Congrats to Howth it has been ranked as the cleanest town in the country in the latest survey by the Irish Business Against Litter organisation.

The town has topped the organisation’s annual litter league ahead of Fermoy, Cavan, Sligo and Dungarvan.

The An Taisce report for Howth found the following:

Dublin Approach Road: Clean to European Norms. An excellent main approach road with wide grass verge on the right hand side. A disused site on the left, though unsightly, didn’t harbour any litter.

Howth Tidiest Town in Ireland

Howth Main Street: Clean to European Norms. This was an excellent main street with attractive shops and signage.

Thormanby Approach Road: Clean to European Norms. (from Casana View to village). A very clean and fresh approach road into Howth. The overall presentation was excellent.

Howth Primary School: Clean to European Norms. (School surveyed from outside the grounds). This is a Green Flag School, which was in excellent condition. Playing areas, car parking and basketball courts etc. were all clear of litter. This was a very good site overall.”

full IBAL press release [pdf]

Back in January Socialist Party local representative in Malahide-Howth Brian Greene battled to save the zoning of the old Edros site in Howth as the County Manager and the local councillors tried to push through a material contravention and allow for the building of 60+ apartments on amenity lands. The developer & council succeeded and granted planning permission despite the objections of locals & the socialist party councillors on the council. The despicable material contravention was supported by all the main parties including the 3 local councillors David Healy (GP) Joan Maher (FG) Michael J Cosgrave
(FG).

Brian Greene Socialist Party

Nine months later (29/09) An Bord Pleanala REFUSED the permission that was granted by Fingal County Council. The Board agreed with their inspectors report, and numerous local objections and the Socialist Party position re material contravention.

The report from the board and local objections mention the run down state of the disused site and queries why the council has FAILED to act using its power under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to force the owner to clean the site. Neither the community of Howth nor the Board are fooled by planned dereliction. The report also disagrees with the material contravention, ruling that the Open Space zoning that the site enjoys must not be built on along the lines of the planning application it refused. The inspector says in the report “In my opinion a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) would receive strong support, given that use for recreation / open space / amenity purposes is in accordance with the zoning objectives in the adopted Development Plan”. This material contravention and wholesale destruction of a community amenity in Howth has been led by the current & out going county managers and local councillors. Questions will be asked to the Manager in the coming weeks about this.

Residents of Howth must seize this opportunity to reclaim this site which was gifted to them, only to be sold to a developer by the council after the sports centre ran into difficulties. 100’s of Howth
residents had paid into the scheme over the years and all the benefits were returning to a local property developer. I will be calling on Fingal to CPO this land back from the developer at current zoning values and putting in place some of the excellent community facilities at the site that were suggested in a previous survey the community undertook.

Older Edros articles by brian greene / local press [article 1] [article 2] [article 3]

march 2003 protest at the Edros site

October 2008

Following on from a successful meeting organised by the Socialist Party on 16th September in the Kinsealy Inn on the management company rip off, residents in attendance agreed to form a campaign with the aim of abolishing the management company for houses and restructuring of the company for apartments only, with more accountability and regulation.

To further this aim it was agreed to launch a survey across the whole estate to establish the views of residents regarding Management Fees / Management Company / Agents & the taking in charge of the estate by Fingal County Council. Over the next few weeks some of your neighbours will be calling door to door to conduct the survey. To date the survey indicates an overwhelming number of people in Drynam Hall support the taking in charge of the estate. It has also been established that services such as street lighting are all ready being provided by Fingal County Council.

Once completed we will publish the results of the survey and step up the campaign for the abolition of estate management fees. ‘United the community can be successful’ as other communities in Fingal have demonstrated.

If you want to contact me on this or any other issue please do so.

leaflet issued by Brian Greene
local representative Socialist Party
email: brian at socialistparty.net

Socialist Party Update Brickfield plans halted (for now)

Following the successful public meeting of Save Our Park in mid July the following has transpired.

* Fingal County Council is (for now) not proceeding with plans to build 170 units on Brickfield.

* Na Dubh Ghall GAA have been given the permission they were seeking to site Dressing Room Containers on the site of the abandoned council depot beside the school.

* Following the recent flooding of the East Coast the Minister for the Environment has promised to bring forward legislation to prevent development on flood plains. Fingal County Council acknowledge that Seagrange Park including Brickfield is on a flood plain.

This is an excellent gain for the community. Its a win win situation for Baldoyle & Bayside. Na Dubh Ghall GAA get a permanent siting for changing rooms and the disused depot will get a community use that
will assist its security needs within the park. Its great to see one of Dublin’s fastest growing clubs finally get facilities so close to where the club holds its training sessions.

The Socialist Party welcome this move by Fingal County Council and also the news that the Malahide Howth Area Committee is not pursuing the proposed rezoning / housing development at the Brickfield site which is zoned open space. (Northside People 23rd July)

Community and sporting use of amenity lands must take precedence over infill development where according to CSO figures 46,000 houses remain unoccupied in the Dublin area.

Protection of the flood plain is paramount. The fact that building on flood plains has been common practice despite warnings shows that the planning laws serve the developers not the community. Vigilance is still required as this is not the first time we have had to deal with this issue nor may this be the last.

issued by: Brian Greene, Socialist Party Dublin North East

From 26 September 2008 onwards all battery retailers will be required to take back, free of charge, waste batteries including rechargeable batteries including those incorporated into electrical and electronic equipment and/or battery packs. Any person depositing waste batteries at the premises of any battery retailer will not be obligated to purchase any product or products from the retailer concerned. more.

a years supply

Brian Greene asks
why no wind up remote controls? no wind up! a shake of the trolls and there is enough power to beam a tiny IR signal 12feet!
will shops take back mobile phone batteries? no. but phone shops should.
what batteries are safe to dispose of for land fill? none
why not operate a money back scheme? like the soft drinks glass in the 1970’s
will new ipods have removable batteries according to this directive?

One of our nearest Nuclear Plants Sellafield which lies 128 miles from Malahide - Howth will take 112 years to clean up at a cost of €92 billion euros according to a Westminster report released this week. As the site is still accepting orders of waste nuclear fuel from around the world the true cost and date may never be known.

Anti Nuclear campaigner Brian Greene who runs the ShutSellafield.com website says “The myth that Sellafield is a power plant is the biggest deception of all. The plant was first used in the race for the A-Bomb and now it is the world’s nuclear dumping ground taking shipments from all over the world via the Irish Sea.”

Brian Greene who is the Socialist Party candidate in next years local election for the Malahide - Howth area says “Having the worlds most used nuclear dump on our doorstep has always been worrying but the safety record at the plant has been getting worse. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the nuclear fire at Windscale, and now the plant & its decommissioning are being sold to for profit businesses in a privatisation programme. Safety is threatened by a squeeze on wages and a race to the bottom that sees the plants bosses attacking the workforce’s pay & conditions on an ongoing basis.”

“Nuclear power is being cited as a solution to peak oil & the speculated over priced oil situation. Nuclear power will not power a car. Until a satisfactory waste solution for radioactive material is found Nuclear Power is not the answer.” said Mr. Greene

I strongly support the actions taken by the FIF. Irish Fishermen must not be priced out of the sea by fuel taxes & costs nor cheap fish imports. Minister Brendan Smith TD and Minister of State Tony Killeen TD must act fast from Ireland’s perspective & secondly via the EU Maritime Affairs Commissioner & the wider European perspective, too many factors have grouped together on the livelihoods of fishermen & their families, and with out further delay action is demanded on this issue. Brian Greene 04/06/2008 (Howth Harbour).

Federation of Irish Fishermen to Hold Demonstration at Dail Eireann
On Thursday 5th of June 2008, members of the the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) will hold a demonstration outside Leinster House in Kildare Street between 12 noon and 3 pm to highlight the effects that the current high fuel prices and cheap fish imports are having on the fishing industry.
The CEOs of the four main fish producing organisations will be available at this demonstration to give interviews.
Mr Michael Walsh, chairman FIF and CEO Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, 087 2582842
Mr Lorcán Ó Cinnéide, CEO Irish Fish Producers Organisation, 087 6299522
Mr Gerard O’Flynn, CEO Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation 086 2360001
Mr Sean O’Donoghue, CEO Killybegs Fishermens Organisation. 087 4196535

During this demonstration fishing vessels will be tied up in all major fishing ports around the coast.

last night in Swords I chaired the no nonsense ‘no’ debate on Lisbon mp3 64kbits 90 minutes. Speakers Clare Daly Socialist Party & Patricia McKenna Green Party.

 sayno.ie [90:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download