Jennifer Green Brings Joy To Disappointed Dundalk FC Fans

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Fiona Johnston

Sinn Féin Councillor Jennifer Green has delighted Dundalk FC fans who were left disappointed when they failed to get a ticket for tonight’s Dundalk v Cork City title decider match.

Hundreds of supporters had queued outside Oriel Park on Wednesday morning hoping to get tickets but many were left disappointed when they sold out very quickly.

Jennifer said “My husband and I were hoping to take our boys to the match but weren’t lucky enough to secure tickets so I thought, wouldn’t it be great if it could be shown at the Town Square? I imagined there were other families in a similar position to us so I set about trying to make it happen.”

“What we want to do is to recreate the atmosphere at Oriel Park, which will be electric tonight. We want everyone in Dundalk to witness and share in, hopefully the success, of our football team. Come to the Market Square this evening. C’mon the Town!”

Councillor Green continued “this is a big event for Dundalk and we are all part of it. Let’s join together and celebrate. Bring your families and watch Dundalk FC make history tonight.”

Cllr Green concluded by saying “I want to thank everyone who helped me make this a reality. Especially Martin McElliott the owner of the ‘big screen’ at the Market Square and Sinead Roche from Dundalk Tourist Office for without all of us working together, the match streamed tonight LIVE wouldn’t be possible.” She laughed as she said, “After all this, Dundalk FC better win tonight.”

If you are interested in advertising on the ‘big screen’ you can contact Martin McElliott through the Tourist Office.

Flood Hits Out At Water Outage Groundhog Day

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Fiona Johnston

Sinn Féin Councillor Kenneth Flood has again hit out at the lack of information available following a further water outage in Drogheda over the weekend.

Flood said “On Friday the watermain on the North Quay burst yet again. Although the burst happened in the early hours of Friday Morning, apart from turning off the water, work did not start on correcting the problem until after 9am. The first notice from the council was emailed at 9:06am but at that stage the whole Northern Environs of Drogheda knew they were without water.”

Councillor Flood has been asking for an improved response from the Council and is dissatisfied with the level of response. “I called the out of hours council service and requested that stand-pipes and drinkable water be made available in the affected areas. Despite asking for a call back, my calls were not returned.”

In frustration Kenneth Flood took to Twitter to notify the local media outlets so they could inform people what was happening. Louth County Council and Irish Water have not updated their websites since Friday morning. Flood said “when I phoned them at various times asking for updates, they simply said ‘we’re working on the problem’ and then all updates ceased after hours.”

When water services were restored in late afternoon the water was thick with lime and sediment, making it unusable. On Saturday morning, the same watermains burst again.

The Sinn Féin councillor phoned Irish Water to inform them of the burst main and asked that they post updates on their website and to call him back with information on when services can be resumed. An outraged Flood said “their response was unbelievable. They told me as it was the weekend there would be no updates or information available. This is a completely unacceptable situation. People want to know what is happening and the company tasked with providing a service is only operating during office hours. Again people were left without water for most of the day and when it returned it was like alka-seltzer coming out of the taps.”

“Once again the people of Drogheda have had 2 days without water and Irish Water and LCCs response to the 7th water outage in this area this year has been the same as the first. We have citizens with young babies who can’t even make bottles for them. The children were sent home from the Aston Village Educate Together National School because there was no water. Businesses are affected and Irish Water doesn’t seem to care. This is unacceptable. The service is lackluster and it proves they are unable to provide for the People of Drogheda.”

‘Drinking’ Water

Adams To Hold Public Meetings On Water Tax

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Fiona Johnston

Sinn Féin Leader Gerry Adams TD today launched the party’s new policy document outlining the party’s vision for the future of water services.

Mr Adams also announced details of public meetings in Louth to discuss the negative impact of domestic water charges. Speaking from Louth Mr Adams said:

“The introduction of domestic Water Charges is a tax too far. Sinn Féin’s policy document ‘Axe the tax’ outlines a vision for water services in this State in the time ahead and confirms that if given a mandate to be in government here, Sinn Féin will reverse the Water Charges.

“These charges will only cause further hardship for families already struggling to make ends meet. I encourage everyone who can to attend the public meetings Sinn Féin is organising in the forthcoming weeks on this issue.”

The public meetings will be held:

Monday, 20^th October, 7pm. Order of Malta Hall, Mill St, Dundalk.

Thursday, 23^rd October 7pm. The Barbican Centre, Drogheda.

Corrigan Calls For More Measured Response To Water Charges Protests

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Fiona Johnston

Cllr Edel Corrigan has today called for a more measured response by An Garda Síochána to people peacefully protesting against water metre installations.

Councillor Corrigan said “All citizens have a right to protest in a peaceful manner against the water charges and the installation of water metres. People are feeling the never ending financial pressure put on them by this government who are taking what’s left out of our pockets, and they want to show their opposition to the introduction of water taxes.”

“While Cllr Tomas Sharkey and I attended a protest this morning in Hillview and O’Hanlon Park, many people have told me that there was an excessive number of Gardaí yesterday along with the armed Garda unit in Fr Murray Park while the water meter installation was taking place.”

Councillor Edel Corrigan continued “The Gardaí should have a more measured approach in policing these protests. Many people found it disheartening when in the past they have been left waiting for Gardai responses to issues around anti-social issues due to ‘lack of resources’ yet large number of Gardaí were present during the water meter installation.

“I would ask the Gardaí to respect the people’s right to protest and I question the number of Gardaí dispatched to deal with the peaceful protests taking place.

I would urge any citizens who feel they were denied their right to peacefully protest to contact the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.”