 2005. Gardaí told the coroner’s inquest that he had attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. His family continues to dispute this and claims he was mistreated in Garda custody.
Many questions remain unanswered and demand to be answered if An Garda Siochana are to continue to have any credibility in Dublin’s North Inner City or indeed nationwide. Why did it take almost a year of legal wrangling with the Garda Commissioner's office until the Wheelocks were granted access to his clothes last November?
The clothes worn by Terence Wheelock were extensively stained with blood and vomit, according to a forensic report commissioned by his family's legal team. No gardaí who arrested Mr Wheelock or who were at Store Street Garda station in June 2005, when he fell into a coma, mentioned blood or vomit on his clothes at the inquest. However, at the adjournment of the inquest last year, Michael Norton, forensic scientist at Garda headquarters who examined Mr Wheelock's clothes, said there were bloodstains on some of the undergarments. According to the independent forensic analysis of the clothes, commissioned by the Wheelock family legal team, these bloodstains could have been caused by injuries and trauma to the anal area.
Photographs taken in the Mater hospital by a hospital photographer of Mr Wheelock's body and seen by myself show extensive bruising on his arms, legs and torso as well as cuts on his knuckles and single ligature mark around his neck. The photographs of his clothes show clearly bloodstains on his boxer shorts and T-shirt. I have been quoted widely as stating that these photographs are particularly troubling.
A T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and boxer shorts were examined on behalf of the family at the Dublin Forensic Science laboratory by Lee John Fagan, a forensic scientist with Keith Borer consultants in Durham, England. An opinion on his findings was given by Dr Carl Gray, consultant forensic pathologist based in Leeds. Mr Fagan, in his report dated December 8th, 2006, notes bloodstaining on the tracksuit bottoms, including a heavy soaked-in stain on the upper inside back of the trousers. The blood is said to have soaked through to the outside of the tracksuit bottoms.
Mr Wheelock's boxer shorts are found to have similar stains on the inside back. Mr Fagan is of the opinion that this blood is likely to have soaked through the shorts and tracksuit bottoms from the inside and while they were being worn. He notes vomit-staining down the front of the T-shirt as well as bloodstaining.
In his opinion on Mr Fagan's report, Dr Gray says that although vomiting may occur from an initial hanging attempt which would be nauseating, he notes that there was no double ligature mark on Mr Wheelock's neck to suggest repeated attempts at hanging and he says the most likely explanation is that the T-shirt was previously vomited upon. He also says anal bleeding is not a usual feature of hanging cases. Though it could be explained by minor anal trauma or a cut caused by constipation, it could also have been caused by injury and trauma to the anal area.The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of death by suicide earlier this summer, but only by the narrowest of margins – by four votes to three. There are other issues in relation to the surgical cleaning of the cell that Mr Wheelock was held in the day after the events in Store Street. Hopefully the Garda Ombudsman Commission will find the answers so that the family can put the death of their son behind them. They deserve no less, decent Gardai deserve their good reputation, and society in general needs to know that everyone has the right to know the truth.
Ombudsman Investigation into Wheelock case
As the summer closes it is time to review some of the positive and negative events of the summer. The decision by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to open its first ever public-interest investigation to inquire into the death of Terence Wheelock is to be welcomed. I have been campaigning with the Wheelock family since Terence’s death in September 2005 for an independent inquiry to find answers to the many questions that remain unanswered to this day.
Terence Wheelock died at the Mater hospital in Dublin. He had spent three months in a coma after he was found unconscious in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd 2005. Gardaí told the coroner’s inquest that he had attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. His family continues to dispute this and claims he was mistreated in Garda custody.
Many questions remain unanswered and demand to be answered if An Garda Siochana are to continue to have any credibility in Dublin’s North Inner City or indeed nationwide. Why did it take almost a year of legal wrangling with the Garda Commissioner's office until the Wheelocks were granted access to his clothes last November?
The clothes worn by Terence Wheelock were extensively stained with blood and vomit, according to a forensic report commissioned by his family's legal team. No gardaí who arrested Mr Wheelock or who were at Store Street Garda station in June 2005, when he fell into a coma, mentioned blood or vomit on his clothes at the inquest. However, at the adjournment of the inquest last year, Michael Norton, forensic scientist at Garda headquarters who examined Mr Wheelock's clothes, said there were bloodstains on some of the undergarments. According to the independent forensic analysis of the clothes, commissioned by the Wheelock family legal team, these bloodstains could have been caused by injuries and trauma to the anal area.
Photographs taken in the Mater hospital by a hospital photographer of Mr Wheelock's body and seen by myself show extensive bruising on his arms, legs and torso as well as cuts on his knuckles and single ligature mark around his neck. The photographs of his clothes show clearly bloodstains on his boxer shorts and T-shirt. I have been quoted widely as stating that these photographs are particularly troubling.
A T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and boxer shorts were examined on behalf of the family at the Dublin Forensic Science laboratory by Lee John Fagan, a forensic scientist with Keith Borer consultants in Durham, England. An opinion on his findings was given by Dr Carl Gray, consultant forensic pathologist based in Leeds. Mr Fagan, in his report dated December 8th, 2006, notes bloodstaining on the tracksuit bottoms, including a heavy soaked-in stain on the upper inside back of the trousers. The blood is said to have soaked through to the outside of the tracksuit bottoms.
Mr Wheelock's boxer shorts are found to have similar stains on the inside back. Mr Fagan is of the opinion that this blood is likely to have soaked through the shorts and tracksuit bottoms from the inside and while they were being worn. He notes vomit-staining down the front of the T-shirt as well as bloodstaining.
In his opinion on Mr Fagan's report, Dr Gray says that although vomiting may occur from an initial hanging attempt which would be nauseating, he notes that there was no double ligature mark on Mr Wheelock's neck to suggest repeated attempts at hanging and he says the most likely explanation is that the T-shirt was previously vomited upon. He also says anal bleeding is not a usual feature of hanging cases. Though it could be explained by minor anal trauma or a cut caused by constipation, it could also have been caused by injury and trauma to the anal area.The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of death by suicide earlier this summer, but only by the narrowest of margins – by four votes to three. There are other issues in relation to the surgical cleaning of the cell that Mr Wheelock was held in the day after the events in Store Street.
Hopefully the Garda Ombudsman Commission will find the answers so that the family can put the death of their son behind them. They deserve no less, decent Gardai deserve their good reputation, and society in general needs to know that everyone has the right to know the truth.
Terence Wheelock died at the Mater hospital in Dublin. He had spent three months in a coma after he was found unconscious in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd 2005. Gardaí told the coroner’s inquest that he had attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. His family continues to dispute this and claims he was mistreated in Garda custody.
Many questions remain unanswered and demand to be answered if An Garda Siochana are to continue to have any credibility in Dublin’s North Inner City or indeed nationwide. Why did it take almost a year of legal wrangling with the Garda Commissioner's office until the Wheelocks were granted access to his clothes last November?
The clothes worn by Terence Wheelock were extensively stained with blood and vomit, according to a forensic report commissioned by his family's legal team. No gardaí who arrested Mr Wheelock or who were at Store Street Garda station in June 2005, when he fell into a coma, mentioned blood or vomit on his clothes at the inquest. However, at the adjournment of the inquest last year, Michael Norton, forensic scientist at Garda headquarters who examined Mr Wheelock's clothes, said there were bloodstains on some of the undergarments. According to the independent forensic analysis of the clothes, commissioned by the Wheelock family legal team, these bloodstains could have been caused by injuries and trauma to the anal area.
Photographs taken in the Mater hospital by a hospital photographer of Mr Wheelock's body and seen by myself show extensive bruising on his arms, legs and torso as well as cuts on his knuckles and single ligature mark around his neck. The photographs of his clothes show clearly bloodstains on his boxer shorts and T-shirt. I have been quoted widely as stating that these photographs are particularly troubling.
A T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and boxer shorts were examined on behalf of the family at the Dublin Forensic Science laboratory by Lee John Fagan, a forensic scientist with Keith Borer consultants in Durham, England. An opinion on his findings was given by Dr Carl Gray, consultant forensic pathologist based in Leeds. Mr Fagan, in his report dated December 8th, 2006, notes bloodstaining on the tracksuit bottoms, including a heavy soaked-in stain on the upper inside back of the trousers. The blood is said to have soaked through to the outside of the tracksuit bottoms.
Mr Wheelock's boxer shorts are found to have similar stains on the inside back. Mr Fagan is of the opinion that this blood is likely to have soaked through the shorts and tracksuit bottoms from the inside and while they were being worn. He notes vomit-staining down the front of the T-shirt as well as bloodstaining.
In his opinion on Mr Fagan's report, Dr Gray says that although vomiting may occur from an initial hanging attempt which would be nauseating, he notes that there was no double ligature mark on Mr Wheelock's neck to suggest repeated attempts at hanging and he says the most likely explanation is that the T-shirt was previously vomited upon. He also says anal bleeding is not a usual feature of hanging cases. Though it could be explained by minor anal trauma or a cut caused by constipation, it could also have been caused by injury and trauma to the anal area.The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of death by suicide earlier this summer, but only by the narrowest of margins – by four votes to three. There are other issues in relation to the surgical cleaning of the cell that Mr Wheelock was held in the day after the events in Store Street.
Hopefully the Garda Ombudsman Commission will find the answers so that the family can put the death of their son behind them. They deserve no less, decent Gardai deserve their good reputation, and society in general needs to know that everyone has the right to know the truth.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
DEPUTY MAYOR OVERTHROWN IN BLOODLESS COUP!!
Apologies to all for my failure to keep you up to date on my comings and goings as Deputy Lord Mayor and a big thanks to the Aosdana member who urged me (I kid you not) to get back to my keyboard and to keep banging out the musings of a disgruntled public representative.
Well the end of my reign as Deputy Lord Mayor has arrived and I have to revert to being an ordinary human being again. No longer can I claim to speak for the million plus citizens who occupy our capital city by virtue of the votes of twenty-six Dublin City Councillors I received last June. Indeed it may be the highest office that I ever hold, and so it was with a heavy heart that I handed back my chain and relinquished the dubious honour of being called ‘Deputy Lord Mayor’.
When I assumed the role last year, it was on a bittersweet night in City Hall. There are few nights as exciting as the election of the Lord Mayor as quite literally anything can happen in the chamber and quite regularly, a councillor has walked in with their acceptance speech held tightly in their fist, only to see their chances explode in front of their eyes. The realisation that your dreams are going to be dashed is not a sinking feeling – it is more like an explosion.
Last year’s drama was more than a year in the making, when our majority on the Council was upset by the expulsion from Fine Gael of a Northside councillor, who then felt compelled to spoil the election of our Labour candidate Paddy Bourke by returning to the chamber after an absence of several months and by casting a vote in favour of the opposing candidate. The votes were then tied at twenty-six apiece and it came down to picking a name out of a hat. We all sat broken-hearted as Paddy Bourke’s name was left behind in the headpiece. It was the second time that Paddy had walked out of City Hall chain-less, having expecting to be calling the removal van in the morning and giving directions to the Mansion House.
When it came to the election of the Deputy Lord Mayor, it seemed that the exact same process would be played out. However, inexplicably, one Sinn Féin councillor abstained which meant that I was elected by 26 votes to 25. I can remember vividly sitting in my seat squirming at the thought of having my name in a hat with another councillor knowing that whenever that occurred in primary school I was always left disappointed. I gave an acceptance speech saying that the ambition of politicians must not be to wear chains of office, but to break chains of disadvantage. This is something that I care deeply about as there can be no more odious a sight than a little known local politician straining to get into the camera shot with a chunk of gold hanging from around his brass neck at the opening of the annual Bally-go-backwards flower show.
Politics is about making a difference. About challenging the status quo when the status quo keeps some sections of our society down at heel. We must challenge racism, illiteracy, poverty, suicide, homelessness and the power of vested interests that think primarily about lining their pockets at the expense of a brighter future for the wider community. I will not have the platform of the Deputy Mayoralty with which to further that agenda but I enjoyed the year that I had. It’s a humbling experience representing your city and I received many opportunities to do so last year. It’s back to basics from now on though. I wish the new Lord Mayor Paddy Bourke and Deputy Lord Mayor Anne Carter every success in the upcoming year.
Well the end of my reign as Deputy Lord Mayor has arrived and I have to revert to being an ordinary human being again. No longer can I claim to speak for the million plus citizens who occupy our capital city by virtue of the votes of twenty-six Dublin City Councillors I received last June. Indeed it may be the highest office that I ever hold, and so it was with a heavy heart that I handed back my chain and relinquished the dubious honour of being called ‘Deputy Lord Mayor’.
When I assumed the role last year, it was on a bittersweet night in City Hall. There are few nights as exciting as the election of the Lord Mayor as quite literally anything can happen in the chamber and quite regularly, a councillor has walked in with their acceptance speech held tightly in their fist, only to see their chances explode in front of their eyes. The realisation that your dreams are going to be dashed is not a sinking feeling – it is more like an explosion.
Last year’s drama was more than a year in the making, when our majority on the Council was upset by the expulsion from Fine Gael of a Northside councillor, who then felt compelled to spoil the election of our Labour candidate Paddy Bourke by returning to the chamber after an absence of several months and by casting a vote in favour of the opposing candidate. The votes were then tied at twenty-six apiece and it came down to picking a name out of a hat. We all sat broken-hearted as Paddy Bourke’s name was left behind in the headpiece. It was the second time that Paddy had walked out of City Hall chain-less, having expecting to be calling the removal van in the morning and giving directions to the Mansion House.
When it came to the election of the Deputy Lord Mayor, it seemed that the exact same process would be played out. However, inexplicably, one Sinn Féin councillor abstained which meant that I was elected by 26 votes to 25. I can remember vividly sitting in my seat squirming at the thought of having my name in a hat with another councillor knowing that whenever that occurred in primary school I was always left disappointed. I gave an acceptance speech saying that the ambition of politicians must not be to wear chains of office, but to break chains of disadvantage. This is something that I care deeply about as there can be no more odious a sight than a little known local politician straining to get into the camera shot with a chunk of gold hanging from around his brass neck at the opening of the annual Bally-go-backwards flower show.
Politics is about making a difference. About challenging the status quo when the status quo keeps some sections of our society down at heel. We must challenge racism, illiteracy, poverty, suicide, homelessness and the power of vested interests that think primarily about lining their pockets at the expense of a brighter future for the wider community. I will not have the platform of the Deputy Mayoralty with which to further that agenda but I enjoyed the year that I had. It’s a humbling experience representing your city and I received many opportunities to do so last year. It’s back to basics from now on though. I wish the new Lord Mayor Paddy Bourke and Deputy Lord Mayor Anne Carter every success in the upcoming year.
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