How Has The Garden Of Ireland Gone From Green To Greed?.

wicklow | environment | opinion/analysis Thursday September 04, 2008 21:21 by Mr.Peter Brady Alias. - Concerned Citizens Action Committee.

The Giveaway of our Natural Resources for private speculation.

This is our first statement.

Dear Citizens and Friends.

You may be asking yourself the question who is the Concerned Citizens?.Well the Concerned Citizens is a group of concerned people that have come together from the towns of Greystones,Bray,Wicklow Town and Arklow in PROTEST as to what is going on in our local communities as a whole.It appears the people have no say in the running and the affairs of their local communities.The county councillors who are elected by the people to do the job appear to be acting as agents for somebody else.We say what is the point in electing people to public office when they are not representing your views in the council chamber.

What is the point in voting for these people when they appear to be working for somebody else.Local Government as we know it today is not working for the people.Local Government worked for the people back in the 1970's and 1980's when the council workers were out clearing the drains opening up manhole covers making sure that the drains were operational to stop heavy flooding but as we know today in ireland in 2008 that is not the case when we have experienced one of the most shocking times in irish history for flooding,so much for privatisation.Back in the 1970's and 1980's there was a time when the council workers would repair the footpaths,cut the grass verges,look after the overhead street lighting with the ESB.

But nowadays the people are being told before they buy their new house that they have to take on estate management fees.This is written in to the contract which was a agreement with the Private Developers and the Wicklow County Council and Local Authorities throughout this country that the Developers would look after this end of things in letting off the Local Authorities who once did this job i.e. Bin Collections.This is the kind of greed that we are now experiencing in the Garden of Ireland.This statement will set out a number of examples where your local Authority is and has failed the people.

ITEM 1:As you know the Bray and North Wicklow Area experienced the most recent tragedy of our two brave firemen who lost their lives unnecessarily in the face of total hypocrisy from Wicklow County Council and the other Established Bodies in Bray and Greystones.A system which has let them down badly and their families,and the people of Wicklow may they themselves rest in peace and never be forgotten.There are many people that would say that their is no money for a full time fire service,their is no money for a suicide prevention officer,their is no money for an accident and emergency unit for sick children at loughlinstown hospital.But these very same people can sit down behind closed doors in Wicklow County Council and negotiate with Developers and Speculators where their next projects are taking place.While they discuss with them the returns that they will get for each planning permission.We say we need to take away the power from these officials who are not elected by the people,but are making policy all the time in relation to many issues and aspects within local government WHICH WILL HAVE TO STOP.

ITEM 2:They can knock down lenihan's public house on the main street of Bray and replacing it with high rise apartment blocks and have no problem in providing the money in doing this.

ITEM 3:They can knock down four existing bungalow's on the herbert road in Bray and replacing them with 81 apartments in the face of strong opposition.

ITEM 4:They can provide the money to build the florentine centre aswell as other proposed developments which are taking off under this golden parachute.

ITEM 5:They can go against the will of the people in Greystones and provide 300 million euro's to build apartments on the public foreshore.

ITEM 6:They can pay people off for their land and walk over the democratic rights of the parents and children by removing the public schools from the town centre of Greystones and the Greystones Chamber remains silent about this,while they accomadate the other children in the gael scoil and educate together in makeshift prevabs because as we all know the government funding has ran out to build proper schools.But at the same time the people of Greystones are looking on at Public Private Partnership working very well in its town but the taking over of their public beach and the introduction of Parking Charges on the people of Greystones.

ITEM 7:But what they can not do is provide the people of Bray and North Wicklow with a full time fire service or knock down a derelict building lying up for a number of years which has claimed the lives of two brave firemen who should be still alive today with their families,the big question still remains why is all of this still happening? we say they there is no political will at local level to do anything about it.

We say enough is enough we dont want to hear anymore hypocrisy coming from their mouths when we all know that they are responsible for these deaths and outstanding issues mentioned in this statement.We say it is time to break away from the old traditions regardless of your party young and old,with a new type of politics that will have compassion for the people they represented and displaying that they do care as to what is going on in the local community,and not just in public relation exercise.

We say we need to get back the values we once had here in ireland which is lost in this web of selfish greed,which we have experienced in the last 25 years.We are calling on every christian person that has moral values for their country to join with us in making our country a more fairer and just society,that everybody will get a fair crack of the whip.We say it is time for each and every one of you to look at the situation in our society today at all levels and say to yourself do i want my son,my daughter,my granchildren, to be brought up in a society where we have the constant use of the gun and the knife,and where it appears the political establishment do not care.

It appears money is the main driving force behind all of this we can do better in this country by standing shoulder to shoulder by supporting one another and not just the chosen few who the establishment is looking after i.e (JOBS FOR THE BOYS).The problems are man made which can be solved and the battles are not all won,and we stand today on the edge of this battle facing into this web of corruption which is responsible for so much for what is taking place in our country today.

We will conclude by saying to you that we need to preserve DEMOCRACY and be entitled to the freedom of speech and defend it at all costs.We will also say that once Wicklow County Council knows they have commited part time firemen who will go out there everyday and risking their lives for us that they would keep sitting on the fence by doing nothing to achieve a full time fire service aswell as the other essential services that is so badly needed in the Garden That Was Once Green But Is Now Greed.

We would invite you in expressing your opinions and comments as irish citizens on any of the issues we have raised in this statement and as democrats in a free society.

Thanking You Mr.Peter Brady of The Concerned Citizens Action Committee for Bray and Greystones.