Local Elections in Kerry 2009

ejmaztec

dmeehan wrote: »

just click on View Results link, at the bottom of the poll box thingy
here's the link again: http://kerrynews.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/poll-local-elections-2009/

No, the actual number of people included in the 100%. Is it 6, 6000, or whatever?

dh0661

dmeehan wrote: »

so far i have only been visited by gutless wonders who call in the middle of day when I am at work, they wont be getting my vote. last night sinn fein dropped some leaflets in the letterbox and didnt even bother trying to canvas, so they wont be gettin any votes either.

Same here - in Monavalley Tralee area, I was very surprised.

I suppose they think the way FF are in the national polls there is no need to canvass.

The ABFF feelings in the general public would probably support this strategy.

ejmaztec

dh0661 wrote: »

Same here - in Monavalley Tralee area, I was very surprised.

I suppose they think the way FF are in the national polls there is no need to canvass.

The ABFF feelings in the general public would probably support this strategy.

Sad to think that the party faithful FF enthusiasts will still vote for them - whatever they did or didn't do.:(

dh0661

ejmaztec wrote: »

Sad to think that the party faithful FF enthusiasts will still vote for them - whatever they did or didn't do.:(

Well I know that my Dad, the guy who once told me if your not going to vote FF don't bother voting at all, will not be voting FF anytime soon.

kerry4sam

Fianna Fàil have always done well in Kerry and although some people would say any-party but FF I can still see a FF majority in our County Chambers after the election, unfortunately.

ejmaztec

kerry4sam wrote: »

Fianna Fàil have always done well in Kerry and although some people would say any-party but FF I can still see a FF majority in our County Chambers after the election, unfortunately.

Perhaps people feel sorry for them because at least two Kerry FFers that I've seen didn't fall very far from the ugly tree.:(

dmeehan

ejmaztec wrote: »

No, the actual number of people included in the 100%. Is it 6, 6000, or whatever?

i can post the numbers up when the poll is finished, or after a while, whatever

dmeehan

22 people have voted so far

Fianna Fail 8 votes (36%)
Labour 5 votes (23%)
Independant 4 votes (18%)
Sinn Fein 3 votes (14%)
Fine Gael 1 vote (5%)
Green Party 1 vote (5%)

kerry4sam

dmeehan wrote: »

22 people have voted so far

Fianna Fail 8 votes (36%)
Labour 5 votes (23%)
Independant 4 votes (18%)
Sinn Fein 3 votes (14%)
Fine Gael 1 vote (5%)
Green Party 1 vote (5%)

do you know I'm looking forward to seeing how close or far off the mark this first poll result will be come election time.

ejmaztec

kerry4sam wrote: »

do you know I'm looking forward to seeing how close or far off the mark this first poll result will be come election time.

I hope for Kerry's sake that FF get the same total of 8 in the election.

Interyurauldone

ejmaztec wrote: »

I hope for Kerry's sake that FF get the same total of 8 in the election.

Why do you think? in case of a back lash from the Dail in terms of funding etc?

ejmaztec

Interyurauldone wrote: »

Why do you think? in case of a back lash from the Dail in terms of funding etc?

Funding in North Kerry? Is that the same as believing in Leprechauns?

Interyurauldone

ejmaztec wrote: »

Funding in North Kerry? Is that the same as believing in Leprechauns?

Ha good one . Case and point Ballybunion Leisure Centre, the seaside town began their request for funding in 1993 around the time spring was made Tainaiste, it finally opened its doors in 2008!!

ejmaztec

Interyurauldone wrote: »

Ha good one . Case and point Ballybunion Leisure Centre, the seaside town began their request for funding in 1993 around the time spring was made Tainaiste, it finally opened its doors in 2008!!

I think that north of Tralee is Desolation Row in Kerry, because our representatives have the dynamism of a wet lettuce. It seems that Independent TDs are the only ones with any influence.

and then there's the usual "major jobs blow" announcement:

http://www.fiannafail.ie/news/entry/amann-decision-major-blow-to-tralee-mcellistrim/

“I have already spoken to the Tanaiste and her staff about Amann and I have repeated my call for more support for Tralee. This is another major blow to the town. Tralee has suffered too many disappointments when it comes to redundancies over recent months.”

“I think the IDA needs to be instructed to make Tralee their number 1 priority. I will be making this case to the Department and I will be taking this up directly with the IDA. I don’t believe enough is being done to promote Tralee as an investment location and I think the IDA needs to take a lot more responsibility for providing jobs to Tralee.”




When factories close in Kerry, they stay closed. You can just replace Amann with Goblin, or the name of any other defunct Kerry factory in the quoted press release.

dmeehan

ejmaztec wrote: »

"I think the IDA needs to take a lot more responsibility for providing jobs to Tralee" -McEllistrim

maybe he is barking up the wrong tree, Shannon Developement run the Kerry Technology Park so maybe they would also have jurisdiction for the rest of Tralee town.

Does anyone know whose responsibility this is, IDA or Shannon Dev?

ejmaztec

dmeehan wrote: »

maybe he is barking up the wrong tree, Shannon Developement run the Kerry Technology Park so maybe they would also have jurisdiction for the rest of Tralee town.

Does anyone know whose responsibility this is, IDA or Shannon Dev?

I thought that was covered by Shannon Development, but there does seem to be an array of different bodies all pulling together and not actually achieving anything. I think that the following Kerryman article sums it up from back in January.:eek:

There doesn't appear to be a name attached to it, so I assume that it was an editorial.

http://www.kerryman.ie/news/jobs-crisis-demands-action-not-talking-shops-1608658.html

I'VE had it up to the eyeballs with task forces, development boards, enterprise committees, action groups, development agencies, focus groups, quangos and talking shops in general.
Six years ago, I sat at a press briefing in a plush conference room at County Buildings in Tralee for the launch of yet another job-creating or policy-making committee. Even back then, I and many others had it up to the eyeballs with job-creating nonsense and mumbo-jumbo.
I recall, very clearly, sitting across from the then county manager and asking him: "Are you sure manager that this is not just another fancy document with fancy language about job creation in Kerry"?
The manager looked annoyed and promptly assured me that it wasn't. KEAT — the Kerry Enterprise Action Team - was different, he said. It would have the best people in the county making a real difference. The County Manager, Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, Kerry County Enterprise Board, Shannon Development, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Chambers of Commerce, IBEC, Local Development Agencies, and the Institute of Technology would all be members of KEAT. One of its promises was that it would not overlap with other agencies. If you examine KEAT's makeup and objectives — and lack of concrete achievements — you will notice an uncanny resemblance between KEAT and several other agencies in Kerry.
Six years later, here's my question to KEAT: Where are the jobs?.
KEAT is not alone. We also have the County Development Board. I want you to read the following. These are not my words, they are the words of the County Development Board, taken from their website:
"The Board is one of 34 Boards established throughout the country following a recommendation from the Interdepartmental Task Force on the need to coordinate local level service delivery within a policy framework at local level."
I have read this paragraph at least five times and I cannot figure out what it means. This is just one example of the type of gobbledegook used by quango-like groups that we do not need. We have reports full of this claptrap. More significantly, of the 37 members currently listed on their website, just one comes from the private/business sector. This compares to eight councillors, none of whom, in my view, know a whole lot about job creation.
The County Development Board established Meitheal Chiarraí. It promised to, "ensure speedy and effective response mechanisms to attract foreign direct investment and new business start-ups and upskilling". Here's my question: Where are the jobs?
After that we have the County Enterprise Board, the IDA, Shannon Development, Enterprise Ireland, Udarás na Gaeltachta, local development agencies and local partnerships. Remember the most comprehensive and graphic document published in the last 10 years, the National Spatial Strategy, HUBS and Gateways and how Kerry would be transformed? We have more talking shops than we have jobs and they are just like over 12,000 people in this county; they're not working.
We need change and new direction. We need leadership and ideas. We need doers with track records. We do NOT need more task forces and lengthy plans drawn up by people who have no track record in job creation and business.
And yet, last Monday, our inspired councillors debated the job crises for an hour and what did they come up with? Correct – another meeting that included themselves and more agencies so that another talking shop could be born. At least County Manager Tom Curran tried to tell them that they were rally wasting their time.
Fine Gael's Pat McCarthy summed it up well (but maybe inadvertently) when he told Monday's meeting of Kerry County Council that, "they're all expecting us to be seen to be doing something". I'm have no doubty that councillors genuinely care about job losses. But, in most cases, it seems that once politicians are seen to be doing something (even arranging another talking shop) then they believe they're off the hook.
Job creation — in its strictest sense — is not a function of politics but job creation 'policy' is. Secondly, many politicians and most councillors, haven't the ability, the know-how or the expertise to create jobs. Therefore, they would do us all a service by getting out of the way and stop politically hijacking a very serious situation.
We need to scrap all these talking shops and lame-duck quangos that have failed.
The IDA's record in Kerry is appalling. Even through the boom in Kerry, the numerous jobcreating agencies and groups failed. During the Celtic tiger, Kerry was home to some of the most notorious unemployment backspots in the country. So what can we expect now that the outlook is bleak?
There are some members of quangos in Kerry who wouldn't last one week in the private sector.
Scrap the talking shops, fire the members, save money and start anew.
It would seem that, to have any hope of success in creating urgently needed new jobs for Kerry, we need the following to happen:
1. All our oireachtas members must park party politics and present a united front
2. Scrap all job-creating agencies and groups in Kerry except for two: The IDA and the County Enterprise Board.
3. Clean out the membership of these two organisation and rebalance their membership to reflect at least 50 per cent private sector of people who have a proven track record in job creation or business
4. Insist the IDA make county targets, not regional targets. Specify how many jobs they will create within specific timeframes.
5. Straight away, approach the following people with a view to them leading Kerry's economic fight: Brian McCarthy and Dick Spring (FEXCO), Denis Brosnan and Hugh Friel (ex Kerry Group), Jerry Kennelly (ex Stockbyte), Mike Fitzgerald (Altobridge) and Jim Breen (Pulse Learning).
6. Exclude councillors from all meetings but include all oireachtas members
7. Immediately carry out an audit of Kerry's entire workforce, of its skill base, gender, age groups, breakdown of dependency on foreign direct Investment and indigenous companies
8. Evaluate all of our TDs on their performance and ability and how they represent Kerry's interests in Dublin. Weed out the wasters.

FRANKENFURTER

ejmaztec wrote: »

Funding in North Kerry? Is that the same as believing in Leprechauns?

could you please tell me what funding is needed fr north kerry as far as I'm aware it has Kerry hospital..........Kerry institute.....county offices......museum........aqua dome........what you are looking for is private development .....now ask yourself one question who in there right mind would set up a manufacturing plant in the arse hole of the country with no decent road network to move your goods....no rail option........no broadband in lots of places as there is no need.....north Kerry is an agri area and that's not meant as an insult its just plain fact....north kerry has got alot more funding than south it was just spent the wrong way..:eek: and weather you support f/f or not which i don't ...there has been a severe lack of cheques being handed over since john o donoughe was shafted into the chair

Interyurauldone

FRANKENFURTER wrote: »

could you please tell me what funding is needed fr north kerry as far as I'm aware it has Kerry hospital..........Kerry institute.....county offices......museum........aqua dome........what you are looking for is private development .....now ask yourself one question who in there right mind would set up a manufacturing plant in the arse hole of the country with no decent road network to move your goods....no rail option........no broadband in lots of places as there is no need.....north Kerry is an agri area and that's not meant as an insult its just plain fact....north kerry has got alot more funding than south it was just spent the wrong way..:eek: and weather you support f/f or not which i don't ...there has been a severe lack of cheques being handed over since john o donoughe was shafted into the chair

First off "Kerry hospital..........Kerry institute.....county offices......museum........aqua dome" All of these "amenities" are Tralee based, there is alot more to North Kerry then just Tralee. As of 2006 the population of Tralee was 21,000 and the North Kerry area was a further 41,000.

Secondly, "now ask yourself one question who in there right mind would set up a manufacturing plant in the arse hole of the country" Good man what an attitude to have let's just exclude the majority of the country's population and lets focus on job creation and prosperity for Dublin, Cork and Galway??? North Kerry is crying out for the infrastructural support to aid in the attraction of clean industry such as a financial services firms along the lines of FEXCO in Killorglin. That's the type of funding North Kerry needs, there's your answer to your core question. FF/P.D's and the Greens spoke openly throughout the 2007 general election campaign on up skilling the workforce, so why didn't we see increased funding in our country's peripheral areas to support this initiative. The business park on Tralee IT's campus is along the right idea. I fully believe that North Kerry has the intellectual capacity and educated workforce to support a push for this type of employment.

To continue, "north Kerry is an agri area and that's not meant as an insult its just plain fact" A large element of North Kerry's economy is agri based or directly associated to the agri market by way of Kerry group or its suppliers. But your sweeping statement ignores that we have two of the top 10 links golf courses in the WORLD which attracts thousands upon thousands of International tourists year on year to the greater kerry area. These tourists may come to play Tralee and Ballybunion but 90% will also end up in Killarney and surrounding areas. Better funding of our great amenities would greatly aid the recovery of Kerry's economy.

"north kerry has got alot more funding than south it was just spent the wrong way" Lets hear your support for this. In my opinion funding for the whole kerry area is low so any difference between North and South should be minimal.

"john o donoughe was shafted into the chair" Correct me if you believe me to be wrong but I feel the man saw a chance to guarantee re-election and seized the opportunity. No "shafting" involved.

ejmaztec

FRANKENFURTER wrote: »

could you please tell me what funding is needed fr north kerry as far as I'm aware it has Kerry hospital..........Kerry institute.....county offices......museum........aqua dome........what you are looking for is private development .....now ask yourself one question who in there right mind would set up a manufacturing plant in the arse hole of the country with no decent road network to move your goods....no rail option........no broadband in lots of places as there is no need.....north Kerry is an agri area and that's not meant as an insult its just plain fact....north kerry has got alot more funding than south it was just spent the wrong way..:eek: and weather you support f/f or not which i don't ...there has been a severe lack of cheques being handed over since john o donoughe was shafted into the chair

North of Tralee is a wasteland. I don't even think McEllistrim knows where it is. Shannon Development isn't interested either. If anyone approaches them to set up a business, they will push for Tralee as the location for that business. The only things that they make in Listowel are traffic jams.

Agri area? The whole county is an agri-area (and probably the whole country).

This part of the county has been left at the back of the queue, and now, with the state of the finances, it's going to stay there.

newman10

ejmaztec wrote: »

North of Tralee is a wasteland. I don't even think McEllistrim knows where it is. Shannon Development isn't interested either. If anyone approaches them to set up a business, they will push for Tralee as the location for that business. The only things that they make in Listowel are traffic jams.

Agri area? The whole county is an agri-area (and probably the whole country).

This part of the county has been left at the back of the queue, and now, with the state of the finances, it's going to stay there.

As a resident of Mid Kerry why did people object to the development of Heavy Industry in Ballylongford

ejmaztec

newman10 wrote: »

As a resident of Mid Kerry why did people object to the development of Heavy Industry in Ballylongford

Because some people are a strange breed, wherever they live. I've seen selfish people objecting to things just because they didn't like the people involved in promoting something, or they were left out of the clique. I think "begrudgery" sums it up.

dmeehan

newman10 wrote: »

As a resident of Mid Kerry why did people object to the development of Heavy Industry in Ballylongford

it would spoil their view etc. usual nimby stuff is suppose

newman10

It is just when an opportuinity presents itself we cannot always blame the politicians.

By the way I am totally undecided with my leaning towards Johnny O Connor FG for Locals .

I would prefer not to vote but then I cannot complain about them

ejmaztec

newman10 wrote: »

It is just when an opportuinity presents itself we cannot always blame the politicians.

If there was more than one opportunity, we probably wouldn't blame them as much. At the moment, it would be a shock to wake some of them, they've been asleep so long.

FRANKENFURTER

ejmaztec wrote: »

If there was more than one opportunity, we probably wouldn't blame them as much. At the moment, it would be a shock to wake some of them, they've been asleep so long.

The politicians didnt demand that we all buy the second and third car for the kids to drive to school.....a bigger jeep to drop the designer baby to the gaelscoil.....the second and third credit card....the mandatory six months in australia........it wasnt law that you had to have a bigger more mod con house than your neighbour.........the weekender house in bulgaria............IT WAS MOSTLY OUR OWN GREED THAT GOT US WHERE WE ARE.........and i dont care what anybody says........we have it in our national identity that we have to have more than the guy beside ....im lookng forward to the days of blatent begrudery when only five or six ineach town could change there car every year.......we totally lost therun of ourselves

newman10

Is Eamonn Gilmore in Killarney today

ejmaztec

FRANKENFURTER wrote: »

The politicians didnt demand that we all buy the second and third car for the kids to drive to school.....a bigger jeep to drop the designer baby to the gaelscoil.....the second and third credit card....the mandatory six months in australia........it wasnt law that you had to have a bigger more mod con house than your neighbour.........the weekender house in bulgaria............IT WAS MOSTLY OUR OWN GREED THAT GOT US WHERE WE ARE.........and i dont care what anybody says........we have it in our national identity that we have to have more than the guy beside ....im lookng forward to the days of blatent begrudery when only five or six ineach town could change there car every year.......we totally lost therun of ourselves

I didn't buy any cars for my kids to go to school, never bought a jeep, never sent my kids to a gaelscoil, only had one credit card, never been to Australia, was never interested in competing with my neighbours and never had a holiday home.

The world is full of greedy people involved in the art of one-upmanship. Many of us weren't so stupid as to believe that the goldmine rollercoaster was going to go on forever. Many could see it coming a mile away.

Meanwhile in Kerry, apart from building hotels, multi-storey car-parks, God knows how many new houses and office-buildings, what else was going on? What were our local representatives and government agencies doing to entice industry into the county? Not a lot by all accounts.

The only non-politicians to blame are the ones that saddled the lending institutions with billions in bad debts, and the lending institutions themselves for allowing themselves to be saddled with them.

For the ordinary person, the granting of any loans, credit cards etc., is based on the person's ability to pay. This rule didn't seem to apply to property developers with friends in high places wanting to borrow millions.

The global recession screwed the world economy, but the Irish government's lack of economic control during the boom-years made sure that ours was double-screwed.

Meanwhile in North Kerry, most of the people here are used to dealing with recession, because there's probably always been one here in varying degrees.

kerry4sam

newman10 wrote: »

Is Eamonn Gilmore in Killarney today

By gosh the labour candidate(s)??? could do with making a little noise here. FG vans & bill-boards are everywhere, FF are keeping stump & quiet, Independents are knocking & running for some reason or another but Labour - not a peep so far. I don't think they have even raised their heads but I could be wrong there

kerry4sam

ejmaztec wrote: »

I didn't buy any cars for my kids to go to school, never bought a jeep, never sent my kids to a gaelscoil, only had one credit card, never been to Australia, was never interested in competing with my neighbours and never had a holiday home.

The world is full of greedy people involved in the art of one-upmanship. Many of us weren't so stupid as to believe that the goldmine rollercoaster was going to go on forever. Many could see it coming a mile away.

Meanwhile in Kerry, apart from building hotels, multi-storey car-parks, God knows how many new houses and office-buildings, what else was going on? What were our local representatives and government agencies doing to entice industry into the county? Not a lot by all accounts.

The only non-politicians to blame are the ones that saddled the lending institutions with billions in bad debts, and the lending institutions themselves for allowing themselves to be saddled with them.

For the ordinary person, the granting of any loans, credit cards etc., is based on the person's ability to pay. This rule didn't seem to apply to property developers with friends in high places wanting to borrow millions.

The global recession screwed the world economy, but the Irish government's lack of economic control during the boom-years made sure that ours was double-screwed.

Meanwhile iin North Kerry, most of the people here are used to dealing with recession, because there's probably always been one here in varying degrees.

well said ejmaztec

dmeehan

billboards already, i thought they weren't allowed to put any up until 30 days before the election??