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13th November 2012 • Volume 19, Issue 36 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • Tel: 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie
Demands For Demolition Of Swords Eyesores Councillor Tom Kelleher (Lab) is urging the County Council to regenerate Swords town centre and to demolish the derelict buildings adjacent to Swords Castle which are owned by the local authority. He described the buildings there as, “a blight on the landscape.” Kelleher proposed a motion at the recent Balbriggan Swords Area Committee Meeting, stating “that the Manager would draw up a plan to deal with derelict buildings in Swords and in particular, those owned by the County Council.” Local residents are familiar with the empty buildings on Swords Main Street and the disused, deteriorating buildings adjacent to the Castle at the top of North Street. Kelleher wants to see Swords continuing to improve, “We need to make Swords a pleasant and safe place in which to live. I am asking the County Manager to draw up a plan, to deal with those buildings in particular that are owned by the County Council itself” There is, of course, nothing new about these controversial derelict buildings. Some years ago, the Council had a great idea to regenerate this area and proceeded to buy Ryan’s pub and all the other buildings in this area as they became available, except one. Pat McGonagle They went all guns blazing and knocked down the pub, which unveiled a majestic view of the Castle Chapel to all and sundry. This has made such a difference to the look of the town, particularly to visitors. Inexplicably however, instead of continuing this great work, it all ground to a halt and we are left with the same eyesores as before, only this time they have depreciated more with the passage of time. Well established business families have suffered and it is generally believed that the dowdy appearance of the southern end of North Street and the northern end of Main Street has been a contributory factor in their demise. It seems strange that the wonderful mix of the award winning Council building and the Castle, fusing both old and new, has not been utilised to it’s fullest potential. Visitors from the western and northern ends of the town are greeted by the vision of these eyesores, which take away from the wonderful 12th century castle. It was always the plan that this area would be the ‘jewel in the crown’ for Swords, but not until remedial action is taken. Local solicitor, Pat McGonagle, who has a practice beside the aforementioned derelict buildings told the County Leader, “As an owner of a property in this area, I feel absolutely isolated by the action of the local authority and I find it extraordinary that the
By Patrick Finnegan & Celine Quinn properties are not being put to some use. When the council acquired them, they were not in such a bad state of repair. They were allowed to deteriorate. It’s an absolute disgrace,” he said. Kelleher draws attention to the huge potential of Swords Castle as vital to the town. While he acknowledges the importance of the Pavilions Shopping Centre in driving footfall to Swords, he argues that the Castle can generate significant tourism to the area. Kelleher is totally committed to making Swords as attractive as possible to our residents and visitors. He went on to point to the excellent result Swords achieved in the recent National Retail Excellence Awards. He told the County Leader, “We all recognise and celebrates Swords recent achievement in coming third in the national retail rankings and I pledge to work with other groups in the community to ensure that Swords will continue to improve its position going forward.” “This should act as a spur to drive us on to improve the appearance of the town, so that it continues to be an attractive place to visit and to shop in.” Until this happens, he points out that there are a number of black spots and eyesores in the town waiting to be tackled. The local Tidy Towns committee are getting uptight about this area now. I intend to ask the County Manager to set up a task force, including the Tidy Towns, the Council, the Chamber of Commerce and other interested bodies to see how we can improve shopping conditions and making this area a place where families can come and enjoy themselves.” “The derelict buildings at the castle are a
Eyesore In Swords Councillor Tom Kelleher is anxious to have the derelict buildings, which are owned by the local authority, on North Street, Swords demolished in order to open up a view of Swords Castle to the street.
blight on the landscape. This area should be the showpiece of the town, with the classic mixture of old and new architecture, like the award winning County Hall and the Castle itself.” He recognised that finances are a major consideration in bringing these changes to fruition, but nevertheless, he maintains that “financial resources are scarce, but we must find a creative way to develop the northern side of the Main Street to bring balance and style to this undeveloped resource.” Kelleher is convinced that demolishing these derelict buildings and opening a new vista to the Castle, will inject a new life into Swords. “It will improve traffic flow and the provision of a new playground there would be a tremendous asset to everyone. The existing playground is quite inaccessible and unsatisfactory. He described the potential benefit from opening up this area, as akin to an “untapped reservoir” of opportunity for Swords. It seems, however, that Kelleher’s hopes are set to be dashed by the Council whose reply to the motion
North County Says YES The citizens of Dublin North cast their votes to insert children’s rights into the Constitution in the Children’s Referendum on Saturday last, in what turned out to be a slimmer than expected victory for the Yes side. Dublin North constituents voted 64.83 per cent in favour of the amendment to the constitution, while 35.17 per cent voted against. The total turnout in the constituency was 35.59 per cent and this low turnout was reflected all over the country. A total of 24,873 voted in Dublin North from an electorate of 69,880 It is generally regarded that last
week’s Supreme Court judgement against the Government in respect of tax payers’ money being spent promoting the Yes side, adversely affected the turnout. The Dublin North vote in favour (64.83 per cent) is higher than the national average, which was 58 per cent. The highest Yes vote was in Dublin South, where the referendum was carried by 73.03 per cent in favour. There were Yes votes of 71.87 per cent in Dublin South East and 71.57 per cent in Dun Laoghaire. Speaking to the County Leader, Councillor Gerry Maguire (Lab) said, “The turnout was disap-
pointing both in the North County and nationally. The idea of having it on a Saturday may have to be reviewed. I believe the recent Supreme Court ruling relating to bias in the Children’s Referendum information booklet, further confused people. It may have been in a factor in the low turnout.” Speaking to the County Leader , Alan Farrell TD (FG), said “I would like to thank the tens of thousands of local people in Dublin North who took the time to vote on Saturday. It is welcome that, after 20 years of calls for this amendment that children’s rights are now at the core of our constitution.”
was that, “In relation to the Council owned buildings at North Street, there are no immediate plans to redevelop the area in question due to budgetary and other constraints.”
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