It was a huge honour to be selected recently as the Fianna Fáil candidate to contest the next general election in North Kildare. It was a real contest with almost a full house of the eligible membership and a real democratic exercise showing a rejuvenated organisation. Commiserations to Cllr. O’Rourke who put in a really strong campaign as well. I look forward to meeting and engaging with the whole constituency in the coming months. In 2011 we were promised a whirlwind of change. In Kildare with 5 out of the 7 TDs Government TDs, we have been certainly let down. If elected at the next general election in Kildare North, I will be looking to challenge this political malaise that currently exists.
Category Archives: Sallins
Sallins Bypass / M7 Upgrade (Update March 2015)
In a major setback for the critical M7-Sallins bypass road projects, it was announced last week that KCC is now being asked to fund a major part of these road projects from its ‘own resources’. The Minister for Transport says two out of the three M7 road up-grade projects should be funded from Kildare County Council’s “own resources”. The total cost of these linked schemes is €110 million.
These three related projects are:
- the M7 3 lane widening between Naas and the M7 merge
- the Sallins by-pass
- the Osberstown Interchange
Minister Pascal Donohoe has already stated that funding is not available in the short term. In response to a parliamentary question, he now says “with regard to the Osberstown interchange and the Sallins bypass the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority”. Consequently, KCC may now be obliged to find the money for these schemes itself, supplemented by State grants. To put this in context, the cost of these schemes would be equal to about 90% of KCC’s entire annual budget. This is not good enough for government to abdicate responsibility like this and jeopardise these works.
Local Property Tax – Retained for Local Projects
In the 2015 budget at Kildare County Council which was set in late 2014, Fianna Fáil led a motion to cut Local Property Tax by 7.5% for Kildare which was passed and which householders will see the saving in their LPT bills this year. In addition to the tax cut, a further 7.5% of LPT collected was ring fenced for each Municipal District to be spent at the discretion of the elected councillors. In the Naas area agreement has now been reached to use this fund for the following in 2015.
Continue Reading →
Continued Capital Expenditure in Transport Critical for Kildare
I spoke recently at a Transport Policy Conference in Clane organised by Kildare North Fianna Fáil and chaired by Timmy Dooley TD. One of the key points I made was calling on the Government to restart capital funding for transport infrastructure projects. Commuters will have noticed that at train stations across Kildare North there are increased passenger volumes. For instance, Maynooth station was recently listed in the top 10 busiest stations in Ireland.
Investing in train line infrastructure and rolling stock is important now as the economy starts to recover and public transport needs to remain a viable choice for residents across Kildare North, so many of whom commute to Dublin for work and study. This is a policy area I’ve been vocal on for years. This Government, and future ones, must give a commitment to investing in transport infrastructure.
Safety First at Historic Well in Sallins
In conjunction with Sallins GAA, I’ve had some success making chapel lane safer and managed to keep intact some local history. The chapel on Chapel Lane in Sallins has long disappeared but one relic from a by-gone era has survived. Next to the gates of the GAA grounds is an historic holy well situated below street level.
After the matter was raised at the Sallins GAA AGM, in my role as member of the council’s Heritage Committee, I undertook to address it. I recently arranged for safety railings to be installed to prevent people falling in to the well, particularly younger children who frequent the GAA grounds. The GAA club were also keen to preserve this local piece of history.