Last weekend, Minister Trevor Sargent as Dublin North TD took to the streets and housing estates of Malahide to talk about the Programme for Government, growing food in local schools and gardens, grants for home energy saving and the controversy around Council proposals to extend the Bridgefield car park in the grounds of Malahide Castle. Trevor reported on his ’rounds’ as follows:
‘I am glad we put up a Malahide Bridgefield Survey on this website, www.trevorsargent.ie as every other door I knocked on was answered by a resident with strong views on the matter. Mind you the views varied so it will be interesting to see the breakdown of viewpoints when the survey is evaluated.
The most constructive view, in my opinion, suggested that a good start would be to consult with Malahide Cricket Club and Fingal County Council and residents and other stakeholders about finding space which did not sacrifice the best juvenile pitch available to St. Sylvester’s GAA Club for extra car parking.
Getting around Chalfont, Sonesta, Ard na Mara, the Grove Rd area, The Rise and the Seamount area gave me an interesting range of opportunities to discuss many diverse issues as well as catch up with family and friends who I don’t get to meet as often as I would like. As Minister for Food I had one query about the use of MSG and hydrogenated fat in cooking and food processing. I am following up this query and will be writing to the householder during the coming week.
There is much dismay at the speed and extent of the downturn. Questions such as ‘Where did it all go wrong?’ gave rise to many stimulating discussions. The discussions I felt were of greater benefit however, began with ‘Would this idea I have, help us as a community and as a country to meet our future needs?’. One lady expressed her exasperation at newspaper stories about certain politicians’ historic expense claims. Yes this is important to put out into the public domain, but it is also important to motivate and inform people about positive measures being undertaken by individuals, communities and Government which ARE providing jobs, reducing the cost of living and contributing to our collective economic, social and environmental well-being.
Although most of the queries raised will require me to roll up my sleeves to get results (such as the concerns of Aer Lingus pilots at the company plans to outsource their jobs) others are wholly inspirational. Accounts of parents helping their children’s school, a sports club considering renting out plots on spare land as allotments for the community, cyclists getting together to lobby for the earliest possible construction of a path alongside the now repaired railway viaduct, are all evidence of the ‘can-do’ spirit which emerges during a war or any serious crisis…..which reminds me….. congratulations to Iarnrod Eireann engineers for restoring the Northern Suburban Service way ahead of schedule. All we need to do now is dig ourselves out of this recession….ahead of schedule!
