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LABOUR BROADSIDE AGAINST FG CANDIDATE |
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STATEMENT BY CLLR. BRIAN COLLINS
Labour Party Candidate for Meath County Council
Wednesday, 11th February 2009
Cllr Brian Collins, Cathaoirleach of Kells Town Council and a candidate for Labour in the forthcoming local elections has strongly criticized a Fine Gael candidate for the Town Council, Mr. John Callaghan, for stepping beyond the bounds of normal electioneering and showing a willingness to wreck good works and sell a negative image of Kells for the sake of publicity.
“Mr. Callaghan recent statement where he seemed to claim full responsibility for the Allotments scheme is just another in an ever more desperate attempt to grab some media attention. Mr. Callaghan must come to understand that just because he claims something in the media does not make it so. For the record, Mr. Callaghan is not responsible for the Allotments scheme. In September of last year Cllr Tommy Grimes proposed a motion to the Council that we should make land available on the land at Lloyd for an allotments scheme. The Council unanimously accepted Tommy’s motion subject to certain details, finance and sufficient interest. Running parallel to this a number of people in the town (Not including Mr. Callaghan) wrote to the Council seeking to set up an allotments project. Cllr Grimes called a public meeting and at the second such meeting a steering group headed by Andy Bogie was established. A substantial amount of work has been put in over the last few months. I would like to thank the members of the committee, our Town Clerk - Jarlath Flanagan, our Area Engineer Shane Carroll and the staff of Teageasc who have been assessing the land. I hope and believe that the scheme will go ahead and that it will be a great success and that every member of the current Council can be proud of their work in supporting it.”
“Mr. Callaghan’s statement on the other hand makes no reference to the work of other people. It asks people who are interested to contact him instead of lodging their names with the Council which is where they should register. Further and what might prove problematic he has announced costings and details that are not accurate, have not been approved by the Council and have never been submitted to the Council officials. Mr. Callaghan is more than prepared to hog it for political advantage and for the sake of a few column inches risk politicizing and possibly destroying the project. I understand that his statement was not endorsed by the Allotments Committee so rather than risk any set back or delay to the project I believe it is in the best interests of all concerned that Mr. Callaghan step down from the project. This is an initiative of a united Council and as such belongs to the people of Kells. I cannot understand how someone who aspires to be a member of the Council could so casually show such disrespect for it.”
“Mr. Callaghan has also claimed a number of other items are on his agenda. He has said that one of his priorities is ensuring that the rates collected in the Business Park should go to the Town and not the County council. I agree, as would every other Councillor who has served since the Business Park was established. However this requires a boundary change which is currently under review. How does Mr. Callaghan intend to make it happen any quicker? Why does he think we need a business park for the town if the current one is doing so well? He has said that the lack of a viable town centre and sports facilities are problems facing the town. Once again this is hardly original thought nor new to any agenda. The backlands and frontlands projects are at the end of the day in the hands of private consortiums; how does Mr. Callaghan intend to advance them? He speaks of the extensive dereliction in the Town, a matter the current Council has spoken about extensively and through the Derelict Sites Act we are pursuing; Can Mr. Callaghan make a quasi-judicial process with timeframes set down in law work faster? Mr. Callaghan intends to tackle the problems of limited employment opportunities in the Town. Well for those people who are currently out of work can he please answer how he intends to do that from the Town Council Chamber? He says he will no longer tolerate any further contravention motions from Meath County Council? Can he tell us how this lack of tolerance will manifest itself? ”
“When I was elected Cathaoirleach I promised my fellow Councillors that I would defend the Council against unfair charges and would, in this election year, confront anyone who was willing to run down the town for the sake of a few votes. I intend to honour that commitment. Mr. Callaghan seems to believe that politics in Kells began when he arrived here in 2005. Many of the ideas he promotes are already under development. We need to talk about the future not rehash the past. He has shown a willingness to muscle in on the work of others for the sake of a bit of media attention. I think that people want their representatives to be able to work together as a team to achieve the best result. For the better part of two years the lengthy process of putting together the Town Plan kept Councillors and Officials working late into the night and well into the morning. 14 councillors, including Mr. Callaghan’s Fine Gael colleagues, battled it out to produce a plan that in the main we were satisfied with and could stand over. Mr. Callaghan’s response is to rubbish it and reject the views of everyone involved in the process. How does he intend to produce a different plan without the support and respect of other Councillors? Mr. Callaghan is running for one of nine seats on the council, in my belief he is acting as though he intends to fill all nine on his own.”
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