The Jack Crowe Memorial Dublin Mountain Walk

On Saturday 11 August 2012 Republicans in South Dublin held the inaugural Jack Crowe Memorial Dublin Mountain Challenge.

A group of nearly fifty gathered at the Blue Light pub in Barnaculia in preparation for a long day on the mountains and in respect and remembrance of Dublin Republican Jack Crowe who passed away in July 2010.

We were honoured on the day to be joined by members of Jack’s family and by republicans from across Dublin and from Meath, Westmeath and Cork. We were also joined on the day by three Basque comrades who enjoyed the day immensely.

The trek was 14 miles from Bohernbreena to Barnaculia taking in Bohernabreena Lakes, The Hellfire Club, Massey’s Wood, Tibradden Mountain and Two Rock Mountain.

While it was a long and hard trek those who took part on the day all said it was very enjoyable and a fitting tribute to a life long republican who many on the trek knew well.

The Jack Crowe Memorial Cup was lifted for the first time ever by Philomena Denton of the Preacáin team from Tallaght and it was presented to them by Séan (Jack Jnr) Crowe TD.

First man across the line was John Nugent, also from Tallaght while second and third places went to Darren O’Rourke from Meath and Donncha O’Laoghaire from Cork respectively.

The first team to get all its members across the line was the Basque team of Pablo Vincente, Ibon Murua and Imanol Hernandez and all three were presented with medals from Seán Crowe on the promise that they would return next year.

After the presentations and a few refreshing pints comrades dispersed to their respective constituencies and all promised to return with friends and family next year.

A lot of work and organisation went into making this a successful event and big thanks must go to Chris Curran, Sorcha NicCormaic, Grace Costigan, Ray O’Kelly, Seán McGrath, John McGrath, Keith Sweeney, Adrian Corr, Brian Byrne, Janette Kavanagh and Kain Phoenix.

On behalf of the Martin Forsyth Cumann in Glencullen/Sandyford and the Bob Smith Cumann in Dundrum I would like to thank all those who took part, raised money, sponsored someone or helped out in any way at all.

Special mention must go to the Crowe family for allowing us to remember their father in this way, for buying into the project and for showing up and taking part on the day.

Here’s looking forward to seeing you all and doing it all again next year.

For more information on the Jack Crowe walk visit http://www.facebook.com/SinnFeinDublinMountainChallenge.

The above photo show's particpants in the walk at the finish line in the Blue Light car park in Barnaculia.  In the centre is Seán Crowe TD with the Jack Crowe Cup.

Jack Crowe:

Jack Crowe

Once described as a father figure to Dublin Republicans Jack Crowe was a stalwart of the Republican Movement right up to his sad passing in July 2010.

Christened Joseph Crowe but known as Jack, he was born into a republican family in 1929.  His father Paddy Crowe was in C Company of the Dublin Brigade of the IRA, his uncle Nicky was in A Company and his aunt Alice was in Cumann na mBan.

Jack first became active in the republican movement in 1938 at the young age of nine when he joined Na Fianna Éireann.

He married his wife Nellie in 1949 and they had five children, two boys and three girls, and the family settled in Padraig Pearse’s neighbourhood in Rathfarnham where Jack lived for the rest of his life.

Sadly Jack was widowed at a young age and he was left to raise his five children on his own.

However Jack still managed to continue his republican work and the Crowe household put up many republicans including Gerry Adams and Tom Hartley.

Times were hard and the house was often raided but Jack remained a committed republican, worked hard, reared his family and never sought any recognition or limelight.

He remained committed to the vision of Padraig Pearse and James Connolly and did everything he could to advance the cause of Irish freedom.

Jack was also known as a real Dublin character and would often entertain those in his company with his great tales of adventures around the world down through history.

Sadly Jack passed away in July 2010 and, as his son, Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe said at his funeral, ‘he left this world smiling’.

This year’s Dublin Mountain Challenge was the first of what will be an annual memorial to Jack Crowe.  It was an enjoyable day with a plenty of competition, lots of scenery and history and a lot of craic.

All funds raised will go towards the development of Sinn Féin in Dublin South and ultimately towards the campaign for a new united Ireland.

44 Bus cut from Ballyogan and surrounding areas

The 44 bus was recently extended to the Northside of Dublin to the benefit of most people on the route. However, it is the bus users from Ballyogan who have paid the price as the service has been cut from the area.

On learning that the route was to be cut from Ballyogan my colleague's and I collected more than 500 signatures on a petition to keep the service.  I have since sent this petition to Dublin Bus with a request for a meeting.

Unfortunately I have now received a reply to my letter stating that Dublin Bus does not intend reviewing it's decision in the short term.  There was no acknowledgement of my invite for a meeting.

The reality is that it only took little over five minutes for the bus to make the short journey in and out of Ballyogan.

And while the addition of the Luas Green Line to the area has been a huge advantage for the area, it does not service Sandyford Village, Stepaside Village or Enniskerry.  Nor is it connected to the Northside as the new 44 route now is.

While I understand that the use of the service has reduced since the introduction of the Luas, it is still a vital service to those people who do use it.  It should not be cut for the sake saving six or seven minutes on the new route.

Despite claims from Dublin Bus that public consultation took place throughout 2010 and 2011 the vast majority of people in Ballyogan had no idea that the service was to be cut and were fiercely opposed to the cut.

The least Dublin Bus could do is to accept my invite to meet with the residents in the area to explain its actions and I would call on them to do so.

Solidarity and support for the GAME workers

Last week computer games firm GAME closed all of its stores in the 26 counties and walked away from its 121 Irish staff refusing to pay them their redundancy entitlements.

The workers immediately occupied all of the stores and began a sit-in protest.

My colleagues in the Dáil Seán Crowe TD and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD managed to secure a debate in the Dáil on the issue and a delegation of workers came in to watch the debate.

Unfortunately all we got from the government was words of regret and very little action.

Yesterday I called in to my local GAME store in Dundrum Town Centre to meet the workers who are occupying the store and to offer my support and solidarity.

The man I met there was a very impressive person.  He told me that he understood that the fight he is involved in is about more than the GAME workers.  He has friends working in other retail outlets and he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t challenge a system that could see them also lose their redundancy packages and possibly their homes.

If GAME handed him all he is entitled to tomorrow there is no guarantee that the next company to close its doors will not walk away from its staff in a similar manner.  It is the system that allows this to happen that needs to be challenged.

I applaud this stance and the stance of the Vita Cortex workers in Cork, La Senza staff and others who have and still are fighting for their rights as workers.

The government has been very quiet on this issue.  We need to see strong words of condemnation of GAME from the government followed by legislation to ensure the rights of workers cannot be trampled on anymore.

Proper notice of redundancy and a fair redundancy package are basic rights for workers upon whom these companies depended on to make their massive profits during the boom years.

The GAME workers can be followed on twitter at @GameIREfight or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GameIrelandFight

Please show your support.

The GAME store in Dundrum Town Centre yesterday with its shutters down as workers occupy the store.

Samuel Beckett Civic Complex included in Council’s Capital Expenditure Programme

I have just received details of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s Capital Expenditure Programme and am happy to report that phase one of the Samuel Beckett Civic Complex in Ballyogan is included in the plan.

Phase one of the complex will include a community centre and childcare facility, a library/sports building, a playground, synthetic and natural grass pitches and a skate park.

There were fears in the local area that this project was being long-fingered by the Council so today’s news will be warmly welcomed.

This facility will provide a much needed boost to the local community so it is important that the tendering process is completed as soon as possible so it can then proceed to construction.

I have urged the council to consider including a social clause in the contract to ensure that whoever is awarded the tender has to employ a certain number of apprentices on the project to help them complete their training.

These apprentices should be from areas in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown with high levels of unemployment such as Ballyogan.

The photograph below shows a visual of what the Samuel Beckett Civic Complex will look like.

Rally in support of Loughlinstown Accident and Emergency

A protest rally has been organised for Saturday 25^th February in opposition to the closure of the 24 hour accident and emergency department at St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown.

The rally has been organised by Save Our Services Wicklow in conjunction with my colleagues in Wicklow Sinn Féin.  It will assemble at 1.30pm at the Town Hall on Bray Main Street.

The loss of the 24 hour accident and emergency at Loughlinstown will be a severe blow, not just to the people of Wicklow but to the thousands of people from the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown area who use its services every year.

I was there just last year when I had to bring my girlfriend in with what turned out to be very painful ovarian cysts.

The consequences of the closure of the 24 hour service will also have a knock on effect on the already over stretched St Vincent’s Hospital.

The closure is being dressed up as a reconfiguration that will remove people from the hospital trolleys in the corridors of Loughlinstown. The opposite is the case.  Cutting the A&E in Loughlinstown will simply compound the problems at St Vincent’s and will ultimately result in a deterioration in the level of service for patients and possibly deaths.

This is being done while billions of taxpayers’ money is being pumped into the defunct Anglo Irish Bank.  Just two weeks ago the government paid €1.25billion for an Anglo bond and €3.1billion is due to be paid to Anglo on the 31^st of March.

The government needs to get its priorities right.  The people need to stand up and demand a better way.

I hope to see a huge crowd in Bray on February 25^th.

The photo below shows my colleagues Councillor John Brady, Sorcha Nic Cormaic and I with others at a recent protest at St Columcille’s, Loughlinstown.

SPARK campaign visits Leinster House

A new campaign group called SPARK (Single Parents Acting for the Rights of our Kids) visited Leinster House last week to speak with Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh who is compiling a report for the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee on the proposed new single working age payment.

The single working age payment, if adopted by the government, would be the single biggest transformation of our social welfare system since the foundation of the state.  It proposes to do away with many special rules and schemes developed over the years to help some of the most vulnerable people in society, and to establish a single payment for every social welfare applicant from the age of 18 to 65.

In preparation for his report to the committee Deputy Ó Snodaigh is meeting as many groups and representatives and stakeholders as possible so that they can highlight their concerns and views and influence the report.

This is the reason SPARK were here last week.  A friend and colleague of mine, Grace Costigan, is part of the campaign and I had passed her details onto Ó Snodaigh’s Political Advisor with a recommendation that they be invited in for a meeting.

SPARK is a diverse group of single parents living in Ireland who have united together to protect their children from the radical policy changes introduced in Budget 2012.  They aim to raise awareness of the many challenges one-parent families currently face and to identify the essential supports needed to allow them equal participation in society.

They assert the rights of their children to be treated equally and demand acknowledgement and recognition of their family status. They actively challenge stereotyping of their families and oppose any economic, social, legal or political policies that have a detrimental effect on their children or on them as single parents.

They seek equality for children regardless of their family circumstances.

I wish them well in their campaign and look forward to Deputy Ó Snodaigh’s report.  It is vitally important that the most vulnerable sections of society such as the children of single parents, the unemployed and those with disabilities continue to be protected by our social welfare system.

The photo below shows myself and Deputy Ó Snodaigh with members of the SPARK campaign team at Leinster House.

I have also embedded a link to a youtube clip from Deputy Ó Snodaigh’s office which is essentially an ad seeking submissions to his report.

http://youtu.be/VuCPlNYJj28

Budget 2012

The Labour party went into last year’s general election with the warning that a one party Fine Gael government could not be trusted to maintain child benefit rates, that they would increase VAT by 2%, increase car tax and introduce water rates.

However, since entering government the Labour Party has betrayed the people who put their trust in them. They have capitulated to each and every right wing policy put forward by Fine Gael including the reduction in child benefit payments for third and subsequent children and the reduction of eligibility for lone parent payments.

The Labour party is simply acting as a mud guard for Fine Gael’s right wing policies and they are quickly becoming as irrelevant in this government as the Green Party were in the last.

People are now seriously asking the question; what’s the point in having Labour in government if they cannot protect the most vulnerable in society or at least live up to their pre-election promises.

They should be ashamed of this budget and they should be ashamed of their role in government.

Sinn Féin had shown that there was an alternative to harsh austerity measures. We set out, in our pre-budget submission, how the deficit could be reduced in a progressive way without cutting the social welfare budget or targeting the least well off.

Labour chose the wrong way and in doing so they have turned their back on their traditional base.

This photo shows myself and my colleague Sorcha NicCormaic with local party activist Chris Curran protesting at Labour TD Alex White's constituency office in Rathfarnham in the aftermath of the budget.

Holy Trinity National School

The news that Holy Trinity National School will go to construction this year is a very welcome development.

This is a school that was promised when my parents first moved to Ballyogan in 1986. It was a school that I should have attended. My two nephews are now being taught in the school's current pre-fab accomodation.

Praise and congratulations must go to the staff and parents at the school who have campaigned for many years for a permanent school building.

And while no doubt government TDs will laud this announcement and attempt to claim credit for it, it must be remembered that both Fine Gael and Labour were in power in both the 80s and the 90s and on both occasions they failed to deliver this much needed school. And Fianna Fáil, having been in power for 13 years straight never managed to get the school built.

I hope this school will now be built as soon as possible so that the children of this area can be educated in the best possible environment and in their own community.

Glencullen/Sandyford Garda services devastated by budget 2012

Budget 2012 has reduced both Stepaside and Cabinteely Garda stations to part time status leaving the Glencullen/Sandyford ward without an open Garda station between the hours of 10pm and 8am. This leaves thousands of people vulnerable during these hours.

We have four government TDs in this constituency and not one of them could save Stepaside or Cabinteely Garda stations. In fact all four of them have supported the budget including the savage cuts and increases in regressive taxes.

The reduction in opening hours at these garda stations means thousands of people will be without this essential service during late night hours including at pub closing times.

There are problems in many areas with anti-social behaviour and this decision will leave many people fearing that they have no protection from these elements.

Gardaí will now have to serve the Glencullen ward from Dundrum or Dún Laoghaire during these hours giving a green light to criminal elements to ply their trade.

This budget has targeted families, children, women, students and people with disabilities. It has devastated communities and, in the Glencullen/Sandyford ward, it has left thousands of people with a drastically reduced garda service.