Pictured at the launch of the Summer Stars Reading Programme at Balbriggan Library last week are Laura Hartney (Balbriggan Library), Betty Boardman (County Librarian) and acting County Mayor, Cllr Gráinne Maguire with schoolchildren from St Teresa's NS, Balbriggan, Faith Brazil, Sophie McCormack and Ruby Whitehouse
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20th June 2017 • Volume 24, Issue 22 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Now Is The Time, Taoiseach GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO DRIVE METRO FORWARD During his hotly contested leadership battle with Minister Simon Coveney, newly elected Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar promised to give the green light to significant new projects. It has been reported that he intends to be true to his promise and to open the nation’s purse strings and to free up cash to “substantially increase capital spending.” With Varadkar as the first Taoiseach to represent a Fingal constituency, there will be high expectations that he will bring forward the disappointingly late construction start date for the longdelayed €2.4billion Metro North project to provide a rail link to Dublin Airport and on to Swords. It is planned to start in 2021 with a completion date of 2027, 10 years away, a time frame that many believe to be far too long and unrealistic, given the speed of change in this region, the fastest growing region in the State. Business people and locals alike believe that everything is now in place at the moment for Metro North to be given topmost priority. Not only is Varadkar a former Minister for Transport, but his choice as Minister for Finance, Paschal
By Patrick Finnegan Donohue also held the Transport portfolio. Consequently, both are intimately familiar with the necessity of Metro North being delivered at the earliest convenience for the economic wellbeing of Fingal, and the country as a whole. Minister Donohue is now Finance Minister, with the nation’s purse firmly within his grasp. He now is the sole decision maker in whether Metro North can be advanced as a matter of priority. Both Varadkar and Donohue are keenly aware of the increasingly vital role that Dublin Airport and the burgeoning town of Swords both play in the economic prosperity of the east Fingal region. Dublin Airport is where the vast majority of visitors and business people arrive in and depart from this country. On top of this, the award winning airport, which now handles almost 30 million passengers per year, is now one of the top tier airports in Europe. The only missing
piece in the jigsaw is the lack of a world class transport system, capable of providing connectivity and ferrying our vital tourists and business people to the city centre. In congratulating the new Taoiseach on his election, Tony Lambert, CEO of Fingal Dublin Chamber stressed the importance of Metro North to this region. He said, “The Chamber welcomes what will be a transformational new approach to political leadership, in facing the many challenges while seeking out the exciting opportunities that face our great country. As a Minister, Leo Varadkar led a number of strategic initiatives, which have greatly improved tourism, transport, health and sport. The new government’s prioritisation of major infrastructural projects augurs well for the start of the much needed and long delayed Metro North rail link from Dublin City to Dublin Airport and Swords,” he said. “As the accredited Chamber for Fingal, Fingal Dublin Chamber looks forward to working with the Taoiseach and his new team in supporting the economic development of our country and in particular,
the continued growth of the Greater Dublin Region in which this region has a major part to play,” he concluded. The impressive growth of Mr Varadkar’s constituency of Dublin West, deep in Fingal, can be attributed, in the main, to the growth and services provided by Dublin Airport in attracting investment there. Proximity to the airport and connectivity for business people, is always a real incentive for overseas companies to locate in a particular area, and Metro North will tick this box. Added to this is the fact that Swords is now officially the second largest town in Ireland by population. We now get the picture of how much the population landscape will change in 10 years time, the current completion date for Metro, thus emphasising the need for its swift delivery. This would have a hugely beneficial impact on local tourism, with the prospect of people from all over Dublin city accessing Swords easily and enjoying Swords Castle, and on to Newbridge House and Malahide Castle. The new Swords Cultural Quarter would benefit greatly from the influx of tourists. This would provide a gateway
Garristown Bus Connection ‘Not Adequate’ Local Green Party member, Joe O’Brien, along with many other political representatives, have welcomed the introduction of the new bus service that will connect the villages of Garristown, Ballyboughal and Naul with Ashbourne and Balbriggan. However O’Brien, who has pushed hard for a direct Bus Eireann connection between Garristown, Ashbourne and Dublin in recent years has said that the new service falls short of what is needed for the people and commuters of Garristown and Oldtown. Speaking to the County Leader, he said, “There were public meetings and a comprehensive petition put together in recent years by myself and locals of Garristown, which has proven that there is considerable demand for a regular and direct connection between Garristown, Ashbourne and Dublin City. I
By Rachel Wallace submitted all this evidence to the consultation process last year and I know a lot of Garristown residents also made submissions to this process.” He continued, “In addition, Bus Eireann did a test run for the route that would have seen a number of Bus Eireann services run through the village, thus directly connecting it with Ashbourne and Dublin City. Bus Eireann were positively disposed to this, but unfortunately, it has proceeded no further. This is despite the fact that it would have resulted in virtually no additional cost and ultimately would have brought more passengers to Bus Eireann and served the commuters of these areas.” The new bus service will run from Monday to
Saturday serving Ashbourne, Garristown, Oldtown, Ballyboughal, Naul and Balbriggan. The earliest bus on a Monday, at 6.50am from Ballyboughal, will serve as a commuter bus to Balbriggan train station from Ballyboughal, and Naul. But there is no such service at this busy commuter time for Garristown or Oldtown, thus leaving the commuters of these areas high and dry. O’Brien went on to say, “While I can see this service being of significant benefit to some people in the Naul area and to a lesser extent Ballyboughal, for the people of Garristown it simply does not address their long-proven needs. The connection with Ashbourne is welcome, but the earliest connection is 10am which is of minimal use to most commuters. I will be asking Local Link and the NTA to introduce
for tourists to visit Ardgillan and Bremore Castles further north as well. Both politicians know full well that the expeditious delivery of Metro North will have a profoundly beneficial effect on lives of the people who voted for them. In Minister Donohue’s constituency, the residents of Drumcondra and Grangegorman will be thankful to him for Metro North, which will ferry students to Dublin City University (DCU) and onwards to the airport in impressive time. Ease of access for students at DCU is vital for the economic wellbeing of this region and the importance of Metro servicing the university cannot be overstated. It is a well-known custom that incoming Taoisigh place a pre-eminence on high visibility projects in their own constituencies. One only has to admire the speedy delivery of a much improved N5 road to Castlebar, a mere few weeks after Enda Kenny’s elevation to the position of Taoiseach. Let us hope that both Taoiseach Varadkar and Minister Donohue will see the prompt delivery of Metro North, as the most important infrastructural project for the benefit of, not only Fingal, but the whole country.
earlier times for the connection between Garristown and Ashbourne that will be of use to school goers, college students and workers. Unfortunately, I see little benefit to Garristown of a bus connection to Balbriggan that takes an hour with the earliest service arriving at 8.45am.” He concluded by saying, “I would Joe O’Brien urge people from Naul, Ballyboughal and Garristown to engage with Local Link and give them detail about what kind of services they need. I am glad to see any new public transport service coming to rural Fingal, but there is some distance to go if the actual need that is out there is to be addressed. We should really be working harder to make public transport a better option for people.”