A message from Enda Kenny TD, Leader of Fine Gael.

Dear Friend,

Many of you have said to me in the past that you would like to receive a regular update on some of the things that our Party is dealing with and other matters of interest to all our supporters. For that reason every Friday from now on I am going to send you a short message dealing with some of these issues. I'll keep it short and to the point as I know you can get bombarded by mail of all sorts.

There was a subdued air around Leinster House this week as much attention was focussed on events in Belfast. Unfortunately those talks didn't come to a successful conclusion which created an element of doubt around the stability of the Northern Assembly. Neither side wants to see Assembly Elections ahead of the UK elections in May so all we can do is continue to support both Governments in their efforts to find a working compromise and hope that all involved can sign up to that deal.

Water supply in Fingal

Fingal County Council continues to reduce supplies of water to residents each night this week.

The following is an email from the Council, issued at 6pm on Monday January 18th.

EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY UPDATE 5pm Monday 18th January

Water pressure will be reduced in all areas in the coming days, from 10pm each night until 6am the following morning to allow reservoirs to fill.

Fingal County Council Emergency Weather Update Thursday 10pm

FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL - EMERGENCY WEATHER UPDATE 10pm Thursday 7th January
- 500km of roads will be salted and gritted on Friday morning
- All National primary and some secondary roads will be treated
- Roads conditions still extremely hazardous
- Water supplies critical
Fingal County Council is strongly advising that while freezing and dangerous weather continues, motorists should avoid all unnecessary journeys as road conditions are treacherous across Dublin City and County. Pedestrians and cyclists should avoid all journeys and take extreme care if they must go out in current conditions. All members of the public should pay particular attention to safety messages and weather forecasts from the Gardai, Road Safety Authority, the AA and Met Éireann.

Unemployment figure in Dublin North rises, again.

CSO shows unemployment has grown in Dublin North by 298 in one month.

Central statistics office figures released today have shown a marked increase in the numbers seeking unemployment benefit in both Swords & Balbriggan, the two largest towns in Dublin North and the location of the Department of Social & Family Affairs offices.

Yet more shocking figures have been released today by the Department of Social & Family affairs showing a marked increase in those on the Live Register with a national figure of 413,505, an increase of 1,100 in one month.

Traffic Calming for Ard Na Mara

On Tuesday last, Fingal County Council submitted a proposal on public display for the installation of traffic calming measures to be introduced on the Dublin Road at the Junction with Ard Na Mara.

These proposals emanated from a recent accident at this location which prompted Malahide Gardaí to ask the council to come up with some other form of speed reduction.

The council installed additional signage in recent years and despite this, many motorist continue to break the speed limit and take this corner at high speed.  Early this year, I approved the installation of a speed reader at this location which more often than not is flashing red numbers indicating excessive speed by road users.

An update on Bridgefield

St. Sylvester's GAA club continue to amass a huge number of signatures in their petition to resist Fingal County Council's proposed extension of the Bridgefield Car Park in Malahide Castle.

All this, despite my motion in November calling on the council to withdraw from the process given the huge volume of resistance in our community.  Having spoken with the Director of Services responsible, it emerged that the primary reason for pursuing this proposal was to generate an income for the Parks Department so that they could pursue other activities, a reason which was most certainly not mentioned at any council meeting.

Housing needs in our community?

At a recent area committee meeting held in Baldoyle, Howth/Malahide Councillors were informed that of seven two bedroom units, located less than five minutes from Baldoyle village and fewer still from the local DART station, five remain unsold.

Fingal County Council's social & affordable housing lists have shortened in recent times primarily because units built and handed over to the local authority are no longer priced competitively in comparison to the private housing stock available in any given area.

Maintenance of unsightly building sites - What can be done?

Over the last decade, Fingal County Council's administrative area has seen unprecedented growth and an explosion in population. The 2006 census suggested that our population was in excess of 240,000 with many suggesting that the nature of our census could mean that the figure could easily exceed 250,000. This 20% growth put enormous pressures on the council in terms of the delivery of critical infrastructure, failures of which can be attributed to the chronic lack of funding by national government.

Mulhuddart in Dublin 15 and Balbriggan in North Fingal are the two fastest growing towns in Ireland and despite the recession, the pressures on local government, state agencies and schools remains.

Holywell Open Space expected to be taken in charge by Fingal in the New Year

Public Open Space in Holywell, Swords is expected to be taken in charge in the New Year according to Fingal County Council's Parks Department.

The Council were responding to a question which I put to the Department at a recent area committee meeting held in Baldoyle. Holywell, being the largest "private" estate in my electoral area has had a number of outstanding issues since construction began in 2003.

3rd Annual Goal Christmas Mile at Malahide Castle, December 25th 2009.

I am very pleased to announce that the 3rd Annual Goal Mile at Malahide Castle will take place on Christmas Day at 11am, 2009.

Over the past two years we have raised over €12,000.00 for this worthy charity and this year we are hoping to beat our record, set last year at €7,500.00.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the event, it is a charity walk on Christmas morning around a pre-set one mile course meeting at the Main Car Park, Back Road, Malahide Demesne.

Cllr Alan Farrell - Your local Fine Gael Councillor in the Howth/Malahide Ward: Events at Malahide Castle

A reply from the "Irish Burners" who organised the events at Malahide Castle on November 21st/22nd

Events at Malahide Castle

EVENTS AT MALAHIDE CASTLE

November 21st/22nd

The following press release has just been received from Senan Turnbull, Director of Services of the Parks Department with regard to the disgraceful events that took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Fingal County Council was approached 4 weeks ago by a group of artists requesting permission to hold a multi-disciplinary event limited to 300 people on the night of November 21st/22nd involving the use of the west lawn of Malahide Castle.

Farrell calls for Council to withdraw from public display process for car park at Malahide Castle.

Farrell calls for Council to withdraw from public display process for car park at Malahide Castle.

At a council meeting today, November 5^th Fine Gael Councillor Alan Farrell tabled an emergency motion to insist that the Council withdraw from the planning process for the proposed car park extension and introduction of metered parking at Bridgefield, near Malahide Village.

The proposal for the enlargement of the car park at Malahide Demesne recently went on public display without any prior consultation with stakeholders, in fact a drawing of the proposal was emailed to Councillors just two days before it was to be presented in the latter stages of October.  Given the proposals size and implications for the town of Malahide and the enormous volume of opposition to this process I took the decision to insist that Fingal County Council withdraw from this consultation process and consign this proposal to the bin.

Bathing water Quality in Malahide, Portmarnock & Environs - What we are doing to fix it.

WATER QUALITY INDICATORS IN PORTMARNOCK & MALAHIDE BEACHES

Over the summer, a disappointing report lead to the absence of Blue Flag awards to several beaches across the county. Local beaches also suffered and the purpose of my question to the council (detailed below) was to illicit their views on how best to achieve a turn around in our fortunes as well and giving a much needed boost to local tourist activities.

Question: Councillor A. Farrell
"To ask the Manager to report on the current water quality indicators in Malahide & Portmarnock beaches?"

Big plans for Bridgefield Car Park - What's your view?

Fingal County Council has put on public display plans for the enlargement of the Bridgefield Car Park near Malahide Village.

This display period was initiated by your local Councillors with a view to eliciting your views on this Council proposal. The plan would see the removal of one of the existing playing pitches, realignment of the existing entrance and the introduction of parking meters for upwards of 380 cars at a cost of €1 Million.

While I am pained to lead readers of this article on the public display period I would like to point out that despite what I was quoted as saying the papers in recent days, I am not in favour of this proposal as it currently stands. I remain wholeheartedly supportive of the council putting matters such as these out for public consumption so that your councillors can make informed decisions with your views and feelings in mind.

Disgraceful act of vandalism deprives sporting groups of much needed facility.

A disgraceful act of vandalism over the weekend has deprived Malahide sporting groups of their much needed all weather facility at Broomfield, Malahide.

The Broomfield all weather pitch has been severely vandalised over the weekend causing an estimated €17,000 worth of damage to the electrical system controlling the flood lights.

I am outraged by this disgraceful act and cannot believe that someone would deprive hundreds of people of this facility for some form of kick. It is a damming reflection on our society that this act of vandalism against council property, not the first in recent weeks, seems to be acceptable to a minority of people.

Would NAMA buy your house?

An interesting idea from Deputy Leo Varadkar which could be of interest to many.

More buses, more trains, more parking!

“Following the collapse of the Malahide Railway Bridge on Friday evening, various transport providers have laid on additional services for beleaguered commuters from northern areas of Fingal. It is imperative that these service providers offer any and all incentives to commuters to stay away from their cars by providing adequate services at peak times.

“Next week, the return of thousands of students across Fingal will exacerbate traffic flows along the N1, M1 & all local roads leading to and from transport nodes. It is therefore vital that Irish Rail provide additional DART or Diesel services from Malahide serving Connolly Station, with additional buses being put in place by Dublin Bus and other bus providers from northern Rail stations. While the option of using city buses remains in northern Fingal towns, feeder services such as that operating from Donabate to Malahide will be essential for those travelling to work or school.

Malahide Railway Bridge Collapse

“Thankfully a tragedy was avoided on Friday by the quick thinking train driver who raised the alarm at such an early stage. I believe this individual should be congratulated in some formal way. Following this collapse, I believe it imperative that Irish Rail complete whatever works are required to restore the bridge without delay.

“It is also important to note that any repair works that take place ensure that the viaduct is not breached which would be a potential environmental disaster to the Broadmeadow estuary. The removal of the viaduct during repair works could result in a multi million litre outfall of water from the inner estuary which could potentially put lives at risk for those who use the estuary for business and pleasure purposes, a concern shared by the Malahide Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you

Having literally walked in the door from the count centre in Clougran (430am) I am delighted to have been re-elected to Fingal County Council.

In short, I would like to thank the thousands who saw fit to trust in me sufficiently to give me their first preference vote and also those who made it happen, my canvass team Emma, my parents and the dozens of others who gave tirelessly of their time over the past ten months.

The past five years have been a privilege and an honour and I look forward to a further five working on behalf of my neighbours and friends.