Monday, January 26, 2009
New Community Alert Group Established in Stamullen
A new community alert group has been established in the east Meath village of Stamullen. Speaking after the first meeting of Stamullen Community Alert Group, local Sinn Féin representative Sinéad Burke said "This community alert scheme is the result of very hard work by local residents and the obvious dedication of local Gardai. Mindless anti-social and criminal behaviour can be a scourge on an area; it is great to see Stamullen taking a strong and holistic approach in tackling this. The Community Alert committee will be made up of residents from all over the village and representatives from local business. I will be encouraging them to engage with the Meath Joint Policing Committee that was recently secured following lobbying from Sinn Féin. The best resource any community has is its people. The enthusiasm, commitment and determination being shown in Stamullen is an example to all other areas in Meath that strong community policing is the best way to keep an area safe and build community spirit."
Sunday, January 11, 2009
People Power will Fight New Meath Power Plant
Sinn Féin County Council Candidate, Sinéad Burke has hit out strongly against the proposed Power Plant planned for the Dunmoe area of Meath between Navan and Slane. Viridian Power are planning to build a Peaking Power Station on 6 acres of land which will not only impact on a small rural community, but also the people of Slane and Navan. The proposed plant will be just metres away from the field where Royal Mushrooms Ltd are trying to build a mushroom compost plant. Locals are currently fighting the Royal Mushrooms development at An Bord Pleanála level.
Sinn Féin Representative Burke said "In December I met with two representatives from Viridian – they confirmed their plans for a Peaking Power Plant on Graigs Lane. This power plant will be run on diesel and will have an EPA licence for 365 days a year. It will contribute power into the national grid at peak times and will also be used as a back up energy source to Viridian's Wind Farms around the country. The site will be either accessed by the Graigs Lane or an entrance in Causestown, neither are suitable to carry industrial traffic. According to Viridian, the site will potentially be made up of 2 peaking power plants and two oil storage units, consisting of 2 x 56 MW gas turbine driven peaking units, generators, 4 stacks, ancillary equipment, water holding tanks, oil storage tanks, and an electrical connection point.
"It is outrageous that it falls to ordinary people to have to fight to keep developments of this nature from their doorsteps. The nearest house to this proposed plant will be 80 metres away. I have spoken to groups as far away as Mayo who have fought against these types of plants on their back door. It is cold comfort to know that Meath is not the only dumping ground in this country for heavy industrial developments. This land is zoned rural and therefore is entirely unsuitable for heavy industry.
"At the moment Viridian is in advanced negotiations around buying the land, they have not applied to Meath County Council for planning yet, nor have they applied for their EPA licence yet. Pre-warned is pre-armed in this case – the local people will be ready and will fight this proposed plant every step of the way. I am furious with this news. Yet again the people of this area are under siege from big business trying to put heavy industry into rural communities where they are not suitable. You can't turn in this part of the county without meeting an incinerator or industral plant that sticks out like a sore thumb. Royal Mushrooms got the shock of their lives when they tried to muscle in on this community - Virdian are going to get the same."
Sinn Féin Representative Burke said "In December I met with two representatives from Viridian – they confirmed their plans for a Peaking Power Plant on Graigs Lane. This power plant will be run on diesel and will have an EPA licence for 365 days a year. It will contribute power into the national grid at peak times and will also be used as a back up energy source to Viridian's Wind Farms around the country. The site will be either accessed by the Graigs Lane or an entrance in Causestown, neither are suitable to carry industrial traffic. According to Viridian, the site will potentially be made up of 2 peaking power plants and two oil storage units, consisting of 2 x 56 MW gas turbine driven peaking units, generators, 4 stacks, ancillary equipment, water holding tanks, oil storage tanks, and an electrical connection point.
"It is outrageous that it falls to ordinary people to have to fight to keep developments of this nature from their doorsteps. The nearest house to this proposed plant will be 80 metres away. I have spoken to groups as far away as Mayo who have fought against these types of plants on their back door. It is cold comfort to know that Meath is not the only dumping ground in this country for heavy industrial developments. This land is zoned rural and therefore is entirely unsuitable for heavy industry.
"At the moment Viridian is in advanced negotiations around buying the land, they have not applied to Meath County Council for planning yet, nor have they applied for their EPA licence yet. Pre-warned is pre-armed in this case – the local people will be ready and will fight this proposed plant every step of the way. I am furious with this news. Yet again the people of this area are under siege from big business trying to put heavy industry into rural communities where they are not suitable. You can't turn in this part of the county without meeting an incinerator or industral plant that sticks out like a sore thumb. Royal Mushrooms got the shock of their lives when they tried to muscle in on this community - Virdian are going to get the same."
Friday, January 9, 2009
Patients on Trolleys reaching record levels
Meath East Sinn Féin representative Sinéad Burke has called on the Minister for Health to outline what measures she has put in place to find hospital beds for the 38 patients on trolleys at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
Sinéad Burke said "Figures released by the Irish Nurses Organisation show that there are 38 people on trolleys at the Lourdes, and 425 on trolleys across the State. These figures are on a par with March 2006 when Mary Harney declared the situation a national emergency. Does she think it is a national emergency this time? If so, what is she doing about it and why did she not fix the problem back in 2006? I am calling on the Minister for Health to take account of the situation, stop blaming the HSE and tell us what measures she has put in place to deal with this crisis which brings misery, loss of dignity and loss of privacy to patients and intolerable workload and stress to frontline nursing staff.
"Any attempt to suggest that the overcrowding can be attributed to the cold spell and the winter vomiting bug are simply not sustainable. A world-class health service should be able to plan for, and deal with, cyclical events such as these without incurring the stress and strain on patients and staff that is taking place today."
Sinéad Burke said "Figures released by the Irish Nurses Organisation show that there are 38 people on trolleys at the Lourdes, and 425 on trolleys across the State. These figures are on a par with March 2006 when Mary Harney declared the situation a national emergency. Does she think it is a national emergency this time? If so, what is she doing about it and why did she not fix the problem back in 2006? I am calling on the Minister for Health to take account of the situation, stop blaming the HSE and tell us what measures she has put in place to deal with this crisis which brings misery, loss of dignity and loss of privacy to patients and intolerable workload and stress to frontline nursing staff.
"Any attempt to suggest that the overcrowding can be attributed to the cold spell and the winter vomiting bug are simply not sustainable. A world-class health service should be able to plan for, and deal with, cyclical events such as these without incurring the stress and strain on patients and staff that is taking place today."
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