Residents demand Bray Town Council end the Cover-up relating to the Oldcourt Estate in Bray

Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady has called on Bray Town Council to end
their cover-up regarding the structural defects in the Oldcourt estate
in Bray and to ensure that the issues highlighted in the 2007 Fire
Safety Audit, which was carried out independently for the council are
addressed in the current refurbishment scheme in the estate. The
Councillor was speaking after 120 residents from the Oldcourt estate
staged a protest outside the Bray Town Council monthly meeting on
Tuesday evening.

Speaking after joining the Oldcourt residents protest Cllr Brady
stated "Its unfortunate that residents must organise protests outside
council meetings to try ensure their homes are made safe once and for
all and that the council listens to them. On Tuesday over 120
residents from the Oldcourt estate in Bray had to take their concerns
to the councils monthly meeting. The newly formed Oldcourt Residents
Action Group held the protest to make the council sit up and ensure
the homes in the Oldcourt estate are made safe once and for all"

The Sinn Féin councillor stated "Bray Town Council must end the
cover-up in relation to the Oldcourt estate and take responsibility
for the problems within the houses. The Oldcourt estate was built in
the 1970's as a temporary solution to the then housing crisis. However
the serious problem in the houses started after a botched
refurbishment scheme in the estate in the late 1980's. The old flat
roof structure was simply built around and the original flat roof was
left in the attic space of the refurbished houses. Since the
refurbishment their have been 15 serious house fires in the estate
which have resulted in the loss of 8 lives"

Cllr Brady continued "During the summer this year an announcement was
made that €1million in funding was being allocated towards a
refurbishment scheme for the Oldcourt estate. I originally welcomed
this as i was under the impression that the problems that had been
identified in 2007 by a team of independent fire safety experts
working on behalf of the council were going to be addressed. In that
audit the experts identified serious problems with the electrics, the
lack of fire breaks and the presence of the highly flammable bitumen
felt in the cavities and on the original flat roofs which was retained
in the attic space. The report stated that the bitumen would result in
an increased fire loading in the event of a fire which would increase
the heat and smoke production allowing the fire spread through wall
cavities. They recommended all the houses be rewired and the bitumen
contained in the walls and in the attics be removed. The issues in
Oldcourt really leave Priory Hall in Dublin in the shade, however the
powers to be acted to ensure the residents safety came first in
Dublin, that is something that is seriously lacking in the Oldcourt
situation"

Cllr Brady went on to say "Unfortunately now that the work has started
the council have dressed the works up as a 'Energy efficiency scheme'
It has been very difficult to get any information as to exactly what
works where to be carried out on the houses, the residents have been
completely kept in the dark. The residents recently formed the
Oldcourt Residents Action Group to try get answers about the extent of
the works and to ensure that all the houses in Oldcourt, both council
owned and private are included in the scheme"

"Around 120 locals turned up to the council meeting on Tuesday after i
had managed to ensure the Oldcourt issue was on the agenda. They
staged a protest firstly outside the meeting before filing into the
chamber to voice their concerns to the council.The confidence of the
residents and myself of the scheme was shattered however when the town
engineer confirmed that the main problem in the houses which is the
old flat roof will not be addressed in the scheme, he stated that it
will not be removed nor will the highly flammable bitumen that's on
it. Some of the work has to be welcomed but it does not go far enough
to solving all the problems and instilling confidence in the minds of
the residents" continued Brady

Cllr Brady concluded "The council must end the cover-up of the
problems in Oldcourt. Bray Town Council is responsible for the botched
refurbishment job on the houses that's resulted in so many lives being
lost in the estate. They must now hold their hands up and take
responsibility and ensure that all the houses are brought up to the
highest safety standard and this includes the privately owned houses
which were bought from the council in good faith, but unfortunately
for the owners the council failed to come clean about the serious
problems that existed within them. I call on all elected
representatives to start listening to the concerns of the residents
that they claim to represent and to be a little bit more respective of
them and that includes turning off sky sports on their laptops in
council meetings when residents are trying to put across their
concerns" Ends

Work to Secure the walls of Carnew Castle finally begins

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady has welcomed the work that has
commenced to preserve the perimeter walls of Carnew castle. The castle
dates back to the 16th century and has in recent years fallen into a
poor condition with sections of the perimeter wall collapsing onto the
Main St in Carnew posing a serious threat to the safety of the public.
Since Cllr Brady first raised the issue last year a grant has been
secured from the Heritage Council and the work has recently started.

Cllr Brady welcomed the work and said “I first raised this issue of
Carnew castle over a year ago, the castle which is located on the Main
St. in Carnew is a listed building and it is on the listed monuments
register. Unfortunately over the last number of years it has fallen
into poor condition. The main castle needs extensive work and the
perimeter wall was collapsing onto the Main St. An application to the
Heritage Council under their grant scheme was successful and
thankfully the work has recently commenced”.

Cllr Brady continued "Carnew castle dates back to the 16th century, it
was built by the O'Tooles of Leinster and has a lengthy history.
During the Rebellion of 1641 about 160 settlers were besieged in the
castle for 22 weeks, by a force of around 1,000 Irish Rebels led by
the Mastersons, Byrnes and Donal Kavanagh of Ballingate. The castle
was held by the Knockloe O’Byrnes until 1649, when it was taken by Sir
Richard Talbot. Two years later the castle took a pounding from
Cromwell’s Roundheads under the command of Colonel Hewson during the
course of which the roof was destroyed. It fell into disuse in the
early 18th century. In the mid 18th century a large number of English
Protestants settled in Carnew and the area became a Royalist
stronghold throughout the 19th century. During the 1798 Rebellion,
Carnew Castle was used as a British garrison and 38 United Irishmen
prisoners were taken from the castle on the morning of 25th May 1798
and executed by firing squad in the nearby handball alley as a warning
to the local population."

Cllr Brady went onto say "The castle has a huge historical
significance both locally and nationally and the restoration work is
to be welcomed. Sections of the castle wall which had fallen onto the
footpath in 2009 and had remained there resulting in it being cordoned
off. Large sections of the wall were very unstable and were also at
risk of collapsing. This work when complete will ensure that it’s
preserved for future generations and the footpath will again be
reopened to the public”.

Cllr Brady concluded "In the future I would like to see the castle
opened to the public as I believe it has the potential to be a big
tourist attraction in the south Wicklow area.  The funding this year
from the Heritage Council is welcome; however more substantial funding

will be needed to ensure the castle reaches its full potential”. Ends

Brady Welcomes new Pedestrian Crossings on the Boghall Road

Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady has welcomed the installation of the
new pedestrian lights at the junction of the Deerpark Estate and at
Wolfe Tone on the Boghall Road in Bray and has said they will be
activated in the coming weeks.

Cllr Brady said "I am delighted that the pedestrian lights that i have
campaigned for on the Boghall Rd are finally in place. Once these are
activated in the coming weeks they will make the area much safer for
everyone. I have been pursuing this issue for a number of years now
and the lights are long overdue, there have been a number of children
knocked down by cars at the entrance to Wolfe Tone and at the junction
of the Deerpark Estate. This is a highly residential area and a lot of
people cross the road at these locations to get to the local shop and
to the schools".

Brady continued "There have been some concerns that the parking at the
front of the Boghall Stores shop would have to be removed to
facilitate the new crossing. However after discussions with the roads
technician in Bray Town Council a plan has been drawn up to enable the
parking to remain and the badly needed crossing to be installed. The
parking at this location is critical for the local business and the
removal of it would have been detrimental to the local store. I do
think there maybe be a bit of an overkill installing a crossing at the
new Aldi store as this will mean there will be 3 crossings within the
space of 250 meters, people could of easily used the existing crossing
at the Greystones Rd junction or the new one at Wolfe Tone without an
extra one in the middle".

Cllr Brady concluded "Overall i delighted this work has gone ahead,
but i do have some concerns that have been brought to the attention of
the council. I have asked them to look at the lights at Wole Tone
again as i believe they are too close to the junction and may actually
lead to an accident, i have been assured that all my concerns will be
taken on board and changes will be made if necessary".

Wicklow Sinn Féin to launch Extensive Job Creation Plan

Wicklow Sinn Féin to launch Extensive Job Creation

Wicklow Sinn Féin are to launch the party’s new job creation policy
document, the plan proposes measures to create 156,000 jobs and it
will be launched at a public meeting upstairs in Ernies Bar in Wicklow
Town at 7.30pm on Thursday 8th November.

Entitled Jobs Plan – Enterprise Policy for the 21st Century, the
document is a detailed 60 page stimulus package that sets out a
comprehensive plan aimed at tackling the current unemployment crisis.

Speaking ahead of the launch Wicklow Sinn Féin County Councillor John
Brady said “In the last four years Ireland has shed more jobs than any
other western state per capita since the Great Depression. Last year
the economy lost 33,400 jobs. In 2011 our communities lost 87,000 to
emigration. It is clear that government policy is not working. The
government has paid lip service to job creation. Their ambitions for
this state are limited to Troika-led retrenchment. Private investment
has reduced by €30 billion. Government has withdrawn €24 billion. In
Wicklow there are 12,164 people currently unemployed and all the
relevant bodies such as the IDA have completely overlooked Wicklow”

“We have identified €13 billion which can be sourced to create jobs,
improve competitiveness and increase productivity. This would be
funded from the National Pension Reserve Fund, European Investment
Bank, incentivised investment from the private pension sector and we
would end the capital spending cuts of this government. An investment
of this scale would create about 156,000 jobs and retain up to 15,000
existing jobs. Smart investment will secure sustainable jobs and our
national competitiveness into the future”.

Brady continued “Our jobs plan will invest in essential
infrastructure; help entrepreneurs by removing obstacles to doing
business and supporting them to retain and create new jobs; exploit
the potential of existing and new state enterprises particularly in
broadband rollout, renewable energy and eco-tourism and invest in
agri-food and rural communities”.

Brady went onto say “The Sinn Féin plan if implemented would create
thousands of jobs here in Wicklow and this would go a long way to
replacing some of the jobs that have been lost in companies such as
Veha, Kerry Foods, A O’Smith, Allergan and Schering-Plough to just
name a few”.

Cllr Brady concluded "The Jobs Plan is a comprehensive, costed and
government ready proposal and I appeal to members of the public and
representatives from the community and business sectors to attend our
launch and hear the proposals set out by Sinn Féin here in Wicklow”.

Sinn Fein Councillors raise concerns after Dublin Bus withdraws Route 185 from Fassaroe

Bray Sinn Féin Councillors John Brady and Rossa Murray have raised
concerns about the future of the 185 Dublin Bus route which had
severed the Fassaroe area. On Friday last signs were erected on the
bus stops in the Fassaroe estate saying that  the 185 bus was
ceasing to serve Fassaroe with immediate effect. In 2010 Sinn Féin and
the community in the area managed to save the entire 185 route after
Dublin Bus planned on curtailing it completely from Palermo and
Fassaroe.

Speaking after meeting with concerned bus users in Fassaroe Councillor
John Brady said "The first anyone knew of Dublin Buses plan to
withdraw the 185 from Fassaroe was on Friday last when signs were
erected on all the bus stops in the estate. The signs state that the
service was ceasing with immediate effect and that Dublin Bus would be
working with all the relevant authorities to try get it resumed at
some point in the future. The community of Fassaroe is highly
dependent on this bus route and i hope that this is not an attempt to
try introduce the 2010 plans to totally cut the 185, only this time
through stealth"

Cllr Murray went onto say "This is a widely used and highly depended
on route. Sinn Féin and the local community fought hard in 2010 to
ensure the 185 continued to serve Palermo and Fassaroe, we collected
thousands of signatures and ran a strong campaign which ultimately led
Dublin Bus to reverse their plans and to maintain the service and we
can do the same again if needed. The sign on the bus stops states that
Dublin Bus will be working with all relevant authorities to try
reinstate the route, unfortunately they don't see the using public as
relevant when they make decisions like this to withdraw a service"

Cllr Brady concluded "We will do everything in our power to make sure
the 185 is reinstated, so it can continue serving the community of Fassaroe.
Dublin Bus have a policy of what they term 'straightening out routes'
On the ground this means leaving communities like Fassaroe unserved by
public transport. Whatever needs to be done will be done to get the
185 back in Fassaroe"

Brady welcomes footpath repair work in Carnew

Sinn Féin County Councillor John Brady has welcomed the installation of
new footpaths in Emmet Place in Carnew and has said the work is long
overdue.

Speaking after meeting with council workers onsite Cllr Brady said
"Its great to see the footpath repair work in Emmet Place finally take
place. The poor condition of the footpaths was something that had been
consistently raised on the doors in the area when we carried out a
door to door survey in the area last year"

"The condition of the paths in Emmet Place in Carnew had been
deplorable and had made it very difficult and dangerous for the
elderly residents in the area. I have been raising the need for this
work to be carried out with a number of officials since last year and
i am delighted the now long overdue work has commenced" continued Cllr
Brady

Cllr Brady went onto say "A number of issues including the poor
condition of the paths had been raised with us on the doors and this
badly needed work also includes speed ramps on the Coolattin Rd and the
dishing of a number of footpaths in the area to make them more
accessible for elderly people and people with disabilities. The paths
outside Corrells Hardware on the Main St in the town also need to be
upgraded"

Cllr Brady concluded " The work that been carried out in Carnew by the
council has to be welcomed, unfortunately sometimes areas such as
Carnew, Tinahely and Shillelagh are forgotten about because of their
distance from the County Council in Wicklow town. I will however
continue to ensure that the council prioritizes work in these areas"

Angered Householders to protest outside Wicklow County Councils Monthly meeting in November

The Wicklow campaign against the Household charge group are set to
protest outside the Wicklow County Council monthly meeting on November
5th. The group is to take its campaign against the household charge to
the council following the recent debacle by Wicklow Council Council,
which seen them send threatening correspondence to 23,000 households
in the county. Many letters were sent to residents who had already
paid the charge but it was also sent to children and to people who are
long deceased. The group will also protest over the cuts of €373,000
to services that where pushed through at the October council meeting,
these cuts where imposed based on the noncompliance of the unjust
household charge.

Cllr John Brady who is part of the group said "It has been decided to
stage a protest outside the next council meeting on November 5th to
show the level of anger that exists against the unfair and unjust
household change and the manner in which Wicklow County Council is
dealing with the situation on behalf of Local Government Management
Agency. What we seen happen here in Wicklow over the last week is a
costly blunder and is nothing short of an expensive pantomime. Over
23,000 letters were sent out to Wicklow residents, many of whom had
paid the charge already whilst others where children or people who are
long deceased"

Cllr Snell continued "I have been inundated with calls from very angry
residents since these letters started landing on doorsteps. The whole
situation is a shambles and people want to vent their anger. At the
last council meeting in October we had a crazy situation when the
majority of Councillors in Wicklow embraced cuts of €373,000 due the a
cut of funding to the council by the government because of peoples
refusal to pay the unjust household charge. Some of these Councillors
particularly in the Labour Party are trying to run with the fox and
chase with the hounds on this issue. They need to make up their minds,
they are either with the people or with the government, they cant be
with both on this issue"

Cllr Brady continued "It is understood that the database used to
identify non-compliant households had been sent by the Local
Government Management Agency, charged with collecting the tax, to the
local authority. The latest blunder should be the final episode in
this sorry saga. The latest mistake will cost the exchequer tens of
thousands of euros nationally. Paul McSweeny, CEO of the Local
Government Management Agency, admitted that the agency do not know who
has paid or who has not paid, they have no proper addresses or
database. Minister Hogan must be brought to account for this mistake.
He can no longer hide behind the government’s quango, the Local
Government Management Agency. From the onset Sinn Féin said the
Household Charge was unjust, unworkable and now. It is time the
government realise this and reverse this charge"

Cllr Brady concluded "We are calling on everyone who is opposed to the
household charge and the cuts to services to attend the protest on
November 5th starting at 1pm at the County Council offices. Sinn Féin
will be proposing a suspension of the standing orders at the meeting
to discuss the latest blunder, but we will also given all the
Councillors an opportunity once and for all to take a stand on the
household charge issue and demand that its scraped and ordinary
citizens are not threatened any further"