Local Policing Forum

The next Navan Road & Pelletstown Area Community Policing Forum meeting is on Thursday 13th of June 2013 at 7.00p.m in the Navan Road Parish Hall. This forum is an opportunity for people living and working the area to meet with the Gardai, Dublin City Council and elected representatives to discuss and address issues of concern. As Chair of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee I encourage people from the area to come along and engage in the these forum meetings which feed into the priorities for the Dublin Central Joint Policing Commitee. Mary

The next NWIC Policing Forum will be held in the Holy Family Parish Centre, 13 Prussia Street, Dublin 7 on Wednesday the 12th June 2013. This forum is an opportunity for people living and working the area to meet with the Gardai, Dublin City Council and elected representatives to discuss and address issues of concern. As Chair of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee I encourage people from the area to come along and engage in the these forum meetings which feed into the priorities for the Dublin Central Joint Policing Commitee. Mary

Cabra Youth

Congratulations and well done to all the young people involved in creating Cabra for Youths' entry into the Irish Cancer Society X-hale Youth Awards.  Their entry  called “Beep Out Smoking’ raises awareness around the health effects of smoking and the power of the tobacco industry.  Another great example of the young talent in Cabra.  Mary

Ashtown Pelletstown Local Area Plan

Dublin City Council has worked with elected representatives and local residents to prepare a Draft Local Area Plan for Ashtown-Pelletstown. The Draft Local Area Plan is on display and available to inspect at The Atrium, Ground Floor, Dublin City Council, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8. I also requested DCC make the plan available for viewing in the Cabra Library, and the Cabra Area Office (97 New Cabra Road, Dublin 7). The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 18th June 2013. Mary

Local Boundary insult to Dublin

The local boundary report issued yesterday sets out Minister Phil Hogans plan to add fifty extra Councillors in Dublin. In the week that hard pressed Dubliners have struggled to pay Fine Geal’s unfair and anti-Dublin property tax Minister Hogan has published his plan to spend their property tax to save government party seats at the next local elections.

Minister Hogans plan to increase the number of Councillors in Dublin from 131 to 183 is arrogant, unnecessary, costly and an insult to everybody in Dublin who paid their property tax this week. This proposal demonstrates Fine Geals’ complete disregard for ordinary people.

Dublin already has too many Councillors. Currently in the four local authorities there are 131 Councillors representing a population of approximately 1.3m. Just to put this in perspective, New York City made up of the five boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island with a population of more than 8million people has 51 City Councillors. Yet Dublin with 1.3million people has not one, but four local authorities, four county managers, four Lord Mayors, four chambers filled with 131 Councillors. Now Minister Hogan is going to actually increase the number of Councillors in Dublin by 50!

I would challenge the Minister to find anyone in Dublin, except a government party councillor or candidate who thinks we need more Councillors. The number of Councillors in Dublin should be more than halved. This would reduce parish pump type politics that involves multiple councillors falling over each other to get a pot hole fixed and would lead to more effective, less costly and more representative local Government.

This is a bad day for local government and a bad day for Dublin. The Minister has failed and insulted the people of Dublin.

Grangegorman Demolition

The Grangegorman Development Authority has advised me that the Demolitions Contractor, McCallan Bros., is due to move onsite on Monday 27^thMay to carry out Tranche 1 of the demolition of several old buildings on the Grangegorman site.  Residents living close the campus had concerns regarding the location of a waste compund and I have raised this issue with Dublin City Council and the Grangegorman Development Authority.  Alternative options are being considered and I will continue to support the residents and the campus development so that an appropriate solution can be found.  Mary

Naming new Liffey bridge

As the construction progresses there is increasing interest in the naming of the new bridge over the Liffey.  Dublin City Council received 85 official nominations along with almost 10,000 supporting submissions, including e-mails, direct correspondence and petitions.  At the meeting of Dublin City Council’s Commemorative Naming Committee yesterday, the 85 nominations were shortlisted to 17. (see list below) The shortlisted names will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Committee on 12th June, 2013.
Shortlisted names are ;
Abbey Theatre Bridge

Bermingham, Willie

Connolly, James

Duff, Frank

Gregory, Lady

Gregory, Tony

Hackett, Rosie

Mills, Kay

Plunkett, James

Sigerson, George

Stoker, Bram

Swift, Jonathan

The Patriots Bridge

The Returned Home

Walton, Ernest

Wilde, Oscar

Yeats, W.B. 



The City Council is aiming to have a decision on the naming in autumn 2013 and the new bridge is scheduled to be completed in late 2013.  Mary

Royal Canal Clean-up

Dublin City North Volunteering Center is organising a clean-up of the Royal Canal on Saturday, 18th of May, at 11am.   Meet at Crossguns Bridge on Phibsboro Road. Gloves, bags and litter-pickers will be provided for everybody. They plan to work from 11am to 1pm to collect as much litter as we can from the canal way.  So if you can spare some time to to help out please come along.  Mary

Job Opportunities

The Public Appointment Service has advertised for the positions of Senior Executive Engineer and Assistant Chief Fire Officer on behalf of Dublin City Council.  For details about the jobs please click HERE.  Mary

Employment Networking

On Friday 17th May 2013 IENetworking will host a talk on "Positive Psychology in Business" in the Motor

Tax Office, 3rd Floor training room, Queen Street, D7 from 10:00 – 13:00.  Alan Duffy will discuss techniques to improve business relations, enhance communication with potential clients and maintain great health in body and mind.  Alan is experienced in business application of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.   You can register for this free event HERE.  Mary

Drumcondra Glasnevin Local Forum

The next meeting of the Drumcondra & Glasnevin local community policing forum takes place on Wednesday 15th May 2013 @ 7pm in The Maples Hotel, Iona Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.   

Dublin Litter Crises

Dublin City Council Central Area Manager today met with City Councillors for the Central Area to brief them on the illegal dumping/litter crises. At the meeting the Central Area Manager, Charlie Lowe, advised Councillors that Dublin City Council is collecting 1,000s of dumped bags every day and incurring €100,000s in costs to dispose of the rubbish.

This problem was caused by the disastrous decision of the majority Labour and Fine Gael Councillors to privatise bin collections in Dublin City in 2012. The Fianna Fail group on Dublin City Council strenuously opposed the proposal to privatise the bin service.

The decision by Labour and Fine Gael Councillors to privatise the bin service was always going to end in disaster because there is no regulator for Waste Collections, the Government’s has failed to introduce the national bin waiver scheme they promised, the legislative changes that are needed to bring effective prosecutions are not in place and there is no evidence of any real savings. Since privatising the bin service Dublin City Council spent more than €20million in 2012 to collect rubbish, has written-off more than €2million in bad debts and has bad debts in excess of €9m.

Homeowners and businesses in Dublin Central are having to pay the price for this major mistake. It is unacceptable to the vast majority of residents in Dublin Central that the same Labour and Fine Gael Councillors who made this bad decision are now asking us to pay a property tax and water charges for less services but more Councillors. At today’s meeting I objected to the recent proposal, backed by Central Area Labour and Fine Gael Councillors, that Dublin City Council stops cleaning-up the illegally dumped rubbish. To do this would be wrong. It would make a bad situation worse. It would penalise responsible residents who do dispose of their rubbish properly. It will send the wrong message about Dublin Central and damage the local community and businesses.

I have called on Dublin City Council to introduce a low cost weekly community collection that will allow people avail of a low cost, pay-as you go, group collection and to extend the opening hours for bring centres in the Central Area.

The Area Manager agreed to consider the views of the Councillors and to bring a report to the next meeting of the Central Area Committee in May 2013.  In the meantime please report any illegal dumping to 1800 248 348.  Thanks.  Mary

Docklands SDZ

The Docklands Strategic Development Zone Draft Planning Scheme is currently on public display until 10th May 2013.  As part of this process, members of the public are invited to a number of Drop-In Sessions to talk with staff from the City Council about the Draft Scheme.

The dates and times for these Drop-In Sessions – all of which are in the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) Offices, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1 are:

Tuesday 16th April 3.00 pm – 7.00 pm

Wednesday 17th April 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Thursday 18th April 3.00 pm – 7.00 pm

Friday 19th April 10.00 am- 1.00 pm

Dublin City rubbish

This week Dublin City Councillors agreed to spend an extra €1.4million on waste management services to try to clean up the mess that they created by privatising the bin service.

More than a year ago, myself and some other Councillors strenuously opposed the secret deal done by the City Manager, with the support of Labour and Fine Geal Councillors, to privatise bin collections in the city.

This flawed decision has really hurt the city and left the city in a mess. In some parts of the city illegal dumping has escalated to the point of being out of control. Street cleaning is insufficient and fails to address the problem and keep the city streets clean.

Homeowners are being asked to pay an unfair property tax for local services yet homeowners in Dublin have been left with no choice, poor service and dirty streets in the city.

Last month I proposed a motion calling on Dublin City Council Waste Management Department to do it’s job and instead of removing public bins from the streets of Dublin to empty and service them more regularly. Their reply was that they only remove bins that are being abused. By abused they mean over used. This policy highlights Dublin City Council’s poor response to the issue of waste in the city. Essentially Dublin City Council is saying it puts public bins on streets expecting them not to be used.

The latest proposal from Dublin City Council, made this week at the Central Area Committee, is to leave dumped rubbish on the streets weeks at a time. DCC presented this as a radical proposal that was again supported by Labour and Fine Geal Councillors. It is radically wrong.

Already people visiting the city are confronted with an out of control litter crises on the streets. People from around the globe are exposed to the dirt and filth via social media, blogs and Facebook. This botched decision to privatise bin collections in Dublin City is doing untold damage to the city economy and local communities.

Clearly the City Council has got its waste management strategy all wrong. The City Manager leaves office today and to be fair he was only implementing Government policy. The Minister and Government parties must take responsibility for the damage their decision is doing to the city and the Minister should instruct the City Council to scrap their proposal to leave rubbish on the streets and instead clean-up the streets of Dublin.  Mary

Water Supply

Minister Hogan is going to have to account to Dublin City Council for his proposals to introduce water metering.  At last nights monthly meeting Dublin City Council unanimously adopted a Fianna Fail motion expressing concern over recent water restrictions in the city, opposing the introduction of water charges in advance of a reliable water supply and calling on the Minister to attend the next meeting of Dublin City Council to address the issue of water supply.
We are very concerned about the impact of water restrictions on homes and businesses in the City and the negative impact on the city economy.
We tabled an emergency motion to raise the issue with the Minister and to assert our view that the introduction of water charges should not take place in advance of a reliable water supply for the city. Additionally we are concerned about the confusion being caused by the mixed messages from Government and we are asking the Minister with responsibility for water to attend the next meeting of Dublin City Council to address the issue.

The Emergency Motion Stated:The Elected Members of Dublin City Council are greatly concerned about the impact of water restrictions on homes and businesses in Dublin City.
The elected members of Dublin City Council believe that no water charges should be introduced until such time as an effective and reliable water system and metering system exists in the City.
In light of the contradictory messages from Government the elected members of Dublin City Council call on the Minister to address this chamber at the May meeting to outline the immediate steps which he will take to improve the infrastructure in place to supply water to Dublin City. Furthermore this Council calls on the Minister to accept the reality that metering alone will not provide the necessary 1 billion euro required over the next 10 years to improve infrastructure and call on him to outline a funding model which will.

Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick, Tom Brabazon, Julia Carmichael, Deirdre Heney, Paul McAuliffe & Jim O'Callaghan.





Dublin City Cultural Quarter

Dublin City Council, The OPW and Kennedy Wilson today announced a €2.5m investment in a new City Library and a Vision Document for a new Cultural Quarter in Dublin City.

I welcome the announcement of investment on Parnell Square to build a new City Library in the former Colaiste Mhuire buildings and the commitment from Kennedy Wilson to lead the fundraising of €60m to build the library in conjunction with Dublin City Council. It is particularly encouraging that there is a commitment from the private investors to hand-over the new Library to Dublin City Council to run as a free public facility once completed.

This is a great boost not just for the North inner city but for the City as a whole and will greatly contribute to the creation of a new cultural quarter in Dublin city. The Minister should show at least the same commitment, as private investors have,  to a new City Cultural Quarter by refusing permission for the demolition of the National Monument on Moore Street. The Minister should accept the unanimous recommendations of the cross-party Dublin City Council Committee to withhold Ministerial consent for the demolition of the National Monument and take immediate action to ensure the Moore Street National Monument is preserved and developed as a 1916 commemorative centre.

It does not take a lot of imagination to see the opportunity for a unique Dublin cultural quarter with the GPO, O’Connell Street, Moore Street National Monument, Parnell Square, the Rotunda, the Gate, the Hugh Lane, the Writers Museum and by 2017 a new City Library. The Minister and the Government have an opportunity to make this vision a reality by withholding consent for the demolition of the National Monument and instead asserting the unique historic, cultural, national and international significance of the area.

I urge the Minister to do the right thing and to refuse consent for demolition of the National Monument on Moore Street and guarantee a world-class cultural quarter for Dublin City for future generations. Mary

Phoenix Park Concerts

Dublin City Council is considering an APPLICATION for a Special Event Licence to hold concerts in the Phoenix Park this summer. The application is currently available for members of the public to inspect and make an observation or objection. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday 12th April 2013, for more information click HERE.

Following the mayhem of last years Swedish House Mafia Concerts, as Chair of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee, I brought together the OPW, the Event Organisers, Dublin City Council and the Gardai to review the unfortunate and unacceptable events. Improved protocols and procedures have been agreed by DCC, the OPW, the Event Organisers and the Gardai. As part of these new procedures public consultation meetings are being held to consult with local residents.

A copy of the Licence Application is available to view at the Public Planning counter in DCC Civic Office or at the Visitor Centre Reception in the Phoenix Park. Mary

Grangegorman Roadworks

The Grangegorman Development Authority has advised that Sierra the contractor will be carrying out Investigative Roadworks in the Grangegorman area commencing on Wednesday 3rd April 2013 in Grangegorman Lower. The work consists of opening up trial trenches on parts of the road at a time and then closing it again. The road will not be closed at any time, but there will be stop go systems in place. Once the work is complete on Grangegorman Lower the contractor will continue their investigative work along George’s Lane and then North King Street. Mary

Water Restrictions Update

Following the last five night’s water restrictions in Dublin City, the City Council has conducted an analysis of the water levels at Stillorgan Reservoir over the past four days. Despite the current restrictions and with some additional capacity gained as a result, water levels still remain below a normal and sustainable level.

Consequently, nightly hours of restriction will remain in place but the operative hours will be reduced to 10 hours for the next two nights - from 9.00pm to 7.00am each day, and will remain in place across the Dublin Region. 

A further review of water levels will be conducted again on Thursday next, to determine if Stillorgan Reservoir is back to a sustainable level such that the current restrictions can be lifted.

Dublin City Council apologises for the inconvenience and is urging consumers all over the Dublin Region to help conserve water by restricting their use of water during the day as much as possible, especially over the coming days.

Some easy Water Saving Tips include:

• Keeping a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the tap - running a tap for one minute to produce one cold glass of water wastes 6 litres of water;
• Not delaying in the shower - 10 minutes in a power-shower uses 250 litres of water – two-and-a-half times more than a bath does (100 litres);
• Turning the tap off for two minutes while brushing your teeth will save 12 litres of water;
• Turn the dishwasher and washing machine on only when they have a full load;
• Minimising use of the flush on toilets and if using a dual flush system, use buttons 1 (small flush) and 2 (large flush) correctly. 

 For more tips please go to to TAPTIPS.  Thanks, Mary   

Water Conservation

Today, Thursday 28th March 2013, Dublin City Council has issued a Water Conservation Notice advising that treated water storage is currently at an unsustainably low level in Dublin City.
This is as a result of production problems at one of DCC's water treatment plants. There is no problem with storage levels of untreated/raw water and there is no problem with water quality of treated water. Storage levels of treated drinking water are reducing below a normal operational level.

In addition water demand is currently running higher than average due to the cold weather which has caused an increase in leakage. Our crews are repairing any breaks as they arise. To help us in this regard we would ask people to report any location where they see water rising or running.

In an effort to maintain storage DCC are asking consumers to assist by restricting their use of water as much as possible. DCC will be reducing pressures throughout the system in order to conserve supplies. DCC will try, as far as possible, to maintain pressures during peak demand periods pressures will be reduced at other times. This will result in lower pressures and in some cases possible loss of supply. People may notice reductions in pressure or loss of supply from 10pm to between 7am and 9am throughout the entire city.

Dublin City Council regrets any inconvenience caused by these restrictions and will do everything possible to minimise their scale and duration. For more information please contact Dublin City Council Water Services Division 01-2220600 or Emergency Number 01-6796186 (outside office hours only). Mary