Boarded up council houses need to be allocated to Families

Bray Sinn Féin representatives Cllr John Brady, Cllr Rossa Murray and Oliver O'Brien have labelled the boarding up of council houses, especially during a housing crisis as disgraceful. They have also called for a management plan to be put in place to ensure vacant council houses and housing land banks don't become dumping grounds and magnets for anti-social behaviour.

Speaking after visiting vacant council properties on the O'Byrne Road Cllr Brady said "There is a serious housing crisis right across the state and Wicklow and Bray are no different. In Bray alone there are 827 families on the housing waiting list. It is absolutely disgraceful that at this point in the crisis council houses are still being boarded up and red tape is causing huge delays in them getting reallocated.In Bray alone there are nearly 20 boarded up houses, some of which have been boarded up since last year."

Cllr Murray went onto say "The current government policy of not building social housing is a flawed one which only serves to put money in the pockets of private landlords. When a council house does become available any work needed should be fast tracked to ensure it is reallocated as quickly as possible. Unfortunately too many houses are being left boarded up around Bray for far too long."

Bray Sinn Féin representative Oliver O'Brien continued "Keeping houses boarded up not only deprives another needy family of a home, but they also become magnets for anti-social behaviour and for dumping, this unfortunately drags the whole area down too. I have spoken to many people who have stated that they would willingly take a council house in any condition and carry out whatever work was needed themselves just to get a roof over their heads. Such is the seriousness of the situation these people should be listened to and these boarded up houses should be allocated immediately."

Cllr Brady concluded "The council has many land banks suitable for housing along with boarded up houses, these are all creating problems in communities across Bray. A plan needs to be put in place to ensure the houses are given to needy people as quickly as possible and that the land banks are not dumping grounds and magnets for anti-social behaviour. Only this week after repeated requests from myself and residents of Wolfe Tone, O'Byrne Rd and Sugarloaf Crescent the council has moved on site of a boarded up house on O'Byrne road and started to clear it out. Whilst government policy and red tape is creating a lot of the problems, the council should and cold be more proactive in ensuring houses are reallocated as quick as possible and that they are kept clean."

Wicklow Sinn Féin launch Pre-Budget Submission

Wicklow Sinn Féin has launched their party’s alternative budget. Wicklow councillor John Brady said Sinn Féin’s budget would lower the tax burden on ordinary families, protect public services and invest in jobs.  He said ordinary people would be better off under Sinn Féin.

Councillor Brady said; “The Sinn Fein budget will reduce the tax burden on ordinary families. It will protect public services and invest in jobs.

“We have identified a series of taxation and savings measures, fully costed by government departments, to reduce the deficit and pay for new spending measures.

“These include giving 1.8 million homeowners a tax rebate by abolishing the property tax, restoring the respite grant for 86,000 carers, taking 296,000 low income workers out of the USC, providing free school meals to five hundred more schools and halving the cost of school books, giving every child under five free GP care, extending the fuel allowance by three weeks, protecting the vulnerable – no more cuts to disability payments, no more cuts to Child Benefit, no more cuts to social welfare and introducing a stimulus to create thousands of jobs.”

Bray Sinn Féin representative Oliver O’Brien said “Austerity isn’t working. The government’s priority in this budget should be to protect citizens rather than meeting European diktats. Some 415,000 people are on the live register while 300,000 emigrated in the last four years. There are 49,000 people waiting for hospital treatments. 

One in ten children are living in consistent poverty with 47% of households living on less than €100 a month after bills. There are 90,000 households languishing on social housing lists while 180,000 households are in mortgage distress. This will be the seventh austerity budget from Fianna Fáil and this government which together will have taken €30 billion out of the economy.”

“People need a break. Sinn Féin’s alternative budget reduces the tax burden on ordinary families, protects public services and invests in jobs.” concluded O’Brien

Councillor Brady finished by saying “These proposals are all fully costed by the government’s budgetary costing unit.The document also sets out proactive measures to assist job creation, SMEs, the agriculture sector, and people in mortgage distress. It deals with corporation tax and natural resources and also stresses our commitment to equality budgeting.

“Our adjustment is just under €2.5billion. We believe that families need to be given a break.  Austerity is not working. The government needs to take its foot off the necks of the people. With this document we show how people are better off under Sinn Féin.” Ends

Huge queues at Wicklow Motor Tax Office were totally unnecessary and avoidable

Wicklow Sinn Féin councillor John Brady has stated that the huge delays experienced at the motor Tax office in Wicklow County Council today (Monday) were totally unnecessary and totally unavoidable. Hundreds of people queued for hours to notify the council that their vehicle has been off the road and untaxed, motorists had until close of business on Monday 30th September to notify the council under new legislation brought in by the government on 1st July 2013

Speaking after talking to many angry people in the council buildings in Wicklow on Monday councillor Brady said “Wicklow County council was more like Dublin airport at the height of summer today, hundreds of people queued some for hours to declare their vehicle had been off the road and to try get it taxed.  The car park was totally overflowing and council staff had to stop cars entering and try redirecting them elsewhere.”

The Sinn Féin councillor continued “We have a farcical situation here in Wicklow on what I would imagine was the busiest day of the year for motor tax, we had the motor tax offices in Bray and Blessington closed. Today, Monday 30^th September was the last day for motorists to declare their vehicle was of the road. Under new laws motorists must now give prior notice that they intend to have the vehicle off the road. The council should have foreseen these queues happening because on Friday last the motor tax office in the council was exceptionally busy. So understandably on the last day it was always going to be even busier.”

Brady continued “In fairness to the staff at the motor tax office in Wicklow they worked exceptionally hard and additional hatches were opened to try deal with the huge volumes of people. However management should and could have quite easily put in place contingency plans and opened the tax offices in Bray and Blessington. Both offices only open part time, Bray opens three days a week and the office in Blessington only opens on a Tuesday. If these had of opened as a one off on Monday, they would have relieved a huge amount of pressure on the main tax office in Wicklow.”

“The council could have also arranged with the Gardaí to have a presence to stamp any paper work that was needed by people, other local authorities had put these arrangements in place. This cut down on people having to queue only to find out they needed the Gardaí to stamp the paperwork then return and queue again after travelling to the police station.”

Brady concluded “Whilst these exceptionally long queues and delays were a one off due to the new rules, they were however totally avoidable and should not have happened. The Department of the Environment should have pre-empted this and sent a circular to all councils asking them to put in place plans to deal with the huge numbers of expected people.” 

Monument for Wicklow Fire Fighters unveiled, National recognition now needed

Wicklow Sinn Féin councillor has called for national recognition for the sacrifices that were made by Wicklow Fire-fighters Brian Murray and Mark O'Shaughnessy who died in the town on 26th September 2007. The councillor was speaking after the unveiling of a monument in Bray on Saturday which is dedicated to the two brave men. He has reiterated the call that was made at the unveiling for medals to be given to the families in recognition of the men’s bravery and sacrifice.

Cllr Brady who is a member of the committee which was formed to oversee the installation of the monument said “I am absolutely delighted that after a huge amount of work over the last two years a monument is now in place to honour fire-fighters Brian Murray and MarkO'Shaughnessy, both men lost their lives whilst tackling a blaze in the town on 26th September 2007. In 2011 a committee was formed comprising of family members, serving fire-fighters and myself and our objective was to get a permanent monument erected in Bray in a prominent location to serve as a reminder of the huge sacrifice the two men made to protect and serve their community."

Brady continued "Thankfully the beautiful monument which was designed and manufactured by local artist Ciaran Patterson has now been unveiled and will serve as a reminder into the future the sacrifice the men made; it will also remind people of the problems within the service. I have always stated that ultimately the only fitting tribute to Brian and Mark would be the established of a full time fire service in Bray and the creation of a National Fire Authority which would have the funding and the powers to fix the problems within the service."

John went onto say "We have done what we can here in Wicklow to remember the two men and to ensure that moving forward lessons are learned from their deaths. I am now calling on the powers to be at a national level to do their share and that should be the creation of a National Fire Authority, this is Sinn Féin policy but the Labour Party in 2007 also committed themselves to it. At the unveiling of the monument on Saturday a representative of the fire-fighters called on the government and the fire service to award medals to the families for the bravery of the two men that died serving their community."

Cllr Brady concluded "I am reiterating the call for medals to be awarded posthumously to the families of Brain and Mark. The Walter Scott Medal for Valour is a medal awarded annually for bravery to members of the Gardai. I think a medal based on the Scott medal should be designed and awarded to the families of Brian and Mark to recognise the bravery of the men who died in the line of duty whilst serving their community."

Wicklow Sinn Féin to launch Seanad Referendum campaign

Wicklow Sinn Féin to launch Seanad Referendum campaign

Wicklow Sinn Féin will launch their Equality Not Elitism campaign on Friday 20^th September and they are calling for a YES vote to abolish the Seanad.

Wicklow County councillor and campaign spokesperson John Brady along with Sinn Féin representatives from across Wicklow will launch the campaign for a yes vote on Friday 20^th in the Glencormack Inn, Kilmacanogue.

Speaking ahead of the launch Cllr John Brady said:

“This referendum is hugely important and I am calling on people to turn out in big numbers and vote YES to abolish the Seanad in the referendum on Friday 4 October. Sinn Féin supports abolishing the Seanad because it represents a blatant inequality at the heart of the Irish political system.”

Cllr Brady continued “We know that the Seanad has failed to hold the Government and the Executive to account. In fact in the last two-and-a-half years, the Seanad has supported the government on every single occasion, including the introduction of the Property Tax, cuts to Disability Payments and the Promissory Note deal which is costing Irish tax payers €30 billion.

“The Seanad has promoted political cronies and allies rather than ideas or vision of change. Fianna Fáil, who now seeks to preserve the same Seanad, is the party which has done the most to reinforce the perception of the Seanad as a hot house of cronyism. The most damning feature of the Seanad is the elitism, inequality and discrimination that is at its core.” Continued Brady

The Wicklow Sinn Fein spokesperson went onto say “By restricting votes to an elite of those educated in a number of select colleges as well as City and County Councillors, the Seanad is anomaly in a modern democracy. There can be no place in a real republic, based on equality, for an elected office to which only a tiny percentage of the population have the right to vote. It runs in the face of the core principle that all citizens are equal. It is obviously wrong to most people that any elected office or parliament would discriminate against its own citizens based on where they were educated.”

Cllr Brady concluded “Sinn Féin seeks to build a New Republic on this island based on inclusivity and equality for all citizens. We want to see an end to privilege and elitism, and to the cronyism and the influence of vested interests that have so damaged politics in this country. Fairness, democracy and equality of citizenship demand that the current Seanad be abolished. Sinn Féin is appealing to voters to get out and vote in this referendum on October 4th, to vote for change and Vote Yes.” Ends

Bray Town Council needs to clean up their own backyard

Sinn Féin councillor John Brady has called on Bray Town Council to put a maintenance plan in place to deal with the considerable land banks they hold around the town. Many of the land banks were obtained by the council for housing purposes, however a change of government policy has resulted in no new social housing being constructed, so not only is their policy creating a housing crisis it is also resulting in urban blight. The councillor made his comments after meeting with concerned residents from the Parnell Road area in Bray town centre.

Cllr Brady said "Over the the few months i have received a large number of complaints from residents from throughout the town about the condition of council owned properties and land. Unfortunately little or no action has been taken by the council to address the concerns expressed by the residents. Recently i met with residents from the Parnell Road area in Bray town centre, they are looking for the old Central Garage site on the road to be cleaned up. They where shocked when i informed them that the site is owned by Bray Town Council."

Cllr Brady continued "The old Central Garage site was acquired by Bray Town Council under Part V of the Housing Act and it was intended for the construction of social housing. Unfortunately a change of government policy has resulted in the curtailment of the construction of all social housing. This has resulted in the site on Parnell Road and other council owned sites that were acquired under the same process becoming derelict, overgrown, full of rubbish and magnets for anti-social behaviour."

Cllr Brady went on to say "Only this week we got some positive news that Bray has improved its score in the Tidy Towns competition, full credit must go to the council outdoor staff and the volunteers in the Bray Tidy Town group, however if action is not taken to tackle the serious problem that the site on Parnell Road and others around the town are becoming they could very quickly unravel the good work that is being done."

"Whilst we await a change of government policy to allow something to happen with these sites the council officials must direct additional resources and put in place a management plan to tackle the council owned eye sores which are located throughout the town, including the one on Parnell Road which is is just off the towns main shopping thoroughfare. The issue has been reported to the council, but unfortunately no action has been seen on the ground, people are now legitimately asking why they were forced to pay a property tax" concluded Brady

Building where two fire fighters died in Bray needs to be made safe - Brady

Sinn Féin councillor John Brady is calling on Bray Town Council to use their powers under the Local Government (SANITARY SERVICES) ACT, 1964, to deal with the dangerous derelict building where two fire fighters died whilst fighting a fire in 2007. The building is located at Adelaide Villas, in Bray and it has remained untouched since the deadly blaze that claimed the lives of fire fighters Brian Murray and Mark O’Shaughnessy.

Speaking after raising concerns about the safety of the derelict structure at a recent council meeting councillor Brady said “Following representations from the public expressing safety concerns about the derelict building on Adelaide Villas where the two fire fighters died tackling a serious blaze in 2007, I raised the issue at a recent Town Council meeting. The structure has large cracks in the walls and it appears to be unstable. This I image is down to the intensity of the fire in 2007. Children have been seen climbing over these walls and entering the site which has not been cleared since the lethal fire.”

  

Cllr Brady continued “I was however stunned at the flippant attitude and response I received from the officials when I raised the issue. The council have stated that the site is on the derelict site register since February. However they have also stated that this is only to deal with the how the site looks, they went further to say that they can’t stop children accessing the buildings. I believe however the council has other powers that it needs to use to ensure these dangerous structures are made safe immediately and they need to use them.”

“Section 3 of the Local Government (SANITARY SERVICES) ACT, 1964, deals specifically with dangerous structures; it lays out clearly the Powers at the disposal of sanitary authorities. The council can serve notice on the owner of the dangerous structure at Adelaide Villas to demolish it. The council also has the powers to have the necessary works carried out them, to ensure it is made safe in the interest of the public. The council needs to immediately get an engineer to inspect the structure to establish how unstable it is, whilst also engaging the owner.”

Cllr Brady concluded “As we approach the sixth anniversary of the deaths of Brian Murray and Mark O’Shaughnessy the last thing we need is another person to be injured or worse at this site. The owners have the primary responsibility to ensure the structure is safe. Unfortunately after nearly six years it remains the same as it did on the day of the blaze, the only thing that has changed is the safety of the structure. The council has the powers to deal with the eyesore that is literally a death trap and they must us those powers for the safety of the public.”