A little imagination could provide jobs for many

With so much doom and gloom these days it is difficult to be positive. Fine Gael candidate for Cork County Council David O’Byrne has said he has enough with bad news and offers up a novel idea to solve a several problems with one initiative.

Mortgage Rate Cut Delays

Fine Gael first time local election candidate David O’Byrne and local TD Simon Coveney have called on Cork County Council to ensure all mortgage interest rate cuts are passed on quickly to holders of Council mortgages.

 

According to David over 600 people have mortgages directly with Cork County Council for houses bought under an affordable housing scheme.

Your Vote

With local and European elections in June as well as the distinct possibility of a general election at some stage over the coming months you should check the register of electors to ensure your vote will be counted when the time comes.

 

Check out my new Register to Vote page where you can check the Register of Electors and get the forms required to register for the first time or change address

Completed forms should be returned directly by you to your city or county council. In relation to the Local and European elections being held on 5 June 2009, the completed forms must reach the relevant council not later than Monday 18th May 2009.

In our democracy we don’t get to make every decision but we do get to elected those who do. Your vote is your voice and it is vital you use it. If you can’t print the form you can get it at any local authority office, post office, Garda station and at all public libraries.

Guarded welcome for Star of the Sea Announcement

Last week’s announcement that work will finally start on the new Star of the Sea primary school in Passage West is a most welcome development in the long running saga of Star of the Sea. It represents the end of an eleven year wait and a hard fought campaign by the students, parents and staff of the school if it becomes a reality. While others will claim credit, in truth credit belongs to the local community alone for the pressure they have put on the government.

Local Government must be accessible and accountable

Fine Gael local election candidate for the Carrigaline area, David O’Byrne, has called for major reforms in the operation of Cork County Council to make it more accessible and accountable to the people it serves.

Addressing members of Fine Gael from Frankfield/Grange at their recent AGM David said, “In the last week we have heard from sitting councillors that they are powerless as department heads have given themselves performance related bonuses while slashing services and making contract staff redundant… this is not democracy or anything like it.”

Govt refuses to make Cork Airport independent AGAIN

Simon Coveny TD

The Government announced today (Monday) that they are delaying making a decision on setting up an independent Cork Airport until 2011.

This decision will severely damage the capacity of Cork to market and grow traffic through Cork Airport into the future according to Fine Gael Frontbench Spokesperson and Cork South-Central Deputy Simon Coveney.

Deputy Coveney also sharply criticised the Government for their decision to release this information only an hour after Aer Lingus announced it was reinstating the Shannon-Heathrow routes

Statement By FG On Proposed Bank Recapitalisation Scheme

FG Leadership

The capital injections announced tonight (Sunday) are, alone, unlikely to restore confidence in the Irish financial system according to Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny TD and Party Finance Spokesman and Deputy Leader Richard Bruton TD.

Fine Gael called for the Dáil to be recalled this Tuesday so the recapitalisation programme can be discussed.

Boy Racers Targeted by NCT

Industrial estates in Frankfield and car parks in Douglas are regularly used by noisy dangerous boy racer types to show off their modified cars and perform stunts. However there may be some relief on the way.

 

Rip-Off of Most Vulnerable Mortgage Holders by Local Authority

David O'Byrne

Despite rate cuts, some mortgage holders have not received a single reduction in mortgage repayments in 12 months

Following up on a complaint from a Carrigaline resident an investigation by Fine Gael Front Bench Spokesman and Cork South Central Deputy, Simon Coveney TD and myself has shown that Cork County Council is not passing on rate cuts to mortgage holders and is penalising the most vulnerable.

“At a time when thousands of people are losing their jobs and many home owners are under serious pressure to repay mortgages, the largest county council in the country is not passing on the benefits of interest rate cuts to Local Authority mortgage holders under the Affordable Housing Scheme.

Remembering Victims of Roads Traffic Accidents

This Sunday, November 16th, marks World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. A UN resolution passed on 26th October 2005, adopted the 3rd Sunday of November as the appropriate acknowledgment for victims of road traffic crashes and their families and called for its recognition by the international community. To date the Government of Ireland has not recognised the Remembrance Day so there will be no official events to mark the day.