Gaelscoil Bharra

Good news from Gaelscoil Bharra in Cabra. Last night St Finbarrs GAA club agreed to sign over the land necessary to build a proper school.  I've been on to Dublin City Council to get them to expedite the legal handover. Its taken far too long to get to this point but I remain committed to the children, parents and teachers of Gaelscoil Bharra.


All the best, Mary.

Dublin’s Historic Houses

If you want to get a better appreciation of Dublin's historic homes, please read the following letter I received from the Irish Georgian Society today.

The Irish Georgian Society and Dublin City Council are partnering to present a 12-week lunchtime lecture series in March, April and May 2011.

A team of leading conservation experts, a number of them from Dublin City Council’s Heritage and Conservation Offices, have been assembled to deliver a lunchtime lecture series on the understanding and care of Dublin’s period houses.

Aimed at those with an interest in Dublin’s historic houses, the series will examine all periods and types of houses, from the modest Edwardian artisan dwellings to the substantial red bricks of the Victorian suburbs and the fine townhouses of our Georgian city squares. The lecture series will provide an appreciation of the significance of every aspect of Dublin’s historic houses and practical information on their card, conservation and maintenance. The lectures will be of particular interest to owners of Dublin’s many Protected Structures and buildings located within Architectural Conservation Areas but also the many non-protected traditionally built Dublin period houses.

A certificate of attendance will be issued to those who attend all the lectures. The lectures are approved for structured CPD by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (12 points) and Engineers Ireland.

Lectures, which will start on Wednesday 2nd March 2011 (from 1pm to 2pm) and continue for 12 weeks, and will take place in the Helen Roe Theatre, RSAI, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.

It is possible to attend all, one or as many of the lectures as you wish. The lectures are priced at €10 which you may pay at the door or book in advance for a special price of €100for all 12 lectures (half price for fulltime students with card). To book contact the Irish Georgian Society, 74 Merrion Square, D.2 (tel: 01 6767053/email: info@igs.ie/ web:http://www.igs.ie/)

Hope that some of you might be interested in attending. It would be greatly appreciated if you could forward information on the lecture series to any residents within your area who you think may be interested in attending.

Kind regards, Emmeline.

Emmeline Henderson
IGS Assistant Director & Conservation Manger
Irish Georgian Society
74 Merrion Square
Dublin 2
Tel: 01 6767053

Blackhorse Avenue Roadworks

Further to my UPDATE yesterday, today I received the following response from Dublin City Council Road Maintenance Services:

Dear Cllr Fitzpatrick, Further to your enquiries concerning Blackhorse Avenue, please be advised that Road Maintenance Services is currently assembling a tender in order to appoint a contractor to carry out reconstruction works on Blackhorse Avenue in the vicinity of the Pheonix Park’s Cabra Gate. This work is currently planned as part of this year’s (2011) works’ programme.

In the meantime, temporary works are planned to be carried out on the road surface during this coming weekend, i.e., Saturday and Sunday, 12th and 13th February 2011, in order to improve the road surface.

If you require further information or clarification on this matter, I can be contacted at telephone 222 2556 . 

We apologise for the delay in dealing with your enquiries.

Regards, John.

John W. Flanagan| Senior Engineer | Roads & Traffic Department

Day 17

Meeting of Board of GRANGEGORMAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. We finalised the Strategic Plan which clears the way to get the Development Zone process kicked-off.  


Canvassed the Navan Road later. Home to see the Leaders debate which went well for Michael Martin I reckon.

Blackhorse Avenue Roadworks

For months I have been asking Dublin City Council to repair Blackhrose Avenue – the road surface has been in an appalling condition. Yesterday DCC finally advised me that this weekend, weather permitting, Road Maintenance will repair the stretch between Villa Park & Nephin Road. The work from Villa Park to Baggot road is progressing and the manager took on board my request for the contractor to try and speed up the work and reduce the inconvenience for residents on Martins Grove. I will keep on top of this.

Day 19

Busy weekend. After a wind and rain swept Saturday canvassing The Markets, Glasnevin, Cabra and Navan Road I made my way to the City Sheriff to register as a candidate. I was the 17th candidate to register in the city and the first FF candidate. Surprised at the number of constituents who saw the piece in THE IRISH TIMES yesterday and Celia Larkin's article in THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT raised a few eyebrows among church goers on Aughrim Street and the Navan Road.

Day 21

Canvassing today in Cabra & the Navan Road. Great support from my team. Despite gale force winds people were willing to stop and talk at the shops and open their doors when we knocked.

Employment Opportunities

As part of my continuing drive for job creation in our area, I'm delighted to announce that the Tolka Area Partnership have been awarded 40 places under the TUS programme for the benefit of local community, voluntary groups and organisations. The TÚS Programme provides for 19½ hours work per week for people who are in receipt of a Jobseekers payment for at least 12 months. If you are interested and want more info, have a look at the TÚS Community Work Placement Initiative on the 

Department of Social Protection website HERE or contact me and I'll be happy to help. The closing date is 4.30pm on Friday, 18 February 2011.

Kinvara Bring Centre

The bottle bank and bring center in Kinvara is a great resource when used properly but unfortunately some less responsible members of the public dump additional rubbish beside the collection points. I have raised this issue with Dublin City Council and the Area Manager confirmed to me that DCC’s Waste Management section has been instructed to ensure that these banks are monitored closely over the coming weeks. They have also arranged to have CCTV placed at this location to try to identify those who are allegedly dumping at the bottle banks. When I checked it last week the area was clean and free from dumping. I will keep an eye on it and if you see dumping in the area please report it by phoning 1800 248 348.

Click on http://www.maryfitzpatrick.ie/ for news in Dublin Central

Grangegorman contracts

Hegarty Demolition were awarded two contracts recently for work on the Grangegorman campus. Any employment queries should be made directly to Hegarty Demolition, 17 Main Street,Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. Their telephone number is 01 4905058.

Click on http://www.maryfitzpatrick.ie/ for news in Dublin Central

Electrical and Battery Recycling

The wheels turn slowly at Dublin City Council.  Following on from the huge success of the free electrical waste collection on Blackhorse Avenue and the Navan Road last year, I asked DCC to arrange a free collection in Cabra, Phibsborough and Glasnevin.  They have just confirmed to me that on Saturday 5^th of February from 10.00 – 16.00 there will be a free collection at St Finbars GAA club in Cabra.  They will accept any household items with a plug or a battery e.g. kettles, dishwasher, TVs etc.  for more information please go towww.recyclefree.ie or click HERE for the flyer.  Well done to Finbars for hosting this important service for the community.  DCC is working on organising further collection days in the rest of the constituency. 

Click on www.maryfitzpatrick.ie for more on Dublin Central  

Navan Road / Pelletstown Policing

In October 2010 as Chairperson of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee I chaired the first meeting of the Navan Road and Pelletstown Policing forum.  The next meeting of the Navan Road and Pelletstown Area Policing Forum will be held on the 1st February 2011 in the community room at The River Centre, Rathborne 7.00pm. The agenda includes a Garda Report, a City Council Report & a Question & Answer session. If you are concerned about any policing or community issue in the area this is a good forum to raise the issue. Community Gardai, Dublin City Council and your elected representatives will be in attendance.

Click on www.maryfitzpatrick.ie for all the latest news in Dublin Central

Navan Road Bus Corridor

The Quality Bus Network Project Office is proposing to upgrade the Navan Road Bus Corridor from Cabra Cross to the Ashtown Roundabout. They are seeking planning permission through a Part 8 planning application. When they presented this proposal to the Central Area Committee I raised a number of issues with them and asked that they put the proposal on display locally in the Cabra Library as well as in Civic Offices on Woodquay and on the Dublin City Council website. The deadline for submissions from the general public has now closed. You can read my submission by clicking here. It is expected the QBN office will bring a report on this proposal to the Central Area Committee in the new year.

St Joseph's Development

The re-development of St Josephs is moving ahead work should commence on the new community village early in the new year. This development will deliver new residential and community facilities for the deaf and wider community. To read more about this exciting development please click here.

Belvedere Grounds Development

There has been some speculation locally about redevelopment of the Belevedere grounds on the Navan Road. To the best of my knowledge, and up to when I last checked there is no planning application for development on these lands or the Dominican lands adjacent to Riverston. Both of these lands have become the focus of some attention in the draft Dublin City Development Plan. In the draft plan the City Manager wants to zone these lands to allow for residential development. I have not supported the managers proposal and have worked to have residential excluded from the zoning of these lands. My rationale for so doing is as follows: 

1. there is sufficient land in the area already zoned for residential purposes that has yet to be developed.
2. residential development on these lands would remove vital open green space from the area.
3. by including residential in the zoning councillors give the planners a blank cheque to make decisions about developments without any recourse to the elected representatives of the people.
4. if residential development was to take place it should be subject to the approval of the peoples representatives.

De Paul Swimming Pool Funded

Minister Mary Hanafin today informed me that, following my representations over the past months, she has allocated €648,000 for the refurbishment of De Paul Swimming Pool on the Navan Road. This is great news for our area. In previous discussions with the Daughters of Charity they indicated that a refurbishment of the pool would cost in the region of €900,000. The Daughters of Charity indicated they will provide €300,000 to matching funding and believe the remainder is achievable through fundraising. This announcment from the Minister is welcome news in difficult times. It secures the reopening of a valuable public amenity. I will continue to work with the Daughters of Charity to ensure the funds are put to work as soon as possible and the pool re-opened as soon as pracitcal.

Reilly’s Bridge bottle-neck

Beginning of the End for Reilly’s Bridge bottle-neck: On Tuesday 21st of December 2010  Dublin City Council advertised its intention to apply to An Bord Pleanala for permission to build a fly-over bridge to replace the existing hump back bridge a.k.a. Reillys Bridge on the Ratoath Road.  The plans are available to inspect in the Cabra Library on the Navan Road and Dublin City Council offices on Woodquay.  The deadline for submissions is 6 weeks from the 21st of December 2010.  Please click here for more information or drop me an email.

Kempton Estate Traffic

14.10.2010: Mary has asked Dublin City Manager if he is aware of the regular blockage to traffic exiting Kempton Estate onto the Navan Road. Will the Manager arrange to have the existing yellow box renewed and to extend the box to cover both inbound lanes of traffic and the full entrance to Kempton? Will the Manager advise when this work will be completed?

Response: The request to have the yellow box renewed has been referred to the Traffic Officer for inspection and renewal as required. The request to have the yellow box extended has been referred to the Traffic Advisory Group. A report will be forwarded to a future Area Committee Meeting. Contact; Alec Dundon, Executive Engineer, Tel: 222 2706 

Kinvara & The Glens Floodwork

14.09.2010: Mary has asked Dublin City Manager to advise when the swales in Kinvara and the Glens will be completed? Will the manager arrange to have the swales grassed and have the area cleaned-up? Will the Manager please advise how the finished swale will operate and be maintained?

The engineering works for the two new swales in Glendhu is now complete. The final phase of works required to bring this project to completion will be done by Redlough Landscapes. Their role is to finish the two swales to the correct levels, tidy up the two parks and re-seed the soil. This is being done during the month of September, weather permitting and will be done under the auspices of the Parks and Landscape Services Section. Contact: Jonathan Mullervy, Executive Engineer, Tel: 222 4273

Blackhorse Avenue Roadworks

14.09.2010: Mary has asked Dublin City Manager to advise when road improvements will commence on Blackhorse Avenue and provide a description of the work to be completed?

Response: The Blackhorse Avenue Scheme is due to start in early October. The proposed road improvement works run from a point just north of the junction with Baggot Road to a point just south of its junction with the Cabra Gate entrance to the Phoenix Park. This contract involves the widening and realignment of Blackhorse Avenue over a distance of approx. 500m, and includes the construction of a new road carriageway, new kerblines, new footpaths, new lay-by, new public lighting, new drainage and the provision of ducting for other Utility Services. Contact: Charles Downey, Road Maintenance, Tel: 222 2618