Wicklow reservoir works could threaten environment, ecology and tourism

Irish Water’s proposed works on the Vartry reservoir should not go ahead until a full environmental impact assessment is undertaken, Social Democrats’ Wicklow County Councillor Jennifer Whitmore said today. Cllr Whitmore was commenting ahead of An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing into the planned €200m scheme which opens tomorrow [Monday 12th June 2017] in the Glenview Hotel, Co Wicklow, and is […]

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ODCE failings simply don’t make sense

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has today highlighted a parliamentary reply that she has received from Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor in relation to resources for the ODCE. In the reply the Minister makes clear that prior to embarking on the Sean Fitzpatrick case, the ODCE were given every opportunity as far back as 2011 to […]

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South Dublin County Councillor Dermot Looney joins the Social Democrats

The Social Democrats are pleased to announce that South Dublin County Councillor Dermot Looney has joined the party. Councillor Looney (34) was first elected to South Dublin County Council in 2009. He was re-elected for the Templeogue-Terenure ward as an Independent in 2014. He is from Greenhills, Dublin 12 and works as a primary school […]

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Gardaí need to step up safety measures for minority groups in Galway

The Social Democrats’ Galway representative has called on gardaí to step up safety measures for minority groups following an attack on a mosque in the city last night. Niall Ó Tuathail described the incident as cowardly, and said he had recently written to local gardaí to raise concerns about the emergence of an apparent neo-Nazi […]

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Social Democrats’ Bill would tackle land hoarding concerns raised by NAMA

NAMA’s concerns about the hoarding of land which should be used for housing could be tackled with increased penalties and incentives contained in an already published Social Democrats’ Bill. The party’s co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said government support for the legislation would show that the Minister for Finance was serious about tackling this problem, which […]

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