Councillors from Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in Wicklow vote to Criminalise Householders for Non Payment of Household Charge

Sinn Féin county councillors John Brady and John Snell have expressed
deep disappointment that a motion they had tabled at Wicklow county
council opposing the unfair Household charge was rejected at Tuesdays
council meeting by 14 votes to 4. The councillors have said the vote
in Wicklow county council now clears the way to criminalise the 53.1%
of households in Wicklow who have refused to pay the new stealth tax.

Sinn Féin councillor John Brady who proposed the motion stated "We are
disappointed the the Sinn Féin motion was defeated at the council
meeting on Tuesday, however we are not surprised. We tabled the motion
on March 2nd and great attempts were made to keep the motion off the
agenda so it would not even be debated in the first place. The motion
called on the council to oppose the Household charge and instruct the
council officials not criminalise or initiate legal proceedings
against people for their inability to pay the tax. After a lengthy
debate the motion was defeated by 14 votes to 4, there was 3
abstentions and 3 councillors not present"

Cllr Snell stated "The vote in Wicklow now gives the council officials
a free hand to take whatever action they feel is necessary to get the
Household charge from Wicklow residents who have not complied with the
new stealth tax, this includes legal proceedings and court action. I
am particularly disappointed at members of the Labour party in Wicklow
who with great fan-fair in December said they were voting against the
councils budget because of the household charge, however at the
council meeting they were given an opportunity to take a stand on the
issue and to reject the charge and to protect the people who have been
unable to pay the €100 stealth tax. Instead the Labour party ran for
cover, Cllr Jimmy O'Shaughnessy left the chamber before the debate
started, Cllr Tom Fortune sat on the fence and abstained, whilst Conal
Kavanagh and John Byrne voted against the motion"

Cllr Brady went onto say "Unsurprisingly councillors from Fianna Fáil
and Fine Gael also voted against the Sinn Féin motion. The bottom line
is people in Wicklow like all other counties simply cant afford the
€100 stealth tax, people are struggling to put food on the table and
pay the bills and trying to get blood from stones simply doesn't work.
The introduction of the tax is simply the thin end of the wedge and
once registered payments for households will simply increase on an
annual basis.  The majority of Wicklow residents made the right
decision to refuse to comply with the governments policy of austerity
and they have taken a stand against the new tax and refused to pay.
The rejection of the motion now clears the way for the potential
criminalisation of thousands of Wicklow residents and the blame lies
on the shoulders of the Labour Party, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in
Wicklow"

Cllr Brady concluded "The vote in Wicklow just goes to show how out of
touch the so called public representatives are in Wicklow with the
people on the ground having to live with the policies of austerity
from the government. Sinn Féin will continue to fight against the tax
and will try introduce a bill in Leinster House in June to to repeal
the charge. The bill, entitled Local Government (Household Charge)
(Repeal) Bill 2012, aims to repeal the household charge and allow the
Department to reimburse those households that have already paid it.
Sinn Féin will be tabling the bill during private members’ time in
June, this will give all TDs including Government ones an opportunity
to stand with the ordinary people of Wicklow and around the State who
are struggling to survive let alone pay the unfair and unjust
household tax" Ends



The full Sinn Féin motion reads

Wicklow county council strongly opposes the Household charge and we
call on the Government to immediately scrap it. It is very evident
that the massive non payment of the Household tax by Wicklow residents
who simply cant afford this additional unfair tax, will add to the
huge shortfall in the €160 million in funding which the Government had
expected from this tax. We  therefore call on the Government to look
at an alternative way of funding local authorities.
We also instruct Wicklow county council not to criminalise or initiate
legal proceedings against people for their inability to pay or their
non compliance with the unfair and unjust Household tax.

This is what the residents of Wicklow think of the Governments policy of Stealth Taxes, cuts to public services and the Austerity Treaty. It is painted near the Glen of the Downs in Wicklow overlooking the N11, on a wall now famous for expressing political views. 

Government Parties in Wicklow Running Scared of Treaty Debate

Wicklow Sinn Féin councillor John Brady has today accused Labour and
Fine Gael TDs and councillors in Wicklow of “running scared of a
public debate on the Austerity Treaty.” The comments come after they
where turned down an invitation to publicly debate the Treaty with
speakers from the No side including Sinn Féin and representatives from
the ULA.

Brady said “Following the announcement of a referendum on the
Austerity Treaty Anne Ferris of Labour and the three Fine Gael TDs in
Wicklow were contacted inviting them to debate the treaty at a public
meeting in Bray on the 8th May. Labour MEP Nessa Childers along with
Fine Gael and Labour councillors where also invited to participate in
the debate, unfortunately not one of them excepted the invitation.  A
public debate of this kind would give the general public the
opportunity to hear both sides of the argument"

Brady continued “Clearly the Labour Party and Fine Gael are running
scared of a public debate on the Austerity Treaty. The Austerity
Treaty will impose up to €6bn of additional austerity post 2015. This
means more cuts to health and education services and more taxes and
charges on low and middle income families. It is any wonder that
Deputies Anne Ferris, Andrew Doyle, Simon Harris and Billy Timmins are
reluctant to share a platform on this issue as doing so would require
them to justify these additional cuts. We had hoped to have three from
the No side and three from the Yes side, we had no problems getting
speakers from the No side and Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly had agreed
to represent the views of the government on the Yes side and try argue
for austerity"

“The Austerity Treaty is being supported Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna
Fail. However there is growing opposition to it in Ireland and across
the EU.

“Jack O’Connor the President of SIPTU, and a Labour Party member has
described the Treaty as, ‘the worst imaginable response to the
challenge of recession and stagnation’ that ‘will have a far reaching
effect on people’s lives across the EU by reducing pension provision,
cutting public services, eroding people’s rights at work and driving
down the cost of labour. Labour MEPs voted against much of the content
of this Treaty when it came before the European Parliament last
September, with former Dublin Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa saying the
measures would, ““…kill growth, destroy jobs and derail economic
recovery.”

“And in France and Germany the labour party’s there do not support the
Treaty in its current form.

Cllr Brady concluded "Given all of this there is little surprise that
representatives from both the Labour Party and Fine Gael want to avoid
a public debate at which they would have to explain how more cuts and
higher taxes would lead us out of recession and create jobs. If this
strategy of cutting Billions from the economy worked we would be out
of this mess, the bottom line is Austerity does not work. We need to
stimulate the economy and invest in jobs, but unfortunately the
government would rather do it Frankfurt's way than standing up for the
Irish people and doing it Ireland's way"

"Sinn Féin will organise public meetings across Wicklow in the coming
weeks and the invitation to the Wicklow TDs, MEPs and councillors
remains open. Hopefully they will have the courage of their
convictions to debate the contents of the Treaty and its implications
for people in Wicklow"

Protest organised to welcome Dublin Bus to Bray Town Council on Tuesday 1st May

Sinn Féin and members of the campaign to save the 84 and 45 Dublin Bus
routes are to hold a protest outside the meeting of Bray Town Council
on Tuesday 1st May at 7pm. The protest is timed to coincide with a
presentation from Dublin Bus representatives outlining the cuts to the
public transport service in North Wicklow. Sinn Féin councillor John
Brady has described the cuts as a slashing of the service dressed up
as an improvement.

Speaking ahead of the protest Cllr Brady said "I am very disappointed
that after the massive pressure that has been exerted on Dublin Bus
they have simply gone ahead and decided to implement the cuts to the
45 and 84 routes. They have dressed the cuts up to look like the new
layout will lead to an improved service for people in North Wicklow,
however the cuts will hit the public transport users hard and will
simply act as a deterrent and force people away from using public
transport. The only purpose of the representatives of Dublin Bus
coming to Bray Town Council is to lay out the nature of the cuts which
have been signed off on, it is certainly not to consult Bray Town
Council"

Cllr Brady went onto say "The cuts which were announced on the 12th
April by Ray Coyne who is the Project Manager of Dublin Bus will see
the 45 and 84 routes amalgamated and the new service will run from
Newcastle/Kilcoole to Blackrock. The result of this is there will be a
huge reduction in buses from Wicklow linking us to the city centre,
anyone looking to do so will have to transfer over to the 145, it also
means vital services such as the National maternity Hospital in Holles
St. or St. Vincents Hospital have no direct Bus and this will
have a big impact on people reliant on public transport to get medical
treatment and it will get worse if the cuts to the A&E in
Loughlinstown go ahead"

Cllr Brady continued "Students in UCD will also be badly hit. The 84
which had been a hourly service from Kilcoole to UCD will now end and
the amalgamated 84/45 route will terminate in Blackrock. Dublin Bus
are saying they are going to increase the 84x by 33%, even this will
go nowhere near replacing the service of the 84, this is going to see
a huge reduction in the service to Belfield. The 45a in Bray will be
given a new route from Oldcourt to Dún Laoghaire, this means the
entire Killarney Rd area will have no link to Bray DART station, again
a huge disincentive for people using public transport"

"I had hoped that Dublin Bus might finally deliver a service for North
Wicklow that people wanted and might use in larger numbers. Sinn Féin
and the public of North Wicklow had put a huge amount of pressure on
Dublin Bus, we had presented them with a petition containing thousands
of signatures calling on them not to implement these drastic cuts and
to ensure that the network was fit for purpose and that point was hit
home with the public protest we had organised to meet them at the
Council meeting in Greystones. Rather than taking on-board any of the
views, proposals or concerns of the public, what Dublin Bus have done
is the complete opposite, they have cut the service to shreds and have
dressed it up as a positive move. Students, Hospital users, commuters
and ordinary members of the public who want to use public transport
are the real people who loose out here. This application is being
assessed by the National Transport Authority and i am urging Labour TD
Alan Kelly who is Minister of State, at the Department of Transport,
Tourism & Sport to intervene to stop the licence being issued. I also
calling on Wicklow's 5 TD to use their influence in Leinster House to
save our public transport service in North Wicklow"

Brady concluded "The protest on Tuesday 1st May will be the last
chance people have to get their message across to Dublin Bus as the
cuts to the routes will go ahead in the near future. I encourage as
many people as possible to show up to the protest which will be
starting at 7pm outside Bray Town Hall on Tuesday next"

Wicklow Sinn Féin hold successful launch of of the No Campaign to the Austerity Treaty

Wicklow Sinn Féin successfully launched their campaign for a No vote
in the forthcoming EU Fiscal Compact Treaty. The launch was held in
the Royal Hotel Bray and Sinn Féin outlined the nature of the campaign
they intend on running over the next five weeks. The launch was
chaired by Wicklow Town Sinn Féin councillor Gary O'Reilly and
addressed by Sinn Fein councillors Rossa Murray, John Snell and John
Brady along with the Sinn Féin representative for West Wicklow Gerry
O'Neill.

Speaking at the launch Cllr Gary O'Reilly welcomed people and thanked
them for attending and warned that if this treaty is accepted by the
Irish people it will mean more taxes like the household charge, the
septic tank tax and water charges. “The EU Fiscal Compact Treaty, or
the Austerity Treaty as it should be known, seeks to permanently
institutionalise austerity in this state. The treaty sets out to make
the cuts and taxes that have caused such misery and stagnation legally
binding and an integral part of our constitution. It sets out to tie
the hands of future governments and future generations of Irish men
and women, leaving them to live their whole lives under the dark
clouds of permanent austerity. It fair to say if this treaty gets
through, we ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Bray Town councillor Rossa Murray stated "Its important that people
understand what austerity is. Austerity is the hurt and pain thats
been inflicted on the Irish people over the last number of years,
austerity is the closure of hospitals, less teachers and increased
class sizes and new stealth taxes such as the household charge and
water taxes. It is quite clear Austerity doesn’t work. We’ve had six
austerity budgets. The deficit has grown not reduced. Half a million
citizens are unemployed. Working people and lower and middle income
families are bearing the brunt of the government’s decisions.”

Gerry O'Neill who is the Sinn Féin representative for West Wicklow
asserted that proponents of the treaty were coming from a “a
Thatcherite and Reaganite right-wing conservative ideological
position. If Ireland ratified the treaty, it would see the executive
hand over powers to unelected officials and bureaucrats in the EU
Commission and allowing them to run this State, and to police fiscal
as well as monetary matters.”

Wicklow County councillor for Wicklow East John Snell continued "Its
important that people defend the limited freedoms we currently enjoy
and try reclaim our economic sovereignty, citizens must firstly ensure
they are registered to vote and they can do that by checking the
website  www.checktheregister.ie and fill out the necessary forms if
they are not registered and secondly make such they exercise their
democratic right and come out on May 31st and vote No to the Austerity
Treaty."

The Wicklow Sinn Féin spokesperson for the No campaign John Brady
summed up by giving details of the campaign the party intend on
running over the next five weeks "Sinn Féin intend on running a
positive campaign over the next 5 weeks. The choice for the people of
Wicklow is between austerity and economic stimulus and growth. The
choice is between us handing over powers to unelected officials and
bureaucrats in the European Commission and in the European Court of
Justice and allowing them to run this state, and to police fiscal as
well as monetary matters. Or we can vote No to this and assert the
right of citizens to elect or sack our governments; and for citizens
to have democratic authority over those who govern us. Sinn Féin will
run a high profile campaign in Wicklow and intend on holding public
meeting across the county to inform people why the treaty is bad for
Ireland and for citizens in Wicklow. We will endeavour to knock and
canvass every house in the county and distribute thousands of pieces
of literature as well as an extensive postering campaign.

Brady concluded "I encourage people to inform themselves on the treaty
and to take and active role in the campaign to regain our sovereignty,
our campaign is open to anyone who wants to stand up for Ireland and
defend this generation and subsequent generations against austerity.
If people want to get involved they can contact myself or any Sinn
Féin representative in Wicklow."

Labour Minister Ruairi Quinn's visit to Wicklow to officially open 5 year old school is amusing, bemusing and hypocritical

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady has described the visit to
Wicklow by the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, TD to
open two schools for County Wicklow VEC on Monday, 30th April, 2012 as
amusing, bemusing and hypocritical all at the same time. One of the
schools Gaelcholáiste Na Mara, Pearses Park, Arklow which is to be
officially opened by the Minister has in fact been open since 2007, so
the Minister is five years too late.

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady who has described the Ministers
visit as amusing, bemusing and hypocritical all at the same time
stated "The news that the Minister for Education and Skill, Ruairi
Quinn, TD is to visit Wicklow to officially open a school which in
fact has been opened since 2007 is ridiculous, and it comes in the
same week when parents and pupils from another Wicklow school Coláiste
Ráithín which is located in Bray staged a protest outside the
Ministers office in an attempt to secure a new school after 14 years
of campaigning. What the Ministers visit does show is how desperate
this government actually is to find a good news story, the fact that
they must go through the archives to find a school that's 5 years old
to officially open stinks of desperation. What next will we have? the
Minister for Marine Simon Coveney officially launching the Titanic"

Cllr Brady continued "I would ask Minister Quinn while he is in
Wicklow  to meet with the parents committee of Coláiste Ráithin in the
Portacabins on the Florence Road in Bray that are used as classrooms
and to try end their 14 year campaign for a new purpose built school.
This Minister along with previous ministers are well aware of their
plight of the school as they handed a letter to Ruairi Quinn outlining
their situation on Wednesday last and they plan another protest
outside Leinster House this coming Wednesday. I have also written to
the Labour Minister asking him to resolve the issue of the site for
the new school for Coláiste Ráithín which is on the Old Bray Golf Club
lands and to then fast track the project. The 14 year struggle to
progress the project of a new school is having a detrimental impact on
the school and its capability to continue providing the excellent
standard of education to their pupils. The land ear marked for the new
school is held by NAMA, i have also written to the chairperson of NAMA
Frank Daly and asked him to deal directly with Minister Quinn to
unlock the site for Coláiste Ráithín to allow the new school project
proceed. As of yet i have no response from either parties"

Cllr Bray concluded "The Labour Minister must cease trying to grab
cheap headlines on what are old stories. The bottom line is there are
no good news stories for Minister Quinn or this government, he is
currently the Minister for Education which is cutting special needs
teachers, cutting career guidance teachers, attacking small rural
schools, increasing class sizes, slashing student grants and
increasing college fees. If the Minister is sincere in trying to
provide the best educational facilities for pupils in Wicklow he
should start by investing in the educational needs of them and not be
engaging in the type of political spin and stunts that we seen for
years under Fianna Fáil"

Disappointment as Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly joins the Government and says Yes to Austerity

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady has expressed bitter
disappointment at Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly's announcement at a
public meeting in Bray that he is voting yes to the European Fiscal
Treaty on May 31st. The result is that all 5 Wicklow TD's support the
Austerity Treaty.

Speaking following the public meeting in Bray which Stephen Donnelly
had organised Sinn Féin councillor John Brady said "I am bitterly
disappointed that Wicklow now has no opposition TD's standing up for
the people of Wicklow who are getting hammered with stealth charges,
taxes and cuts. Deputy Donnelly's admission at the public meeting last
night that he will reluctantly vote yes for the Austerity Treaty means
that he like the 4 government TD's believe that Austerity works.
However this is clearly not the case, since the people of Ireland
where hoodwinked into voting yes to the Lisbon Treaty 170,000 jobs
have been lost, last year 76,000 people emigrated, public services
have been slashed and new stealth taxes are been forced on the people.
If austerity worked we would be out of this mess, the bottom line is
austerity does not work it just further deflates the economy and hits
those with less harder"

Cllr Brady continued “The dreadful social consequences of austerity
are to be found in the numbers of citizens unemployed; the thousands
of our young people who are emigrating; in every household struggling
to pay rent and mortgages and household bills; on every main street
where businesses are shutting down; and in every hospital and school
where reduced resources are hurting the sick and the young. More than
100,000 households are currently in mortgage distress with 91 more
joining that number each day. This is unacceptable.

Cllr Brady went onto say "Deputy Donnelly also stated at the meeting
that voting yes was the lesser of the two evils, again he is wrong.
This is an austerity treaty and even one of the speakers at the
meeting Dr Constantin Gurdgiev agreed with me on that point.  A yes
vote is the bigger evil because it will mean a further €6 Billion in
cuts and taxes from 2015 on top of the cuts in the next three
budgets.The government is making the wrong political choices,
including decisions to implement Fianna Fáil policy and its support
for the Austerity Treaty and unfortunately Stephen Donnelly now has
hitched his lot with the government and has said we should be forced
to pay more"

"Deputy Donnelly now joins with the other four government TD's in
Wicklow and is calling for a yes vote, Lets be clear about this, this
is an austerity treaty, it will see more cuts to front line public
services, health and education cuts, more stealth taxes and higher
taxes. Stephen Donnelly can no longer claim to be an opposition TD
because he is now a supporter of this failed policy of austerity which
is a complete disaster not just for this generation, but for
generations to come who will have to pick up the costs.Sinn Féin will
be campaigning for a No vote, because the only way to to solve this
crisis is to invest in jobs and growth, we need to stimulate the
economy not further deflate it. We will be launching our No campaign
on Thursday 26th in the Royal Hotel in Bray at 8pm and anyone looking
for more information or to help out on the campaign is more than
welcome" concluded Cllr Brady.