Community Voice article on the meeting between Local Election candidates and Tyrrelstown residents

Iggy along with other Local Election candidates attending a meeting organised by the "Tyrrelstown Residents Association" on Thursday 14th May. Here is a "Community Voice" report on the meeting.

http://www.communityvoice.ie/pages/CV137/CV137n03.htm

Tyrrelstown residents unite for schools

One of the biggest public meetings in the area in recent times attracted a large crowd to the Park Plaza Hotel. Representatives of all political parties and candidates for the local election were in attendance (with the exception of Fianna Fáil) to hear members of the Tyrrelstown community express their frustration at the delay in providing much needed facilities in their area.

Addressing the meeting Adam Fitzsimons, chairperson of the Tyrrelstown Residents Association, pointed out that it was just over a year ago that a report was commissioned on the needs of the Tyrrelstown community. “Some of the issues raised in this report have been sorted but the three biggest needs have not yet been addressed. These were the provision of school sites, lack of community facilities and the provision of green space,” he said.

According to Adam, “the report also indicated that in the 2006 census 15% of the population of Tyrrelstown was under the age of 4. We have a birth rate of 18 - 20 children a month in the area so that means that since the last census there are 600 more children under the age of 3 in the area. This is now starting to impact on the schools.”

Maurice Hurley, principal of Tyrrelstown Educate Together national school which operates out of temporary buildings on the Powerstown Road confirmed that sites for the schools have now been acquired. “The project is back on track but pressure needs to be maintained.” Thanking residents for their support he said “what’s good for the community is good for the school and vice versa. We are all in this together. Go and vote in the elections. If a community votes it will be listened to - not just this year but in the future also.”

Representing the views of Mulhuddart National School which is also in a temporary building on the adjoining site, Fr. Eugene Taaffe still has doubts about politicians’ promises. “I would love to throw up my arms and say it’s done,” he said “but I‘ve been here before when promises were made and not kept. We should all vote but we deserve our vote to be respected. Your children deserve not just the basics but the best.”

The transfer of the site to Fingal County Council was also confirmed by Rick Larkin, a director of Twinlite Developments. “My company has been developing Tyrrelstown since 2001 and we have been actively trying to build a school because a school is good for business. People will want to live here and that is good for our business,” he said.

However he went on to castigate the Department of Education who, he said “are the worst people I have ever tried to work with. Fingal County Council say that they can deliver the school so we have given them an unconditional contract for €1 for the school site. The county council have told us that when they hand over the site to the Department of Education they will get money for a community centre on the site. However I agree with Fr. Eugene that the community should be consulted,” he said.

Confirming the acquisition on behalf of the county council, Cllr. Michael O’Donovan in his capacity as Mayor of Fingal said “while there is no doubt that the school site is available, as of today no application has yet been made by the department for planning permission for the schools. However when the application does come in, it will get red carpet fast track assistance.”

By coincidence, on the day after the meeting took place a letter was received by Joan Burton TD in reply to representations she had made to the Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe about the Tyrrelstown schools. In his reply the Minister said “the further progression of the site acquisition and the proposed building project will be considered having regard to the competing demands in the context of the capital budget available to my Department for school buildings generally.”

Responding to this latest twist Cllr. O’Donovan said, “it seems to me that the Minister is saying ‘I have a certain amount of money for next year and Tyrrelstown can take its place in the queue along with everyone else.’ I wonder if that reply has been sent to many more schools in this pre-election time. It makes Brian Lenihan’s assertion that the money has been ring-fenced seem a little hollow.”

However when contacted by Community Voice, Minister Lenihan was insistent that the school would be built on time. Referring to the content of Batt O’Keeffe’s letter he said “this is just a standard Department of Education form of words that they use to reply to all such representations. I can assure everyone that this money is available and that it will be there when required to build the school.

These schools are going ahead and I am adamant that they will open for pupils in September 2010.”

"Community Voice" article on the Passports for votes issue

From the "Community Voice" newspaper:

http://www.communityvoice.ie/pages/CV137/CV137n02.htm

Fine Gael accused of ‘hypocrisy’ on immigration policy
by Martin Ryan

Fine Gael policy with regard to ethnic communities locally has recently come under the spotlight on two fronts. At a ‘meet the candidates’ public meeting for the new Irish communities in the Mulhuddart ward, Cllr. Ruth Coppinger accused Fine Gael of “hypocrisy” in relation to integration and education policy. She referred to the support of Deputy Leo Varadkar of the requirement for baptismal certificates for entry to Catholic run schools and said that the party’s policy on the matter amounted to educational apartheid.

Speaking to Community Voice after the meeting the councillor also questioned why there was no Labour representative at the meeting and why a Fianna Fáil representative attended only as the meeting was drawing to a close. The event was held in Tyrrelstown Educate Together primary school by a group called the New Communities Partnership, an organisation which describes itself as “empowering and representing ethnic minorities”. The event was designed to make the immigrant community cognisant of the issues and views of the Mulhuddart ward candidates and to advise on issues such as voter registration.

Meanwhile Tyrrelstown based Independent candidate Ignatius Okafor has criticised Fine Gael for raising what he describes as an ugly issue relating to “spurious promises” being made in order to garner votes in the upcoming election. The allegation relates to comments Mr. Okafor claims were made by Fine Gael election candidate Adeola Ogunsina at a public meeting in Blanchardstown earlier this month.

According to Okafor, Adeola Ogunsina suggested to a group of over 100 African immigrants that if they voted for him they would have a favourable chance of getting passports within six months. Mr. Okafor said that he challenged the claim at the meeting but “was derided by Fine Gael for not knowing what I was talking about when it came to Irish politics.”

He further claimed that he was approached by many people present who he said were surprised that he raised the matter as “they told me that they and friends had been made this promise on many occasions by Adeola Ogunsina and the local Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar.” He said that initially he thought Ogunsina might have misspoken on this occasion, but he said it was made clear to him by the people at the meeting that this was already known in the immigrant community.

He said that “such false promises undermine the integration of our society” and can lead to many new immigrants becoming disillusioned with Irish society, further alienating them from participating fully in our communities. “After all elected representatives both at local and national level are supposed to provide an example to others on whose behalf they act,” he added.

Okafor said he has been reluctant to raise the issue of immigrant status during his campaign as he believed it to be an issue of national policy rather than something that should be raised at local level. “But to raise it in the misleading manner Fine Gael are doing at present is worrying and it is even more serious that the target audience being courted by this Fine Gael policy is among the most vulnerable in Irish society” he said.

He called on the Fine Gael leadership to clarify the party’s position and say if this is official Fine Gael policy and if so why it has not appeared in any of their policy documents or manifestos.

“If it is not official Fine Gael policy then why are they allowing their candidates to make these spurious claims publicly,” he asked.

Fianna Fáil candidate Idowu Olafimihan has joined in the criticism of Fine Gael referring back to proposals by Leo Varadkar that immigrants might be given a financial incentive to repatriate. Olafimihan said that this would leave economic migrants from non-EU countries as the whipping boys of the Fine Gael proposal, and suggested that this can be broken down further between economic migrants for the first and third worlds.

“There are numbers of US and other first world citizens living and working in Ireland which I assume are not the target of the Fine Gael proposal given Ireland’s continuous attempts to persuade the USA to ‘normalise’ the status of the undocumented Irish in America” he said.

“Thus this Fine Gael proposal is limited to those economic migrants from third world countries of origin. Negative proposals such as Deputy Varadkar’s are not only worthless but they generate a climate of exclusion, they construct an “us and them” atmosphere that is an enemy of integration and an enemy to the community” he added.

He referred to the reported comments of Adeola Ogunsina as an “empty promise” and asked if the Fine Gael candidate would explain how he would achieve this since it is not within the powers of a local councillor. He also questioned how the promise of passports could stand alongside Leo Varadkar’s comments on repatriation incentives.

“The best way to deal with the Fine Gael proposals is to cast your vote for those willing to oppose it. Let us show him that we cannot be deceived by frivolous and empty promises,” he added.

When contacted by Community Voice, both Adeola Ogunsina and Fine Gael headquarters refused to comment on the matter.

Meeting with Ongar Residents Tuesday May 26th

Iggy along with other Dublin 15 Local election candidates will be attending a meeting with Ongar Community Council members on Tuesday May 26th in the "Educate Together" school in Ongar green @ 8pm.

Ignatius Okafors Official Registration as an Independant Candidate in the forthcoming local elections

By John Carroll

On Saturday the 9th last; the quiet of Fingal County Council offices in Swords was broken by the exited chatter and laughter of a number of children, who had accompanied their parents, who themselves had come to Swords to be assenters for Iggy.

This was described by the registration staff as something unique, which many hadn't witnessed before, not the kids but rather that it was very unusual for all (15 plus) assenters to turn up in person for the nomination process.

One staff member said that he'd been involved with the nomination process for over 12yrs and he'd not seen the type of turn out like this before.

After some hastily gathered forms and the subsequent filling out of same Iggy and his supporters were treated to a guided tour of the Council Chambers by a very friendly and informative staff member. It must be said that all the staff went out of their way to not only deal with the nomination process, but equally to put everyone at ease.

The only hiccup was when the registration staff were trying to decide whether the word/name Iggy appeared with or without brackets () on the Ballot Papers....you'll have to wait 'till voting day to find out what they decided!!

Meanwhile there where many photos taken to remember the day...

To para quote: One Small Step for Iggy...One Giant Leap for New Irish

Open Letter to Fine Gael re Adeola's Passports for votes promise

Dear Editor,
I enclose the following in the hope that your readership may be appraised of an ugly issue which has crept in to the local campaigning here in Dublin 15. I believe that your readers once made aware of these spurious promises, will be interested in voicing their concerns to all candidates that the time has passed in Irish Politics when the electorate will tolerate any suggestions of ‘favours for votes’ by any and all Political Parties.

Therefore I hope that you will publish my letter in the hope of generating :
1. Clarity from the Fine Gael leadership on the Passports promise issue.
2. Opposition among the Electorate to this type of False Promise Campaigning.

Open Letter to Fine Gael
Dear Fine Gael,
I am writing to you in relation to what I believe is a very disturbing development that has raised its ugly head. Namely, false promises by Political Parties and their representatives.
This you may state is the nature of politics and therefore to be expected. Well I can understand aspirational entreaties to the electorate but when I hear Fine Gaels Representative, Mr. Adeola Ogunsina promise a gathering of African immigrants that if ‘you vote for me and Fine Gael we will get passports and status for immigrants within 6 months’, I realised that this was an untoward political statement. The statement in question was made at a public function in Blanchardstown on Monday 4th May.

I challenged this assertion at the same function, but was derided by Fine Gael, for not knowing what I was talking about when it came to Irish politics. I was subsequently approached by many present, who were surprised that I queried what had been stated and told me that they and friends had been made this promise on many occasions by Mr. Adeola and his fellow Fine
Gael T.D.

I was taken aback by this as I thought Mr. Adeola may have just misspoken on this occasion, however when I was continually approached by others throughout the evening with similar accounts I knew that this was too serious to ignore.

The reason I take this so seriously is that the target audience being courted by this Fine Gael [policy] are the vulnerable of Irish society and to hold out such blatantly false promises, does more to undermine the integration of our society and can lead to many new immigrants becoming disillusioned with Irish society and further alienating them from participating fully in our communities, after all Elected Representatives both at Local and National level are supposed to as an example to others on whose behalf they act.



I have been reluctant to raise the issue of Immigrant Status throughout my campaign, as I believe that the issue is a National Policy issue. To raise it in the misleading manner Fine Gael are doing presently, is worrying and I urge the Fine Gael leadership to clarify if this,
‘Official Status in 6 months if you vote Fine Gael’ and ‘a Passport’ is actually Fine Gael Policy and if so why have they not outlined this in any of their policy documents and or manifestos.
If it is not official Fine Gael policy then why are they allowing their candidates to make these spurious claims publicly?

The current climate in Irish society will not be served by such representatives who play on the fears of the electorate. It is now a time for honesty and integrity to be at the forefront in Irish Politics.

I await your positive response on the matters raised,
Ignatius (Iggy) Okafor
Email: info@iggyokafor.com
http://iggyokafor.com/
http://iggyokafor.blogspot.com/
Tel: 087 2992102

Who is Ignatius Okafor?

Ignatius Okafor (Iggy) was born in Africa, where he lived with his parents, three brothers and four sisters. In 1987 as a very talented footballer won a competition and the chance to go to Belgium and play international football. During his time there Iggy continued his 3rd level education and gained his degree in I.T.

In 2000 he took the opportunity to come to Ireland and work in I.T. at Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

In 2004 he settled in Tyrellstown with his young family and so began his committed involvement with his new community.

Since coming to Dublin 15 Iggy has recognized how poor education, lack of facilities and attitudes to integration are holding back the Development process in the Mulhuddart constituency.

Local man hopes to make a difference to Tyrrelstown

Hello fellow Tyrrelstown residents,

Ignatius "Iggy" Okafor has lived in the Greater Blanchardstown Area since 2000 and moved to Tyrrelstown in 2004. He hoped to make his new community a home for himself and his young family. But Ignatius found out soon enough that Tyrrelstown lacked all the necessary facilities to make a community a true home. The lack of a proper community centre for young people, poor transportation links, apparent over-emphasis on the commercialisation of the area and the clear ‘divide and rule’ style of the 8 management associations make any sort of decision making and community cohesion extremely difficult.

For Ignatius, it was no surprise that the recent report commissioned by the Tyrrelstown Development Group: A Profile of the Needs of the Tyrrelstown Community – concluded that the area was not ‘sustainable’ in the long term. The report sponsored by the Blanchardstown Area Partnership, Fingal County Council, Foróige and other agencies slammed the lack of foresight on the part of planners and developers. The numerous issues that beset the relatively new 4000 home Tyrrelstown Community include among others: lack of proper bus services; the absence of a community facility which will provide opportunity for cultural, leisure, community, sports and other activities, including dedicated spaces for children and young people; a lack of Garda diversion plan to assist in checking low levels of crime, drugs and antisocial behaviour with visible, effective and community-friendly policing; poor services for preschool children with affordable childcare support in the area and a lack of a decent secondary school to address the current deficit in places. To make matters worse, the absence of a direct government plan to address these problems in a timely manner are major concern to residents of Tyrrelstown.

At a recent meeting at the Park Plaza, the residents clearly voiced a need for a local person to represent and champion their interests and Ignatius made a mental note to do his best for the area. Ignatius, like many other residents has felt helpless in the face of the numerous gross inadequacies of the Tyrrelstown Community but recently summoned the will to step in the gap on behalf of his ‘people’. Says Ignatius: “Tyrrelstown is my community and the people are my people; I know the problems in the area and the people’s problem are mine also”. He says he will use all legitimate means possible to continue to press for attention to be given to the issues and plights of the people in the area because his children and family stand to benefit when things get better.

Ignatius who works with the HSE at the Temple Street Hospital is a local community leader and the Executive Co-ordinator of the Mutual Cultural and Literary Exchange Centre (MCLEC).

Please post if you have an issues i can help with.

Ignatius "Iggy" Okafor
info@iggyokafor.com