Response to cllr John Gilligan from An Taisce Limerick Association re: the Opera Centre and LGC report on boundary extension

// October 26th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized

I don’t normally use the blog for local stuff but in this instance I’m going to step outside the norm. A former Mayor of Limerick stated last week that An Taisce were responsible for the failure of the Opera Centre to get off the ground. This is completely wrong and below is the text of a letter I’ve sent to the cllr seeking to correct the public record. He also repeated his claims on local radio, Live 95 later this week again getting the reality entirely wrong.

Cllr. Gilligan

I am writing with regard to your reported comments in the debate about the Limerick Local Government Committee report.

Specifically I have to take issue with the content of the paragraph that states “Independent councillor John Gilligan criticised the “ugly sisters” who supported Mr Brosnan’s recommendations. He said heritage group An Taisce take a “we know better than you” attitude, and they are “the main reason” why the Opera Centre has not got under way.“ and also the claim that we gave a complete endorsement to the LGC report and were acting as the LGC’s ugly sister. I will take this in 3 parts the Opera Centre, the Brosnan Report and your unwarranted criticism of a voluntary organisation in your city whose only remit, where Limerick city is concerned, is the perseveration of the best aspects of the city and its sustainable development for everyone that lives and works here.

Opera Centre

The An Taisce Limerick Association did not object to the Opera Centre at any stage in its application and we are certainly are not the main reason why it has not got underway. I’m sure I don’t have to go into the in and outs of the ownership of the Opera Centre, the saga of Anglo-Irish Bank, or the travails of great recession. The fact remains we are not part of any reason that the Opera Centre has not proceeded not to mind the “main reason”. That you would make this sort of wild and inaccurate statement, in a council meeting and for the public record, is very disappointing and a matter of considerable concern to us. If you have made the comments as reported in the Limerick Leader then we would expect that you would seek to correct the record at the earliest possible opportunity and ensure that they receive a degree of publicity at least equal to the original comments.

With respect to the original application reference number 05548 by Regeneration Developments the An Taisce Limerick Association did not make any submission to either the local authority or An Bord Pleanala.

With respect to the revised application reference number 08173 by Regeneration Developments, we made one submission in support of the development. A copy of our submission is available from the city planning department which as a city councillor I’m sure you have access to but I will include the following quotes from it for your consideration.

“We are broadly favourable to the general thrust of the development, and we believe that addressing the points outlined should allow it to proceed quickly to making a significant contribution to the city centre environment.“

“That we would be eager that the development should proceed quickly to the construction phase in accordance with the direction already given by An Bord Pleanála,” while noting “That the new design revisions are a significant improvement on the previous iteration” and that “that the increased openings onto and footfall for Patrick St. and Rutland St. are to be welcomed”.

You are free to read the rest of the submission in your capacity as a paid elected representative by requesting it from the planning department of the city council. There again, you must have done so already since you felt able to comment about it in public which begs the question of how you came to make this statement.

Brosnan Report

As regards the Bronsnan report, your claims that we, in any way, gave it 100% endorsement are also incorrect. In our submission to the LGC we said that our favoured option was a single strong city core that encompassed the entirety of the urban areas of the city, our boundaries were roughly contiguous with the boundaries the city council had previous indicated in its own representations to the minister and if anything were more extensive. This is detailed in our submission which is on the LGC website. I’m sure that you would as a paid elected representative passing comment on our position will have taken the time to read it. We did not suggest that the city and county be merged, in fact the opposite we suggested that if the LGC had a difficulty with a reduced Limerick County that it should be merged not with the city but with Clare and North Tipperary to form a hinterland authority. This received considerable public comment and reaction especially from Clare and Tipperary, you would have been aware of this too.

In speaking with the press after the Brosnan report was released, we noted that it did not deliver what we had wanted in it. We also noted that while it did not fulfil our ambitions for the city that nevertheless there were potentially positive aspects of the report. Our focus in saying this was to ensure that no one was under the impression that the report represented a win for the county position that a single authority was takeover of the city by the county. In truth the report leans more towards suggesting a take-over of the county by the enlarged city. That almost the entirety of the body of the current city councillors appears unable to see this raises a question mark over whether they have properly read the report at all.

What support we extended to the ‘Brosnan’ report was in respect of the recognition that the status quo is not longer an option and that it offered an opportunity to move away from the status quo for all that it offered anything else. We said in speaking with the Limerick Leader that if the choice was forced on us was to remain with the status quo or the report then we would go with the report. If we had our preferred option it would be to use the proposals in our submission that would have resulted in a strong authority for the city confined to the new extended city boundaries and with automatic revisions that would ensure all new medium density development at the fringes would be included in the city boundaries without a need for new commissions into the future. Evidently if forced into a choice you and most of your fellow city councillors would choose to stay with the status quo.

Your attack on An Taisce

To suggest that An Taisce was in anyway responsible for the delay in the development of the Opera centre or that we gave a ringing endorsement to the Brosnan report is wholly wrong. I have no problem with public and robust criticism of positions that An Taisce may hold but I will not stand by as a voluntary organisation, made up of people living in Limerick and who are committed to the prosperity of the city and the region, is used as a punch bag for what it has not done and not said, purely to provide political cover for elected representatives paid for out of taxes of the general public.

I believe that you served as an excellent Mayor and have long been a committed representative of our city. However, you are also capable of being wrong and on this occasion you were seriously wrong. Your misrepresentation of the positions of An Taisce is unbecoming your position as someone serving in the council chamber. If you do not retraction your comments then it will stand on the record that when the occasion demands it you will look for the nearest, convenient, unpopular minority and aim a kick at them for your own political ends.

Yours respectfully

Daniel K. Sullivan

Chair – An Taisce Limerick Association

P.S. As regards the reference to ‘ugly sisters’, while I don’t believe either of us will be winning beauty contests in the near future I think this sort of political grandstanding and terminology undermines the seriousness with which such an issue should be treated. When every issue involves disasters, decimation and ugly sisters and the cast and crew from Beauty and the Beast, it makes it that bit harder for the public to take real matters seriously. The city deserves better from all of us.

ENDS

Link to Limerick Leader article with cllr Gilligan’s comments

Press Release by An Taisce Limerick in respect of the Opera Centre development at the time permission was granted.

“An Taisce Limerick Association chair Daniel Sullivan has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála to preserve in part the existing character of the north city quarter in granting planning permission for the development of the Opera Centre. “It was always on the cards that An Bord Pleanála was likely to require that the historic facades on Ellen St. be retained given that their retention had been a condition of their original decision to grant permission. We’re pleased that Regeneration Developments eventually realised this and revised their application again on foot of their interaction with An Bord Pleanála.”

We would be hopeful that Limerick city council will grasp with both hands the opportunity given by the conditions from An Bord Pleanála with regard to their approval of materials to be used in the internal and external finishes to ensure that the quality of materials used in this development is consistent with the highest possible standards. This particular application also highlights the need for a more consultative approach in development. At no point in the entire process has Regeneration Developments sought to take advice from other local organisations or interested parties such as An Taisce. Perhaps if there had there been some engagement with local interest groups it is likely the protracted delay could have avoided. And contrary to what some candidates in the recent local elections had to say, these local groups were not blocking this development but were instead seeking that it should proceed according to the best possible standards. The city deserves no less and had those views been listened to the development would have proceeded much more quickly.

We would now look forward to seeing the project progress quickly to the construction phase, bringing much need employment and activity to the city. We remain open to engaging positively with anyone that has thoughts about contributing to the reinvigoration of the city centre. We would be hopefully that this development will re-energise those thinking of revamping this quarter of the city in manner that respects what is best about what we have and makes the most of the excellent location in the heart of the city.”

Why do we bother with colouring Diesel?

// October 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

With another report of a Diesel laundering operation, I’m given to wonder why do we bother with colouring Diesel and not simply let those who would use it legitimately claim back the duty that they would have to pay for the regular stuff?

After all the laundering appears to be very lucrative for those involved and it seems so much part of border culture that stopping people from buying it may be neigh on impossible.

How FG might go about smothering FF

// October 24th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // election 2010

Today’s poll in the Sunday Business post from REDC shows FF at 18% with FG at 31%, Lab at 27%,Sf at 9%, Greens at 4% with Independents 10%.

Such a result if replicated in a general election would lead to a result along the lines of that outlined here though it could be worse or better at the margins. That projection suggests

FG 61
LP 56
FF 27
SF 7
GP 3
OTH 11

The strong expectation from the potential election results based on this poll is that FG and Lab would form a coalition government after the election but there is another possibility. It is a possibility that I do not expect FG to really entertain with any seriousness or for FF to embrace but it would make the most sense from Machiavellian perspective and would lead to the development of the left right divide so beloved of the Irish commentariat. It won’t happen but here’s how it could.

FG should think about smothering FF by opting to include FF TDs in a coalition government and by not doing a deal with Labour. FG should look at what post the election result the deal with Labour has to offer and then simply turn around to FF and ask to if they would match or better it. There would have to be provisos.

Included in the provisos would be that none of the members of the current government or past FF lead cabinets would serve in cabinet, that FF ministers would be limited to only 4 ministries and none of those financial, education, defense and tourism come to mind. Doing this would serve to deny FF the open ground of opposition that would allow them to rebuild the organisation and revive the brand. This would be to enable the managed decline of FF as an organisation. FG could even suggest that the reason for doing this is that FF do not deserve to be able to simply walk away from the damage they have inflicted on the Irish economy and that they must be forced to serve more time in government shouldering the burden of cleaning up the mess they created.

Not all older people are in the same boat

// October 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // irish politics

There’s a new ad to defend the state pension (and all associated supports – see how they slipped that line in there). It’s slick, it tugs at the heartstrings and it will most likely be effective but it’s wrong in its demand that we view every last person over the pension age as being in the same situation. It’s that mentality that lead to us giving a medical card to everyone last person over 70 from millionaires on down at a time when children weren’t entitled to a medical card.

We pay people a state pension because it is the right thing to do and is a mark of civilised society. It is not, as people like to make out, a case of them getting their money back or anything of the sort, you don’t get it because you deserve it for living a productive life and where you contributed to your community.

There is a very dangerous emphasis in this petition on the idea that all older people paid for their pensions through their working lives. They didn’t. They paid for the pensions of those older people alive at the time they were working, far fewer of them than now, and at a comparatively much lower level than now too. And whisper it but many of them didn’t pay any PRSI contributions at all towards their state pension. We give it alike to people who never did a rap of work, and spent most of their lives in the pub and to those who shouldered huge burdens and hardly ever knew a days rest neither of whom would have made PRSI contributions. That isn’t why they’re getting the state pension, that’s not why they’re entitled to it.

We need a proper, grown up debate about pensions, how to provide for them and what they are intended to do. We’ve needed it for a long time and while in the middle of a recession is probably the worst place to have it, we still need to have it. That includes make the tax deductions for private pensions deductible at the standard rate rather than the higher rate of tax as suggested by Fr. Sean Healy, Fintan O’Toole and others. It also means that people need to realise that their state pension is not something that they paid for in its entirety but is instead something they contributed only a portion towards and that with the considerable increases of the last 15 years what they are getting is far more than they ever put into it. And it is from the coffers of those who are still working now that it is being paid not from some magical pot of money that was sent aside for them.

There is a myth in Ireland that all older people once they reach retirement age turn into magical folks, let’s remember that the highest cohort who voted for FF at each of the last elections were older people. Let’s remember that not all of them made Ireland what is today, and those that did didn’t always make it a better place.

Why not discuss the Comprehensive Spending Review

// October 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // ukge2010

Got sent this link yesterday and it seems like a good place to talk over some of the implications of the UK’s comprehensive spending review.

So visit CSR10 and have your spake!

Michael Noonan reacts to viewing the Department of Finance figures

// October 19th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

See here is Michael Noonan after exiting the Department of Finance having spent more time with the budget estimates -

It is believed he repeatedly shook his head saying only these words, “the horror, the horror.”

Seat analysis in an 81% election

// October 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Like all good like electoral nerds, I haver a model in my head of how the electorate will behave once the election is called. It’s a constantly evolving mass of numbers and projections.

My overview of the seat numbers that would be returned from constituencies based on the notion I’ve previously advanced of the 81% election (that basically FF, FG and Labour would finish on or around 27% each) gives me a result in which  FF get 43 seats, FG 58, Labour 45, SF 8, Independents 9 and thge Socialist Party 2. That is in the scenario where the Greens are completely unable to hold onto any seats. If the trio of Gormley, Gogarty and Sargent were able to shore up the bulk of their ’07 1st preference votes then Labour and SF would be down 2 and 1 respectively.

I hope to get a chance later in the week to go through each of the constituencies. However, I would note up front where I differ from prior analysis from Adrian Kavanagh is that I’ve not simply taken the raw numbers from 2007 and modified them to reflect the changed opinion polls but have sought to include the local factors and personalities that would be likely to be on the ballot paper. Much of this is necessarily in the form of what might be considered political soothsaying or as the esteemed Mr. Spock might call it “my best guess”.

Capping welfare – unplatable consequences

// October 10th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

I wonder how the coalition government in the UK especially the moralistic pro-life Tory tendency will react once stories start to emerge (and give it time but they will come to light) of women having terminations on the NHS because they wouldn’t be able to afford to bring up that child had they brought it to term because of the welfare cap.

The pro-life argument is very much a part of the Tory fold and it will make it interesting if the Mail or other papers were to run an angle down the line of the state forcing mothers to terminate who might not otherwise have not done so. I wonder if that’s something the late decision to adopt this measure and the child benefit restrictions missed as well?

Letter to Madam

// October 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // irish times, letters to Madam

The 81% election

// October 4th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // election 2010

It is entirely possible that all three major parties in Ireland could each poll around 27% a piece come the next general election. This would be due to the incumbency and name recognition factor benefiting FF and FG even if the polling as it currently shows meant that Labour were more attractive as a party but they lacked the local organisations to canvass and hadn’t got the right mix of candidates in some constituencies.

If they each got 27% dead on (which they probably won’t, but I’m going to use it for illustrative purposes) FF and FG would still finish ahead of Labour in terms of seats due to the usual seat bonus and also the likely presence of existing left inclined reps in some of the target constituencies. FG would probably end up ahead of FF due to Labour transfers trending that bit more to them rather than FF, and FF losing out cos pretty much no one from any party was transferring to them at all. This scenario could see FG on 55, FF on 50 and Labour on 45. with 16 seats divided primary between Sinn Fein and Mé Fein TDs. Those are estimates and it could even be worse for FF and that bit better for Labour and SF.

For Labour to get close to 50 seats they need to win one in at least every constituency and then in at least half a dozen cases win two seats or more. the latter is considerably more likely than the former. In the Donegal’s for example SF are more likely to be elected with Labour transfers than the other way around and or the likes of Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan could be just the sort of new style Mé Fein candidate that would appeal in Longford. There are probably a dozen or more constituencies where Labour has to go from under 5% to 20% to claim a seat and while that certainly can happen, it probably won’t happen consistently in every constituency. For every 3 seater where they got 25% and topped the poll, they’d get 15% and be the last man standing without a seat.

With that sort of result, don’t be surprised to see FF offer to support a Labour Taoiseach for a fixed period (3 years) provided some broad i.e vague budgetary strategy was adhered to while they choose a new leader and rebuilt, and for FG to tear itself apart after failing to make gains that appeared to be theirs for the taking.