O'Gorman
selected by Greens for Castleknock ward
by Martin Ryan
Roderic O'Gorman has been selected by the Green Party to contest the
Castleknock ward for the party in next year's local election.
O'Gorman was nominated by his party at a selection convention held in
St Mary's Parish Hall, Clonsilla recently. He previously ran for the
party in the last local election in the Castleknock ward and again in
the Dublin West constituency in the last general election when he garnered
1,268 votes.
Initially O’Gorman gave some consideration to standing in the
Mulhuddart ward but said tallies showed that he performed much better
in the Castleknock and Carpenterstown area in the last general election
and he was also influenced by the fact that he is currently moving house
and will soon be living in the Castleknock ward.
He said that Castleknock-Blanchardstown ward has changed quite a bit
since he ran in 2004, with the loss of Clonsilla village and the addition
of parts of Mountview, Blakestown and Mulhuddart village. The key issues
he says he will focus on are “proper planning in Dublin 15, the
delivery of schools, investment in community facilities particularly
for young people and campaigning for improvements in transport, with
extra buses and trains and traffic calming measures where these are
necessary”.
The prospective councillor says he is under no illusions about the magnitude
of the task ahead considering the result of previous outings. “I
know that I'm going to have a real fight on my hands if I am going to
take a seat in the Castleknock-Blanchardstown ward and I expect to be
up against four sitting councillors and possibly other well-known candidates”
he said.
He considers the fact that the Dublin 15 area has never had a Green
Party member of Fingal County Council has put the party at a serious
disadvantage in influencing many of the big planning decisions that
have been made in the area over recent years. He notes that the Fingal
County Development Plan will be up for review next year and sees it
as critical that there is a Green perspective on these key decisions.
Of all the elections he has fought, this one will be different in that
he is now in a party of government. He said that he and his team have
not stopped canvassing since the last election and feedback on the doorsteps
regarding the Green contribution has been extremely positive. He believes
that the vast majority of people are pleased with the work that the
Green ministers are undertaking in their departments, particularly the
reforms that John Gormley is making to planning and environmental legislation
and says he hopes this will be reflected in the local elections.
Community Voice, Media
House, Church Avenue, Blanchardstown,
Dublin 15
Phone +353 1 822 1432 - Fax +353 1 640 4444
info@communityvoice.ie
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