Protest organised to welcome Dublin Bus to Bray Town Council on Tuesday 1st May

Sinn Féin and members of the campaign to save the 84 and 45 Dublin Bus
routes are to hold a protest outside the meeting of Bray Town Council
on Tuesday 1st May at 7pm. The protest is timed to coincide with a
presentation from Dublin Bus representatives outlining the cuts to the
public transport service in North Wicklow. Sinn Féin councillor John
Brady has described the cuts as a slashing of the service dressed up
as an improvement.

Speaking ahead of the protest Cllr Brady said "I am very disappointed
that after the massive pressure that has been exerted on Dublin Bus
they have simply gone ahead and decided to implement the cuts to the
45 and 84 routes. They have dressed the cuts up to look like the new
layout will lead to an improved service for people in North Wicklow,
however the cuts will hit the public transport users hard and will
simply act as a deterrent and force people away from using public
transport. The only purpose of the representatives of Dublin Bus
coming to Bray Town Council is to lay out the nature of the cuts which
have been signed off on, it is certainly not to consult Bray Town
Council"

Cllr Brady went onto say "The cuts which were announced on the 12th
April by Ray Coyne who is the Project Manager of Dublin Bus will see
the 45 and 84 routes amalgamated and the new service will run from
Newcastle/Kilcoole to Blackrock. The result of this is there will be a
huge reduction in buses from Wicklow linking us to the city centre,
anyone looking to do so will have to transfer over to the 145, it also
means vital services such as the National maternity Hospital in Holles
St. or St. Vincents Hospital have no direct Bus and this will
have a big impact on people reliant on public transport to get medical
treatment and it will get worse if the cuts to the A&E in
Loughlinstown go ahead"

Cllr Brady continued "Students in UCD will also be badly hit. The 84
which had been a hourly service from Kilcoole to UCD will now end and
the amalgamated 84/45 route will terminate in Blackrock. Dublin Bus
are saying they are going to increase the 84x by 33%, even this will
go nowhere near replacing the service of the 84, this is going to see
a huge reduction in the service to Belfield. The 45a in Bray will be
given a new route from Oldcourt to Dún Laoghaire, this means the
entire Killarney Rd area will have no link to Bray DART station, again
a huge disincentive for people using public transport"

"I had hoped that Dublin Bus might finally deliver a service for North
Wicklow that people wanted and might use in larger numbers. Sinn Féin
and the public of North Wicklow had put a huge amount of pressure on
Dublin Bus, we had presented them with a petition containing thousands
of signatures calling on them not to implement these drastic cuts and
to ensure that the network was fit for purpose and that point was hit
home with the public protest we had organised to meet them at the
Council meeting in Greystones. Rather than taking on-board any of the
views, proposals or concerns of the public, what Dublin Bus have done
is the complete opposite, they have cut the service to shreds and have
dressed it up as a positive move. Students, Hospital users, commuters
and ordinary members of the public who want to use public transport
are the real people who loose out here. This application is being
assessed by the National Transport Authority and i am urging Labour TD
Alan Kelly who is Minister of State, at the Department of Transport,
Tourism & Sport to intervene to stop the licence being issued. I also
calling on Wicklow's 5 TD to use their influence in Leinster House to
save our public transport service in North Wicklow"

Brady concluded "The protest on Tuesday 1st May will be the last
chance people have to get their message across to Dublin Bus as the
cuts to the routes will go ahead in the near future. I encourage as
many people as possible to show up to the protest which will be
starting at 7pm outside Bray Town Hall on Tuesday next"

Wicklow Sinn Féin hold successful launch of of the No Campaign to the Austerity Treaty

Wicklow Sinn Féin successfully launched their campaign for a No vote
in the forthcoming EU Fiscal Compact Treaty. The launch was held in
the Royal Hotel Bray and Sinn Féin outlined the nature of the campaign
they intend on running over the next five weeks. The launch was
chaired by Wicklow Town Sinn Féin councillor Gary O'Reilly and
addressed by Sinn Fein councillors Rossa Murray, John Snell and John
Brady along with the Sinn Féin representative for West Wicklow Gerry
O'Neill.

Speaking at the launch Cllr Gary O'Reilly welcomed people and thanked
them for attending and warned that if this treaty is accepted by the
Irish people it will mean more taxes like the household charge, the
septic tank tax and water charges. “The EU Fiscal Compact Treaty, or
the Austerity Treaty as it should be known, seeks to permanently
institutionalise austerity in this state. The treaty sets out to make
the cuts and taxes that have caused such misery and stagnation legally
binding and an integral part of our constitution. It sets out to tie
the hands of future governments and future generations of Irish men
and women, leaving them to live their whole lives under the dark
clouds of permanent austerity. It fair to say if this treaty gets
through, we ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Bray Town councillor Rossa Murray stated "Its important that people
understand what austerity is. Austerity is the hurt and pain thats
been inflicted on the Irish people over the last number of years,
austerity is the closure of hospitals, less teachers and increased
class sizes and new stealth taxes such as the household charge and
water taxes. It is quite clear Austerity doesn’t work. We’ve had six
austerity budgets. The deficit has grown not reduced. Half a million
citizens are unemployed. Working people and lower and middle income
families are bearing the brunt of the government’s decisions.”

Gerry O'Neill who is the Sinn Féin representative for West Wicklow
asserted that proponents of the treaty were coming from a “a
Thatcherite and Reaganite right-wing conservative ideological
position. If Ireland ratified the treaty, it would see the executive
hand over powers to unelected officials and bureaucrats in the EU
Commission and allowing them to run this State, and to police fiscal
as well as monetary matters.”

Wicklow County councillor for Wicklow East John Snell continued "Its
important that people defend the limited freedoms we currently enjoy
and try reclaim our economic sovereignty, citizens must firstly ensure
they are registered to vote and they can do that by checking the
website  www.checktheregister.ie and fill out the necessary forms if
they are not registered and secondly make such they exercise their
democratic right and come out on May 31st and vote No to the Austerity
Treaty."

The Wicklow Sinn Féin spokesperson for the No campaign John Brady
summed up by giving details of the campaign the party intend on
running over the next five weeks "Sinn Féin intend on running a
positive campaign over the next 5 weeks. The choice for the people of
Wicklow is between austerity and economic stimulus and growth. The
choice is between us handing over powers to unelected officials and
bureaucrats in the European Commission and in the European Court of
Justice and allowing them to run this state, and to police fiscal as
well as monetary matters. Or we can vote No to this and assert the
right of citizens to elect or sack our governments; and for citizens
to have democratic authority over those who govern us. Sinn Féin will
run a high profile campaign in Wicklow and intend on holding public
meeting across the county to inform people why the treaty is bad for
Ireland and for citizens in Wicklow. We will endeavour to knock and
canvass every house in the county and distribute thousands of pieces
of literature as well as an extensive postering campaign.

Brady concluded "I encourage people to inform themselves on the treaty
and to take and active role in the campaign to regain our sovereignty,
our campaign is open to anyone who wants to stand up for Ireland and
defend this generation and subsequent generations against austerity.
If people want to get involved they can contact myself or any Sinn
Féin representative in Wicklow."

Labour Minister Ruairi Quinn's visit to Wicklow to officially open 5 year old school is amusing, bemusing and hypocritical

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady has described the visit to
Wicklow by the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, TD to
open two schools for County Wicklow VEC on Monday, 30th April, 2012 as
amusing, bemusing and hypocritical all at the same time. One of the
schools Gaelcholáiste Na Mara, Pearses Park, Arklow which is to be
officially opened by the Minister has in fact been open since 2007, so
the Minister is five years too late.

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady who has described the Ministers
visit as amusing, bemusing and hypocritical all at the same time
stated "The news that the Minister for Education and Skill, Ruairi
Quinn, TD is to visit Wicklow to officially open a school which in
fact has been opened since 2007 is ridiculous, and it comes in the
same week when parents and pupils from another Wicklow school Coláiste
Ráithín which is located in Bray staged a protest outside the
Ministers office in an attempt to secure a new school after 14 years
of campaigning. What the Ministers visit does show is how desperate
this government actually is to find a good news story, the fact that
they must go through the archives to find a school that's 5 years old
to officially open stinks of desperation. What next will we have? the
Minister for Marine Simon Coveney officially launching the Titanic"

Cllr Brady continued "I would ask Minister Quinn while he is in
Wicklow  to meet with the parents committee of Coláiste Ráithin in the
Portacabins on the Florence Road in Bray that are used as classrooms
and to try end their 14 year campaign for a new purpose built school.
This Minister along with previous ministers are well aware of their
plight of the school as they handed a letter to Ruairi Quinn outlining
their situation on Wednesday last and they plan another protest
outside Leinster House this coming Wednesday. I have also written to
the Labour Minister asking him to resolve the issue of the site for
the new school for Coláiste Ráithín which is on the Old Bray Golf Club
lands and to then fast track the project. The 14 year struggle to
progress the project of a new school is having a detrimental impact on
the school and its capability to continue providing the excellent
standard of education to their pupils. The land ear marked for the new
school is held by NAMA, i have also written to the chairperson of NAMA
Frank Daly and asked him to deal directly with Minister Quinn to
unlock the site for Coláiste Ráithín to allow the new school project
proceed. As of yet i have no response from either parties"

Cllr Bray concluded "The Labour Minister must cease trying to grab
cheap headlines on what are old stories. The bottom line is there are
no good news stories for Minister Quinn or this government, he is
currently the Minister for Education which is cutting special needs
teachers, cutting career guidance teachers, attacking small rural
schools, increasing class sizes, slashing student grants and
increasing college fees. If the Minister is sincere in trying to
provide the best educational facilities for pupils in Wicklow he
should start by investing in the educational needs of them and not be
engaging in the type of political spin and stunts that we seen for
years under Fianna Fáil"

Disappointment as Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly joins the Government and says Yes to Austerity

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady has expressed bitter
disappointment at Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly's announcement at a
public meeting in Bray that he is voting yes to the European Fiscal
Treaty on May 31st. The result is that all 5 Wicklow TD's support the
Austerity Treaty.

Speaking following the public meeting in Bray which Stephen Donnelly
had organised Sinn Féin councillor John Brady said "I am bitterly
disappointed that Wicklow now has no opposition TD's standing up for
the people of Wicklow who are getting hammered with stealth charges,
taxes and cuts. Deputy Donnelly's admission at the public meeting last
night that he will reluctantly vote yes for the Austerity Treaty means
that he like the 4 government TD's believe that Austerity works.
However this is clearly not the case, since the people of Ireland
where hoodwinked into voting yes to the Lisbon Treaty 170,000 jobs
have been lost, last year 76,000 people emigrated, public services
have been slashed and new stealth taxes are been forced on the people.
If austerity worked we would be out of this mess, the bottom line is
austerity does not work it just further deflates the economy and hits
those with less harder"

Cllr Brady continued “The dreadful social consequences of austerity
are to be found in the numbers of citizens unemployed; the thousands
of our young people who are emigrating; in every household struggling
to pay rent and mortgages and household bills; on every main street
where businesses are shutting down; and in every hospital and school
where reduced resources are hurting the sick and the young. More than
100,000 households are currently in mortgage distress with 91 more
joining that number each day. This is unacceptable.

Cllr Brady went onto say "Deputy Donnelly also stated at the meeting
that voting yes was the lesser of the two evils, again he is wrong.
This is an austerity treaty and even one of the speakers at the
meeting Dr Constantin Gurdgiev agreed with me on that point.  A yes
vote is the bigger evil because it will mean a further €6 Billion in
cuts and taxes from 2015 on top of the cuts in the next three
budgets.The government is making the wrong political choices,
including decisions to implement Fianna Fáil policy and its support
for the Austerity Treaty and unfortunately Stephen Donnelly now has
hitched his lot with the government and has said we should be forced
to pay more"

"Deputy Donnelly now joins with the other four government TD's in
Wicklow and is calling for a yes vote, Lets be clear about this, this
is an austerity treaty, it will see more cuts to front line public
services, health and education cuts, more stealth taxes and higher
taxes. Stephen Donnelly can no longer claim to be an opposition TD
because he is now a supporter of this failed policy of austerity which
is a complete disaster not just for this generation, but for
generations to come who will have to pick up the costs.Sinn Féin will
be campaigning for a No vote, because the only way to to solve this
crisis is to invest in jobs and growth, we need to stimulate the
economy not further deflate it. We will be launching our No campaign
on Thursday 26th in the Royal Hotel in Bray at 8pm and anyone looking
for more information or to help out on the campaign is more than
welcome" concluded Cllr Brady.

Water Charges are a Bridge too far for Wicklow Residents

Sinn Féin county councillor John Brady has slammed Fine Gael and the
Labour party for pushing ahead with water meters saying its a bridge
too far for Wicklow residents who simply wont be able to afford to pay
for the basic human right.

Speaking after the creation of the new utility company Irish Water
which is tasked by the Government to roll out the water metering Sinn
Féin councillor John Brady said  "It is clear that Fine Gael is
setting the agenda on water services while the Labour Party is
willingly falling into line.Water charges are an unacceptable
additional stealth charge on households. The establishment of Irish
Water is the first step in privatising our water. Wicklow county
council recently passed a Sinn Féin motion opposing this new utility
company and the installation and charging of water. This was passed
onto the government, however this along with all the public opposition
to these stealth charges are falling on deaf ears. Fine Gael and
Labour are ideologically committed to privatisation and we believe
that the creation of Irish Water, is laying the foundation for this"

Cllr Brady continued “Sinn Féin and other parties have made
submissions to what was to be a public consultation on the reform of
the water sector in Ireland. That process has not even concluded, but
the government has clearly made decisions on the issue, ignoring the
democratic process. In the North, Sinn Féin has prevented the
introduction of water charges and the privatisation of the water
services and will continue to do so. Here we have proposed that
investment in water services should focus on repair of the
infrastructure to stop the massive waste of water leaking from pipes,
instead of imposing more pressure on people already struggling in this
economic crisis.”


The Sinn Fein councillor went onto say “ Following the introduction of
the Household charge, septic tank charges and increased taxes forcing
people to pay for water is literately a bridge too far for people who
are struggling to survive, access to clean water is a basic human
right and the threats that people will have their water cut if they
cant pay is scandalous but not surprising from this government. This
approach has been wholly unacceptable and any attempt to force
households to pay for water will be opposed every inch of the way by
Sinn Féin"

The government clearly has not learned its lesson from the septic tank
and household charge debacle. Communities are angry. The news that
households will now be paying over €700 for water meters will only
compound that anger. Struggling families simply cannot afford this
charge. Sinn Féin made a detailed and solution-based submission to the
consultation process and we will continue to use every opportunity to
oppose the government's plans to impose water rates on citizens.”
concluded Cllr Brady.

Wicklow Sinn Féin to Launch the No Campaign to the Austerity Treaty

Wicklow Sinn Féin have said they intend mounting a vigorous campaign
in the county against what they are calling "the Austerity Treaty",
and they plan on launching the No campaign at a public meeting in the
Royal Hotel in Bray on Thursday 26th April at 8pm.

Cllr. John Brady who is the Sinn Féin spokesperson on the treaty in
Wicklow said the treaty was bad for Ireland and stated, "With this
fiscal Treaty and their failure to renegotiate the promissory note,
The EU and the Irish government have essentially signed a repo order
on the Irish Harp. This Treaty seriously undermines Irish sovereignty
by surrendering important Irish fiscal and budgetary matters to
unelected and unaccountable EU officials. This Treaty drafted in
merely 3 days is incomplete. We are being asked to pass a referendum
essentially signing a contract without knowing the finer details
because they haven't as yet been worked out. It is hard to comprehend
how anyone would enter into a binding agreement without knowing the
full workings of it yet our Taoiseach has already signed off on it.
And now the government asks Irish citizens to support a Treaty that
will enshrine policies of austerity in our constitution and
International law in perpetuity. This treaty will impose greater
levels of austerity on citizens for an indefinite period of time. It
will significantly undermine the choices available to future
governments to manage the State's economic affairs".


Cllr Brady continued "Additionally we are being threatened that there
will be no further money from the ECB after next year if we do not
pass it. This is nothing more than an idle threat. The European
Council will not refuse emergency funding to any Euro zone member
state in the future irrespective of their final position on the
austerity treaty. To do so would break the commitment it gave to the
European Council Summit on July 21st 2011 when it said it was
"determined to continue to provide support to countries under
programmes until they have regained market access, provided they
successfully implement those programmes". People need to remember the
jobs and recovery we were promised for voting YES to the Lisbon
Treaty- the threats are as empty now as the promises were then"

"Sinn Féin believes this treaty is bad for Ireland and for the EU and
will institutionalise austerity into domestic constitutional law and
international law in perpetuity. If ratified this treaty will cost
taxpayers at least an additional €6 billion in public spending cuts
and tax increases after 2015. It will mean more cuts to our schools,
our hospitals and our community services. It will also mean more
charges and tax hikes. There will also be significant new powers given
to the European Commission and European Court of Justice. It will also
undermine the Oireachtas and give significant control over economic
and fiscal policy to unelected bureaucrats and judges in Brussels and
Luxembourg. And that is why the European Trade Union Confederation is
opposed to the Treaty. It’s why the French Socialists, the German
Social Democrats and the Dutch Labour Party – all sister parties of
the Irish Labour party, are opposed to this treaty. Austerity policies
will not end the economic crisis. Wicklow Sinn Féin will be vigorously
campaigning between now and May 31st and asking the citizens of
Wicklow to vote No to Austerity” continued Cllr Brady

Brady concluded "On 31 May, the Irish people have the opportunity to
convey their opposition to the policy of economic austerity and stand
in solidarity with those in Europe who are not entitled to the same
constitutional referendum requirement. If we vote ‘no’, we will still
remain in the EU and Euro. If we vote ‘no’, we will send a strong
signal of support to our European counterparts who oppose this treaty
and also challenge Europe’s conservative, austerity agenda. Wicklow
Sinn Féin will be launching the No campaign in Wicklow at a public
meeting which will take place on Thursday 26th at 8pm in the Royal
Hotel in Bray and everyone is welcome to attend to find out more
information on the Austerity Treaty or to get involved in the campaign
to oppose it"

Letter from Dublin Bus outlining cuts to the North Wicklow Network

Dear Councillor,

As you will be aware Dublin Bus met with your council recently to advise you of changes to services on routes in the North Wicklow area. This follows an assessment of customer travelling patterns following service changes in 2010. A key element of the 2010 changes was the improved service on offer in the area, in particular the Route 145. Since its introduction, the high frequency Route 145 has caused significant changes in customer travel patterns with a migration of passengers from other bus routes in the area (45/45a/84/84x) to Route 145. As a result of the success of the revised Route 145, Dublin Bus is revising the bus network in the North Wicklow area.

Following these meetings a number of adjustments have been made which address the majority of requests, where possible.

In summary the revised network will provide the following benefits:

·         Route 145 will continue to provide a high frequency service to Heuston Rail Station

·         A 33% increase in departures on route 84x

·         Additional capacity will be realised on the outbound departures on route 84x for Donnybrook and Belfield as a result of adjusted city centre stopping locations

·         An increase in services from Newcastle/Kilcoole to Bray DART Station

·         An increase in service frequency from Oldcourt (Boghall Road)

·         Improved integration with timetables

·         Direct linkages to Cherrywood Luas & Blackrock with improved frequency of service

Routing summary

• Route 45 & 84 to be amalgamated and operate as follows: Newcastle/Kilcoole to Blackrock (Main Street) via Greystones, Bray, Shankill, Cherrywood Luas, Cornelscourt, Clonkeen Road, and Deans Grange. This service will continue to provide an hourly service between Bray and Kilcoole/Newcastle.
• Route 45a will operate from Old Court to Dún Laoghaire via Boghall Road, Vevay Road, Bray, Shankill, Loughlinstown and Glenageary. It will operate to demand at peak times and twice hourly during the daytime.
• No changes to routes 145,184,185

This application is being assessed by the National Transport Authority. When a decision is made Dublin Bus will advise all locally elected representatives with full details of changes, including timetables and stops.

Yours sincerely

Ray Coyne

Project Manager

Network Direct

Media and Communications Department

Dublin Bus, 59 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1

P: 01-703 3143 E: brendan.cushen@dublinbus.ie