North Inner City Ward - Dublin City Council
Since their introduction I have actively campaigned against this unjust double tax. This charge is a con - it is not about the environment, or recycling, but merely a way of squeezing more money out of the ordinary tax payer.
- Secretary of the Dublin campaign against the Bin Tax.
- Helped set up local groups across the city - East Wall, Stoneybatter, Ballybough/Clonliffe, North Strand, etc.
- Spoke at Mountjoy rally after the jailing of residents.
- Knocked down by lorry during picket at Collins Avenue depot. This much publicised �hit and run� incident did not lessen my commitment.
If elected to the City Council I guarantee to stand by the following principles:
- I will not vote in favour of any plans, budget or estimate which contains bin charges.
- I will not abstain from, or be conveniently absent, during controversial votes.
- I will oppose any attempt to remove or reduce the value of the waiver system.
- I will oppose any attempt to drag ordinary residents through the courts.
We need to see strong local democracy. The Government introduced legislation gives major decision making powers to the unelected City Managers, not your elected representatives. This needs to be changed.
For the Environment
We need a waste management strategy that will deliver a national recycling infrastructure. The employment potential of this should not be overlooked.
The plan to build an incinerator in Dublin City is wrong, especially coming at a time when the rest of the world is moving away from this policy.
I am also opposed to water charges and other charges and price hikes proposed. These amount to double tax, and are a result of the government's failure to properly fund local authorities.
Some of the issues I have worked on include:
- Lobbied for Bring Centres (for re-cyclable goods) to be located locally. These need to be easily accessed by residents, with a guarantee that the goods are recycled.
- Opposed closure of Irish Glass Bottle Company. There is now no facility to recycle glass in this country.
- Continued to campaign against the locating of an incinerator in Dublin Bay. This will be run for profit by private enterprise, and it is not a positive environmental or waste management solution.
- Highlighted the illegal activity of a leading waste company in the city, including the dumping of medical waste. This company has now been closed down.
- Helped launch a Tidy Districts Initiative.
- Prevented the erection of a mobile phone mast adjacent to a school and very close to homes.
- Defeated the original 22 storey high rise scheme at Spencer Dock and so forced the developers to engage in consultation with locals to agree on a more reasonable plan.
- Initiated consultation on traffic management plans, to reduce congestion and air pollution in residential communities.
- Opposed re-zoning of amenity land by City Council, and plans to sell off public lands to a private developer. We need to preserve what green spaces we still have left.
- Part of legal action against C.I.E. over noise pollution.