Damien Blake

Cllr Damien Blake with Martin Mooney

As I said before, I was away from the radio most of the morning (so I missed most of the discussion about Dr McDaid).

I was away from the radio as I was visiting local artist of world-renown, Martin Mooney, at his home near Ramelton. Martin is providing two pieces, and his wife Trudy is providing one piece, to be auctioned to benefit the Donegal Hospice during my Mayor’s Ball on May 5th.

Martin was contacted by Sally Blake, who has been a huge help in organising the event. Sally, and her mother Molly, are sponsoring two of the pieces, and Martin is donating the other piece. Molly receives regular respite care in the Hospice, and Sally and Molly wanted to make this contribution in return for all they have received.

Martin is an extremely highly-regard artist. Some of his work is available to view here and here. Louis Walsh considers him “the best investment in art”. These pieces (below) are highly prized, and will not only make a great investment but would fit perfectly in practically any home.

Click either photo to view a larger version

They will be auctioned on the night of the ball (May 5th), but I will also be accepting bids in advance. If you would like to bid, give me a ring on +353 87 997 3668

My huge thanks to Martin, Trudy, Sally and Molly for their generous donations.

Update: Don’t forget- our charity auction on eBay for two sets of Bruce Springsteen tickets ends in two days time! We have seating and standing tickets up for bids

A huge congratulations today to Kathryn Daly and all involved with the Letterkenny Educate Together group, as their school has been officially sanctioned to open in Letterkenny in September.

Educate Together Schools are multi-denominational, parent-led schools with a strong focus on inclusion and bringing children of differing religious, cultural and social backgrounds together. After the development of Letterkenny in recent years, most people would agree that this new school is very welcome, and fills a real need locally.

Kathryn, together with a very hard working committee, have put a huge effort in to this project. They have more than 40 children registered to start in September, and are now working to finalise a location for the school. I’m sure they will be as succesful in that as they have been at every stage of this project.

Update: More information on Educate Together is available on their website.

The 2006 Mayor’s Ball is taking place on Friday, May 5th, in aid of the Donegal Hospice. Sales of tickets and tables have been very good so far. We have limited numbers of individual tickets left, at E75 per person, and a few corporate tables for ten, at E750. If you would like to be a part of what promises to be a fantastic evening, for a great cause, please get in touch with Francis in the Town Council on 074 919 4222.

As part of the evening, we have been given a number of items for auction and raffle. Among the items which have been donated are tickets for the Bruce Springsteen concert in Dublin, which also takes place on May 5th. As the concert and the ball clash, we have to do something else with the tickets.

So they are now up for auction on eBay. Any fans of Bruce Springsteen from anywhere in the world can bid for the tickets for the next ten days, and I will post them out. All proceeds (100%) from the sale of the tickets will be going directly to the Hospice.

To bid on the tickets, please visit this eBay page for 2 balcony seated tickets or this page for 2 ground floor standing tickets.

As these items are going for auction for a very worthy charity, I’d appreciate if anyone reading this could either stick a link on their website, or send a few emails. As I say, 100% of the auction price will go to the Hospice.

I’ve just found out that I’m featured on the front page of Daily Ireland today, as part of a follow up to their story yesterday about trouble within the SDLP. It is in connection to comments I have made in the past, and the ongoing campaign I have supported to see Fianna Fail organise as a party of a 32 county basis.

On this website, I try to focus on issues relating purely to Letterkenny as much as I can. In other places, for example on the Ogra Fianna Fail website, I have discussed in detail the benefits that Fianna Fail could receive, and the benefits it could bring to the political process both in the North and the South.

I am an ardent believer that it would benefit both Fianna Fail as a party, and the process in the North, for FF to become actively involved. There is a large constituency which has become disenfranchised with the SDLP, and doesn’t support the politics of Sinn Fein, that is being left without representation. I also believe FF has a lot to learn from getting back to being the “underdogs” in the political process. I am under no illusions- I know it would be a long, difficult fight for FF to gain popularity in the North, but I believe that would be extremely worthwhile for the party as an organisation.

These views are strongly supported within Fianna Fail, most notably within Ogra Fianna Fail. I’d also like to mention the contribution of the Eamon DeVelera cumann of Fianna Fail in Derry, organised by Louis Bradley, which has visited numerous Fianna Fail events and with whom I have met a number of times. I’d also like to acknowledge David McCann, who has shown great commitment to seeing FF organised in and around Belfast. I have spoken at an Ogra FF information evening in Queens University in Belfast (an event which was covered in the press here in Donegal) and I know from having attended the University of Ulster in Derry that there would be much support there for FF.

The bulk of the FF membership supports these ideals, as do many in power within the party. The reason for not organising in the North has been that the party did not want to destabilise the peace process by upsetting the delicate balance between the SDLP and SF. That balance is shifting, and the gap between the two parties is widening. I believe the time has come for definitive action from Fianna Fail on this issue.

I’ll post a link to the story here when it becomes available on the Daily Ireland website. If you have anything to say on it, you can leave a comment on this post.

Update:The article is now online at Daily Ireland’s website : Mayor calls on FF to organise in North

Update: Daily Ireland has a follow-up piece on the article above: FF Northern Committee not ‘moving issue forward’

I’ve been away for the last few weeks, hence the lack of updates on this website. I’d like to thank Deputy Mayor, Cllr Ciaran Brogan for looking after my Mayoral deputies while I was away, and I’d also like to again offer my congratulations to Ciaran and his wife Lorraine on the arrival of their first child.

Last night’s meeting of Letterkenny Town Council saw a number of issues discussed. I had two motions on the agenda, both of which where unanimously supported:

1: That this council work with Donegal County Council, local schools and other groups, to develop and promote an awareness campaign on ways to conserve water effectively in the home and in businesses.
There can be no doubt that we are having difficulties with water supply, and sporadic outages, in the Letterkenny area. Donegal County Council have comprehensive plans in place to deal with this by developing the water supply network, and bringing new water sources on stream, but these developments will only come into effective in a timescale of months and years. A more immediate help to the problem would be to improve the way we use water. For example, one extended period of outage in the Lismonaghan was caused by a hose being left running and a tap left on.

There are a number of simple steps which can be taken to drastically reduce the amount of water used in the home. The best run-down I have seen to date is on the excellent TapTips website from local authorities in the Dublin area.

I hope we can work with the local schools to develop a comprehensive programme, which will also involve the media and working with businesses.

2: That this council meet with the HSE to discuss the provision of primary care services in Letterkenny
I’ve been contacted recently by a number of people, mainly new to the town, who have been having difficulty getting registered with a GP. I asked that the Town Council meet with representatives of the HSE to discuss the situation, and see if there is anything we can do to help recruit more doctors to the area.

Cllr Ciaran Brogan, who is a member of the HSE board for the North West, informed the meeting that the HSE is currently moving towards a new system of Primary Care delivery in the Letterkenny area, and has completed negotiations with Doctors on this matter. There remain, however, difficulties with the quantity of GP Doctors in the town.

Earlier today I was in St Eunan’s College to speak to a group of 3rd Year students, who are currently doing a project on local politicians as part of their CSPE class. I was asked to attend and speak to them by their teacher, Ms Doherty.

It went very well. I spoke primarily about the roles and responsibilities of a local Councillor, and the differences it meant being Mayor. I was very conscious of trying to discuss relevant issues to keep it interesting, so I discussed the position (and abilities) of the Councillors in relation to Planning Control, Economic Development, and recent issues of note like the Celtic Cross at the Cathedral Car Park.

I wasn’t sure what to expect; anyone who has either spoken to a class of 15 year olds, or been one of the 15 year olds when someone comes in to speak, will know that it has the potential to be either fantastic or to go the complete other way. I am very happy to say it went very well! The students were well briefed, and had some prepared questions which led to an active debate. The students were all very well clued-in, with plenty of questions to ask and many points to make. The session was very productive, and reflected well on the boys in the class and on their teacher.

The students were full of questions about local issues on the ground, and knew their stuff on any topics they were asking about. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more young candidates coming forward in Letterkenny in the future elections!

Another round of updates on events or the last week or so…

• Cathedral Car Park: The issues regarding the Celtic Cross in the Cathedral Car Park have, for the most part, been resolved. I’ve added the details to the end of my original post on the issue, you can read them here. This story has generated huge media interest across the Country, so I am glad that we have been able to deal with it quickly and effectively.
• Congratulations to Gerry Davenport, who has been re-elected as President of the National Community Games movement. The Community Games is an outstanding organisation, touching every town and village in every part of Ireland, with up to 500,000 young people participating every year. I’d particularly encourage visitors from overseas to check out their website to learn more about the organisation; in essence, they provide a sort of “mini-Olympics” every year, with young people taking part in various sports at a local, county, provincial and then National level.
• Mayor’s Ball 2006: As officially announced at the last Council meeting, the 2006 Mayor’s Ball, which takes place on May 5th, will be benefetting the Donegal Hospice. Tables/Tickets will hopefully go on sale next week.
• The next meeting of Letterkenny Town Council takes place next Wednesday, March 8th, instead of Monday,March 13th
• We’ve been hit by some very severe weather recently, so I’d like to take this opportuniy to pay tribute to the Council Gritter drivers of both Donegal County Council and Letterkenny Town Council, who have gone to such lengths to keep our roads clear. Many have complained about the coverage, but it remains a fact that they cover a huge area, and keep the roads open for the vast majority of people in the County. It must also be remembered that these drivers are Council workers, who leave their families and home to ensure the roads are kept clear and safe for the rest of us.
• Last night (Thursday March 2nd), Letterkenny Town Council held a Civic Reception to honour Letterkenny Athletic Club and their winning Men’s National Marathon Championship team of Gary Crossan, Pauric McKinney and Martin Gormley. The reception went very well, and was attended by a host of current and former members of the Athletic Club, and their family and supporters.