local elections - trim

Valentia

I can't stop myself from imagining how hard it must be for Shane & Co. not to respond. Considering that they can't admit to being aware that we are here and all that....

(Shane is Minister Noel's son BTW and an alleged member of the McKenna 3. He is not averse to stirring the sh1t. e.g. his mock outrage about the posters having a negative impact on the tidy town judges. When he knows well, like everyone else, that the judges are not coming until after the election!)

oslosinclair

all will be revealed...
I'm a fianna gael man myself...
I was in school when Shane was and a **** stirrer he is indeed.

my reading on what Friday's results will be:


FG 3 seats - butler on top
FF 2
Labour - 1 - o'brien, damaged ligaments and all! (Valentia)
SF - 1
Cantwell
Golden

County will be butler, fegan, golden, murray

Any thoughts there other than accusations of being a FFer out there?

Spadder, when you spill out your bile about any particular party that means you can no longer consider yourself a floating voter. But you served well as a 'representative' of the floating voter out there for your political master, fair play to you.

spadder

Float like a butterfly sting like a bee. Don't have a master or agenda, like alot of people I know, I just want to see the country back to work and the corruption ended.

oslosinclair

I think we'd all like the country up and running again. As a genuine floating voter..what do you think of the respective party plans out of this - which do you believe in the most or is it a combination of all?

spadder

Nationally, I am leaning towards FG, mostly on business related issues, Vat reduction ( this should have been done before xmas). More relief for employers PRSI etc. Rates etc.
Health is obviously on everyone’s mind.
Today’s performance giving out about Mary-Lou and SF is a turn-off though, keep your eye on the ball Enda!

There are Labour policies I like, but the big turn-off for me is they won’t tackle the unions which means the public service will remain unreformed. Look at GM today to see where unmovable unions will get ya.

Locally, I like the policies of Golden on job creation. Haven’t met Cantwell.

Still a week to go.

Edit: Haven't had a visit from any FGers, tell your FG buddies to get the finger out and start banging on doors.

nodrog

Wow - I've been away for the past few days and things on here certainly have got a little heated/crazy!


Anyway I heard today that the Loman Street Polling Station will be closed because of the ongoing road works but I'm not too sure where people from Avondale, Castleabbey, Pinebrook etc will have to go, does anyone have any details?

Valentia

I'll check that out Gordon and get back to you

AnCatDubh

nodrog wrote: »

Wow - I've been away for the past few days and things on here certainly have got a little heated/crazy!


Anyway I heard today that the Loman Street Polling Station will be closed because of the ongoing road works but I'm not too sure where people from Avondale, Castleabbey, Pinebrook etc will have to go, does anyone have any details?

The specific location should be on your polling card - but I don't know if anyone has received theirs yet. I know I haven't.

Down the country they are being delivered as I saw the parents-in-law's on Sunday so with a few days to go MCC/An Post had better get a move on.

Maybe with the bank holiday they are delayed and will whisk through the doors today.

nodrog

yeah - thanks, haven't received polling cards yet either, should probably come today!

Valentia

Just got mine. Looks like we've been moved to St. Mary's national school.

nodrog

Valentia wrote: »

Just got mine. Looks like we've been moved to St. Mary's national school.

Grand! although that's a bit of a hike!

Valentia

nodrog wrote: »

Grand! although that's a bit of a hike!

I'll pick you up if I see you hitching! Might be worth a tick for the young fella?

cue

I'm new to politics so I found this useful.
http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6694&Itemid=40

upmeath

I think the outgoing town council did a great job with the streets of Trim, they're in much better nick, they're brighter and cleaner (some good new signposting and landscaping) and they're safer (plenty of pedestrian crossings and bollards).

Are there any big issues affecting Trim (not necessarily national issues) that boardsies resident here would like to see improved on over the next five years?

Personally I'd be against the location of a playground in the Porchfields, because I think the minute ground is broken, even for something as inoffensive and temporary as a playground ringed by a timber fence and paved in mulch, that bigger and bolder things will follow. Parents will want a paved car park adjacent to the playground, and so on. I think the pasture needs to be preserved, firstly for historical reasons and secondly to prevent a domino effect which might lead to overdevelopment.
There are numerous sites away from the Porchfields which could accommodate a playground. Let the fields and the walking routes themselves be the amenity, put playgrounds elsewhere.

To echo the views of a previous poster, the traffic lights at Lackanash may need revisiting, although the current system is leagues ahead of the roundabout which preceded the traffic lights.

Recent council meetings appear to have had the issue of public toilets at the core of the debate. From reading Focus it seems a lot of time has been dedicated to this. Some councillors feared the town would lose out on tourists for the lack of public toilets. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Dieter from Dresden or Mario from Milano checks to see if Trim has public toilets before he works this town into his travel plans. If he intends to stay here, the hotel/guesthouse/b&b of his choice will have a bathroom to offer him, if he's only on a day-visit then any café/restaurant/bar in the town is unlikely to refuse him use of their toilets. People seem to be forgetting that the castle grounds have well maintained toilets, is the tour of the castle keep not the foremost reason people visit Trim?
Personally I don't see why public toilets should be operated at a loss due to relentless damage of equipment perpetrated by a few gurriers and delinquents. If we really need a public toilet, put it standing alone, coin operated, and in the public eye, but not as a public eyesore, much like the one on the Fair Green in Navan. I'm not suggesting it be located on the roundabout on Market Square, but the car parks on Jimmy Finnegan Way or behind the courthouse could accommodate a 1-person coin-operated WC, and inoperable between 19:00 and 07:00, nothing too loud or brash, and in areas where there is constant foot-fall. Behind a wall behind a bus shelter isn't the place.

me_right_one

upmeath wrote: »

Are there any big issues affecting Trim (not necessarily national issues) that boardsies resident here would like to see improved on over the next five years?

Railway, railway, railway! I cant understand why the old one cant be re-opened!

IIMII

TheNog wrote: »

He is interested in Ham Radio I believe

Must be more than Ham radio that he is into.. I rang him a few years ago to ask him something, and he asked me to hang on so that he could record the call (before he had even found out what I wanted to ask him!), as he was now recording all calls! More funny than anything else, felt very important for the rest of the morning. That was about 3 years ago so God knows if he is still doing it

Valentia

To clarify all this stuff on the toilets.........

One should not equate the amount of column inches given to something in the media to the amount of time spent discussing something at a meeting. In fact about 10 minutes out of a two and a half hour meeting was spent on the matter.

Most seem to have missed it but the toilets are reopening with a charge of 50c. The charge is in order to discourage the vandalism that led to their initial closure.

With regard to Deiter from Dresden caring about whether there are public toilets or not....well it's only when he feels the need to go that that becomes an issue . Any decent tourist town that I have been to provides public washrooms and toilets. I would consider them basic requirements, Backpackers often depend on them.

upmeath

me_right_one wrote: »

Railway, railway, railway! I cant understand why the old one cant be re-opened!

I honestly didn't think a railway was among the things voters in Trim feel strongly about. I know I'm going to be told it's because it's a crap service, but the Trim-Dublin bus route isn't used like the Navan-Dublin one is, where bus after bus packs 50 passengers. That warrants a train service. A spur off the Dublin-Navan line to Trim would cost millions, no doubt benefit a few cronies, throw up plenty of dust in its wake (let's assume the designated route would be too close to the south side of Tara), and would most likely be overpriced and underused.
Navan people won't know themselves when they have the M3 and the train line to choose between. Take the M4 corridor for precedent example. Kilcock to Liffey Valley is a similar distance to that travelled between Dunshaughlin and Blanchardstown, and the former takes about 11 minutes depending on traffic from the Lucan Spa inbound (9 minutes to the Lucan Spa, at the speed limit). Sure it takes 11 minutes to get from Pace to Blanchardstown at the minute! :mad: A train line runs parallel to the M4, but it was there long before the motorway was even thought of, and carries passengers from all over the west and northwest. A spur to Trim would want to lead somewhere, and demand for the existing bus service needs to increase. It's not Rome we're talking about.

Don't get me wrong, it would be great to have people here thinking along greener lines, very simple measures I've seen abroad have yet to be applied here. Street bins in Germany and Belgium are divided into four parts for paper, plastic, aluminium and chewing gum, I've yet to see this applied ANYWHERE in Ireland. Sure, the bins are a bit bigger, and it would cost a bit to set up, but the long term benefits: having the people sort out recycling themselves at the source of waste would save countless manhours, it would bring great publicity to the town, and we'd get a reputation as a greener, cleaner town. Trim could be the first, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it would go a long way towards bringing home a Tidy Towns award for the town.

IIMII

upmeath wrote: »

I honestly didn't think a railway was among the things voters in Trim feel strongly about.

Maybe not to Trim, but there is a widespread interest in using the line to Navan

upmeath wrote: »

A spur off the Dublin-Navan line to Trim would cost millions, no doubt benefit a few cronies, throw up plenty of dust in its wake (let's assume the designated route would be too close to the south side of Tara

Not to be confused with proposing reopening the Trim line (which I am not) but the junction for the Trim line was at Kilmessan, miles away from Tara. The line arched back in a southwesterly direction from Kilmessan

IIMII

Valentia wrote: »

To clarify all this stuff on the toilets.........

One should not equate the amount of column inches given to something in the media to the amount of time spent discussing something at a meeting. In fact about 10 minutes out of a two and a half hour meeting was spent on the matter.

Most seem to have missed it but the toilets are reopening with a charge of 50c. The charge is in order to discourage the vandalism that led to their initial closure.

With regard to Deiter from Dresden caring about whether there are public toilets or not....well it's only when he feels the need to go that that becomes an issue . Any decent tourist town that I have been to provides public washrooms and toilets. I would consider them basic requirements, Backpackers often depend on them.

Any plans for showers / wash facilities?

upmeath

Valentia wrote: »

One should not equate the amount of column inches given to something in the media to the amount of time spent discussing something at a meeting. In fact about 10 minutes out of a two and a half hour meeting was spent on the matter.

As I said, it would appear that a lot of time was given over to it. It was given priority on the first issue of the month for a few months. Front page stuff? I think not, and I seem to remember on at least one occasion it was even continued inside. Apologies for jumping to conclusions!

Delighted to hear that a solution has been reached. Is the coin-collection facility tamper-proof or will the eejits who brought down the previous incarnation of the public toilets find a way to rule and ruin once again?

Valentia

IIMII wrote: »

Any plans for showers / wash facilities?

Not that I'm aware of. If the money was there it might but the government has severely cut the town's budget. I'ts difficult enough to keep what's going going. The change in boundaries should make a difference.

will the eejits who brought down the previous incarnation of the public toilets find a way to rule and ruin once again?

Yep, that's the question. I personally believe we shouldn't let the vandals dictate how things are done.

dee1dee2

I would like to thank FF for posting letters in all estates on Navan Rd. to inform us than navan rd. upgrade is CONFIRMED to be finished by 2010.
Unfortunately this is not true there is no actual funds for this work.
so thanks a bunch FF for more cheap tricks to try and con the people.
We all know the candidates want to be elected but telling lies is not the way to gain popularity or gain peoples trust and respect there has been enough of that for years and its time to change.
The 5 million mentioned in letter has not even been applied for much less granted it hasn't even been agreed that it will definitely be even applied for so hello local candidates a bit of honesty could really be the best policy

CathalOS

There's a readers letter in today's Chronicle about his leaflet!

-unlaoised- wrote: »

just wondering if anybody got phil cantwell's election leaflet through their door?
Fairly mad stuff!
Quote from it - There is no place for strokes, nods and winks Cute hoors (blacked out but you can still read it) in a country trying to save its ruined economy.....

Valentia

Has anyone got a personal letter from the Minister for Transport? Not sure how this fits in with rules saying Dáil postage cannot be used for electioneering.

Apart from that I believe that at least one letter went to the wrong address (and, oddly, the right address also). We may hear more about this as the information was fairly sensitive!

cue

upmeath wrote: »

Let the fields and the walking routes themselves be the amenity, put playgrounds elsewhere.

Couldn't agree more. EVERY visitor I bring to Trim remarks upon the untouched nature of the porchfields and what a unique asset it is.

oslosinclair

cue wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. EVERY visitor I bring to Trim remarks upon the untouched nature of the porchfields and what a unique asset it is.

agree entirely...it's a fantastic amenity, if we start tinkering with it too much now...it'll be ruined..I sound like a granddad..!

Why did we close the choo choo in the first place?

upmeath

oslosinclair wrote: »

Why did we close the choo choo in the first place?

See here for rail maps of Ireland from the first half of the 20th century. Despite our small population we had a rail network that was on a par with the rest of our European neighbours, but as the article reasons, the Brits couldn't spare any coal for their neutral neighbour during the war, and attempts to burn peat to drive trains proved futile. I'm guessing that priority for coal was given to main intercity routes, the big earners, and the Trim line wouldn't have been one of those so the line bit the dust. A pity, but understandable given the circumstances.

oslosinclair

upmeath wrote: »

See here for rail maps of Ireland from the first half of the 20th century. Despite our small population we had a rail network that was on a par with the rest of our European neighbours, but as the article reasons, the Brits couldn't spare any coal for their neutral neighbour during the war, and attempts to burn peat to drive trains proved futile. I'm guessing that priority for coal was given to main intercity routes, the big earners, and the Trim line wouldn't have been one of those so the line bit the dust. A pity, but understandable given the circumstances.

Interesting. costs of reopening would be millions no doubt. Trim would still be down the priority list today I'd say, considering the Navan pop. And the professional protestor class would add millions to the cost of course.

:P

me_right_one

upmeath wrote: »

I honestly didn't think a railway was among the things voters in Trim feel strongly about. I know I'm going to be told it's because it's a crap service, but the Trim-Dublin bus route isn't used like the Navan-Dublin one is, where bus after bus packs 50 passengers. That warrants a train service. A spur off the Dublin-Navan line to Trim would cost millions, no doubt benefit a few cronies, throw up plenty of dust in its wake (let's assume the designated route would be too close to the south side of Tara), and would most likely be overpriced and underused.

I'm sure it would cost a pretty penny alright, but surely it would pay for itself, especially if privately operated? Who would've thought that putting 20c into the towns parking metres now and again could have paid for the lovely new streets we have? And dont the council already own the land? The volume of commuter traffic and passengers from all around the Trim area (I'm talking Kildalkey, Summerhill, Boardsmill, Rathmoylan etc) to Dublin everyday is in the region of thousands. Imagine if only 500 people paid merely 5 euro everyday to cummute by train from Trim 300 days per year - thats 750,000 yoyo's per year! If it took 5 million to build, it could be paid for in less than 10 years, and the town would have an invaluable amenity that would be green and contribute to the towns economy! But the real winner out of it all would be tourism! It probably isnt a real concern among voters at the moment, but look at the asset it would be to the future of South Meath!