Stability Treaty Referendum - Dublin West

Dublin West - Mulhuddart Ward - final turnout figures -

• Tyrrelstown 30%, (large non-national community not eligible to vote)
• Corduff 51.8%, 
• Ladyswell 30.5% (of which 25% not eligible), 
• Huntstown 46.43%, 
• Blakestown 44%, 
• Hartstown 50.8% (of eligible voters only), 
• Mountview 39.2%, 
• Clonsilla 52.3%, 
• Diswellstown 52.4%.

 RESULT – Dublin West: Yes 58.18% No 41.82%
  Turnout: 31,901 (51.7%)
  Electorate: 61,762
  Valid: 31,803
  Spoiled: 98 (0.3%)

National Result
Turnout 50.60% 

Electorate 3,144,828; 

Spoiled: 7,206; 

Valid Poll 1,584,179; 

Yes 60.29% (955,091) 

NO: 39.71% (629,088)

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Christmas Tree Recycling Points in Dublin 15

See the 2012/2013 locations here

Fingal County Council will be accepting christmas trees at their designated Collection Points. Local residents can drop off christmas trees between the 4th - 13th January 2011.

Details of the drop off points are provided in the table below:

Open from	4th - 13th January 2011
Collection Points	Babbriggan/Skerries/Rush/Lusk Areas Contact Ardgillan Castle Parks Depot at 01- 849 2324	Ardgillan Castle Parks Depot
		Bath Road Car Park, Balbriggan
		South Strand Lay-By, Skerries
		Hayestown Depot, Rush
		Ball Alley Car Park, Lusk
	Swords/Donabate/Portrane Contact Turvey Parks Depot at 01- 843 6296	Turvey Parks Depot
		Outlands Parks Depot, Rathbeale Road, Swords
		The Square, Donabate
		Estuary Recycling Centre (during normal opening hours)
		The Brook, Portrane
		Santry Demesne Car Park
		Charlestown Open Space, Charlestown
	Malahide/ Portmarnock/ Baldoyle/ Howth Contact Malahide Castle Parks Depot at 01-846 2456	Malahide Castle Parks Depot
		Public Car Park, Strand Road, Portmarnock
		Kinsealey Court, Kinsealey
		The Banks Car Park, Malahide
		Seagrange Park, Baldoyle
		Sutton Park, Sutton
		Harbour Car Park, Howth
	Blanchardstown/Castleknock Contact Coolmine Parks Depot at 01 - 821 3486	Coolmine Parks Depot
		Auburn Avenue/Castleknock Park open space
		Carpenterstown Park East, Castleknock
		Corduff Park, Blanchandstown
		Hartstown Park, Car Park
		Millenium Park, Coolmine -Car Park
		Blakestown Road/ Blakestown Way Junction, Whitestown
		Littlepace Park, Castaheany, Clonee

Please note that Christmas trees only will be accepted at the above locations, other green waste, Christmas tree stands etc will not be accepted. 

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Snowtopia Appeal Fails at Planning Board

An Bord Pleanála has upheld Fingal County Council’s rejection of the proposed Snowtopia development at Tyrrelstown. The reasons given were that it would conflict with local land zoning objectives (ST1 - Science and Technology), would draw custom from the nearby Blanchardstown cinema, and was poorly served by public transport.

The €100m indoor ski resort would have created 1,000 permanent jobs. Twinlite and Cobalt  Developments , who planned the 32,000sqm development, claim it was a fully funded project and had hoped to begin work next year. They have already spent €300,000 on planning and had the backing of an English venture capital company.

It was intended that Snowtopia would feature two ski slopes, a rock and ice climbing area and a high-level adventure playground. The company expected up to 1.5 million visitors a year to attractions including a paintball centre, digital theatres, a gym, restaurants and retail outlets.

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National Sports Campus - Phase I

Today the planning application for phase one of the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown was published.

This planning application, if approved – will provide for;

A National Indoor Athletics Training Centre;
A multi-sport national Indoor Training Centre;
A National Gymnastics Training Centre;
Sports Science and Medical facilities;
Accommodation for sportsmen and women;
An all-weather synthetic pitch for local access; and
A National Field Sports Training Centre


Provided that individual members of the local community as well as local sporting groups will have affordable access to these facilities, I believe that this will represent an important boon for the people of Dublin 15. The chance to use top of the range facilities will surely give local kids the chance to achieve their sporting best.

Furthermore, once the facility is developed there will be a regular flow of our leading sports men and women through the campus. This presents an ideal opportunity for local schools and sports clubs to bring our national sport stars to meet the young people of Dublin 15, and to present positive role models.

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Rail Upgrade Postponed by FF and Greens

Among the many cut backs hidden in Minister Lenihan’s crisis budget are two key transport projects for Dublin 15 that have been postponed indefinitely. These include:

• Resignalling the Maynooth Line to increase capacity

• Replacement of the level crossings at Coolmine, Clonsilla and Ashtown.

• Metro West has also been shelved.

Postponing these projects will heap further misery on hard pressed commuters.
With the Dunboyne rail line due to come on track, there will be traffic chaos at level crossings without a new signalling system. The failure to progress electrification of the Maynooth line will be a huge disappointment to commuters who have been waiting for a DART style service for years. The shelving of Metro West is a huge disappointment to the development of jobs in West Dublin and it will leave all those who commute north and south every day with no alternative but to drive.

Other announcements included cuts in proposals for Integrated Ticketing and withdrawing the €5m million provision for park and ride schemes. Instead of taking the tough political decisions on CIE, the Fianna Fáil/Green government have gone for the soft easy political options. This approach signals why Irish transport infrastructure is doomed to languish behind our European neighbours for years to come.

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Unemployment Doubles in Dublin 15

The latest Live Register figures for Dublin 15 show that another 328 of people signed on the dole during the month of March. This brings to 7,635 the number of people signing on in the Blanchardstown Social Welfare Office. This time last year, that figure stood at 3,650 - an increase of 92%. Of those, 1,669 were under 25s this figure has risen by up 96% since March 2008

These local figures bring home the stark reality of the economic crisis this country is in.
We need strong and decisive action from the government to tackle the problem of unemployment in particular long-term unemployment. In the 1970s and 80s, Dublin 15 was blighted by long-term unemployment and the associated problems of crime, medical problems and family breakdown. We can not allow this to happen again.

Fine Gael has proposed a number of measures to get Ireland working again. These include:

- Waiving Employers PRSI for new employees taken on over the next two years;
- Set up a loan guarantee for viable small businesses in distress;
- Overhaul the 1bn FAS budget and provide new training grants for budding entrepreneurs to avail of education and training;
- Reduce the qualifying period for the Back to Enterprise allowance from two years to six months;
- Rewrite the National Development Plan to frontload labour-intensive projects.

Earlier this month, Fine Gael launched a national stimulus plan which would bring the National Pension Fund back home to invest in. This would create an extra 100,000 jobs in the economy through investment in green energy and a modern infrastructure.

I support these measures, and am working closely with Dublin West TD Leo Varadkar who has raised these issues in the Dil repeatedly over the past two years.
The latest decision by the rating agency S&P to downgrade Irelands credit rating is bad news for Ireland at a very bad time making borrowing more expensive and making it even harder for the economy to recover. Interestingly the S&P hinted they do not expect decisive action from the government this side of a general election, so the sooner that happens the better for all of us.


CSO Figures:
Local Office County Feb-09 Mar-09 Change % Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 7307 7635 328 4.5%

Local Office County Mar-08 Mar-09 Change % Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 3985 7635 3650 91.6%

Under 25s
Local Office County Mar-08 Feb-09 Mar-09 Monthly Change Yearly Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 851 1594 1669 75 4.7% 818 96.1%

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End of Youth Officer for Tyrrelstown

The VEC have indicated that their current funding for the only youth officer assigned to the Tyrrelstown area will not be renewed due to government cutbacks. With still no community or sports centre in Tyrrelstown the youth officer currently works out of a room given on loan from Twinlite and this could continue if funding were available. I have asked Dr. Leo Varadkar T.D. to make representations on behalf of TTRA to the government to retain this invaluable service

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Allotments at Beech Park

Dermot O'Neil with Ray and Nick on his recent visit to Beech Park allotments to do a piece for RTE radio,

If you are on the two year waiting list for council allotments or feel like growing your own this season, Beech Park Gardens are renting plots from 120sq m (20m x 6m) for €285. There is a full range of facilities on site including shop and toilets. Contact Nick at 086 2182370 or email beechparkallotments@gmail.com.

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Unemployment Continues to Soar – Government Inaction Continues

An analysis of the latest Live Register figures shows that the numbers signing on at the Blanchardstown Social Welfare Office have almost doubled over the past year, and by over 9% in the month of February alone. This time last year, 3,944 were signing on in Blanchardstown, today it is at 7,307.

These latest figures are very worrying. There has been no let up in the massive monthly increases in the numbers signing on and unfortunately there are no signs that these increases will abate any time soon. What is needed is a comprehensive government strategy to offer hope to those laid off, put on shorter working weeks, or who are unable to access employment after completing their education. Unfortunately, the government had failed to do anything in this area.

What is particularly worrying is the rise in the number of those under the age of 25 signing on. Last February, there were 843 such people – today, the numbers stand at 1,594. These young people should be amongst our most productive workers – they are in most cases highly trained, educated and motivated. However, there is a danger that they can be lost to long-term unemployment if we do not act quickly to address this problem.

What is needed is a comprehensive government strategy to offer hope to those laid off, put on shorter working weeks, or who are unable to access employment after completing their education. Unfortunately, the government had failed to do anything of note in this area.

I am working closely with my constituency colleague, Leo Varadkar TD, Fine Gael’s Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment in developing strategies to getting those signing on back working again. To this end, Fine Gael have proposed a PRSI holiday for employers who take on new employees in 2009 as well as calls for expanding the Community Employment Schemes to prevent long-term unemployment taking hold. Fine Gael will be developing these and further ideas to get Ireland working again which will will be putting forth over the coming weeks.

Local Office County Feb-08 Feb-09 Change % Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 3944 7307 3363 85.3%


Annual
Local Office County Jan-09 Feb-09 Change % Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 6695 7307 612 9.1%




Under 25s
Local Office County Feb-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Monthly Change Yearly Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 843 1439 1594 155 or 10.8% 751 or 89.1%

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Snowtopia

Information Evening and Display of Plans for Snowtopia, Schools & Community Centre in Park Plaza Hotel Thurs 29 Jan from 7.30- 9pm.

The for planning application (F08A/1446) for Snowtopia Ski and Leisure Development has just been submitted and if successful construction will begin this year. It is to be located behind the Park Plaza Hotel where Ireland's largest retail park comprising fifteen retail warehouses is already planned (www.onefivewest.ie).

Accommodated in a single building, the project will feature two ski slopes, the longest running for 190m, a climbing/ice climbing zone, a gym, a multi function recreation area, paintball centre, a 10 screen digital theatre with snack bar, a family adventure play area, 3 shops and 5 restaurant/cafe units. Outside there’s a winter ice rink and parking for 835 cars and buses to cater for the expected 1.5 million visitors a year. A 5 aside soccer centre will be the subject of a further planning application.

Snowtopia will be similar to recent winter sport developments in Manchester and Milton Keynes in the UK. In Manchester the fee for 90 minutes skiing including equipment hire is around £24 and developers indicate a similar pricing model for “Snowtopia” with a discount for local residents. They hope to open the centre in the third quarter of 2010 creating up to 700 jobs and another 300 indirect jobs. The centre will be built in conjunction with the new N2-N3 link road. There will also be direct bus services from the city and feeder buses to the rail link at the Phoenix Park Station which will benefit local residents by servicing the village. This is a very welcome development for Tyrrelstown and Dublin West. www.snowtopia.info.

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The Blanchardstown Centre

Blanchardstown is a major Town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and will continue to be developed as the largest urban settlement in the County and as a social, cultural and local tourism centre. The lands that comprise the Town Centre total 35 hectares.  Green Property has transformed the original greenfield out of town site into the thriving, bustling Town Centre that it is today. The company project managed the zoning, planning, infrastructure, and construction of the entire development.

Today the Town Centre includes 1.25 million sq. ft. of retail and retail warehousing, 250,000 sq.ft. of offices, cinemas, Draiocht theatre, Fingal County Council library, Crowne Plaza hotel and residential. A masterplan has been agreed with all relevant statutory bodies that map out a potential future development pipeline in excess of 1.5 million sq. ft.
The Blanchardstown Centre Website

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