McDonagh announces details of action against education cuts

Clondalkin Sinn Féin councillor, Matthew McDonagh has announced details of a protest against cutbacks in the education sector which will take place tomorrow. Sinn Féin activists from Dublin Mid West will protest outside Minister for State, John Curran, TD's office in Clondalkin Village.

Speaking today, Councillor McDonagh said, “Sinn Féin has announced that it will not stand idly by while this Government destroys our education infrastructure. Cuts in education spending are detrimental to our economic recovery and should not be tolerated. Schools in Clondalkin that will be affected by the education cuts are, Scoil Mhuire, Scoil Íde, Talbot NS and St Joseph's NS. Tomorrow's action is part of the campaign to stop the education cutbacks. Our children must not be made scapegoats for the reckless behaviour of this government and their cronies the bankers and developers. These cutbacks are detrimental to our economic recovery and should not be tolerated. It’s time for us to fight back. With this campaign Sinn Féin will be joining with parents, teachers, pupils and concerned citizens in taking a stand for our children’s education and demanding that the Government Leaves our Schools Alone"

Sinn Féin supports Docklands occupation- McDonagh

Sinn Féin supports Docklands occupation- McDonagh


Sinn Féin supported today's direct action taken by the Port Workers Solidarity Group in support of striking employees at the MTL site in Ringsend. Nineteen SIPTU union members at Marine Terminals were made redundant earlier this year when new management brought in contract workers from Britain and – at the same time – demanded that remaining workers sign new contracts agreeing to pay cuts of between 14% and 18% or be laid off.

Talks aimed at resolving the dispute broke down when the company pulled out of talks at the Labour Relations Commission.

SIPTU has accused the company of importing ex-paratroopers from the British Army under the guise of security to intimidate workers.

SIPTU official Oliver McDonagh said the new management is now seeking 37 redundancies, offering a severance package of just two weeks’ pay per year of service in addition to statutory entitlements. The last redundancy programme at the terminal had seen workers get six weeks’ pay plus statutory entitlements.

Speaking during the occupation of the site Sinn Féin spokesperson Councillor Mattew McDonagh from Clondalkin, congratulated the organisers of the march and rally and he demanded the the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan intervene and "ensure the workers at the MTL site receive a fair and proper redundancy package. The redundancy offers to date are a total insult. The Tánaiste/Minister must protect the rights of Irish workers. Sinn Féin will continue to actively support these workers and we will continue to support actions like today's untill the dispute is brought to a successful conclusion."

Ireland - Say NO to the Lisbon Treaty

Gun murder in Clondalkin – McDonagh calls for calm

CLONDALKIN Sinn Féin Councillor Matthew McDonagh has appealed for calm following this weekend's fatal shooting of Pierce Reid in Lealand in Clondalkin.

Councillor McDonagh condemned those who carried out the killing as well as those who carried out a second gun attack where a number of shots were fired at the door and windows of a house in the area four hours after the first shooting. It has been reported that Gardaí believe this may have been carried out in retaliation for the murder.

Councillor McDonagh said:

"I urge people to be calm in the wake of these attacks and I condemn whoever was iresponsible for the murder of Pierce Reid and the later attack on a house in Lealand.

"I call on the Government to look at the number of gardaí currently stationed in Clondalkin – there just aren't enough gardaí to deal with the rise of gun crime and anti-social behaviour.

“We need more gardaí on the streets of Clondalkin, gardaí who will serve the community and who will work constructively with the local communities to address the alarming rise in gun-related crimes."

McDonagh welcomes new prefabs for Gaelscoil na Camóige

Clondalkin Sinn Féin Councillor Matthew McDonagh, today welcomed the decision by the Department of Education and Science to replace the badly deteriorating prefabs at Gaelscoil na Camóige with new prefabs. Construction will begin Monday August 10 and it is anticipated that all groundwork, buildings and services will be on site for the first day of the new school year.

Councillor McDonagh said "I welcome the long overdue decision by the Department of Education to replace the deteriorating school prefabs at Gaelscoil na Camóige. Many parents had approached me since my election in June to complain that two of the classes had been closed for health and safety reasons after a structural engineer's report and a health and safety report had been published recommending urgent intervention to avoid the risk of accident or illness due to the dangerous condition of the existing prefabs."

Councillor McDonagh went on to welcome the hard work carried out by the recently formed Parents Task Force and local Sinn Féín activists who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the children can be schooled in safe and comfortable surroundings.

Councillor McDonagh said "The Department of Education is paying out large sums of money every year in rents for pre fabricated buildings in overcrowded schools. Over the last three years the government has spent €113 million on prefabs. The Education Minister has projected a further spend of €48 million on prefabs for 2009. The annual average cost to the Department for each prefab is €12,500. The reality for thousands of children across the country is that they will have spent their entire education in substandard accommodation. There is an urgent need to expand school capacity to meet the 100,000 additional pupils who will enter primary school over the next decade.

"Just last February the government acknowledged that additional monies needed to be earmarked for the school building projects yet they have since backtracked on this and have instead actually cut the budget Why are we investing money in prefabs when what we need are new school buildings?

"This is a wasted opportunity. School building projects would provide jobs for people recently made unemployed in the construction sector. It would provide a much needed boost to the economy as well as providing a lasting educational infrastructure. We need to work our way out of this recession and education is central to our exit from economic crisis. School buildings are a priority."

National Hunger Strike Commemoration

Thank You.

Dublin Mid West Sinn Féin wish to thank all the voters in Clondalkin, Newcastle, Rathcoole and Saggart for voting for Sinn Féin EU Candidate Mary Lou McDonald and Local Election Candidates Matthew McDonagh and Shane O’Connor in the recent Local Elections which saw first time candidate Matthew McDonagh getting elected to South Dublin County Council. Unfortunately this time Shane O’Connor fell short of the quota to be elected. We would like to thank Shane for representing Sinn Féin on South Dublin County Council for the past five years.

Left Alliance to forego Conference expenses

Shortly after the recent local elections the Sinn Féin group on South Dublin County Council entered negotiations with the Labour Party with a view to developing a left wing alternative ruling group on South Dublin County Council. Both parties entered these discussions on a policy driven agenda and quickly found common ground in a number of social policy areas.

One of the main topics up for discussion was the matter of Councillors Conference Expenses. Annually each Cllr on South Dublin County Council is entitled to claim €4,000 in conference expenses. With 26 councillors on South Dublin County Council and with a five year term this amounts to €520,000. The new ruling group of Sinn Féin, Labour and Independent Councillor Gus O'Connell has pledged to forego their conference expenses with a view to building or resourcing a new Homeless Unit in the county by the end of the council term. The opposition parties of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been invited by the new Left Alliance to join with them to ensure the project can be realised but also to show leadership in this time of harsh recession.

Other policy areas such as Planning, the Environment, Housing and Social have been agreed on to be prioritised over the five year term.

On Planning, the Alliance has proposed that in the new County Development Plan that is currently being drafted no further rezonings take place as there are already sufficient lands rezoned to accommodate almost 40,000 new housing units within the county during the lifetime of the plan. This coupled with the fact that there are thousands of unsold houses and apartments within the county cements the argument.

On the Environment, the Left Alliance has proposed that focus needs to be given to provide a cleaner environment for the citizens of the county. This policy area spans a number of departments in the council including Environmental Services, Environmental Health, Roads, Parks and Community. Sinn Féin and the Alliance will be ensuring that resources are pooled to enable the most efficient and positive outcomes are achieved in this area.

Housing and Social Policy areas are the main body of the program of work laid out by the new ruling group. On the matter of vacant/boarded up houses it has been
agreed that it be pursued that all current vacant council houses be re-allocated by Christmas 2009. This, it is felt is time enough to carry out necessary works on the 90 - 100 vacant properties that currently exist within the county. It has also been agreed that all vacant houses be re-allocated within eight weeks of them becoming vacant whilst providing for extraordinary cases of fire and other extensive damages. Councillor Cathal King proposed this policy as far back as 2003 and followed it up continuously with the support of most councillors but never quite achieved the time-frame. The Left Alliance will pursue this policy vigorously over the coming months.

It has also been proposed by the Alliance of Sinn Féin, Labour, and Independent Gus O’Connell that money be ring-fenced to ensure that all Council Housing be to a standard that ensures families are secure and warm. Although there has been improvements in recent years with the gas fired central heating programme many families are still suffering in unacceptable conditions as their windows and doors are rotting releasing all the heat out and allowing the cold in. Other families are reduced to trying to maintain a kitchen with one or two presses and some trying to prepare dinner for their children with no counter top. These problems have been compounded by the fact that the Fianna Fáil led Government has cut back on all of these programmes. The Alliance has agreed to fight to ring-fence certain monies to ensure that these programs continue.

On the serious matter of anti-social behavior which has blighted many of our communities the Alliance has made a number of proposals to ensure individuals and groups that engage in this type of behaviour be dealt with in a serious and efficient manner to ensure a safer community for all the citizens of the county. These areas have been and will continue to be pursued vigorously by Councillor Cathal King at Sub Committee level of the Housing and Social SPC and by Councillor Matthew McDonagh and Councillor Seán Crowe at the Joint Policing Committee along with all members of the Alliance at area Committee and Council level. Councillor Matthew McDonagh also sits on the Clondalkin Drugs Task Force

A Number of other policy matters have been agreed and will be developed over the term of Council. Sinn Féin will continue to inform the constituents of Clondalkin, Newcastle, Rathcoole and Saggart of progress on these issues and others over the coming months and years.