News Archives for February, 2008
29 February, 2008
Sinn Féin's Councillor Daithí Doolan has today launched a series of events being organised in Ringsend to commemorate International Women's Day. Read full article
28 February, 2008
Clondalkin Sinn Féin have accused Health Minister Mary Harney of having a "closed mind and a cold heart" on the issue of the pharmacies dispute. Speaking today Local PRO Paul Doran accussed her for shirking her responsibility and her accountability on this very serious issue.Two Pharmacies in Clondalkin Freynes in The Village and Bradleys in Woodford recently have complained about the loss of services due to this dispute. Read full article
28 February, 2008
Sinn Féin's Dublin Environment Spokesperson, Councillor Daithí Doolan, has welcomed today's announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency confirming that the oral hearing into the proposed Dublin incinerator will commence on April 14th. Read full article
28 February, 2008
BLANCHARDSTOWN Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Donnelly has urged the Fingal Joint Policing Committee to roll out a series of public meetings and to develop policy on alcohol off-licensing. Cllr. Donnelly has claimed that the fact that Sinn Féin is the only party excluded from the Fingal JPC is allowing these public meetings to fall off the agenda. Read full article
28 February, 2008
Speaking in the Dáil today Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD called for an adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the violent killings of two Polish men in Drimnagh. Deputy Ó Snodaigh called on the Government to address the youth drinking culture in Ireland and the associated youth violence. Read full article
27 February, 2008
Speaking at a meeting of the Dublin Joint Policing Committee today Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on the committee to roll out a series of public meetings to discuss community safety and alcohol licensing issues. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the issue of public meetings has fallen off the back of the agenda at every Dublin Joint Policing Committee meeting so far and must be discussed at today's meeting. Read full article
27 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald has described the decision of the HSE not to provide extra funding to establish new homeless services as a damning indictment of a government that puts the highly paid before those most vulnerable in society. Read full article
26 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD this afternoon had a useful and informative meeting with the three Garda Ombudsman Commissioners during which he outlined some of the party's concerns in relation to its operation thus far. Speaking after the meeting Deputy Ó Snodaigh called for adequate resources for the Commission to allow them to achieve their stated and essential mission of providing an effective complaint's mechanism. Read full article
26 February, 2008
The Sinn Féin Ard Fheis will take place in the RDS in Dublin this weekend (Friday 29th and Saturday 1st). 2,000 delegates and visitors are expected to attend the Ard Fheis, the main theme of which is 'Unity-Prosperity-Equality'. The other big issue to be debated is the Lisbon Treaty. Sinn Féin Chairperso Mary Lou McDonald, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD and Michelle O Neill MLA launched the Clár for the Ard Fheis in Dublin this morning. Read full article
25 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dublin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh will tomorrow (Tuesday Feb 26th) launch the party's Ard Fheis 2008 Clár in Buswell's Hotel at 11am. Deputy Ó Snodaigh will be joined by Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald. Read full article
25 February, 2008
Sinn Féin's Councillor Daithí Doolan, Chair of Dublin City Council's Economic Development and Planning Committee, has today announced that "the issue of high-rise will be a priority for Dublin City Council." Read full article
21 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD is in Waterford today to launch the party's policy document entitled 'Creating Safer Communities'. Speaking at the launch of the document Deputy Ó Snodaigh said Sinn Féin is engaging with communities throughout the state in an information gathering exercise which will help to inform Sinn Féin's future policies on policing and community safety. Read full article
21 February, 2008
Responding to yesterday's charge by Bertie Ahern against Sinn Féin's Vote No to Lisbon Campaign party National Chairperson and Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said the Taoiseach's remarks were those of a political leader whose back is against the wall. Read full article
21 February, 2008
Speaking as the Dáil debated a joint Sinn Féin and Labour Party motion demanding legislation to ensure equal rights for agency workers Tallaght Sinn Féin representative Sean Crowe said this is a crucial issue and one that affects many workers in Tallaght. Read full article
20 February, 2008
Speaking during tonight's Sinn Féin and Labour Party joint motion calling for the introduction of equal rights legislation for agency workers Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh said the government has known for years about the exploitation of agency workers yet it has made no legislative efforts to protect them. Read full article
20 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou Mc Donald has this afternoon expressed her "anger and incredulity" over the European Parliaments vote today NOT to respect the result of the Lisbon Treaty referendum. Read full article
20 February, 2008
Speaking in the Dáil this morning Sinn Féin Housing Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD expressed concern that 35% of those living in the private rented sector are living below the poverty line. Deputy Ó Snodaigh also said that over half of the privately rented units inspected by Dublin City Council were found to be i compliance with minimum standard regulations. Read full article
20 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald this morning in Strasbourg has called for the rejection of the Lisbon treaty, calling it undemocratic. Read full article
19 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD will attempt to amend the Passport Bill 2007 today when it is debated in the Dáil. Speaking ahead of the debate Deputy Ó Snodaigh said his party's priorities are to make it easier to obtain a passport with an Irish language translation of a person's name, to limit the use of bio-metrics and to insert a provision for an appeal to a District Court against decisions by a Minister to refuse or cancel a passport. Read full article
19 February, 2008
Speaking as the Ballyfermot Local Drugs Task Force made a presentation to the National Drugs Strategy Team today Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD said the next National Drugs Strategy must be firmly grounded on the input and recommendations coming from communities such as Ballyfermot. Read full article
18 February, 2008
Commenting on the detection of Bluetongue disease in Ireland for the first time following routine post-import testing undertaken by the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development, Sinn Fein MEPs Bairbre de Brún and Mary Lou McDonald have renewed their call for the EU to immediately review its procedures on cattle import restrictions. Read full article
18 February, 2008
Speaking after attending The Marriage Equality Launch in the Mansion House today Sinn Féin Equality Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD re-affirmed his party's support for the right of same sex couples to enter into civil partnerships or marriages. Read full article
18 February, 2008
The Dáil will this week debate a Private Members Motion tabled jointly by Labour and Sinn Fein TDs expressing concern at the treatment of agency workers, including vulnerable migrant workers, who are being subjected to inferior pay and conditions and exploitation. The motion supports the principle of equal treatment for all workers and calls on the government to enact legislation to protect the rights of agency workers and to support the introduction of the long promised EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers. (Copy of motion attached). Read full article
15 February, 2008
Sinn Féin will be holding a protest against the closure of Our Lady's Hospital Crumlin and the downgrading of Tallaght Hospital at Health Minister Mary Harney's office in Clondalkin Village at 1pm tomorrow, Saturday 16th February. Read full article
15 February, 2008
Sinn Féin will hold a major public meeting on the Lisbon Treaty in Wynn's Hotel in Dublin City Centre this evening (Friday 15th) at 7.30pm. Addressing the meeting will be Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald and Director of the party's referendum campaign Padraig Mac Lochlainn. Read full article
14 February, 2008
Speaking after a picket at Leinster House in support of Tallaght Hospital Sinn Féin representative Seán Crowe appealed to residents from South Dublin and beyond to get behind the campaign to save Tallaght Hospital. Crowe said he is convinced that Mary Harney is determined to undermine the public hospital element of the health services site. Read full article
14 February, 2008
Responding to the decision by Tara Watch to lodge an official complaint with the Minister for Justice Mr. Brian Lenihan due to the campaign's experience of increased incidences of assaults on its activists by construction workers Sinn Féin MEP has described the assaults as serious and of grave concern. Read full article
14 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Human Rights Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has described the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill 2008 as a "rehashing and reheating of the same regressive, inadequate and poorly written law that has been kicking around since 2005." Speaking today Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the Bill "may actually place Ireland in breach of our obligations under international refugee and human rights laws." Read full article
13 February, 2008
Sinn Féin's Councillor Daithí Doolan, has today revealed, "that residents in parts of Dublin 4 may not get any Valentine's Day cards tomorrow because bosses at An Post have cut staff in the local sorting office by 30%." Read full article
12 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald will challenge Minister of State for Europe Dick Roche at tomorrows European Affairs Oireachtas Committee meeting for his decision not to distribute the Lisbon Treaty to households prior to the referendum. Read full article
12 February, 2008
Dublin 15 Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Donnelly has described as 'staggering' the fact that the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, is unaware of how many schools currently use prefabs as classrooms, despite her Department paying €35.5 million per year to rent these structures. Read full article
12 February, 2008
Blanchardstown Sinn Féin representative Paul Donnelly will be officially co-opted onto Fingal County Council at a meeting of the council this afternoon. Donnelly was unanimously supported by Sinn Féin members to replace outgoing Councillor Felix Gallagher. Read full article
12 February, 2008
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11 February, 2008
Blanchardstown Sinn Féin will hold a protest outside Corduff Sports Centre at today's launch of Sporting Fingal. Sporting Fingal is a council established soccer team with stadium and training academy costing tens of millions of euro. Read full article
11 February, 2008
Responding to the shooting of a doorman at the Red Cow Hotel at the weekend Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh called for a robust programme of civilianisation of Garda administrative duties to free up Gardaí to fight crime and drugs. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said drugs are the main contributor to Ireland's rising violent crime problem. Read full article
11 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has said the National Drugs Awareness campaign must be backed up with adequate resources for Garda Drug squads and for rehabilitation programmes. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the drug awareness must only be one part of a wider plan to tackle the drugs crisis. Read full article
11 February, 2008
Sinn Féin's Cllr. Daithí Doolan has called on Dublin City Council to, "clarify how one private consultant, MC O'Sullivan, has managed to receive €13m worth of contracts for one project." Read full article
8 February, 2008
Dublin South West Sinn Féin representative Seán Crowe has said that despite public assurances from Government Politicians that Tallaght Hospital will not be downgraded the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. Read full article
8 February, 2008
Over 100 Republican supporters gathered last night in The Clonsilla Inn to weigh in behind Sinn Féin's "Fightback" campaign. The meeting effectively kicked off the party's 2009 Local and European election campaign. Addressing the meeting, Mary Lou McDonald acknowledged that the party had "experienced a setback in last May's general election but that Republicans had dusted themselves down and were now focused on the 2009 elections." She also outlined the reason's for Sinn Féin's opposition to the upcoming Lisbon Treaty and announced that the party would be mounting a campaign across the state on the same scale as a general election calling for a resounding No vote. Read full article
7 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, speaking in the Dáil today, attempted to amend the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007 to include an offence of trafficking children for the purpose of exploitation for financial gain. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the current description of trafficking offences does not make it illegal to traffic children for fraudulent welfare claims or for the purposes of exploitative adoption. He welcomed the acknowledgment of his concerns by the Minister and the Minister's commitment to explore addressing those concerns. Read full article
7 February, 2008
Blanchardstown Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Donnelly has described as 'wholly unacceptable' the recent Green Bin collection service in areas of Blanchardstown, which went on past midnight. According to Oxigen, the truck had broken down during the collection service. At this stage many residents had taken their green bins back inside when the bins were not collected during daylight hours and they will now be forced to wait for a month to have them collected. Read full article
7 February, 2008
Blanchardstown Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Donnelly has called for vigilance after a number of local pensioners have been targeted by bogus callers in recent weeks. Cllr. Donnelly described the culprits as vile and cowardly for targeting one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Read full article
7 February, 2008
Speaking at today's National Forum on Europe gathering addressed by Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore on the theme 'Labour and the Lisbon Treaty' Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald accused the Labour leader of engaging in an exercise of wishful thinking, rather than acknowledging the reality of the Lisbon Treaty's objectives. Read full article
7 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Housing Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has called on the Minister for State with responsibility for housing to set in place innovative solutions to support people facing negative equity. Speaking in the Dáil today Deputy Ó Snodaigh said falling house prices are putting more and more people at risk of negative equity and repossessions are on the increase. Read full article
7 February, 2008
REPUBLICANS in Dublin 15 will this evening meet to map out a strategy to consolidate and build the party's support in the Dublin West constituency. What has become dubbed 'The Fightback', the meeting is seen as the the kick off of Sinn Féin's 2009 Local Government and European election campaign. The meeting will also be an opportunity to brief supporters on Sinn Féin's opposition to the upcoming Reform Treaty. Read full article
6 February, 2008
National Chairperson Mary Lou MEP has described statements made by Fianna Fáil TD Barry Andrews regarding Sinn Féin's President as juvenile and yet another example of a government desperate to avoid debate on the actual content of the Lisbon Treaty. Read full article
6 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has welcomed a reported seizure of over €10million worth of cannabis in County Kildare this morning and the arrest of four men in relation to the find. Speaking today Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the cannabis market makes up a huge portion of the illegal drugs market in Ireland and is directly linked to rising drug and gun crime. Read full article
6 February, 2008
Sinn Féin representatives Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Francie Brolly and Raymond McCartney today participated in a joint meeting between Leinster House party whips and the Assembly Committee on Procedures. Speaking prior to the meeting the Sinn Féin representatives said that they would be using the joint meeting to the raise the issues of the all-Ireland parliamentary forum and northern representation. Read full article
5 February, 2008
Dublin City Sinn Féin Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh has highlighted an anomaly in building regulations which has led to many apartments in Dublin being fitted with inefficient drainage systems. Current building regulations state that eight units can only be connected to a 150mm drain, however local authorities are currently connecting up to eight apartment blocks, which they consider to be one unit each, to this size drain. This is likely to lead to drainage problems in the future. Read full article
5 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald this morning launched Sinn Féin's alternative guide to the Lisbon Treaty. She said 'This referendum campaign is going to be very different to previous EU referenda. People know that Ireland's place in the EU is secure and that it is possible to support the EU and be against the Lisbon Treaty. People will be deciding how to vote on the basis of how this Treaty will impact on Ireland. This will inform the debate for the coming months." Read full article
5 February, 2008
Sinn Féin will today launch the first phase of the party's campaign against the Lisbon Treaty at 12:30pm in Buswell's Hotel. Read full article
4 February, 2008
Sinn Féin representatives Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Francie Brolly and Raymond McCartney will tomorrow (Feb 6th) participate in a joint meeting between Leinster House party whips and the Assembly Committee on Procedures. Read full article
4 February, 2008
Dublin City Sinn Féin Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh has attempted to put an emergency motion on the Clár for this evening's meeting of Dublin City Council to call on British Telecom to treat all of its employees on the island of Ireland equally. Currently British Telecom employs people in both the Twenty Six and Six County States but only recognises the rights of employees to join unions in the North. Read full article
4 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Councillor Christy Burke will this evening put an emergency motion before Dublin City Council's monthly meeting calling on Dublin Port Tunnel management to meet with Council representatives as a matter of urgency to explain the recent spate of tunnel closures. Read full article
4 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Dún Laoghaire representative Eoin Ó Broin has today blamed the government for the levying of water charges on schools and hospitals. Read full article
1 February, 2008
Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald will tomorrow address a gathering of thousands of activists in Paris at the invitation of the 'Committee for a Referendum'. (Editors, see note below for more details on the background to the event). Read full article
1 February, 2008
Sinn Féin Housing Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has called on the Government to put in place initiatives to ease the burden on those likely to face negative equity as a result of falling house prices. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the Government's failure to intervene when mortgage lenders were giving out irresponsible home loans to those desperate to get on the property ladder during the economic boom has led to a risk of negative equity for those who took out 100% mortgages. Read full article
1 February, 2008
Sinn Féin's Seán Crowe has described the delay in taking proceedings by South Dublin County Council to remove an illegal Telecommunications mast located opposite St Mark's Community School Springfield Tallaght as "unacceptable incompetence and neglect." Crowe claims he has made countless telephone calls on behalf of local residents and has copies of correspondence to South Dublin County Council's Enforcement Section going back over 2 years, in relation to this particular mast. Read full article
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