Monthly Archives: January 2014

Public Meeting: Local Crime

Public Meeting: Local Crime

I believe that public forums and meetings are a vital way of keeping in touch with the community on issues of importance. Some politicians hold these at election time, however I believe they are important to have constantly, and this is the third one which I have organised recently.

This one is on Local Crime and Crime Prevention, where we will be discussing crime prevention from a practical perspective, the establishment or reestablishment of potential neighbourhood watch schemes, what techniques have worked for communities locally etc. I am glad to invite anybody from Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Finglas, Ballymun, Beaumont, Santry or Whitehall who is interested in crime prevention to come along.

The meeting is Monday February 3rd at 6.30pm and is upstairs in The Comet.

If you would like to discuss any issue in advance of this meeting, please contact me on 085 7049415.

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Sports Capital Grants: Time for Local Club Apps

Sports Capital Grants: Time for Local Club Apps

€350,000 was received locally in last round of funding – one of the highest nationally

Fine Gael Local Representative for Ballymun, Glasnevin, Santry and Whitehall today urged local sports clubs to “get your finance committee togged out and get ready to put your best case forward for funding in 2014 as the Sports Grants Application process opens on January 17th at noon, now is the time to begin getting your ducks in a row and thinking about orfunding needs”.
Speaking about this, Noel Rock, who has previously advocated on behalf of many local clubs seeking funding, said: “It’s vital that we support local clubs and, last time out, this area did very well – seeing one of the highest totals in sports funding in the country with over €350,000 being received by clubs across Ballymun, Whitehall, Santry, Finglas, Beaumont, Glasnevin and Drumcondra. It’s a testament to the passion for sports that flows right through this area across GAA, soccer, rugby, tennis and a number of other sports”.
Mr. Rock continued: “Minister Varadkar, the Minister for Sport, was in the constituency a number of days ago with Ballymun Kickhams and he could see for himself the passion and support that the community here has for sports and how much funding our infrastructure could improve our outputs even further”.
“The level of funding in this round of the Sports Capital Programme is €40m and the last round saw a record number of applications, which I expect will be no different this time. However, last time our local clubs proved they could compete with anybody and came away with more Sports Capital Funding than most other parts of the country and, given the strength of some of the applications this time, I expect many of our local clubs to receive funding which matches their dedication and the clear positive impact they are having on their communities”.
Mr. Rock added: “The level of funding in the last round of the Sports Capital Programme was a testament to the great work done by local sporting organisations in the area and the Government decided then to match the dedication in Beaumont, Whitehall and Glasnevin with funding. I hope that we can achieve the same positive outcome this year, and I am already working with a number of sports organisations to achieve positive outcomes and am available to work with any club who might need a bit of a hand: my door is always open, as I want to see the best possible outcome for our community and for those of us who love sport and taking part in it”.

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Local Business Rates Reform

Local Business Rates Reform

Noel Rock, Glasnevin and Drumcondra representative, says change to law on rates will support local businesses.

Fine Gael Local Elections Candidate Noel Rock has welcomed a change to the law on rates. Under legislation put forward by Paudie Coffey TD, businesses will no longer be forced to pay rates arrears from the previous tenant when they take on new premises.

The legislation has been accepted by the Minister and is being included in the Local Government Reform Bill 2013. “This welcome moves comes in addition to a fifth consecutive reduction in rates by Dublin City Council this month, which saw a cumulative fall of 10% in business rates in the City – allowing businesses and jobs to grow as we’ve seen for the last number of months”.

“This is great news for businesses right across Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Santry and Whitehall, many of whom want to get going in vacant sites ASAP, and something they have been seeking for some time,” Mr. Rock stated.

“Under the old legislation, which dates back to 1838, tenants who vacated a property with rates due were not be liable and instead the new tenant is forced to pay the rates arrears. It was ludicrous that a law dating from before the Famine was still affecting Irish businesses in the 21st century,” he commented.

“Now, thanks to this change in the law, new tenants will no longer be liable for the rates arrears of previous tenants. This will allow new businesses to take up new premises and existing businesses to change premises without the fear of having a massive rates bill hanging over them after they move in. “I am pleased that the Government has taken this step in recognition of the great difficulty being faced by businesses around the country – this law change will go some way to make the rates system fairer and hopefully encourage and support entrepreneurship in our area,” Mr. Rock concluded.

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Springboard Local Open Days

Springboard Local Open Days

Springboard is a fantastic programme which I can’t recommend highly enough for those who find themselves unemployed. There can be no disputing that the economy is improving, and this programme is a great way to ensure your skills are ready and updated for the kind of jobs that will arise. Over 70% of the 2011 graduates are employed – which is no surprise.

You can read more below and can register for their open days – which are on Tuesday 21st at 4pm and Tuesday 28th at 4pm – here.

The DCU Ryan Academy is delighted to launch Free part-time level 8 and 9 Business Programmes for eligible applicants, currently on the Live Register. Programmes will run in DCU Glasnevin, Dublin 9 and DCU Ryan Academy, Citywest, Dublin 24

The Springboard Initiative is designed to meet the future skills needs of the Irish economy by offering individuals on the live register the opportunity to avail of a free one year third level programme.

To date over 70% of our 2011 and 56% of our 2012 Springboard Graduates have found employment or created work for themselves.

Programmes Offered:

Post Graduate Certificate in Management (Digital Marketing) – Level 9
Innovation Management – Level 8

You can register for their open days – which are on Tuesday 21st at 4pm and Tuesday 28th at 4pm – here.

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Dublin City Budget 2014

Dublin City Budget 2014

The Dublin City Council Budget for 2014 is currently under debate this evening. The headline items:

There is an increase of €6 million for homeless services relative to the draft budget.

There is an increase of €3.5 million for disability services relative to the City Manager’s Draft budget.

There is an overall reduction in commercial rates of 0.4% – this is the fifth consecutive year of rate reductions and means that rates have decreased by 10% overall, which is an important measure to help businesses and encourage jobs.

There are no Council rent increases, a reduction of 7% from the Draft budget.

There are no increases to City parking charges.

Social regeneration funds for Ballymun are €2m

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We just opened our new salon

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Charity Fundraiser For DogsAid

Charity Fundraiser For DogsAid

I’m glad to be supporting this very worthy event which is happening on Feb 1st.

It’s in aid of a fantastic charity called Dogs Aid, who have been doing wonderful work in Ballymun for many years now and were based, up until recently, in Balbutcher Lane where I grew up. I have seen first hand the great work that they do, and how they work as a great enabling force in our community. You can more about them here:http://www.dogsaid.ie/. Tickets for this event are just €10 and I will be attending along with a few members from my team. If you’d like to join us, contact me or alternatively you can read more from the  organiser Marie Nugent below:

“100% of all the funds raised on the night will be going straight back to dogs aid. So far the acts on the night are: Comedians: Willie White, Andrew Gilmore, Ash O’Halloran, Linda Meehan, Colm Tyrell and Neil Hickey. Guest MC is Mr Simon O’Keefe! Music so far will be a band called Madra (pretty apt for the Charity involved :-)) Still looking into the whole DJ thing and I’ll update when I get one 🙂 admission on the night is €10 on the door which when you think about it is actually god damn freakin cheap for 6 comedians, a band AND a DJ (Mark Dillon)!! So not only is it great for the charity it’s also easy on your pocket too…..BONUS! The link to either book tickets online or via a smartphone is: http://www.iregister.ie/dogsaid/. “

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Live Register Falls 5.9% in 2013

Live Register Falls 5.9% in 2013

Numbers on Live Register drop by 5.9%  in Dublin  in 2013 – Rock

Fine Gael’s Glasnevin/Drumcondra Representative, Noel Rock has welcomed a 5.9% drop in the number of people on the Live Register in Dublin over the last 12 months. Mr. Rock was speaking following the publication of figures by the Central Statistics Office, which show that, nationally, the Live Register has now dropped for the last 18 months in a row.

“These figures clearly show that a positive downward trend has been established in the number of people signing on the Live Register in Dublin over the last 12 months. There was a 5.9% drop in the number of people on the Live Register in Dublin in December 2013, compared with a year earlier.

“It is worth noting two things: unemployment is coming down but, equally importantly, the number of people who are in jobs is also going up – so the drop in unemployment can’t simply be explained away by emigration. Equally, it’s worth noting that the unemployment rate is now 12.4%, down from a high of 15.1% in 2012 and on course to go below the European average of 12.1% in a matter of months: this is significant

“Nationally, the number of people on the Live Register has dropped for the 18th month in a row, and is now at its lowest level for four and a half years. We know that this is due to new jobs being created in the real economy, with 58,000 more people joining the workforce over the last 12 months. We must build on this progress in the year ahead.

“The figures also show that the long-term unemployed are finally moving off the Live Register. This can be attributed to a number of schemes implemented by the Government to specifically target those who have been out of work for a long time, such as the Jobs Plus Initiative, under which the Government covers a quarter of what it costs to hire someone who has been on the Live Register for more than 12 months.

“Unemployment is on a downward trajectory in Dublin, which is very encouraging. But the Government fully recognises that unemployment rates remain far too high and that we have a long way to go. We will continue to work in the year ahead to get key areas – such as retail, construction and domestic banking – back to sustainable levels.

“Through the Action Plan for Jobs, led by Minister Richard Bruton TD, we have the first cross-government approach to job creation. This year’s Action Plan will be published by the Government in the coming weeks, and I am confident that it will contain a further suite of measures to help small businesses in Dublin to grow, and to give the county the best possible chance of attracting inward investment.

“Job creation is now growing at its fastest level since 2007. When this Government took office, nearly 7,000 private sector jobs were being lost every month. Now, almost 5,000 are being created every month. This is progress that I am determined to build on for the people of Dublin in the year ahead.”

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Dublin FF Cllr Proposes…Nothing

Dublin FF Cllr Wants To Hand Over Power of City Council and Avoid Budget Decisions

McAuliffe Using The Kind Of FF Decision Avoidance Tactics That Brought Us The Troika

Fine Gael’s Glasnevin candidate Noel Rock this morning slammed Fianna Fáil Cllr. McAuliffe’s statement which called on Dublin to emulate Donegal by voting down its budget, and hand over the decision making to somebody else. Mr. Rock launched a scathing condemnation, calling it: “Classic Bertie-esque pump and dump: pump up the populism, dump the decision making. Cllr McAuliffe in his statement advocates Labour to vote no then fails to even once mention an alternative budget proposal in his statement, and instead asks them to look to Donegal: because he knows that ultimately it will be unelected bureaucrats who end up taking the hard budgetary decisions.

Mr. Rock, a candidate in Glasnevin, Drumcondra and Santry, continued: “Cllr McAuliffe doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he wants elected representatives to avoid decision making and stop doing their job. Fianna Fáil handed over the sovereignty of Ireland to the Troika, now Cllr McAuliffe wants to hand over the sovereignty of Dublin and take the vote out of the hands of the Councillors.

Cllr McAuliffe could redeem himself by talking about an alternative budget even once in his statement, by setting out his stall – even if that stall were as threadbare and regressive as the Fianna Fáil national budgets between 2008-2011, where they introduced USC.

Fianna Fáil love that kind of stuff: ignore the details and jump for the easy option, the glossy substanceless nonsense. Cllr McAuliffe would rather have no budget than have the elected Dublin City Councillors make a hard decision. It’s a disingenuous stance”.

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