Council to remove costly unwanted fence from the Deerpark Estate

Late last week contractors working on behalf of Bray Town Council
moved into the Deerpark, Heatherwood Estates in Bray and started
erecting a fence the length of the public green which runs along by
the main road into the estate. There was a lot of concern and
opposition, no one including the Residents Association had been
consulted prior to this work commencing. However following a meeting
on site with the Residents Association and Cllr John Brady the council
has agreed to start removing the fence and the scrap their plans.

Cllr Brady said "The fence was not wanted or needed, the first anyone
knew about this was when the contractors started erecting the fence in
the middle of the public open space. There has been no consultation
with the Councillors or the very active residents association who use
the open space for their family fun days during the summer. Residents
in the area like the open plan of the green and a fence or hedge would
only create numerous problems in the area.

"The residents and i met an official from the council on Friday and
the concerns of the residents were put across to him. Thankfully  our
concerns have been taken on board and it has agreed to remove the
fence and scrap the plans for it"

Cllr Brady went onto say "There was deep concern by the residents in
the area that this was an attempt to start the process of trying to
open a through road onto the Southerncross Rd from the Boghall Rd. I
have stated to the council time and time again that any attempt to
force a road through the estate will be bitterly opposed by the
residents and myself"

Cllr Brady finished by saying "This shows again that consultation with
communities is critical rather than trying to impose things on them
without any input from them. The council must work with communities
and residents associations to identify what their needs are and then
work from there. Thankfully the council have agreed to reverse the
works they have started, however it has come at a needless expense
that could have been spent on other more needy projects in the area"

Wicklow is haemorrhaging people

Wicklow is haemorrhaging people, particularly young people, because they can't get jobs at home. 

Can there be a greater barometer to the failure of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour than the spectre of renewed mass emigration? Forced emigration sees sons and daughters, nephews and nieces, grandsons and granddaughters and even parents leaving their home to seek work abroad.

In the 26 Counties, there are now more than 460,000 people out of work and the unemployment rate has reached 14.8%.  In Wicklow there are 12,164 people currently unemployed. The collapse of the building industry has left more than 100,000 construction workers jobless. Youth unemployment has trebled since 2008. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions recently stated that one in three men under the age of 25 are unable to find work.

Unfortunately as shocking as these figures are, they don’t reflect the true picture of unemployment. Forced emigration has become accepted as part of what it means to be Irish.  For too long emigration has been dismissed as a necessary evil; a stop-gap solution to our unemployment problem. It reduced dole queues, removed the disaffected, and quelled the potential for public unrest.

Over 87,100 people left this state last year, an increase of 6,500 over the previous year. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the combined population of Bray, Greystones, Wicklow Town and Arklow. That breaks down at a daily average of 238, or one person every 303 seconds, which is just over five minutes. More people left the state, than sat the leaving cert last year. A generation is being lost to emigration as our skilled young people are forced to leave the country.

An entire generation of young people have been driven overseas in scenes reminiscent of the 1950s and 1980s. In County Leitrim, half of those between the ages of 22 and 26 have left. Here in Wicklow unfortunately we are no different to Counties such as Leitrim. Behind the statistics there are communities and families that are torn apart. Once again people from every town and village and from almost every family, people are being forced into involuntary exile. My family is no different to the thousands of other families that have been torn apart; I have lost 2 brothers to emigration, one to Australia and the other to South East Asia.

The 'brain drain' sucked the marrow out of Ireland's social and economic development in the last recession and we are again seeing history repeat itself with some of our brightest and best  making what Finance Minister Michael Noonan disgracefully called a “lifestyle choice” and leave their friends and families behind in the hope of a brighter future on foreign shores. There is a wealth of knowledge and skills that should be Irelands and Wicklow’s, but is, instead, distributed around the world.

The impact emigration is having on families and communities is devastating.  Once again GAA clubs and sporting organisations up and down Wicklow are being stripped of their very lifeblood as younger members leave by boat and plane in search of work and hope and a future. In one small Wicklow village, Kilmacanogue 15 young men under the age of 30 have recently packed up and gone, this is an entire GAA team and these have been joined by 2 entire families who have sold up everything and left the village and County they loved, unfortunately probably never to return.

The overall point is that we are losing a significant slice of the present generation of young people.  What is perfectly clear is that we need a change of direction. It may be too late for some but with a real economic alternative as laid out by Sinn Fein we can give our young people a life, a career and a sense of place in a modern Ireland. We have tried the alternative and South East Asia, Toronto and Melbourne are reaping the benefits. As a parent of a young family I fear what the future holds for my children, I am a proud Irishman like many others who have had their families ripped apart but unless there is a change of direction I will find it very difficult to stop my children moving Down Under to find employment and a better life, and who knows they might even get to meet their dear cousin they have never had the joy of meeting.  

A large crowd turned up to listen to Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Mary Lou
McDonald speak at a public meeting which was held in the Esplanade
Hotel In Bray on Thursday evening last. The large audience was told
that politics is all about choices and unfortunately Fine Gael and
Labour are making the wrong choices and following the policies of
Fianna Fail.

Speaking after the meeting Sinn Fein County Councillor John Brady said
"The meeting with Mary Lou McDonald was very positive and upbeat, Mary
Lou spoke at length about the wrong choices the current government are
making. The removal of €24 Billion from the economy over the last 5
budgets has had a destructive effect on communities, families and the
most vulnerable in society. She outlined clearly the alternative
choices the government could follow which would see those who could
pay a little more, pay a bit more"

Cllr Brady continued "She also outlined the need to stimulate the
economy and to get people back to work and gave details of Sinn Féin
Job creation plan which would see €13 Billion used to invest in jobs.
Mary Lou also stated that she would be launching Sinn Féin's
alternative budget proposals on Tuesday next and that there are clear
alternatives to the policies of slash and burn that are being followed
by Fine Gael and Labour"

Cllr Brady concluded "The meeting was then opened up to the floor and
there was excellent contributions and questions from the floor. Mary
Lou finished off the meeting by calling on people to take a stand and
to get involved in effecting change and to get involved in politics at
all levels. I think everyone present on the evening has taken
something positive from the meeting and it has also inspired people to
participate in the political process"

Victory for Residents as Council U Turn on Oldcourt Houses

Cllr John Brady and members of the Olcourt Residents Action Group holding a section of roofing which had been removed by contractors from the house behind them

Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady has welcomed the complete u turn by
Bray Town Council in relation to the fire safety works in the Oldcourt
Estate. After a number of weeks of pressure on the council by Cllr
Brady and the Oldcourt Residents Action Group the council has started
to remove the old flat roofs from the houses in the estate as
recommended in the 2007 fire safety audit.

Speaking after inspecting a number of the houses which are undergoing
the refurbishment work Councillor Brady said "I am delighted that the
penny has finally dropped with the council and they have eventually
taken on-board the concerns of the Oldcourt residents and actually
started removing the old flat roofs from the attic space in the
Oldcourt houses.  Since this work commenced in the estate on a number
of houses the council have been trying to dress the works up as an
energy efficiency scheme. The council had been adamant from the outset
that they would not be removing the original flat roof structure which
contains the highly flammable bitumen from the attic space. Huge
amounts of pressure have been exerted on the council by myself and the
Oldcourt Residents Action Group, this group had been established to
campaign for the houses in Oldcourt to be made safe in accordance with
the councils own fire safety audit which in 2007 listed a essential
works to be carried out"

Cllr Brady continued "Whilst i welcome the energy efficiency work that
will be carried out on the houses in Oldcourt which will see new
windows and doors, insulation boards fitted internally on the external
walls and new central heating systems, i firmly believe this is just a
pretext for the council to try address some of the serious fire
related problems in the houses without them putting their hands up and
admitting liability. At the last council meeting a large protest was
held and the views of the residents were articulated loud and clear
and this was followed up on Tuesday when officials from the council
along with the consultant engineer for the refurbishment project Mr.
Donal Higgins from Hayes Higgins Partnership met with residents from
Oldcourt to answer questions relating to the houses and to hold a
lottery to see what houses would be done first. At this meeting and
all along it has been stated that the flat roofs would not be removed
with officials stating it would be too inconvenient for the residents.
The Oldcourt Residents Action Group at that meeting stated that it
essential that the flat roofs be removed and the houses made safe once
and for all and they handed Mr Donal Higgins a letter of protest
out-ling what works needed to be done as was laid out in the fire
safety audit"

Brady went onto say "On Wednesday morning i got a tip off that the
contractors who are currently in Oldcourt working on a number of the
houses had been contacted by the council and informed that they had to
start the process of removing the flat roofs from the houses. The
contractors who have been working in the houses now for a number of
weeks where nearing the end of the works in these houses and in fact
have painters and decorators working in the houses, up until they got
word on Wednesday morning the removal of the flat roofs was not in
their contract, so its quite clear that the pressure on the council
from the Oldcourt Residents Action Group and myself has forced the
council into a complete u turn on this serious issue"

"This u turn by the council has to be welcomed and is a victory for
the residents whose  simple demand is to live in houses that a safe
and that the issues identified in the 2007 fire safety audit are fully
implemented. The decision by the council to start the process of
removing the fire hazard old flat roofs vindicates everything i have
being saying over many years about the houses and shows that ordinary
people can when they stand together make a huge difference because the
council had been hell bent on keeping the residents in the dark and
pushing through another botched job on the houses that didn't address
all the issues in the houses" continued Brady

Brady continued "The Oldcourt Residents Action Group should be very
proud of their victory which will go along way towards making the
Oldcourt houses safe once and for all and improving the quality of
life for everyone. However the group nor myself are not planning on
going away, nearly 30% of residents in the estate have bought their
homes in good faith from the council and the scheme must also be
extended to them. We also need guarantees that when the €1 million for
the 32 houses in phase 1 of the works is spent more funding will be
forthcoming to complete the entire estate"

Large quantities of the old flat roofing still containing Bitumen felt which has been removed from the attics and ready for removal  

Sinn Féin set to honour Wicklow Town Republican at their Annual Dinner

The annual Wicklow Sinn Féin dinner dance will take place on Saturday
24th November in the Royal Hotel, Bray and this years special honoree
is Wicklow republican Eamonn Long.

Announcing the details of the dinner dance Sinn Féin Councillor John
Brady said " I am delighted to announce the details of the Wicklow
Sinn Fein dinner dance which will take place on Saturday 24th November
in the Royal Hotel, Bray. Every year we have a special honoree and
this year there was unanimous agreement that it should be Wicklow
republican Eamonn Long"

"Eamon is a life long republican was was elected onto Wicklow Town
Council on his first attempt in 2004. He earned a reputation for
standing up for people and communities in Wicklow Town. Eamonn was
reelected onto the council in 2009 and increased his vote in the
process. Unfortunately due to personal circumstances he had to retire
from the council in 2011 and the seat was subsequently taken by his
Sinn Féin colleague Gary O'Reilly who was co-opted onto the council"

Cllr Brady continued "The dinner dance is set to be a great occasion
and its the first time it will be held in Bray in the excellent Royal
Hotel. We are expecting a huge turnout on the evening from Sinn Fein
members from across Wicklow and also Eamonn friends and people and
groups he helped out over the years, we will also have a special guest
speaker on the evening. There are a limited number of tickets
remaining and if interested people can contact Marie Gavaghan
087-6558429"

Sinn Féin Vice President Mary Lou McDonald to attend public meeting in Bray

Sinn Fein vice president Mary Lou McDonald will be the guest speaker
at a public meeting in the Esplanade Hotel, Bray tomorrow evening,
Thursday 15th November @8pm. She will outline Sinn Féin's alternative
to austerity and what ordinary people and communities can do to effect
change.

Speaking ahead of the visit Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady said "We
are delighted to have Mary Lou McDonald in Wicklow on Thursday, she
will be our guest speaker at a public meeting in the Esplanade Hotel
in Bray entitled 'Help build the real Alternative'. The meeting is
open to everyone that's looking for a real and credible alternative to
the policies of this Government which are having a detrimental impact
on people and communities across Wicklow"

"I would encourage everyone who has an interest in listening to the
alternative to cuts and austerity to come along on Thursday or you
want to get involved in making a real difference in your community.
The meeting is due to commence at 8pm"

Public meeting to Defend Rural Wicklow

Wicklow Sinn Féin as part of their Defend Rural Wicklow Campaign has
organised a public meeting which will be held in Germaine's Hotel,
Baltinglass on Wednesday 14th November at 8pm.

Speaking ahead of the meeting Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady said
"Rural Wicklow has been hit hard with by the austerity policies of
Fine Gael and the Labour Party. Rural schools and police stations are
closing. New septic tank charges are being imposed and unemployment
and emigration is decimating the very fabric of rural life. As part of
our Defend Rural Wicklow Campaign we have organised a public meeting
which will be held on Wednesday 14th November at 8pm in Germaine's
Hotel, Baltinglass"

Cllr Brady continued "Under the austerity policies the courthouse in
Baltinglass is under scrutiny and is at risk of been redeployed
elsewhere. Sinn Fein is the only party standing up and fighting back
for rural Ireland and rural Wicklow".

"I urge people and community groups to come along on Wednesday to
listen to the solutions and what can be done to reverse the direction
this Government is taking us" concluded Cllr Brady.