I really enjoyed my visit to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition on Friday. I saw the projects from a number of local schools in Dublin South including Wesley College, St. Benildus College, Loreto Beaufort and Mount Anville Secondary School. I want to congratulate the students for their fantastic hard work, creativity and ingenuity.
Over the past few days, I’ve had calls and emails from residents concerned at how council work on Whitechurch Road will affect bus services in the area. Today is the first day of a contingency plan that will run until May 21.
I understand that there a number of elderly and disabled people in the Whitechurch area concerned that the new arrangements will add up to 20 minutes on to their journey. Having spoken to the Council and Dublin Bus regarding this, they too understand the difficulty and have promised to monitor the progress as works are ongoing.
From today, Whitechurch Road is closed between Taylor’s Lane and Whitechurch Green. A diversion is in place for motorists via Whitechurch Road, College Road and Grange Road. Access will remain for residents.
Dublin Bus say that Route 15B will terminate at Ballyboden Roundabout at Taylor’s Lane. Passengers travelling on the 116 and 161 can get their bus outside the Costcutters shop on Taylor’s Lane.
Please be assured that I’ll keep an eye on the situation.
I am pleased to announce that DLR County Council have contacted me in relation to the water supply crisis. They have told me that due to significant progress in finding and fixing leaks throughout the County the Council will no longer have to impose countywide severe pressure reductions on a nightly basis.
However, they have also advised that due to ongoing local issues with water levels in Sandyford, Church Road and Rathmichael Reservoirs, less severe pressure restrictions will continue to be necessary in certain areas. The Council have confined these restrictions to times that will cause the least impact on residents in these areas. These times will be generally between the hours of 10pm and 6am. Crucially it is also not anticipated that these pressure restrictions will result in loss of water supply.
I know this will come as a great relief to all of you who have suffered from the shortage of water supply. The Council and I would also like to acknowledge the co-operation of households and businesses in reporting leaks and conserving the water supply over the last 2 months. This has greatly assisted the move from crisis to recovery.
The Council have also asked that I can convey the message that Water conservation efforts from all households and businesses I the County still remains critical to ensure that restrictions can continue to be eased incrementally.
If you have any other queries or you continue to have problems with your water supply please contact the Council at 2054800 between 9am and 5pm. For emergency calls only please ring 6778844.
Earlier this month, I met some young people from the constituency at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. The projects were all very impressive. Above, you see me trying out an exhibit from Andrej Pacher of Rockbrook Park School. His exhibit was a ‘General Use Augmented Reality Project (GUARP)’.
Below, I meet Kate Lally and Lauren McCauley from St Colmcille’s Community School whose project was entitled ‘The Fear Factor: Who is more daring?’
**Latest update: Wed 13 Jan at 1600**
Since Monday, I’ve been receiving calls from concerned constituents on the cuts or curtailments to water supplies in Dublin South. The latest information I have is as follows:
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council:
Water supply to the Nutgrove area was turned off yesterday because of critically low water levels at the supply reservoir. The areas affected include:
Nutgrove Avenue
Braemor Road
Loreto Avenue
Loreto Park
Upper Churchtown Road
St. Nathys
Camberley Elms
Beaumont Drive
Hillside
Stratford Haven
Orwell Road
Whitebarn Road
Landscape Gardens
Oakdown / Nugent
DLR say that supply to this area is back ON, although problems remain in Hillside Drive , Landscape Road and Loreto areas and these are being investigated.
Water supply to Kilmacud Area including Mount Merrion, Stillorgan, Kilmacud, and Pine Valley has been turned back on this morning and continuous supply should be available until 7pm this evening, when it will be turned off again.
Water supply to the Stepaside area, including Cairnfort and Kellystown, has had to be turned off because of critically low water levels at the supply reservoir.
The water will be restored at 5pm this evening.
Sandyford Road and adjoining estates off it including Ballally (parts), Moreen and Kilcross estates, Ticknock Hill, Simons Ridge and adjoining estates will also be without water until 5pm this evening.
Full details can be found on www.dlrcoco.ie
South Dublin County Council:
Water has been turned OFF until 5pm in the following areas:
Whitechurch Estate
Glenmore
Edmonstown Road
SDCC say that water pressures in most areas have returned to normal. Any residents who still have no water have been asked to remain patient! There are burst water mains in Knocklyon and the situation is being investigated at the moment. However, it should NOT affect local water supplies.
Supplies in Ballyboden and Edmondstown have been cut off because of low levels in the reservoirs. It is hoped to turn the water back on between 5 pm and 7 pm this evening.
SDCC will be turning supplies OFF gradually from 4pm this evening in the following areas.
Rathfarnham road
Beauford Downs
Butterfield Orchard
Wainsfort
Kilakee Ave
Delaford
Orwell Park
All areas will have a full water supply by mid-morning tomorrow.
Further details can be found on www.sdcc.ie
Eamon Gilmore TD greets Alex at the Count Centre at the RDS last Saturday
On my own behalf, I would like to thank everyone who has given help, assistance and support to the campaign in Dublin South over the past number of months.
Labour had a fabulous election across Dublin and the rest of the country, all of which bodes well for the future. In Dublin South, we gained a seat in Stillorgan and held our other three seats comfortably. I would like to congratulate Aidan Culhane, Lettie McCarthy, Richard Humphreys and Paddy Cosgrave on their wonderful results, and also Veronica O’Doherty and Aidan O’Sullivan who ran great campaigns.
Obviously, I was disappointed not to have succeeded in winning the by-election, especially after all the dedicated hard work and commitment shown by so many party members and supporters. However, I was delighted to have secured well in excess of a general election quota. Our success in doubling the vote to 10,000 first preferences proves that a Dáil seat is now well within our grasp in Dublin South.
Finally, my thanks to the visitors to The White Board and alexwhite.ie. Stay with the sites as there will be plenty more from the Seanad in the coming months.
More :: To see more photos from the RDS at the weekend, please visit Labour’s Flickr page by clicking here.
More :: See Alex’s interview after the result on the RTE website. Click here and go to 1hr 12mins
Yesterday saw the launch of Labour’s Manifesto for Dublin on the Millennium Bridge. I joined Deputy Leader Joan Burton, Dublin Central by-election candidate Ivana Bacik and some of the many Labour Councillors to launch what I believe, is a new vision for Dublin.
This city of ours has enormous potential. A quarter of the Irish population live in the capital. Tourists continue to flock to the city and in the sunshine of today, it can be a cultural mecca.
Yet, the city has suffered under the 15 years of Fianna Fáil-led governments with bad planning, bad resources and right now, a bad unemployment problem. Our plan for the city, like the rest of our campiagn, is about jobs, jobs, jobs.
We must get our city back working again. Something as simple as stimulating and supporting small and medium enterprises in the city can be the precursor to an increase in employment. Labour also proposes that a council apprenticeship scheme be set up, which not only will retrain and upskill workers, but contribute to the work of the four local authorities in upkeeping the city and county.
But the manifesto also addresses some issues which will serve to improve the lives of Dubliners. As a cyclist, I find the city’s streets a nightmare at times. Labour proposes to prioritise safe, uninteruppted 24-hour cycle lanes that will increase safety.
We will also reverse the current cuts to Dublin Bus services.
This manifesto seeks to address two fundamental matters in Dublin: to get Dubliners back to work; and to improve the lives of all Dubliners, right across the city. Labour councillors have worked hard in order to improve this city, but for a real difference we need to change nationally. A strong Labour in the Dáil can only be better for our capital city.
More :: Read ‘A Fair Deal for a Fair City’ by clicking here (PDF)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5QtMYiSfS4]
I appeared on last night’s edition of The Week in Politics on RTE One. It was a Dublin South by-election debate that included Fine Gael’s George Lee and Fianna Fáil’s Shay Brennan.
You can view the programme by clicking here (starts at 32mins).
Alex signs the dotted line...
Yesterday on the canvass trail, I travelled to Holy Trinity NS which is based in Leopardstown. Holy Trinity is like many schools in our education system - they are without a permanent building.
They invited all candidates in the Dublin South by-election as well as Councillors to visit the school and sign a pledge insisting that, if elected, they will make the school a top priority. As you can see from the photo, I happily signed the dotted line.
The school currently houses 107 pupils and 11 staff but the parish has a population of 31,000 – the equivalent of Co. Leitrim! The Gallops has a young, growing population and it is predicted that in the future, 600 children in the area will need a primary place. And it is not only their education which is being affected.
There is a social and community element to what the school is seeking. A permanent school building would be the hub of the locality - a place to meet, greet and hold community meetings. This is something the local area needs and something that was neglected in the past.
The school is currently spending €124,000 per year on prefab accommodation and this will only increase unless something is done quickly.
Since September 2008, Labour have proposed a School Building Programme that would help those unemployed in the construction sector, let the State receive value for money and house the 40,000 children currently in prefabs.
The parents, teachers and pupils at Holy Trinity represent what is best about our civic culture. They certainly put it up to politicians at their campaign launch yesterday. The solidarity and commitment shown by this community in their quest to secure a school building is really impressive.
More :: Read more about the Holy Trinity NS campaign by clicking here
More :: Read Labour’s document entitled ‘A New Deal’ (PDF)
