Good news on the local economic front, as the numbers of people signing-on for unemployment benefit in Letterkenny continue to fall. As this Highland Radio news article shows, the number of people unemployed in Letterkenny in April of this year has fallen by 349, compared to this time last year.

Much has been made of the job losses in the last few years in the Textile industry. While we must not forget those who have lost their jobs, we also cannot forget the great economic growth in other sectors. Multinational companies, such as Sita, Pacificare and Pramerica continue to increase the numbers they employ in Letterkenny. This is a great reflection of many things, but in particular it shows the importance of a supply of skilled workers.

Letterkenny has benefitted hugely by having Letterkenny IT producing high-quality graduates in a number of sectors. But this shows that the most important thing needed to help those who have lost their jobs recently is an emphasis on re-training and re-skilling. We can compete on the world stage, but only when we have the right skills.

Another important thing to remember is that many of those who have lost their jobs are already very highly-skilled. This is where organisations such as the Donegal County Enterprise Board come in. The Enterprise Board runs a number of programmes which assist people in starting and running their own business. We need to examine this model, and see how we can add to it in and around Letterkenny.

(PS- If you’re looking for a job, here’s the listings for PacifiCare and for Pramerica. Sita are due to advertise their posts soon on their website)

I’d like to send my congratulations to Mayor of Letterkenny, Cllr Dessie Larkin, who was today elected by the members of Donegal County Council as Chairman of the County Council in Lifford.

Cllr Larkin is an extremely hard working public representative, and well deserves this accolade. I am sure he will serve Donegal and the County Council with the same commitment and vigour that he has shown as a member, and chairman, of Letterkenny Town Council.

Cllr Larkin will serve as chairman for one year, and will be tasked with running most meetings in Lifford, as well as representing Donegal across Ireland. His term as Mayor of Letterkenny comes to an end on Thursday, June 30th 2005, when Letterkenny Town Council hold their Annual General Meeting.

Read more on this at Highland Radio’s website and at Ocean FM’s website

Tonight, Mayor Larkin, Town Clerk Mr. Paddy Doherty and Jim McCormick, Chairman of Letterkenny Tidy Towns, made the presentations of the awards for the 2004 Tidy Estates Competition.

Winner of the overall award was Beinn Aoibhinn, with other awards going to a number of estates around the town. The evening was well attended, and my deepest congratulations go to all those who took part. A huge amount of work goes into the maintenance of all estates around the town, and it’s good to see this work being recognised.

The Tidy Estates competition is one of a number of initiatives undertaken by the Town Council to help residents associations and community groups in the maintenance of their estates. With this in mind, the council are now moving to change the format of the competition in order to increase the openness of the competition.

New Format
Any residents association interested should contact the council (tel: 074 919 4222) as soon as possible, as the closing date for registration is June 30th.

In previous years, estates were judged once. Under the new format, estates will be judged three times, once in mid-July, then in mid-August and finally in mid-September. Most notably, the interim results will be published in the local press. It is hoped this will foster an even stronger sense of competition among the many residents associations, and further strengthen the town in other competitions, particularly the Tidy Towns.

I whole-heartedly welcome this move, and would encourage all residents associations to get involved. There are a number of cash prizes to be presented to the winners.

Good luck to everyone involved in this year’s contest!

Monday night’s meeting passed without controversy. This post has some details on my own motions and questions from the meeting.

Question 1: What progress has been made on developments at Gartan Field?
Town Clerk’s Reply: The council has been informed the contractor will be onsite next week to begin drainage works and work on footpaths.
My thoughts: These works are long overdue, and had been promised to be completed in time for the summer. I welcome this new movement, and I hope things will run smoothly from here.

Motion 1: That this council discuss our position on recycling, in light of recent events
Result: The motion was universally accepted
My thoughts: The local authorities, together with schools and other local organisations, have done some excellent work in recent years convincing local people to engage in recycling. This has resulted in a real and visible change in people’s mindsets. The facilities we had in Letterkenny previously became victims of their own success, to the stage where we no have no facility for people wishing to recycle.

Tonight, I sough a commitment from the County Manager that recycling facilities be provided in Letterkenny as soon as possible. I welcome the move to kerb-side recycling, but we must remember that that is not suitable for all people or, indeed, all recyclable materials (eg Glass bottles, which cannot be put into a mixed recyclables bin for safety reasons).

All councillors spoke favourably on the motion, and are anxious that provision be made as soon as possible. Letterkenny Town Council is fully committed to recycling.

Motion 2: In advance of any progress on permanent improvements, this council takes immediate action to secure and improve the junctions on the Neil T Blaney/Paddy Harte/Loop road on a temporary basis with improved barriers and signage
Result: The motion was universally accepted
My thoughts: While the traffic system in this part of town remains controversial, we are all agreed that the junctions remain in an unsafe condition. Tonight, I called on the Town Engineer Michael McFadden to put in place temporary measures to secure and make safe the junctions. I was asking for simple measures, such as crowd control-style barriers, and temporary signage, to be put in place in advance of next weekends Donegal International Rally, to accommodate the expected influx of drivers to the town.

This is, obviously, not a permanent solution. However it is vital that these junctions be made safe as soon as possible. The Engineer has assured me he will do his best to get some improvements made as soon as possible.

Motion 3: That this council request Donegal County Council to apply for funding to establish a skate park in Letterkenny, under the scheme recently announced by the Department of the Environment
Result: The motion was universally accepted
My thoughts: The moves by the Department of the Environment to facilitate this growing activity must be welcomed. In a time where obesity is among the biggest health risks for children, as local authorities we must work to facilitate the participation in sport by as many young people as possible. Many people fall outside the traditional sports of gaelic football and soccer, and many of these young people are getting involved in Skate boarding.

At present, there is no formal facility in the Town for skateboarding. A number of sites have begun to attract skaters, but these sites are unsafe and not suitable for this use. I received a commitment tonight from the County Manager that an application is under active preparation, and will be submitted to the department. Hopefully Letterkenny will be able to accommodate skaters in the near future.

The monthly meeting for June takes place tonight at 7pm in the Public Services Centre. As members, we get to ask 3 formal questions and put forward 3 formal motions at every meeting.

For this meeting, I have the following questions and motions on the agenda:

Question 1:
What progress has been made on developments at Gartan Field?

Motion 1:
That this council discuss our position on recycling, in light of recent events

Motion 2:
In advance of any progress on permanent improvements, this council takes immediate action to secure and improve the junctions on the Neil T Blaney/Paddy Harte/Loop road on a temporary basis with improved barriers and signage

Motion 3:
That this council request Donegal County Council to apply for funding to establish a skate park in Letterkenny, under the scheme recently announced by the Department of the Environment

Many thanks for visiting this new website.

This website will be updated frequently with as much news and information as I can put together regarding local issues around Letterkenny, and the day-to-day workings of Letterkenny Town Council.

I hope to use this website to help break down some of the barriers between politicians and constituents, and to make as much information as possible easily accesible. For example, you can search this website and its content using the search box in the top right hand corner, and you can access the archives of all the content using the navigation on the left.

If you have any questions or comments, regarding this website or anything to do with Letterkenny or the Town Council, please do not hesitate to get in contact with me.