Aer Lingus job losses - the government cannot and must not stand idly by!

Speaking to the Fingal Independent today the Sinn Féin representative for Swords Conor Kelly has expressed his concerns at the prospect of yet more massive jobs losses for the north county in the wake of cost-cutting plans announced at Aer Lingus.

http://www.fingal-independent.ie/news/massive-loss-1912062.html

Mr Kelly said: 'After the loss of 1,200 jobs at SR Techinics early in this year, we now face another 676 jobs to be lost at Aer Lingus.

'North Dublin has suffered greatly over the past year with the closure of SRT, while it must be said, the Government seemed happy to sit idly by and done nothing to save the company or the 1,200 jobs it provided.'

The local Sinn Féin representative said: ' We simply cannot afford a repeat of that Government inaction.

' The key to any recovery is not massive job losses, but rather to keep employment high. A concept that sadly seems to be lost on this Government.'

Leas Cross Report "released under a smokescreen”

Sinn Féin’s Swords representative Conor Kelly has described as "cynical in the extreme" the decision of the Health Minister Mary Harney to publish the report on the Leas Cross nursing home on the same day as the publication of the 'Bord Snip' report.

Kelly said:

“Minister Harney chose to publish the Leas Cross report under the smokescreen of the publication of the Bord Snip report on the same day.

This is cynical in the extreme and does a disservice to the report itself and to the many nursing home residents and families across the country who had been awaiting the report and who are anxious to see the badly needed implementation of major improvements in monitoring and inspection of nursing homes.

“The report highlights the totally inadequate inspection system which
allowed the neglect of Swords people in Leas Cross to happen. It took a media
investigation to expose the facts that the HSE had failed to find or
chose to ignore. All the lessons of this report must be learned and
implemented.”

Kelly welcomes Swords drug seizure

Sinn Fein’s Swords Representative Conor Kelly has welcomed the seizure of a significant amount of drugs in Swords which included over €2.4m worth of cannabis. Kelly said the continued use of Cannabis in the Dublin drug scene is a major concern that needs to be tackled head on with all available resources.

Speaking today Kelly said, “Last night’s seizure of drugs in Swords is a welcome development and I congratulate those officers involved in the successful operation.

“Experience tells us that economic recessions are usually followed by a drugs crisis. It is therefore essential that the Government makes a significant investment in the fight against drugs, and it is economically prudent to do so. In fact we cannot afford not to.”

Kelly Challenges North Dublin TDs and Senators Print their Expenses in this paper in the coming weeks

Tom O’Higgins the chairman of the House Of The Oireachtas Audit Committee and former senior partner at Price Waterhouse Coopers a man who’s CV is full of impeccable international credentials is due to resign. He has been trying unsuccessfully to reform TDs and Senators expenses in his position but has been blocked continuously by the slimy greed that makes up the establishment.

His key demands are:
 Introduction of vouched expenses for TD’s and Senators.

 Annual Cap on the amount of expenses any TD or Senator can pocket.


Failure to implement even these reasonable demands shows the height of the problem we face. His continued attempts at reform have lacked support even though Finance Minister Brian Lenihan called for all TDs and Senators to lead by example in taking financial pain.

I feel that Tom O’Higgins failure to find support for these reform measures from our TD’s and Senators shows the amount of greed, corruption and wealth that is to be found in the corridors of power. This tempts me to ask the question what do these guys have to hide?

I personally think they have something to hide given the fact that three of the last four Taoisigh have ended up in front of the planning tribunals been accused of corrupt practices.

So I challenge our North Dublin TD’s to print their expenses in this Local news paper in the coming weeks and show us if they are implementing Tom O’Higgins key demands regarding expenses and whether or not they are playing their part just like the rest of us in these hard times.

Kelly Challenges North Dublin TD’s and Senators to take Average Industrial Wage of the People

Tom O’Higgins the former chairman of the House Of The Oreachtas Audit Committee and former senior partner at Pricewaterhouse Cooper a man who’s CV is full of impeccable international credentials is due to resign. He has been trying unsuccessfully to reform TD’s and Senators expenses in his position but has been blocked continuously by the slimy greed that makes up the establishment.

His key demands are:

 Introduction of vouched expenses for TD’s and Senators.

 Annual Cap on the amount of expenses any TD or Senator can pocket.


Failure to implement even these demands shows the height of the problem we face. His Continued attempts at reform have lacked support even though Finance Minister Brian Lenihan called for all TD’s and Senators to lead by example in taking financial pain.

I feel that Tom O’Higgins failure to find support for these reform measures with Our TD’s and Senators shows the Mountain of Greed and wealth that our Country’s leadership is made up of.

I challenge all our North Dublin TD’s and Senators to play there part in these economically hard times we find ourselves and take the average industrial wage of the people of North Dublin as there salary and give the rest of there wage to Fingal County Council to be put into a contingency fund to help those people effected by the down turn in the economy.


I firmly believe (and I wouldn’t do this job if I didn’t) that any person who is give the privilege of presenting the Irish people should be willing and thankful to accept the average industrial wage of the Irish people. As seen with my Sinn Fein Colleagues in Leinster House. They represent the people in return for the average industrial wage of the Irish people €32,000.

Kelly Calls on Fingal to Follow Waterford Eco Friendly Example

Swords Sinn Féin reprehensive Conor Kelly has called on Fingal County Council to follow Waterford County Councils example by introducing more eco friendly litter bins in Fingal.

During a resent fact finding trip to Waterford Conor observed a solar-powered litter bin in Waterford City Centre that holds up to six times more rubbish than others of it size.
It accomplishes the feat of being able to take, depending on its size, between four and six times the amount of refuse of other litter bins because it compresses the waste once the bin is full. The so-called Big Belly Bin is the first of it kind in this state.

Conor Stated “The Big Belly is one of two environmentally friendly waste bins being sold by Ellicro Environmental. The other is a recycling bin for drink cans and plastic bottles called the Reverse Vending Machine. Like the Big Belly, the Reverse Vending Machine can compact the cans and bottles it accumulates. It can also be programmed to shred them.”

Finishing Conor added “I’m calling of Fingal County Council to explore those new Eco options and report back to me”.

Kelly Calls for Swords Taxi Rank

Swords Sinn Féin reprehensive Conor Kelly has called on Fingal County Council to conduct a survey of Swords Main Street and access the possibility of building of a taxi rank on the main street.

While meeting local taxi drivers last week conor said “ you don’t have to be a genus to understand the need for a taxi rank on the main street, just take a walk down our main street, you will see numerous makeshift area’s used by taxi’s . This has to stop and Fingal County Council needs to address this issue

He also added “that not only will a taxi rank on swords main street improve the taxi service in the area it will also improve the flow of traffic because you will have taxi’s parked in one pacific place as apposed to all over the place as we see day in and day out”.