City councillor has no solutions for local problems

Dublin South West Inner City councillors have been kept busy with many projects to restore local areas.

There are now four councillors representing the inner city instead of three due to the grant of an extra seat in the last local election.

The councillors include Clare Byrne (Fine Gael), Rebecca Moynihan (Labour), Karina Ní Dháiligh (Sinn Féin) and John Gallagher (Labour).  Clare Byrne is based in the Inchicore area where she grew up.

Regeneration and Recognition

Cllr. Byrne is involved in five regeneration programmes including Michael’s Estate, Dolphin House and St. Teresa’s Garden, which have been slow and continual processes.

Cllr. Byrne said, “Because we were a RAPID (Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development) area, we were not supposed to be hit in the Budget. We felt the brunt of it. A lot of our local schools have lost their Special Needs teachers.  These kids who need the extra help have lost out. A lot of tenants are in arrears and don’t have good living conditions.  It’s very frustrating trying to explain these problems to the Ministers.  They need to be at the local meetings and listen to the concerns of the locals.  We are finding it very difficult at the moment.”

Some locals have to live in bad conditions due to the lack of maintenance and funding from the Dublin City Council. There are a lot of social issues in housing, with the locals not having been able to obtain enough points for housing benefits which results in frequent evictions.

The area has 18 Dublin City Council flat complexes, and the regeneration of these huge complexes is essential for the locals.

Cllr. Byrne says, “We are full-time councillors and people gain from that in their area. You couldn’t be a representative part-time, it wouldn’t work. The area is demanding and our office is non-profit and an open house to the locals.”

These problems are a priority concern to the local councillors and need to be addressed and not overlooked by the Dublin City Council.