Dear Editor,
Jade Goody is dying, aged just 27, from Cervical Cancer.
Late last year the Government, which has now pledged billions to banks, decided not to spend €10 million on a vaccine which would save the lives of girls like Jade Goody.
Do we really live in a republic where banks come before our children?
Yours sincerely
Cllr Keith Martin
33 Pairc na Coille
Westport
Co. Mayo
086 0691182 m
098 25747 w
098 24852 h
"These two points raise alarm bells about the scope of the scheme. Are rural communities not entitled to a 'high-end service'? Similarly, who decided that rural users are not heavy Internet users? In Mayo I know of householders and businesses that bought mobile broadband packages only to find that their connections were essentially useless.
In the light of the refusal by An Bord Pleanala of the planning application for Westport United's new home, Labour's Cllr Keith Martin has pledged to zone land under the current review of the Westport Town and Environs Plan for Community Facilities which could pave the way for a new home for soccer in Westport.
According to the Labour councillor there is a large area of land in and just outside the town which could be zoned for Community use which includes sports grounds and a possible skateboard park.
"In the recent past, lands were zoned primarily for housing and commercial development, but we now have more land than we need zoned for those purposes and its high time we looked at zoning a large area for sports and other community uses. Fortunately we are currently in the process of drawing up a new Town Plan and a new Environs Plan for the area and this gives us the opportunity, under this process, to zone any lands we feel would be suitable for Community use."
"There was bad news for Westport United this week, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and I will do all within my power to see them in a new home."
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Cllr Keith Martin says Newport will have a strong voice in Mayo County Council when he is elected to Mayo County Council in June. Cllr Martin made his comments when wishing outgoing Newport County Councillor Frank Chambers a "happy and restful retirement" following Cllr Chamber's decision to bow out of politics after 30 years of service.
Cllr Keith Martin pledged that he will hold clinics on "both sides of the Black Oak River" to ensure that Newport's issues are addressed and raised in Mayo County Council following Cllr Chamber's departure.
According to Cllr Martin "I will represent the people of Newport town from the river to Furnace whether or not they can vote for me in June. It defies logic and common sense to include Newport in the Belmullet Electoral Area. Newport and Westport are only miles apart and for Newport's administration to be based out of Belmullet 60 miles away makes no sense. It was a lazy way for the Electoral Boundaries Commission to solve a problem for the Belmullet Electoral Area at the expense of the people of Newport.
"Newport is the social and community centre for a large area on both sides of the river and I will ensure that Newport is serviced effectively by Mayo County Council and that the voice of Newport from Meddicott Street to Knocknageeha is heard as one voice in the chamber of Mayo County Council, and not two.
The Westport Branch of the Labour Party met in Henehan's Bakehouse Room this month for its February meeting.
The well attended meeting of the Branch discussed a varied range of items ranging from the current economic climate to its effect of the local economy in Mayo.
The 300% increase in Westport's unemployed was decried by the meeting and Cllr Keith Martin re-issued an appeal to re-open the closed Centre for the Unemployed in the town citing the current situation and the likely hood of even more job losses to come. The Westport Branch agreed to write to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and ask for their assistance in re-opening the centre.
Also discussed was the Right to Read campaign and the distribution of leaflets about the campaign which aims to promote reading and combat illiteracy is currently ongoing in the Westport area.
Cllr Keith Martin's programme for a county-wide system of allotments was warmly welcomed by Branch Chairman Sean Sammon who said it would be invaluable to those who had no access to agricultural land to grow their own vegetables.
Branch Secretary David Fallon informed members that February had been designated recruitment month by Party Leader Eamon Gilmore and that the Branch would actively seek new members and it was agreed to distribute application forms throughout the Westport area inviting people to join the party.
For more information on the Labour Party and party membership, visit www.labour.ie or call Keith Martin on 086 0691182.
The spending limit for candidates for the 34 county and city councils will depend on the population of the electoral area in which they stand. Those in the most populated areas will be entitled to spend up to €15,000 with smaller limits of €13,000, €11,500, and €9,500 respectively applying to proportionately smaller electoral areas.
There will be a standard limit of €7,500 for all candidates contesting elections for the 80 borough and town councils.
According to Cllr Martin, who is Labour's candidate for Westport Town Council and Mayo County Council "this is a much needed levelling of the playing field, until now established councillors with big incomes were able to spend a fortune, leaglly, defending their seats and carpet baggers were allowed to virutally buy themselves a seat on the council. Now that is at an end and smaller parties can compete with bigger parties on a level playing field at long last."
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Just over two year's after it was controversially closed, Cllr Keith Martin has issued a fresh call for Westport's Centre for the Unemployed to be re-opened.
Outlining the huge increase in the live register and the certainty of more job losses to come the Labour councillor and candidate for Mayo County Council has written to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) seeking their support to re-open the centre.
The centre was originally opened in Westport in the 1980s as part of pilot scheme for the very popular resource centres by the ICTU. The centres were funded by ICTU and FAS and later on were supported by local development companies such as Meitheal Mhaigheo.
The decision to close the Westport Centre for the Unemployed was taken in January 2007 and the centre was closed down virtually over-night by the Castlebar-based Board of Management. At the time Cllr Keith Martin staged a protest at the closure of the office and established a committee to try and negotiate a reopening of the centre, but was unsuccessful at the time.
Cllr Keith Martin is adamant that now is the time to reopen the centre saying "The economic situation is very, very different to that of 2007 and there is a great need for the re-opening of this centre. This centre served the 20,000 people in the greater Westport area and now that we have such a huge leap in our unemployed we need it open again. I have written to the ICTU looking for their support and I would welcome help from any quarter in getting the centre open again.
"I will continue to push for the centre to reopened because we are going to need its help to get the unemployed back on their feet. A re-opened centre would provide CV writing, career advice, a jobs club, job placement, work experience, phone and fax services, emigration/ immigration advice and vital secretarial services to start up entrepreneurs. In addition to this the centre would provide representation to the unemployed in their relations with the Social Welfare services, Labour Exchanges and other state agencies, access to development and educational facilities, and assistance and training with computers.
Cllr Martin also dismisses completely the argument that Westport's new Citizen Information Centre replaces the need for a Westport Centre for the Unemployed saying "a re-opened Westport Centre for the Unemployed would provide a unique service which is completely separate to the role of the Citizens Information Centre, as its completely job orientated, it provides real support to jobseekers and is solely an advocate of the unemployed. While the Citizens Information Centre is a valuable addition to our town it in no way replaces the need for a Centre for the Unemployed. We see this in Castlebar and Ballina which both have Centres for the Unemployed, alongside FAS Offices, Citizen Information Offices and Trade Union Offices all performing different services."
People will be encouraged to dig their way out of the recession under proposals from Labour's Cllr Keith Martin for a county-wide allotments programme.
Cllr Keith Martin says that when he is elected to Mayo County Council in June he will introduce an allotments programme in Mayo County Council whereby unused council landbanks will be made available to those who wish to grown their own vegetables. Community gardens and children's gardens would also be facilitated under the scheme which would facilitate traditional gardeners as well as organic gardeners.
Cllr Martin has already made a similar proposal to Westport Town Council in his submissions on the new Town Plan for the next five years. In his submission last year Cllr Martin called for the council to acquire agricultural land for the purpose of providing allotments to people without access to agricultural land to allow them to grow their own vegetables, fruits and even flowers.
According to Cllr Martin "This would allow people to develop sustainable and local foods for their own consumption and allow for food security and the combating of climate change through greater self-sufficiency. Allotments are also a logical response to recent food price inflation and will help us dig our way out of the recession."
Cllr Martin says the necessary lands can be acquired through the council's existing landbanks, from landowners but if necessary the council has the power to compulsorily purchase land for allotments under the Acquisition of Land (Allotments) Act, 1926.
Cllr Martin has already identified a source of funding for the scheme available in the Local Agenda 21 Partnership Fund, which, together with matching funding from local authorities throughout the country, provides €700,000 each year for local projects. The Partnership Fund is co-funded on a 50/50 basis by the Department of the Environment and the Local Authorities to assist small-scale, community based non-profit environmental awareness projects at local level. A wide variety of innovative and exciting projects and schemes have been supported under the Fund. These range from promoting youth involvement in Tidy Towns efforts, and composting schemes to community gardens, and allotments. Many of the applications received by this Department in 2008 were in respect of local allotment associations seeking support to convert sites provided by Local Authorities into allotments.
Fingal County Council currently offers allotments measuring one tenth of an acre, for domestic use only for €19.00 p.a. Other councils offering allotments include South Dublin County Council, Galway City Council and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
According to Cllr Martin "allotments would be ideal because of the large number of houses, flats and apartments without any gardens and the number of townhouses with tiny gardens would mean that there are a large number of people who would welcome the opportunity to grow their own vegetables.
"We should also provide, as part to the allotments project, an area for a community garden along the lines of the very successful one on the Golf Course Road. Community gardens allow groups and communities to work as a team on a large garden and share the proceeds of that work as well as to enjoy the camaraderie and social aspect of building a community garden. Community gardening is a well established movement worldwide and it is gaining popularity in Ireland with other community gardens in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
Cllr Martin concludes "But allotments are about so much more than growing your own food or flowers, allotments are also about exercise, teaching children about growth and nature, social interaction with neighbours and getting out of the apartment and having your own small bit of outdoor space on the ground."
Cllr Keith Martin has welcomed increased warning signage at Westport Train Station outlining Irish Rail's new car parking charges. The charges have proved controversial and have lead to at least one car being clamped at the station.
The new signage was announced by Nationwide Controlled Parking Systems (NCPS) in their reply to a letter from Westport Town Council which outlined councillors' concerns in relation to the clamping of cars at the station. In their letter NCPS have outlined that the new signage is now in place.
Irish Rail charge €2 per day or €8 per week for cars parked at the station or in the station car park. Cars which do not display their parking ticket are clamped and owners have to pay €120 to have the clamp removed.
Despite welcoming the new signage Cllr Martin is still calling for the parking charges to be revoked. According to the Labour councillor "Westport is not a commuter town, nor is it well served by bus routes or rural transport schemes and for Irish Rail to impose parking charges is just another stealth tax which is part of the new "Great Train Robbery" which has seen us lose our hot food dining cars in the name of progress. Irish Rail should reverse this new parking charge, bring back dining cars and ensure 'fair' fares on the Westport line for families and students."