Dominic Hannigan's blog

On Monday night I attended a meeting of the Kilbreck / Glasheen residents Association in Stamullen. I was there to listen to issues in relation to the completion of the estate, facilities for the village and the challenges presented by anti-social behaviour.

There were about 70 residents present. I was able to give an update on the proposed footpath outside their estate, as well as a report back on the successful Stamullen Broadband campaign that we ran at the end of last year.

A key issue for the group was the lack of Community policing in Stamullen. Here’s one of our commitments for the next Dail.


Our Commitment on Community Policing

At the monthly area meeting on Wednesday I raised the subject of the footpath again and was told that the work is expected to commence imminently. I await in hope. We also heard back that the foreshore licence has still not been signed by the Department of the Marine. This licence is holding up the construction of the pedestrian bridge and the playground at Laytown. The Council is hopeful they will have a signed licence back shortly, as the contractor is expecting to start on the bridge in May.

The General Election is almost upon us and we were lucky to be chosen as the first constituency for the visit of Labour’s Election battle bus. It’s certainly impressive and stands out on a street. After lunch in the Ashbourne House Hotel we boarded the bus and drove over to Ratoath, then down to Dunshaughlin and finally into Dunboyne.

In Ratoath we met the photographer Joe Fanning. He was telling me that so far this week he had seen three party leaders in Meath (Bertie, Enda and now Pat) and he thought this was a first time for such an alignment of the stars!

We stopped in Dunshaughlin to meet people and hear about their thoughts on the future of the country.


At the Frozen Veg counter

The bus is all wired up to send and receive information to and from the election HQ in Dublin. It caused a bit of a commotion in Dunboyne, as can be seen in the next video. I tried to get the party to leave it in Meath for the weekend – I even offered them all a cab back to Dublin, but they just wouldn’t have it.


In Dunboyne with the Battle Bus

At the end of the week we finalised our plans for the election campaign. It looks like Bertie will dissolve the Dail on Tuesday or Wednesday week for an end of May poll, so we are putting together “to do” lists for the time between now and the start of the campaign. So, if you have any time and want to get involved then call our advice centre on 041 988 6307.