Update from Councillor Ray McAdam working with Paschal Donohoe TD
MORE GARDAI FOR EAST WALL
I attended the recent East Wall Community Forum where Garda officers informed me that numbers of the local Community Policing Unit had been restored to its full allocation. Over the past number of months, Gardai had been temporarily re-assigned to the City Centre but following changes implemented by Inspector O’Leary a full compliment of sixteen officers will be assigned to serve only the East Wall area. There will now be a minimum of two officers on the beat at all times, with two further officers patrolling on mountain bikes and a community squad car serving East Wall and North Wall. This decision will strengthen the Gardai’s hand in tackling the problem of burglaries in East Wall. Arrests have taken place over the past number of days in relation to these burglaries as well as the violent crimes which occurred prior to Christmas. Since the New Year, there has been a notable decrease in burglaries of properties locally, so I hope these rostering changes will have a positive impact on East Wall. Gardai have also re-assured me that an operation is in place to deal with the on-going problem of drug dealing in the area. I will keep you posted about developments in respect of these matters. If you require any any assistance from the Gardai, Store Street Station can be contacted at 01 666 8000.
FLOOD PREVENTION MEASURES
The Flood Partnership that was developed in East Wall in 2008 was reconstituted following the serious flooding that occurred last October. This partnership group is a pilot programme to address extreme flooding risk as part of the EU Flood Resilience City Project, which runs until the end of 2013. As part of this, the FRC has established a learning alliance with the Scottish Flood Forum, which supports resilience amont community groups in Scotland. Council officials from the Drainage Division also informed me that detailed flood prevention / relief measures for the most at risk areas of Dublin Central including East Wall will be presented to Councillors at the march Central Area Committee meeting. If you have any questions about the detials of the measures proposed for the East Wall area, please contact me.
EAST WALL ADVICE CENTRE
From this month on, I will be holding regular advice clinics across the North inner City. Since my election, I have tried to be as accessible to you as possible. I hope that you will find my regular clinics of use and pelase take the opportunity to come along and highlight with me any issue of particular concern to you. My East Wall advice centre will be taking place on the fourth Monday of each month from 7.15pm in the Sean O’Casey Community Centre on St. Mary’s Road. For example, this month’s clinic will be held on Monday February 27th starting from 7.15pm.
GULLY CLEANING
I continue to liaise with the Drainage Division of Dublin City Council to ensure that there is a regular programme of shore and gully cleaningin the East Wall area. Recent streets that have had shores and gullies cleaned include:
– West Road: cleaned on November 29th & 30th: 22 of 22 cleaned
– Hawthorn Road: cleaned on November 27th: 3 of 4 cleaned
– Caledon Road: cleaned on November 29th & December 11th/12th: 22 of 25 cleaned
– Church Road: cleaned on November 27th, December 11th – 16th: 53 of 54 cleaned
– Bargy Road: cleaned on December 5th: 19 of 19 cleaned
If you are not satisfied about the level of shore or gully cleaning on your street, please let me know and I’ll arrange to have these shores cleaned. Please contact me on 086 847 1720 or raymcadam@gmail.com.
GRAFFITI REMOVAL
Residents continue to highlight with me the problem of graffiti on their streets. This issue appears to be worsening. The City Council has always employed a corporate contractor to remove graffiti, but now in collaboration with the Probation Service, the Council is making use of Community Graffiti Removal Service. Offenders on Community Service orders supervised on site by Probation Service Community Supervisors preform the removal of graffiti. Throughout recent weeks, graffiti has been removed from numerous properties on West Road, under the railway bridge on East Wall Road, East Road and Shelmalier Road. Unfortunately, the City Council has had to remove graffiti on more than five occasions from the old Cahill factory site.
TALL SHIPS 2012
The Tall Ships festival is coming to Dublin in August. This event is likely to see a huge influx of foreign visitors to the city. It will also be an opportunity for local people to get involved as a volunteer please contact me if you are interested in taking part. Given the proximity of East Wall to the Quays, I have aksed the City Council to engage with the organisers, Failte Ireland, Department of Transport & Tourism and waste collection providers to ensure that appropriate planning with regards traffic management and litter & waste collection are put in place. Council officials have informed me that these discussions have already begun and that a draft Traffic Management Plan will be presented to Councillors shortly. Further information will be made available over the coming months. Let me assure you that I will keep you updated about developments in respect of this major event.
FINE GAEL GOVERNMENT ACTS ON MORTGAGE INDEBTEDNESS
Many families are trying to cope with serious debt problems. In the Budget, Fine Gael fulfilled our election promise and increased Mortgage Interest Relief to 30% for First-Time Buyers who bough between 2004 and 2008. Other options are being developed for people in serious difficulty, including trade-down mortgages, split mortgages and sale by agreement as well as a mortgage to rent scheme. Where people face insolvency, the Minister for Justice has published proposals to rebalance the rights of the borrower and lender in a fairer manner. An Insolvency Service would help people come to agreements with financial institutions using three new instruments, including Debt Relief Certificates, Debt Settlement Arrangement and a Personal Insolvency agreement. Minister Shatter is also examining plans to cut the length of time someone can be considered bankrupt from 12 years to 3. If you require any further information on these measures, please contact me.