Dublin People - Local anger at exclusion from bay task force

Home

News

Sport

Local anger at exclusion from bay task force

Thursday, 31 July 2008

ENVIRONMENTALISTS have described a new task force established to examine the future development of Dublin Bay as a “smokescreen” to facilitate development after activists in the area were not invited to join the recently formed group.
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, officially launched the task force two weeks ago after his party secured its creation through their insistence that it be included in the Programme for Government.
It has been charged with delivering a master plan, which will be a "sustainable vision" for the future use of the entire bay area, from Howth Head to Dalkey. It is to also consider any tension that may arise between commercial interests and the protection of the bay's heritage.
It will also make proposals for the extension or revision of existing amenity and wildlife conservation areas, including the Dublin Bay special protection area (SPA).
However, Lorna Kelly of the Sandymount and Merrion Residents’ Association, which was established mainly to protect the environment and local beaches in particular, said she was “extremely disappointed” her group had not been included in the task force.
She maintains that the Poolbeg peninsula, including Sandymount and Merrion strands, and parts of Dún Laoghaire are the only areas along the Dublin coast that are currently under threat from development.
“The only parts of Dublin Bay that are under threat from development are the entire Poolbeg peninsula and places such as Scotsman’s Bay in Dún Laoghaire,” she said. “The land in Poolbeg is still being zoned as if it were industrial land.”
She added: “We have these other people saying ‘we need an Eastern bypass’, which would eliminate the whole of Sandymount and Merrion Strands and Booterstown Strand. We feel the taskforce is a smokescreen so that they can go ahead with all these different proposals, which are totally against all environmental legislation.”
Karin Dubsky of the Dún Laoghaire based environmental group Coast Watch, which is a member of the task force, said that up to 30 different environmental groups from all over Dublin had contacted her last week to complain that they had not been asked to form part of the group.
“The difficulty with the public representation is, and I am not just talking about residents’ groups, is that we are digging ourselves a hole because we have not included the fishermen along the coast and all those other users of the shore,” she said.
Deputy Lucinda Creigh-ton (FG) demanded that Minister Gormley explain why there was no representation from the Dublin South East constituency on the task force.
“When he was appointed to the Government cabinet the people of my constituency rejoiced because they felt that their fears and concerns about the wonderful amenity of Dublin Bay would finally be allayed,” she said. “In fact the opposite has occurred.”
Patricia Potter is head of the Dublin Regional Authority, which has overall responsibility for the task force.
“The department set out a list of the people we should consider for this taskforce,” she explained. “Dublin Bay Watch and Coast Watch were the two NGOs that were recommended.
“We are not going to advocate any projects that are not already being proposed as Government policy,” she added. “We are looking to a master plan that is currently there and we can’t propose new developments.”
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said: “The Dublin Bay Task Force was intended as a focused working group of manageable size, and it is inevitable that not every NGO and residents’ group could be represented.”
He added that the task force had decided to open all future meetings to members of the public.
“The minister has a long-standing respect for the work of Lorna Kelly and her residents’ group, and hopes that they will make their knowledge and experience available to the task force through this process,” the spokesman said.

Huge growth in ladies’ football

Tuesday, 06 January 2009

There are now 57 clubs playing the game, fielding 231 teams in competitions. Two years ago Dublin Ladies’ Football introduced football at Under 10 level, and currently there are three...
+ Full Story

Records tumble at swimming championships

Saturday, 20 December 2008

The 23-year-old’s journey to the final was very impressive. Murphy recorded three new Irish senior records in his 50-metre breastroke heat (28.63), semi-final (26.74) and final (26.73)...
+ Full Story

St Brigid’s win battle of Clontarf

Saturday, 20 December 2008

The play-off arose when both St Brigid's and Scoil Ui Chonaill finished the league level on 10 points apiece. The exciting nature of the league was obvious with numerous high-scoring, close...
+ Full Story

Charity match proves a big success

Saturday, 20 December 2008

The Lee Kavanagh Memorial match in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital was held at Richmond Park, Inchicore, with a St Pat’s selection taking on a St John Bosco selection. With...
+ Full Story