Dublin People - Appeals Committee upholds Duffy nomination

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Appeals Committee upholds Duffy nomination

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

KEN Duffy has won the Green Party local election nomination for the Swords ward following a closely fought selection process with Joe Newman.
Following a split 50/50 vote, the local branch of the Greens decided on their candidate by tossing a coin. Mr Newman subsequently appealed the decision to the party’s headquarters.
However, the appeals committee has announced that it has upheld the original decision.
Mr Duffy is currently preparing to work alongside Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Trevor Sargent, to represent the needs of local people and push for a greener environment.
“I plan to hit the ground running with my election campaign,” Mr Duffy told Northside People.
“I have lost some time because of this appeal.
“We are going to start planning our campaign around important local issues, as well as broader environmental ones.”
Mr Duffy said transport is a particularly huge issue around the area.
“There are issues with buses in Holywell and Applewood and the Greens can really help out these communities,” he stated.
“Youth issues are important to the party, along with integration, which is particularly important .”
Other issues that Mr Duffy hopes to tackle locally include education and getting school places for local residents.
He maintained that while the party should be seen as much more than just an environmentalist party, recent flooding should remind people of the dangers of climate change.
“We want to take action on local issues, but also to help contribute to stopping climate change by cutting back on carbon emissions,” he stated.
“The recent deluge of rain and the melting polar ice caps should worry people but we hope to encourage locals to do their bit to help the environment.”
Mr Duffy also believes that the party is now in a stronger position than ever to represent local needs since it entered the coalition Government, taking two senior ministerial positions.
“We have a good local support base, one of our biggest nationally actually, and that has been growing since we went into coalition,” he said.
“I think we have proved that we are capable of standing up for ourselves and getting things done; we have become serious contenders.”
Following recent electoral boundary changes, the Swords ward holds onto its five seats, but part of it has been removed, including Lusk.
“I believe that we should have kept Lusk and gained an extra councillor for the area,” added Mr Duffy.
“Swords has a growing population and needs more representation.”

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