Community Matters 28may2024

The main ideas from this information are that Community Matters is sponsored by Connemara Credit Union. The upcoming local elections will take place on June 7th, with 39 members being elected to the Galway County Council. The Connemara area will have nine representatives. Eight candidates are contesting the four seats in the Galway North constituency. Each candidate will outline their priorities and plans for the next five years. Tom Whelby, an Independent candidate, emphasizes his focus on personal canvassing and issues such as planning, roads, water, small businesses, and healthcare. Daniel Gleeson, a Green Party candidate, highlights his priorities of housing, climate action, and improving rural public transport. Manus O'Connor, an independent candidate, focuses on his background as an electrician and his commitment to a no poster, no plastic campaign. Community Matters is kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Ltd, incorporating Clifton, Tully Cross and Carna branches. Connemara Credit Union is here to serve the people of the Connemara area. Main office, Clifton and Tully Cross branch, 19521101. And a very good evening and welcome to this extended Community Matters programme dealing specifically with the forthcoming local elections. Now I'm sure as you all know at this point, 7th of June is polling day for local and European elections, and in Galway County we will be electing 39 members to the County Council representing seven local electoral areas. The Connemara combined will have nine representatives, four from Connemara North and five from the Connemara South constituency, and as you know the term of office is for five years. Now there are eight councillors contesting the four seats in the Galway North constituency and I'm delighted to say that we have all eight candidates joining us this evening. John will be joining us by phone and Manus O'Connora Independent is joining us by phone and we also have Green Party candidate Daniel Gleeson who's unable to be with us but has sent in a recording that we'll be able to play during the programme. So we've asked all of the candidates if they would prepare a three minute outline of what it is they think they can bring to the office for the next five year period, what their priorities are going to be and what they're meeting on the doorstep and how they're going to address those issues. I should mention that the candidates we have in the studio with us this evening are Gerry King Fianna Fáil, Eileen Mannion Fianna Gael, Seamus Walsh, former Fianna Fáil now Independent, Tom Whelby Independent, all of those of course are the current sitting councillors and Tom Healy, Sinn Féin, Christopher Branagh Independent and as I mentioned Manus O'Connora and Daniel Gleeson, you're all very welcome and really appreciate you taking the time off, I know you're probably busy out on the campaign at the moment. So we've just democratically did a raffle and the name first out of the hat to give us his bid and again just to remind you all we're asking you to stick with the three minutes. We've asked Tom Whelby who as I mentioned is a sitting TD, in fact he's been with the member of the council since 2004, he was elected at that time as a TD and has retained his seat in the 2009-14-19 elections and he's now going forward again in the 2024 election. So Tom over to you. Thank you Mary and thank you to the listeners. My name is Thomas Whelby, I'm based in Uchtedraird, I'm an Independent full-time councillor and this is my fifth council election, I was first elected in 2004, I'm the leader of the Independent group of councillors in Galway County Council for the period of 2019-24 and I'm a no poster, no plastic candidate and I've been out canvassing in the area, I do a lot on the basis I don't do posters, I do a lot of personal canvassing, I believe it's the best way that you can interact with your constituents and I've been out nearly for 10 weeks at this stage now because it's a huge area and like the issues that I suppose from one respect is there hasn't been an election either general or local elections for nearly four years and four months now so people are raising practically every sort of an issue with me on the door but in relation to the council work really planning and roads are major issues that I'm coming across. One thing that I am coming across substantially recently is water and the lack of potable water and you know it's becoming, it seems to be becoming a major issue both for houses and businesses in the area and like roads are always going to be a big issue as well and they are and but the upgrade of the N59 from Uchtorett to Bonehill, that's one thing that people are, want really to, there is full planning on it and it has been held up for a while and but we're hoping that that will proceed because you know the fact that it's gone through planning that we really need to get those sort of projects finalised because they're you know they're needed for connectivity. One thing I'm concerned about and even though it isn't a council issue, there is a lot of small businesses that are finding that they're finding it very hard to make ends meet really in relationships. Health is also a big issue and you know the Clifton Hospital initially was raised regular but thankfully that might be off the table now but the ambulance base and then the doctor cover in areas like Leenand where some of the elderly people have to go to Clonborough, those are areas and things that are being regularly raised with me. Tom thank you very much and well done keeping within your allocated time. This might be a time just as you mentioned the hospital there Tom to read out a statement that we got from the health board for this evening's programme to say that the Community Healthcare West can confirm that Clifton District Hospital reopened to admissions on the 20th of May. As you will be aware there was an issue of capacity from a staffing perspective and prioritisation had to be given to St Anne's Community Nursing Unit. We are conscious of the impact this closure had in the community and on older people who rely on this service. We are delighted that there are five planned admissions for this week which is at capacity due to available staffing levels. Our intention is to get the remaining two beds open as quickly as possible so I'm assuming that a lot of you may have had the concerns about Clifton Hospital on your doorsteps. I think our next candidate to speak is Daniel Gleeson and following that we have Manus O'Connor. My name is Daniel Gleeson and I am standing on behalf of the Green Party on Claims of Sloth. Apologies for not being able to make the debate in person this evening and my thanks to Connemara Community Radio for allowing me to include this message. I'm putting myself forward to provide the people of Connemara North with a choice for a different kind of council. One that prioritises building around our communities, taking strong climate action and taking strong progressive stances on a wide range of issues. I'm 39 years old which I believe makes me the youngest candidate in this election and as you might be able to tell from my accent I'm not exactly a local. I grew up on a farm outside Macroom in Cork and moved to Galway five years ago where I'm living now and renting with my wife and our newborn son. When I'm elected my top priorities will be first and foremost on housing. While this government has made some great strides in getting our construction sector moving there remains to be an awful lot more that needs to be done and the County Council can play a huge role in improving the stock of affordable, social and cost rental housing that's available to people who are trying to start a family. In particular I'll be looking at following through on the new vacancy strategy that Galway County Council has put forward because obviously one of the cheapest and most efficient homes that we can build and get into action is going to be the ones that are already there but vacant. I'll also be looking at housing in terms of how can we build our amenities and our infrastructure to enable not just housing being built but communities being built, ensuring that those housings are built with communities in mind. So focusing on investments in water infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure, sports grounds, safe crosswalks and footpaths for kids, for children, making sure that our communities and where we are choosing to live are livable spaces for people. Second priority of course will be on climate action and biodiversity. All parties in the Dáil a few years ago voted some very ambitious climate legislation spearheaded by the Green Party. We're very proud of that and it's still going to be however a tall ask for the County Council to reach some of the targets that we have to reach over the next five to ten years. In order to do that I think it is vital that the County Council has several green voices on it that are going to be holding the executives feet to the fire on this issue and making sure that we hit those goals and hit them in a way that will benefit our communities and things in particular I'm looking at the rollout of EV charging networks, improving our recycling facilities and just yeah. The third thing I'll be looking at is really looking at trying to improve and build upon the incredible work that's been done with Local Link over the past few years. It's no coincidence in my mind that the largest investment in public rural public transport in this country has come under a green minister for transport and while the service may not be perfect in many areas there are routes now serving all parts of rural Connemara that simply did not exist three years ago. I would say it is my role as a councillor to be providing good detailed local on the ground feedback to the ministers to the departments to try to keep those services improved and make sure that they are maintained no matter what shape the next government takes. Thank you and I hope that you will keep Galway going green by voting for me in number one on June 7th. So there you had as I said a pre-recording from Daniel Gleeson from the Green Party who wasn't able to join us this evening he of course is a new candidate as indeed is our next candidate Manus O'Connor who's an independent. Thank you Mary. My name is Manus O'Connor I'm a 51 year old electrician I believe now that I'm the second youngest running candidate at the moment this is my first time running as a candidate. I was born and raised in Rosmuck which is in the Gaeltacht and I spent eight years working in London. I'm an electrician by trade and now I'm currently living an hour here in Carna with my partner Barbara and daughter Saoirse. I am also doing a no poster no plastic campaign same as councillor Welby there. There's a lot of issues coming to me at the doors there planning would be I suppose number one there a lot of issues there with planning a lot of red tape one guy in particular in Carna there had issues with his planning and Irish Water requested 88,000 euro of him to connect him to water which is scandalous. I have other people in that did get planning recently and they have to pay 2,400 to the council for local amenities. Now this house in particular which has been started this week his nearest footpath would be three or four miles away and the nearest street light is two and a half miles it's not even working at the moment. Another issue coming up there is footpaths. I would say in Rosmuck in Kilkern there's an area there of about 150 meters in Kilkern land has been given to the council and for free by a gentleman there and the council haven't done anything about it in the past two years. In Carna there a footpath again not fit for purpose another footpath there in Carna needs repairs badly needs repairs I sent an email to the council and the only reply I got was that they had no funding to do so and that if a councillor could put their own motions of money in place or they could you could apply for a grant I can't understand why the engineer couldn't apply for a grant but anyway and in Clifton then there's a footpath badly needed from Clifton Glynn to meet up with the other footpath there across from the march and a footpath from the playground to the town and I requested a couple of speed ramps there as well that was asked to be by residents of two housing estates Sullivaney in Clifton and Garvey O'Buchan in Carna and I was told by a senior engineer in Galway County Council that the County of Arranmue in this district do not insert speed ramps on public roads which I find very very strange now also to be in as well was parking on the footpaths on sale days etc this is a big issue where kids can't cycle on the footpaths and parents obviously cannot push buggies and if a wheelchair needs to be used on the footpaths they'd be not usable. Public lighting of the housing estates especially in Torngool will be there as well there needs to be additional there's a couple of pots left there for two streetlights they've been left like that for the past 15 odd years. Okay Manus you're close to your time now so we can line up. One more thing and there are six vacant homes there in the council estate in Clifton which is appalling and everyone crying out for social housing at the moment and six vacant houses there now I'm not elected a candidate so I don't know why we have vacant houses in Clifton but they look to be vacant for the past 18 months and thank you Mary. Thank you Manus. That's Manus O'Connor who is an independent and our next candidate who will speak is in fact I think probably the longest serving candidate we have with us voted first in 1999 as I said as a Fianna Fáil councillor and continued right through 2004, 9, 14 and 2019 now standing as an independent Seamus Walsh. Thank you and good evening my name is Seamus Walsh and I am running on behalf of the Independent Ireland Party and I have been a member of Fianna Fáil but indeed I have been independent before that and my main focus in politics has been on planning and when I look at the Connemara housing planning and road survey that was done in this area and I've gone through the 218 I say people that had problem with planning certain things were staring me in the face there was dissatisfaction with the councillors and there was dissatisfaction with the county development plan and there was a feeling there with some of them and I went to page 25, 26, 29 and in those areas you can find where people have accused us and you know from their point of view I can see it they have accused us of not rattling the cage not taking on the planners and not showing how we are unhappy with the way we've been dealt with and the way our people now some of the councillors like the Green councillor actually agree with the planners and they are quite content but that's not true in my case I most certainly rattled the cage it has been my hallmark for the past 25 years I have always taken on the contentious issues in 2019 we faced down the direct provision centre in Uxraert more recently a year and a half ago we faced down the council officials when they came with their traffic light scheme for Uxraert which would have been a disaster to you here in this area because if you were coming home on a Friday evening and you're stuck for a half an hour in Uxraert on top of your hour and a half of a journey from Galway you would have enough of it so my track record in Roscahel when I stood against the eyepass and when we have suffered the consequences for it and when we were castigated within the Fianna Fáil party I took a stand to say I will not be a yes man and I will stand for the people of this area my area in Roscahel in that particular case but even this area and throughout Connemara I have never refused to help anyone with their planning application I have never refused to go into Galway county council and represent them I have never refused to look for a meeting with the planner and in the area of unfair refusals I firmly believe that the old system we had four years ago where the councillor put in the prior notice the councillor was told if there was going to be a planning problem he contacted the man indeed and we all knew the man in place I'll mention our names but there was one particular man or point of contact in the council we contacted him we extended the planning for six months we took the problems around that planning we dealt with them and I can tell you that three out of five cases were granted now direct refusal are coming out one after the other and I think that is very very unfair because we're hearing that there's a staff shortage in the council we're hearing that there are problems with housing throughout the country yet a six that would not cost money I want another 10 if you give it to me please but we have we have a good time to come back to you thank you thank you very much that of course there was Seamus Walsh and I'm sorry Seamus I hadn't I when did you move from being independent to the independent Ireland party first of all I was independent elected in 1999 I topped the poll actually in 2004 in the election as an independent and then I joined Fianna Fáil and my vote went back that time by 500 from once so it cost me to be a member of the Fianna Fáil party but I was willing to pay that price hoping that working with the group and I have worked and Gerry King is here beside me and we have worked very very well together and I have no complaint of the Fianna Fáil councillors but unfortunately the treatment we got in Roscahel and the way that they castigated us on the television and the radio and the way Micheál Merton spoke about us I couldn't be seen to let down my people and stay within a party that was treating us so badly but when did you join with the independent Ireland party roughly February of this year okay February March as it was formal we were in contact in the in your in the listing you're down as an independent for the council as opposed to independent Ireland I was a Fianna Fáil no I was a Fianna Fáil member yes until we said two months ago okay okay so just a clarification there so it's not independent though it's independent Ireland party what's the independent Ireland party yes and that's who I've registered as that's what should be on the ballot paper independent Ireland okay thanks Seamus thank you very much thank you and um Eileen Eileen Manion is our our next Eileen is a is a sitting councillor for Fianna Gael elected first in 2009 and has retained her seat in the past two elections Eileen good evening Mary and good evening listeners um I don't know where I come in the age category here but I'll say my mother a grandmother but I'm fit and energetic and looking forward to the election on the 7th of June um over the past 15 years I've worked hard to deliver for Cunnamara among the projects I've been instrumental in delivering include the new school building for Clifton Community School car park and traffic management plans for Clayton Village a wastewater treatment plan for Clifton I've always always supported the delivery of social housing across Cunnamara particularly proud of the 26 housing units at Garthna Glock which was previously St Joseph's Orphanage which they've derelict for years I've worked hard to ensure the building was put back into use I'm delighted that many have called it their forever home social housing services also being delivered in Lowndes and in Clatterfack but more social and affordable houses need to be delivered I've advocated retention of services Clifton District Hospital and delighted that it is open to admissions at last week I will continue to work to build on the services at the hospital including the recruitment of a sociotherapist and bring back extra facilities to reduce the need for people to go into A&E for minor injuries I also want to ensure the delivery of the proposed 40 bed community nursing unit which is at present going through planning and 34 million has been allocated for that development I have assisted many people to build homes on their own land which I see as a basic right and I will continue to help I want to continue to help local people build homes to ensure the viability of the area I also believe the building of one of rural social homes on the applicant's land should be brought it brought back to facilitate people who have have land and who are eligible for social housing so that can remain in their community since my election to go a county council I've worked to progress the upgrade of the N59 over four kilometers upgrade at Monmouth Cross being carried out and a road widening project here at Clatterfack Village I want to continue to work to ensure the continual progress and I want to see delivery of the ring road which is vital for the people of Connemara further funding is required for our local and regional roads and I want to see increased funding for our non-local roads to be upgraded which has been a huge issue on this canvas investment is needed for our local beaches and amenities to provide toilets and car parks I understand the need for tourism and small businesses farmers and fishermen I want to continue to fight to have their voices heard the issues that have come up in the doorstep over the last number of weeks have been the local link bus service from Carrow to Clifton and rural bus service in general while there has been increased bus services and the rural link as the local link bus isn't satisfactory road safety is another issue pedestrian crossings are required traffic and canning measures and the waiting times for operations have become an issue and the race review that was carried out in Galway County in the last year there was no race review carried out for several years so many businesses were hugely impacted with a huge increase in rates so that's something that's a concern to people again once off rural housing planning commission is a regular on the doorstep and it's a concern to everybody it's so important that we have local people who want to live and continue to live in the area that they can get planning to remain in the area so I'm asking for your number one vote on the 7th of June so that I continue my work thank you thank you very much right on time and obviously we'll be going back to a lot of issues as many of them are common issues to all of you but our next candidate is also a sitting councillor that's Jerry King from Fianna Fáil who was first elected in 2019. Thanks very much and thanks everyone for the chance to speak here this evening. This day most of you know that I live in Arraslanan where I grew up all my life and have been there most of my life for a year in New York so I look at living and working in Connemara and very involved in sports up through the years you know you get an understanding of the importance of the community and the need for a good strong representation of the people and really that's probably why I put my hand up and said I would have gone at the Galway County Council in the first place that I would like to represent the people really of the area to the best of my ability so I have just completed my first five year term as a local Fianna Fáil county councillor and that has been both interesting and challenging in its own ways and in that term you know I've served as chair of Connemara and currently chair of education awareness panel of the joint police committee on the roads and transportation SPC and I'm a member of the islands committee so that has really helped out to widen and confirm my knowledge of the needs and the priorities of the people and the area of Connemara north which as you know is a widespread geographical area with a lot of issues because of its vastness really so look at the way we've we're all coming up I think with pretty much the same issues around the door but what I have come up with um and what I would like to bring forward maybe are the provision of affordable housing you know talking to couples that are getting a very very difficult to access funding for housing and you know the price of housing both keeping them out of the range the planning permission issue um to me I don't know what about the rest of the council if this is coming up really on every second or third door services where you know the continued push for the health service development a lot more have the have the services coming coming out west instead of going east all the time prioritization of water and wastewater services um continued progression of the n59 which was a um one of the early members of that back in 2016 to start up the campaign ongoing support for family farms in Connemara we see that as a a way forward for to keep a lot of young people in the area if they could live live on get planning on their lands um fibre broadband accessibility you know I am mobile coverage I'm six miles from Clifton and in that journey I lose coverage three times maybe four times on a bad day not not good enough in in 2024 yeah you how we cannot develop an area like that going forward um the greater community communities and the Irish language through investment and growth that needs to be looked at um certainly spending time down there canvassing you know they're they're looking at the serious depletion there and that's in our Connemara north lea uh continued work with supporting communities and youth organizations um very involved in a couple of the the sporting communities there and I think you know we need probably need a bit more time with the youth organizations as well. Gerry thank you very much right on on time again and um we have two further candidates who to talk to um to the next one is Christopher Branagh Independent and if I'm correct Christopher you're standing in both Connemara North and Connemara South that's right Mary thanks for inviting me and thanks to Connemara Community Radio provide a very important service my name is Christopher Branagh that's Christopher Walsh in English and I am running for the North Connemara area and South Connemara area largely because I'm a little bit upset by the division to two municipal districts and the fact that that division has sliced the Gaeltacht in half um my family originally were from the Mae Cullen area I think they migrated to Rosmuck in the late 1700s uh so I'd be the fourth generation there so we've got about 300 years under our belt give or take um we had a business back there a pub and a shop and uh undertaker and various various things over the years and uh unfortunately and sadly they are closed down so I can see how the area is deteriorating uh myself and my wife and children returned from the US and back in the 80s and we did our best down there but all I've seen in the intervening years is the area going down and down um whether or not any of that can be solved is it's a tough question um I've been pushing for the notion that Connemara should be a county on its own and um there's many reasons for that I think that we are quite different to the east side of the county totally different priorities uh we if there's any hope for Connemara it'll probably be more on the tourism end of things the small farms are surviving mainly on subsidies I don't think there's a viable farm now I might be challenged on this but I don't think it's a viable farm with after the removal of all subsidies so it's that kind of it's a it's an area I think that needs special attention it should be declared a full emergency zone I think now there are suburbs for out from Galway but they're you know depending on Galway um there's there's a number of things that could have helped us maybe the ring road around Galway central artery out between the N59 and the R336 that could have assisted commuters who have to go to Galway for employment most of the employment in Galway city you'll notice on the east side of the city um we have a unique setup here like we're blocked by the carib we're blocked by Galway bay we've got one way out through Galway we're depending on people being able to come into us as well as tourists and so on we've got a great tourist product here I don't think it's been properly exploited I believe that should Connemara County Council be established a lot of things should be consolidated underneath that county council they are too many people in charge of too many different things Irish water I think was a mistake the county council should still be in charge of water so we'll come back to that and waste management and so on and so forth thank you very much thank you and Tom you are our final candidate that's uh Tom Healy who is standing for Sinn Féin was elected in 2014 lost the seat in the following election and is now standing again for Sinn Féin in 2024 last but not least hopefully my name is uh Tom Healy I come from Clegane where I currently live I basically work from home at the moment which is absolutely brilliant in the sense that there's a bit more opportunity for people to remain in the area but I also count myself as one of the people who can't afford to build buy or rent as was mentioned there around in 2014 Connemara was just one constituency back then because of that we were able we were able to get the seat and basically in 19 after the division was a little harder but we're hoping for better results this time during my time in the council I carried out quite a bit of work I worked extensively on piers I helped with repairs in Carna, Cashel and Roundstone as I focused on school safety outside schools with a speed bump outside Clegane school as well as donating a notice of motion money to the road improvements outside Letterfrack school I remember the N59 campaign was large back in those days and to be honest I'm sorry to have seen it gone over the last five years but basically we did get the improvements from Lamb Cross towards Bunnekill and it's a bit of a pity that planning and NPWS is holding up the ongoing works from the Bunnekill towards Uchtdorad but hopefully that will be resolved soon I'd also like to see the planning resumed for the from Lamb Cross to Clifton like I was saying that two years I was saying that in 2017 and I'm sad to be here in 2014 I had it during my time in the council I also helped people with planning as when as the issues arose I was able to contribute to the Clegane traffic plan and as well as that plenty of constituency work is mainly around helping people fix up council houses and that kind of thing since 2019 I've been involved with the Clifton Sports and Leisure Centre with Cherry and I was on the Clifton School of Border Management up until 2022 so the issues on the door planning, housing, housing, housing, housing it's just enough you know like at the end of the day I'll just I'll go through a couple of quick notes right so basically you know we've been told that there's more and more housing on the go if you look at the statistics that the CSO use they use new ESB connections the level of ESB connections in 2022 was the same as 1995 so I don't want any government parties telling us that there's great work going on in housing the stats say new connections are the same as 1995 and let no one tell you otherwise and if people don't want to believe that then listen to the bottom line the market says everything the price is everything the price is the sum of all information at any one time and rents and the house prices are only increasing. Thank you all very much indeed and thank you for all being so conscious of time appreciate that and just maybe if we go back to this define to what you mentioned there Tom that all of you have mentioned about housing the role of the council is pretty limited though in terms of housing it's only to do with affordable housing so isn't that great and with planning permission so it's not and if I as you were the last Tom before like what if you were to be elected this time what can you actually do to improve the situation with housing? Well and I think James will actually kind of strike that our main mandate from the council primarily rests around planning you know now we like when I was on this council and the councillors here in Fairness everybody did advocate for more funding from the department for housing we never got it you know and you know there's mention of the derelict houses in Clifton I'll tell you why that happens it's the same as it was in 2014 when I was in there the housing department has to put an application together send it to the department to the environment and if they're lucky to get money back in six months now it's 10 years later and we're in the grips of a housing disaster and there's still no priority there's no rush they don't care and that hasn't changed in Iota. Who don't care? The department of housing the process hasn't been sped up. So you think the problem lies then within the department of housing as opposed to within the council? It lies within the state as a whole and we haven't declared a housing emergency meaning that every resource in the state can be targeted towards fixing the one problem and like the president of fairness pointed this out about what two two and a half three years ago president said it was a disaster it was called for an emergency at that time and you know nothing has changed since like I'll just have to keep coming back because people will argue that's getting better it's getting better it's getting better the price on the market is the bottom line it's the open market the price is the sum of all information any one time and if the price hasn't fallen then it shows there's nothing in the pipeline and as far as market's concerned it doesn't see things getting any better. Tom you also mentioned planning is coming up the other time I should say Tom Welby yeah you mentioned planning is you're getting a lot of that on the door but you're an experienced councillor you've been there why is it not getting better Seamus Walsh mentioned earlier about you know bringing back the prior notice or setting up some kind of pre-application consultation why can't that happen? Well there is actually a process similar to the prior notice in place now where one councillor can have themselves down representing their constituents on the planning application that has only come in recently because we have a new CEO in place now but you know unfortunately in Connemara you have kind of various issues in relation to number one you know you can have a problem with roads number two then you can have a problem with EPA I mean the site conditions can be very bad and they can vary I mean I would have dealt with an awful lot of plannings in Minn Viall where site conditions are very bad and that's but that's for the one-off planning but in relation to housing you know with the council Galway County Council and I'm there since 2004 first policy committee I was on was housing policy and at that stage we were getting substantial money from the from the department in the region about 40 million and we were building housing and then the department said look we're going to reduce your money because we don't need to build any more houses because those houses you know a lot of houses built but unfortunately they weren't in the right places but we do deal with with housing applications for social housing but I must say I have to say the most atrocious decision I've ever came across in my 20 years was when we had a planning application for 31 social houses refused in my colon and you know council Welsh voted against that I thought it was the most atrocious decision that 31 county council houses were refused on basically very spurious grounds like that the site floods and I mean it the site no more floods than the man in the moon and you know I think you know these are the things that that's why that's why we have a glut our problem with housing we now have a homeless problem I've never dealt with a homeless problem up to the last two years it's happening in Uptown it's happening in Clifton and you know we need a social housing built we also need private houses built we need affordable housing but the affordable housing is being dealt with with a document that was that was produced in 2021 that is completely out of date because inflation has gone through the roof in relation to the cost of building it's just it's extremely expensive at the minute to build. Seems you mentioned Seamus there Seamus Welsh about that refusing the 31 social housing in my colon do you want to outline why you were opposed to that? Well there were reasons for the refusal right and first of all the local councillor Noel Thomas was totally opposed to it on the grounds that the local community in my colon were unhappy if you look at the situation because they're getting their own fair share of social and affordable housing and council housing at that time. When you say fair share do you mean too much or too little? Too much at the time about 140 houses was being earmarked for it if you look at all those new houses on the right hand side they're all social houses but there was a bigger reason for it as well that that is in a flood plain and that site does flood and it floods out and goes back into the park near Gwiair and I challenge anybody if you are driving down to my colon and you come to the traffic lights you turn right just before the white gables and go in between the Helm Barlelly the old mill there the big stone building go in between that there's a lake of water in behind you that whole area is a flood plain and the drainage has never been dealt with it and one of the major things that we felt as councillors was that if that was a one-off house that was being applied for and if there was a problem with flooding on it we'd be refused out of faith yet the council engineers could come along like they did with IPAS like they did with trying to bring in 72 people in on top of the North Beacall they totally throw out the rules and it suits themselves and councillor Welby knows well he knows well the reasons why. We won't rehash that. No no but I didn't hash it now and thank you but what I want to clarify to you is right I made a statement here earlier you see and it got lost in the ether there I made a statement I'm standing by it right that the planning system in Galway County Council is broken because of the prior notice. No but I'll explain it to you because I can do it for you there's no need to explore it any further this will be the truth right we do not have the prior notice back what we have is a director of services who doesn't want to be hassled by a load of councillors coming in so he's only allowing one councillor to comment on the file and attach their name to the file you still cannot extend the planning if you have a problem you still cannot solve the problems within the eight weeks you have to wait for the eight weeks to happen you have to wait for the planner to make the decision when you arrive into the planning office to try and do something with it you're told sorry that's signed it's gone out it's gone in the post it's refused what I'm saying is there was a time and there should be a time and it's not that long ago and which planner in the council which was the genius that decided to get rid of it in the middle of a housing crisis who decided to do away with a perfectly good system the system was the man in charge of administration in there would ring us and he'd say there's one of yours here your name is down here first do you want to extend it these are the reasons yes please send me an email extend it for six months you get a report you bring that board back to the engineer I'm an engineer myself I'm dealing with many planning but you bring it to the engineer the ceiling planning whether it's me or otherwise and you deal with those problems in most cases they could be solved because what's happening is there's a pressure from the green party to refuse one-off housing there's a pressure from the government to deny it one-off housing out the country and the planners are refusing them immediately as opposed to and if it came up in your it came up I didn't make this up this is in the the survey from your own people from our own people they are saying that they're finding it on the doors on top of that we've been forced to have small little houses that don't suit you can indeed yeah I have to say that I'm in the council 15 years we never had prior notice in the last 15 years and what we have now as council ready said there is no there wasn't prior notice in my 15 years okay okay you had enough time you had time now okay and I totally agree and when you and councillor king and councillor dahlia coola and councillor mother corinne and councillor of the fifth councillor councillor no thomas opposed against 32 sorted houses in my country I actually cried at that meeting because there were no crocodile tears I actually I actually said at that meeting do you not have people do you not have people coming to you every day looking for looking for a house a roof over their head and councillors had an opportunity to to vote on a planning application for 32 houses and you voted against it which is appalling and uh so you talk about planning and housing everything you know you deprived 32 households of a house and that's that's no getting away from that just go back to planning what I will go back to planning um and the chamber and we are there was an event in the station house recently which can actually really record it and and say it was very good but the director of planning that night introduced a new portal which the first step for going for planning is to go on this portal to to you can you can draw your site in you will get you will get an email outlining um your site you know if it's an SAC if it's a fraud risk all those things and then you take that and you look through it and see if that site is good for planning then he also said a pre-planning meeting is a must and I know during COVID there was no pre-planning meetings and I think there was a lot of refusals during that period which impacted hugely on people and then to listen to to the advice given they're the first three steps I thought before you go for planning now there is I think there's over 80 percent of one of rural houses being granted planning at the moment but for the 20 percent or whatever has been refused that's no good to them it is heartbreaking for anybody who goes for planning and being refused it I have no idea what it all the time but there are a lot of houses built as well and my concern is on the doorsteps one or two people said to me so there's no one off planning anymore in Connemara there is absolutely it's just it's site specific it depends on your site depends on the soil quantity spent on the on the road the site distances there's a lot of conditions you have to meet to get planning but I would say to people there absolutely is planning being granted in Connemara and to go for it if you can but I'd also say that it's you know there are other schemes as well like the Creek Cornhill scheme which for derelict houses there's a scheme there and we should come back to that because derelict houses but I do I want to just bring Jerry in here Jerry King are you as soon as you were also on the council in this particular vote and I don't want to get fixated on that one but just as an example and the idea that I the impression I got from you Seamus was saying that by having too much social housing that there was something about the people who are in social housing that wasn't a desirable development what was your position on on that particular thing Jerry? Yeah we voted against that at the time and the councillor in the area showed us real concerns about that site we didn't just come in and say that we'll tick a box here and we're going to vote against this of course we realised those 30 houses not going to be built we also looked at what was presented ahead of us and it did show because I remember clearly that that site was prone to flooding there was also no amenity services in the area Michael he had outlined this specifically to us about the number of extra families coming in there wasn't a basketball court of sacrifice there was nothing available to them to meet up these extra houses as well so that was the particular grounds and why that was voted against but it was through the local councillors had real issues with the 30 houses there. Any other real issues? Well the site was a flooding site. If you're going to South of Paris and putting forward a site for 32 houses that would flood. We were showing that and the amenity services was up in there in that village. Can I just make one point it's very easy if the people anybody that wants to look into this they drive up to my colin road now and directly beside the site about four meters lower there's a supermarket being built and I mean it is it is incredulous to think that this site flooded. It is absolutely crazy I thought it was the worst decision ever and I think realistically you know 31 houses would have taken families from Mouctairard in Connemara Centre and then freed up a rental space so I think you know. I just want to go back to that you just brought it up because I want to fixate on one issue Tom Healy I mean there is there is the issue of climate change and there are targets to be met and the council has a role in that. The targets aren't being anywhere near met and Moontop housing is one of the issues that's been highlighted as posing a problem with whether it's to do with sewage or the EPA recently did a survey where 45% of sewage tanks did not meet the safety standards which therefore threatens water quality which also has come up on the doorstep so where where do you and Sinn Féin stand on how we meet those targets and what would the role of the council be in ensuring those targets are met assuming you agree with with the need to meet those targets? Well look you know where I'd start with climate change I think it'd be better addressed I can't understand how physical scientific process that is climate change that is climate science it's amazing to me we're going to stop climate change by taxing it out of existence we're going to get rid of climate change by taxing old age pensioners we're going to get rid of climate change by taxing people who are going to work we're going to get rid of climate change by making people pay more money to be warm in their house and well can I just stop there as well yeah no I just need to finish the point and we're doing all that well there's no additional carbon taxes on private jets and you can go on flight radar and you see thousands of these things in the sky they burn more than a single family living in a house for a year and look in terms of addressing it right the key the key thing is there are larger polluters that's where our onus needs to be you know there's this issue that you can tax it out of existence by kicking the regular person on the road on the ground you don't think there's a role for the individual and for the councils well look I'm a bit of a loss for the councils because like somehow you know people are attacking one-off housing as if it's um you know carbon unfriendly I'll tell you what's carbon unfriendly having about 70 percent a house in the village where nobody lives there for 10 10 months a year and we're paying for the roads we're paying the ESB to maintain their electricity for them we're paying air to lay fiber down their roads we're paying the national broadband to put fiber down to houses that nobody lives in is that climate friendly because that's the model and like you know kind of shameless brought it up there but we're talking about one-off housing the battle and the war for one-off housing started and was lost about 15 or years or so ago when they got rid of the single house and family lands for social housing the day that went was the day that the war you know the war was won and lost against one-off housing and like what gets me about that and what really really gets me not even Eamon Ryan would be brave enough to say that in public no politician ever went to an election nobody ever won a mandate to do that and yet somebody in the department of the environment a faceless nameless no doubt well-paid person got rid of it with a stroke of a pen and here we are sitting you know and like I just have to be honest as well were I lucky enough to win this election well keep me awake and I just I don't want to stand over that planning system I really don't want to be accountable to people because it's it's it's just dysfunctional at this stage. Chris can I bring you in and I should mention we had some questions in from listeners I do want to get to those and I might just I know you want to say something Christopher and I'm going to bring you in on this but I might just include this question as well and also to pose it to Manos who's joining us at my phone and it's where do the councillors stand in relation to the Scourgia I hope I'm saying that right rocks the wind farm off the coast of Karna but if you want to make your own point first and then maybe just briefly address that. We're discussing planning there and the refusal of planning for houses which is a disaster however there's another aspect of planning the fact that someone from somewhere else in Ireland can object to things. There's a factory right next to me they've had a planning application in for two years that has been objected to by someone far away. I think Apple was was prevented and they got sick and they went they left because of a planning application from someone somewhere else in Ireland. There's a Parknamara which is a big industrial estate which was supposed to service the lobsters, the salmon, the crab, the seaweed industry and so on and that's been held up by planning issues as well so the planning thing I'd say is is pretty broken from what I'm hearing and now the question that you wanted to ask. Where do you stand in relation to the Scourgia rocks wind farm off the coast of Karna? Okay so apparently it's going to destroy the visual amenity in the in that area it would not affect me right there in Rosmuck. When I heard about it first I said oh this is a great development it would be the first offshore wind development on the west coast of Ireland supposedly the second best place in Europe if not the first best place in Europe for wind speeds and constancy and all the things you need for for a big wind farm. You know because we're going green and we want the the green electricity which is supposed to be cheaper I mean so far that hasn't worked for us but I wouldn't like to go against the people of Karna who think it's going to be it's going to destroy their area. And fishing rights? Well yes well there is that I don't see it having a huge effect on that. Can I just bring Manis in on that one? Manis do you have a view on that particular question? Well I do I live an hour's here in Karna and I'd be looking straight out to Scourgia every day. I do believe that we need green energy definitely we do but they're not keeping with the EU guidelines and we're pushed with EU laws every day. The EU guidelines states should be 15 to 20 kilometers away from the coast. At present this is going to be about 3.3 kilometers out from Wieners. There's another big thing here that nobody's mentioned is the Macehead weather station which has the cleanest air in Europe. If these proposed wind turbines go ahead Macehead weather station has to move and I believe it's going somewhere between Clegane and Ballycinele because obviously with the pollutants in the air with the blades the blades get sprayed twice or three times a year if they can get to them in the bad weather and obviously the pollutants there and you have some small fiberglass residue coming off the blade that they're producing energy. Now a lot of people have mentioned this on the doors and there was one particular guy that I went to one day and he asked me what I think of the wind turbines and before I got a chance to say anything to him he had tears in his eyes. He himself and his wife had actually built the house and his plan was that this was his retirement fund and when he hit the retirement age he was going to sell his house. He says no he says my house is worthless and I couldn't answer him. Okay. It's eerie. Okay does anybody else want to have any position on that Karen I wonder when we move on. Well I'm just thinking that they'll have to come up with it if they want to go ahead with it they'll probably have to come up with a very generous compensation plan for the fishermen who are losing their rights. Sorry Christo, money doesn't talk here. There's other ways to do this. They can put floating wind turbines out 40 kilometers out from the coast. They can do something like they have in the Isle of Skellies just off Scotland there where they have the wind turbines they're about 120 meters long. They work on the current they'll produce energy as the current is going out and they'll produce energy as the current is going in. No visual effects, no visual damage to the area. Karen will lose a lot of its tourist industry. I know that things are in trouble there at the moment the way that we the accommodation issues here in Karen at the moment but our visual is what we are selling. There's no one going to come from America or the UK or from Europe to come to Karen to look out at Skyrza wind turbine. They come to Karen to look at Skyrza. They come to Karen to look at Eilean MacDara. They come to Karen to look at Eilean Weanish. They're not coming then and they will not come to look at wind turbine. Okay we'll move on to some other questions and I just want to run this one by to the three members or the three councillors who are on the board of Forum. We've got quite a number of questions in in relation to the proposal or I think it's probably more than a proposal now the plan that the Forum headquarters will move from Ellis Hall where we are now into the Aircom building in Clifton and just so we won't spend too much time up because we will be doing a program next Tuesday with the CEO of Forum and the chairperson of Connemara West on this but I but because it's obviously exercising our listeners and so I'm just going to combine into one question or two questions and ask Tom Welby, Eileen Mannion and Seamus Walsh all of whom are on the board of directors and about their views on it. The main the first of all is concerned the fact that Forum which has been started in by Connemara West and based in Connemara West premises renting space from Connemara West is now moving to premises in Clifton and moving the headquarters into Clifton into a building owned by Aircom and that this has involved an allocation of leader funding in order to upgrade that building to make it suitable for office space and there's the question is why was that decision taken by the board to move into a privately owned building away from a community owned building when that money could have been used to upgrade the existing premises here in Letterfrack. So do you want to go Seamus first? No because I wasn't involved in the decision it's an executive decision of the... But surely the board had to approve it? Yes but that that was based on the recommendations and I wasn't party to it. But you attended the meeting? No I wasn't present at that. You weren't present so there was only one meeting about this particular issue? Yes. Really? No no I don't have the information. No I'm just curious. So am I getting the impression from you Seamus that there was only one meeting that discussed this? No what I'm actually saying to you is this right I'm aware of the decision to be but it was a long process right I am aware that but it's not for me to speak on a decision I wasn't involved in there are committees that were dealing with it and I won't speak because... But you are a director of... I'm a director but I wasn't involved in that actual decision because it's an executive decision and of course it was approved for the board but at the actually what I'm actually saying to you I'm aware I cannot make excuses for it I know and I what I will say to you is this Forum Connemara is a brilliant organisation it has gone through rough times and tough times and Galway County Council was not kind to it and the LCDC was not kind to it and I actually thought it was brought to his knees at that time it survived and it's providing great services I also know that we'll soon have 50 staff I know that we need offices for them I think it is very sad to believe in but there will be a great presence here I'm sure but I cannot make promises because I'm not a member of the executive I'm not managing it but what I will say it is a great compliment to Forum Connemara that they are in the position where they're recruiting staff again at the moment they'll be looking at we will be looking but I'm not involved in it because I'm only a more board member attending a monthly meeting meeting so I'm not involved in those decisions although I am a board member so you have to be involved in approval but not making those decisions as per say one of a collection but the point I'm making to you is that it is a brilliant organisation I commend it highly the services that are being done yeah no we know that but just on this particular point Tom can I you and Eileen are both this was discussed at length okay now I I'm just going to say this you know I don't I don't want to be bringing this into an election situation okay but this was discussed at length in relation to the existing building is is not suitable I mean there's no wheelchair accessibility in relationship we looked at various options in relation to extending this building we looked at looking for planning and we looked at linking it off the road at the side but unfortunately it just wasn't it wasn't good enough and and the staff are very the the actual building upstairs is not is not suitable anymore the actual new building in in Ayr in in I'm quite confident that there'll be no loss to the community in relation to income or anything like that because that has been told but the but the board made this well it has to be the community I mean whatever rental and whatever investment is made in the building is going to a private company Ayr who hardly need the money as opposed to the problem is Mary the the actual in the amount of money that you would have to put into this building you wouldn't be able to do it and and which was it was everything was looked at in relation and there was major discussions in relation to it and the board came to the decision in relation to it but I do think that the board have more decisions to make in relation to some of people staying here because there's you know we want to look at continuity in relation to aspects of forum and but we did discuss that at length and it is the board members that made the decision there's only one ceo in relation to this they did not that ceo did not make that decision by themselves well I hope not I mean obviously that was the board of directors is there for a reason Eileen yeah absolutely Mary the board of directors made the decision it wasn't that likely and there was you know ongoing discussion that the building wasn't fit for purpose and nobody wants to move from Asher Frack which was the home of forum and the synergies on this campus here you know was part of the success of forum the success of Colmar West the radio here um but it is a testament to the success of the company that has grown and grown and grown and that will now soon employ up to 50 people you know across Colmar not just Asher Frack but could it could the head office not have remained in Asher Frack while additional uh office space would be found in wherever preferably in another community premises as opposed to into a private building like well you see I know it's a private building but that's the money that's gone into that building to do the funding is for forum it's not for anybody else and the lease is for 10 years so I'm not sure you know and my understanding is that there is demand for office space in Asher Frack and that building that building that would be vacated by forum will be snapped up very quickly that's my understanding so I don't think Colmar West would be without pocket out of pocket I do know that that it is you know it is a huge change and I said forum is you know synonymous with Asher Frack and it always will be and there will continue to be presence here the Wild Goat Cafe and the Food Cloud the Friday Club all of those things will stay and there'll be an admin presence as well as my understanding but that's had to decide by the board collectively and the board's representative of all the communities across Connemara so I know and you know as a board of directors as a board member we we have to be very careful what we say here but you know it's the success of forum is great it's testament to the staff and the hard work and the people of Asher Frack who started it off should be very proud that it's going to this level and you know there will be a continued presence here I have no doubt. Well as I said we will be coming back to this with the CEO and with the Connemara West next week in a more extended time briefly Tom Healy you wanted to add something? Yeah no just briefly I just want to make a note it has come up quite strongly on the doorsteps around Tully and Wren Vial quite a few people have said it to me like I can appreciate all the detail that's been made out here but at the same time it is an absolutely major pivot given the history going back over 30 or 40 years you know obviously Ayr is not anyone's favorite company so seeing money going to them is a bit much but also like you know timelines and communication I think are the main aspect out there because like it is a big change I'll have a big even on the Wild Goat Cafe you might have less footfall now because you know more people in Clifton now let's just to state the size of the change has an impact and the footfall has an impact and the other thing is like you know if there wasn't a leader application it sounds like that decision was quite a while back the planning application was made last year which was a while back so there are a lot of people wondering why they're only kind of finding out in the last few months now hopefully you know that can be cleared up but at the same time just trying to communicate the concerns that were relayed to me and a certain level of upset the people were feeling yeah and indeed that's it I think the majority of the questions we got in from listeners actually do relate to that so I don't I I'm for the listeners we're not at all ignoring and we're going to bring all of those questions in more detail and but we can only address very very briefly here this evening so sorry Manus sorry Mary I just got a message there um through could you ask the other five cultures that are present there their views on friend of scared disorder uh the wind farm development there in carolina because it's a big thing in the in the area at the moment yeah I suppose it is in the in the Connemara south constituency um no this is Connemara north I'm going to Connemara north I live in Connemara north yeah okay I will indeed Jerry just briefly yeah briefly briefly yeah sorry um no I I've been down there in Maynish and Ayrton in the recent very recent days and there's a major major concern down there at the I suppose the scale of the of the farm proposed we're talking about 30 300 meter high um Eiffel Tower type type building in at five kilometer oh five kilometers from the shore which is very close like um you know I think most people are sort of in semi agreement or full agreement that if they were outside the scourge Iraq um which is then becomes a floating platform that you know that was doable but to be you know that's that height within uh within two miles of the shoreline you know it's going to be a massive massive scale of things so I think maybe and and we have been pushing I know in our party for floating um wind turbines but we have been I think being knocked on the head again by by a certain uh minister in the department who wants green energy but maybe not um as we would want it so I suppose you know that's that's where my stance is on it isn't worried the size of it is being located so close to the shore and and the size so you're not you you're not in support of this development well it certainly has to be scaled back or or moved out okay Seamus I'm totally opposed to the development as it has come to the public um my when I heard the the name and when I heard of the process at first I was fully fully sure they were out of the scares rocks out beyond all shorelines and not at all what happened when the public consultation came and they actually saw the photo montages the people actually didn't get full photo montages either from certain directions because they feel that that in actual fact when the whole thing would be seen there would be rejected I would say to you that if we were looking for a one-off house in that area we would be told that it would not assimilate into the landscape yet that they come along just like I'm telling you about everything else at the stroke of a pen like the houses in my colon and the flooding the same situation the department seem to wipe away all the concerns that are voiced on our people and as many people have voiced concerns about the councillors I'm sorry Eileen please now have a bit of manners because you really you're taking this you're really taking it what I'm actually saying is you've seen a little sketch of it here tonight that when the likes of myself and Gerry and others are trying to provide one-off housing and we're trying to fight the officials you can see what is happening when the heckling and the way we are being because they're ganging up but that's how that's what it is like but you're making a noble point on behalf of the people of Connemara when people are point scoring politically on you just to make it look good okay I represent no but I represent I represent the local people we have your position now Tom Healy can we get your position on the the wind farm yeah in Cardiff well look uh the first question I ask when we pass um well there's a couple of things that come to mind but like there was a wind strategy for the whole county uh I think it was released god it was a long time ago sorry I can't remember the time it was released that wind strategy for the whole county I don't think I mentioned that in about Scourge of Rocks mentioned Scrape and I mentioned another location I can't think of I didn't mention Scourge of Rocks you know so that that's out of the blue it's kind of contravening the county's plan before now you know and the other thing maybe you can answer this one but when we passed the uh planning for uh wind turbines out in um uh Dune East out by Roscahill there part of the planning conditions were that millions would be invested in the local community now can you tell me if Carnagh or Kilkieran or Roundstone are been offered any money as a part of this overall application or have you been told you're getting nothing well there's a community fund there Tom right but as far as we know we know nothing because there's been no public consultation we were led to believe by the local liaison officer that there would be public consultation in May today we're at the 28th of May there's been no public consultation we don't know what's going on the planning application needs to be in by the 26th of June we don't know are they extending that or are they applying for it we just don't know there's no transparency uh people are angry people are very disappointed what's going on without being consulted with I sent an email on the 14th of April requesting numerous photos from different angles that which were questions that were sent to me on the doors and people didn't want to speak with the local liaison officer so I offered to um question the local liaison officer but to this date I have no reply. Eileen you mentioned the community fund there and what's your position on the wind farm in Carna? Yeah well I do know this community fund because I did attend something in Carna um in the last year I think and I also attended um I suppose at the beginning they I set up a meeting I think in Roundstone and Clifton where they talked about community fund and I did contact them recently in relation to um the public consultation because I need to know more about it and want to learn more about it and I understand that's coming up in June that's what I was told um but there also is a provision there that it has to come before the full uh council for I'm not sure if it's approval but it had to come before the full council before it is lodged or sent to a board that's my understanding there was one other like that in East Galway about a year ago that came before so it won't go to planning before the public consultation or before it comes before Galway county council the full council I'm not sure if we approve it or it's just we have to note it um but in relation to Scardrocks I'm hearing about Scardrocks over the last 20-25 years um and I suppose at the beginning people were very excited about it because it would mean jobs and investment for the area as I said I haven't seen the plans the final plans so I will attend the public consultation and I will make a decision then but you know it's it's a very important that the fishermen are looked after looked after and if they're going to be you know just commoted if they're going to be not able to fish in that area it's really important we look after our fishermen who've always been there um and concerns of local community have to be taken aboard absolutely that's what the community engagement and the public consultation will be about I presume and Tom some will be yeah well more than some of the other speakers there isn't enough information out there really at the moment in relation to this in relation to community funds some of the community funds also they're voluntary basis from the companies themselves uh we have a situation at SSE in in we've the largest uh wind farm is in Seanna Feisty which is about six miles away from from Uchterard and they the SSE they put in a community fund whereas there was other private uh individuals have built plants there but they didn't have the same scenario with the with they seem to work more with the local authorities in relation to upgrading uh roads and stuff like that so like it's it's not um my own understanding was that the county council couldn't at the time impose the community fund scheme but the SSE one is is actually working very well in Uchterard uh every year there's in the region about 125,000 to the local the groups and and and some of that and it's it's very worthwhile that that money but I think you know in relation to this there has to be more information there you know there just does seem to be a gloss of information in relation to it and but we do have to realize that we are going to have to move away from fossil fuels we have to look at at alternative um uh types of of generating electricity and it would be great in relation to what man has said in relation to wave but I don't know how far advanced that is I mean there has been wave would wouldn't uh you know have any impact in relation to visual on anybody but we do have to realize that we are getting into a period I mean when I talk to people in relation to water I met a girl in recess she has three houses to run out of water during the year because the hill is drying you know and because the water is coming off the hill you know we have to realize that there is major problems out there. One last question I have to move on. One thing you want to know is that these are going to be 300 and something meters high they're not light renovation they're not three times bigger they are and they shouldn't be put there. I know some of you mentioned beaches earlier just to go back to another listener is there a budget allocated for the development of beach facilities in Connemara and if not why such things as bathrooms rubbish bins um is there is there a fund for beach facilities? Well there's a summer ready program comes in each year which would be funded out of maintenance as far as I'm aware and there's no specific what I would think is a fund for beaches but it comes out of that that maintenance grant and look at since Covid I guess this has become a real issue that in the time that where loads of people came came down to the beaches and you know had the spare time that they came out to these places and there was a lot of rubbish a lot of issues with beaches at the time so on the line of bins and toilets and that we are pushing every year to get more and more services onto the beaches for their purpose. And car parking indeed. There is capital money where you know they're looking at bringing forward capital money we are a very poorly funded county council we are looking at capital funding in relation to I mean I would admit representations in relation to Leatherwick Esh Beach I mean it's a fabulous beach the car park is atrocious you know in relation to funding there so like we do need a capital funding in relation to in relation to infrastructure on the piers and you know we do need a scenario that people that are using them unfortunately there are people using them they are littering and they're not bringing back their waste and number two you're worried about the actual waste in the in the toilets and things like that it is a concern because we're not set up for that. Yeah thank you Mary I suppose on a very dark wintery day down in I think one of our meetings I propose that we have a summer ready plan which the council now bring forward every year and it's very sort of because the beaches have got very busy but we have a commitment from the our new CEO that he will fund car parks for the beaches but his suggestion is that it wouldn't be at the beach that it would be near the village or town so the people are just you know driving through the village nearest village or town and parking at the beaches and not supporting the local village that'd be a bit down the line but there are toilets and and for a few months of the summer and bins on certain beaches not all beaches but I do that people have to respect you know it's Leave No Trace that's been going on for years if you bring it with you you take it home with you and that really has to be enforced and I know there's an issue on camper vans as well and we're looking for national policy on that because we have to have a national policy going along can't bring in a policy on that and at the moment camper vans at the same rules the road as a car or a van or anything else so if people say they're parking in a car park or they're parking in the street they're entitled to be there um but they shouldn't be disposing of their waste anywhere except in in you know official units. I thank you all very much um we have come out run out of time but we do have enough time for each of you just to give um in one minute um I suppose a commitment to in in five years time when when hopefully you might be standing for election again what you would hope to have achieved if you are elected in this five-year period where would you like to see yourself and the Kilmara North constituency in five years time. Manus maybe we could start with you as you're joining us online. Um I suppose inside the next five years I would like to see a lot of the rural roads the small little local roads being improved um thankfully the LIS teams are opening up again for more roads footpaths are a big issue planning try to ease planning um we're not miracle workers but we'll do our best and I urge everyone to go out and vote on the day 7th of June week Friday and obviously vote number one for me and vote two for the rest of the candidates there. Manus thank you very much and thank you for joining us on on by phone this evening it's I know it's more difficult and we'll take Daniel Gleeson now who's recorded his final minute. Thank you very much and thanks again in particular to Connemara Community Radio for allowing me to participate remotely in this evening's discussion. I hope this evening has given you an idea that an idea that the Green Party represents a different way of looking at local government and a different set of priorities that we'd be bringing in um if we were elected and not just me but my colleagues in Connemara South and across the county. We take a longer term view on how we view problems and we are we work well with uh other parties and other individuals and I think this term of the national government has shown that when the Green Party says we are going to do something as part of a government or as part of a ruling coalition we will move hell and earth to be able to do those things. If you are interested in action and not just talk then please vote Green on June 7th. That's Daniel Gleeson from the Green Party and you may just before we go continue and we go to you Tom next. Tom Healy as you were that the last the last time there's a call in or a note from the Connemara Chamber that they would like to acknowledge the support of our local politicians and wish them all well in the upcoming election. So that's very um that's for all of you um and no doubt you'll be working with the Connemara Chamber and obviously I'm sure you're aware but the survey they did recently which highlighted a lot of the issues that you've all mentioned here this evening um okay Tom Healy Sinn Féin. So Mary you just asked uh five years from now where will we be and I just want to go back to 2008. I used to work for my father's engineering business. I'd drive into Galway once or twice a week straight to the planning office and back in those days I'd be bringing about two or three new applications saying I'd be bringing further information for another two or three and I'd be walking away with about three or four approvals every week. That's where I want to be. I want to be back to the good old days. I want people to be able to live in the area. I work from home myself. I can see that if we can look after fishing, agriculture, work from home and tourism we have the means to make a living here. Just let us live here. So I'm asking you to come out on the 7th and vote number one for Tom Healy Sinn Féin. Thank you Tom. Christóir, Christóir Beannach. My main recommendation is that the whole thing would work a lot better if a Connemara County Council could be established. I really strongly believe that. I think it's the right way to go and at the top of the ballot paper, Christóir Beannach, very easy to put a number one up there and in five years time I would hope to have convinced all my other county councillors of which there are 39 I think in the county in total to hive off Connemara as its own county and that we would consolidate a lot of the discrepancies in delivery of service that are happening, planning, waste, water, tourism, marine, agriculture and so on and try to get all of those things working properly. They're working in a very disjointed way at the moment I believe. Thank you very much. Eileen, Eileen Lanyon. Thank you Mary and I'm asking the listeners of Connemara Community Radio to vote number one for me on the 7th of June so I can continue to represent the community here. I work very hard, I deliver for the community and we all talk about planning and you know when I went for election first 20 years ago planning was an issue. Seamus Walsh 25 years ago said planning was an issue. It's always been an issue but thankfully there's still one of houses built in Connemara. I want to see that continue. We never know what's ahead of us in the next five years and the past five years we had the flooding of Clifton, we had Covid and you know things I work at whatever comes up on the doorstep whatever comes up somebody rings me I will work on that issue. I'm very proud of Clifton District House being reopened last week. A lot of people said it wouldn't be and that's you know that's an achievement for the whole community. I've got one request for people to slow down on the roads. There's one big complaint I'm getting you know speeding, speeding, speeding and we're very lucky that you know we haven't had many fatalities or many accidents on the roads but people need to slow down. It's an issue that's coming up and it's nothing to do with politics or elections but I think it's really important that we're all more conscious of the roads and again I'd ask you to vote number one for me on the 7th of June so I can continue to represent you. That's Eileen Mannion, Fianna Gael and if we can go to Seamus, Seamus Walsh the independent Ireland party. Thank you. Well I think in five years time if I drive into more driveways of young people that I have helped to get their planning and I meet them with their new babies and their new children or their adolescent children on the older houses but I'm 25 years in Galway County Council and as I canvass I first call to the people that I've been successful with because I feel more confident with them and I hope that in five years time that I'll be calling to more of those and that we will be able to deliver for them because I'm a person Seamus Walsh who stands for the people and I will not be afraid to oppose at county development plan time or with the IPAS or with the unfair planning permissions that the council try to put through on top of us let it be windmills or unfair council houses or whatever we see. I will stand with the local people and voice their concerns because I will be elected by you please God next Friday week to represent you not to oppose you. Seamus Walsh independent Ireland thank you and Jerry if we can come to you next. Okay my commitment to the position of Councillor has been very much reinforced over the five years and the strong belief that I can continue to be effective and deliver services for the people of the area. Those include the affordable housing the breakdown of the planning system not fully we won't get that but where it can help people to get local buildings. The health service that the new build that we have got for Clifton will be part of that unit will be up and running and fully functional and St Anne's still going there. Water and waste rural water program to be get installed amongst other things. I am asking for your number one vote please on the 7th of June to continue this work. Thank you very much thank you that's Jerry King Fianna Fáil and Tom as we started with you we'll end up with you as Tom Welby independent. Thank you Mary and I think Galway County Council is getting is moving into a new era in relation to for the last 10 years we have had interim CEOs now we've got a full-time CEO and I believe that we are moving in a direction of a growth and additional spending in five years time what I would like to see is more sustainable communities additional facilities for those communities job retention and in energy independence and I would like to see rural housing and affordable housing for the people and we have to have social housing and a mix of all those together and you know I personally do an awful lot of work individually for people and I will be constantly doing working at the same rate I work the same day after an election as I do the day before an election and I think that's important you serve the people and we have to work for the people so on the day I'm a totally independent in a politician I'm not tied to any whips or partial whips and I'm asking people to vote number one on the day for Councillor Thomas Welby and I will keep working for you thank you. Thank you very much Tom and the thanks of Connemara Community Radio first of all to our listeners who did send in questions and we we really appreciate that and it did assist us and I know we may not have gotten into the detail that you might have thought but I do hope that they were to some extent addressed and a late one that just came in that we didn't have a chance and I'll just read it out so you know that we're not ignoring you but we won't get back into this debate it was said that 32 social houses I think it was 31 actually was it in my Cullen were objected to on the basis of lack of amenities is it fair to say that families have moved into my Cullen into existing and new built private houses without any issue so we'll just leave that as a statement also great idea to have a panel discussion and have the candidates get their points across in one place really will help us make informed decisions on June 7th so thank you for facilitating this discussion and I'd like to also thanks my thanks to Bridget Malley producer of the program who has been in contact with all of you to Grainne O'Malley here on the desk this evening Tommy Rowe and Dermot Dunyon on the taking your calls this evening and also to all of you who have been present here in the studio to Jerry King Eileen Mannion, Seamus Walsh, Tom Welby, Tom Healy, Christopher Brannock to Manos O'Connor who joined us at my phone and Daniel Gleeson who sent in a recorded message so it was great to have all all candidates take part this evening we greatly appreciate it wish you all well over the next 10 days or so up to the elections it will be a busy time and from myself Mary Ruddy have a very good evening stay tuned now for the news from the Cashelcarna area