27th September, 2001
By now most of you will have heard that the
Kinsale Road is not to have a materials recovery facility (MRF).
The people spoke, the politicians listened, and on the day they
voted against the plan to build the facility on the site. But,
and there is always a but, the city manager has applied to the
EPA (and these three letters are very significant, Environmental
Protection Agency) to extend the life of the landfill (dump in
plain English) until the year 2005. I heard the promises at the
last Council election, "The dump will be closed in 2002,
lovely walks, wildlife park, pitch & putt course" All it
was going to be short of was Adam and Eve!!
On Monday morning I opened the front door and I got the smell of
the dump (landfill). What it must be like for the residents on
the South Douglas Road and the Kinsale Road is another matter. In
the late seventies I lived in Greenhills Court, so I knew what it
was like to live so close to a mountain of rubbish ... And here
is where we return to the three letters EPA. Has this agency
actually been to the area? Have they stated, "It's not too
bad, there's another few years in it yet"? I maintain that
it should be examined by officials from the Department of Health
because there is no way that vile mountains of rubbish are not a
threat to residents health. It's like something one would see
next to a shanty town outside Manila. And to the official and
politicians who ask us, "But where will we put our rubbish?"
My replay would be, "That's what you're paid and elected to
do, that's your job". In the words of Harry S. Trueman,
"The buck stops with you". You told the people that the
dump would close in 2002, 460 days to go ... the countdown begins.
One bit of good news for the residents of the South Douglas Road
is that they are finally to get a paedestrian from the Palace
Anne Lawn vicinity to the post office across the road. Long
overdue, but most welcome, and if it does make life easier and
safer for a lot of elderly residents it's an added bonus. And to
the people who say that it would create traffic hold-ups, so
what? A few minutes of our time is nothing compared to an elderly
persons right to cross the road in safety. Speaking of cars, a
blue BMW was driving way too fast on Inchvale Road last Sunday
morning at 11.40 as I was going down for the Sunday newspapers.
He was doing about 50mph towards Alden or Oakview.
Many years ago when my children bought their owns cars I gave
them some words of advice which were, "Behind every parked
car in a housing estate is a potential three year old. So drive
accordingly, and remember, a child's head is the same height as a
car's bonnet, need I say more?"
Going back to rubbish, this time it's litter. I have nothing but
praise for the people who go out every Saturday and play their
part in keeping Douglas tidy, and it was great news when we heard
that Douglas had won an award for its attempt to make it a
cleaner, brighter and more attractive place to live in, and
credit to the Council and Corporation for their input, and not
forgetting the business people who made financial contributions
towards the cost of this transformation. A few weeks ago I wrote
that we were about 90% there, but Sunday was letting the name of
Douglas down. Last Sunday Douglas was as bad as I have ever seen.
In fact, it was so bad I returned home for my camera. They say a
picture tells a thousand words, and I take no pleasure in showing
them, but if we are serious about making Douglas look good, then
it's a seven day a week job!! Douglas Village, East and West, on
Sunday was not a pretty sight. A couple of hours cleaning up on
Sunday morning wouldn't cost a lot. A few weeks ago I mentioned
the litter at the bus stop and taxi point outside Douglas Court
Shopping Centre. It's good to see that Douglas Court Shopping
Centre staff have put a litter bin next to the bus stop, and now
there is vast improvement in that area.
A reader asked me to mention one of life's unsung heroines,
midwife Dolores Moynihan of St. Finbarr's hospital maternity
unit, take a bow. You and the rest of the staff have been so kind
and helpful to all the patients who have been in your care, and
at such a hard time it's nice to know that there's somebody
around with a kind word and a smile. So well done to Dolores and
all at the unit, you're a credit to your profession.
Bye for now,
Michael O'Hanlon.
PS. Happy 21st Birthday to Jennifer O'Regan from Donnybrook and
Douglas Renault.
