Drogheda left behind again in key decisions
DROGHEDA really is a forgotten borough, and two instances this week highlight that when it comes to being dumped on the banks of the Boyne is the Government’s refuse tip. It is being reported that the D Hotel is to remain an IPAS centre depriving Drogheda of a much-needed facility and the ability to become a leading tourist destination as well as the knock on effect this has on local business.
It has also come to light that not a single Drogheda school has been placed in the DEIS Plus status, which would have provided them with extra teachers and resources. On the other hand DEIS Plus status has been awarded to six primary schools in Dundalk, despite many schools in Drogheda serving communities facing even more severe challenges.
Louth Labour TD Ged Nash has said he is “apoplectic and outraged” at the decision saying: “I am outraged that not a single school in Drogheda has been included in this scheme to support schools in areas of very high deprivation.”
Once again it would appear that Drogheda has been completely overlooked when it comes to decisions that would be of benefit, yet is top of the list when it comes to ones which are detrimental to the area.
The ongoing use of the D Hotel as an IPAS centre is a case in point, with no firm commitment being given by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan despite a formal request from Drogheda Borough District not to renew the contract.
However, Deputy Nash has claimed that the decision to renew the contract has already been made and will be announced in the coming days. The closure of the hotel over two years ago has cost Drogheda dearly and resulted in the closure of some businesses and a severe loss of revenue to others. On the other hand it’s boomtime for the IPAS industry, for that’s what it is, despite the Government’s own figures showing that over 80% of those in the system are not refugees.
If that is the case then why is the only large hotel in Drogheda being used to accommodate people who have no right to be in the country to the detriment of those who have every right to be here and whose taxes are paying for this madness. It has become clear in recent years that the immigration and migrant situation has spiralled out of control and the Government has no answers to deal with it, and communities like Drogheda are suffering as a result.
It is not as if Drogheda has not taken in hundreds if not thousands of those claiming asylum as there are up to a dozen accommodation centres in the town and surrounding villages. Already local services are stretched to the limit with families having to travel as far away from the area to obtain GP services.
The Lourdes hospital is similarly at breaking point with overworked staff barely coping with the workload generated by a booming population.
No such overcrowding at the D Hotel, where one inspection found there were only 89 asylum seekers staying there, despite its capacity for up to 500 guests.
If the Government’s figures are to be taken seriously on average 18 of those would be legitimate asylum seekers, which puts the devastating loss of the hotel to the area and the disregard to the 50,000 people of Drogheda in perspective.
Children’s Hospital delays spark fresh outrage.
THE revelation that the new National Children’s Hospital might not be open until the autumn of next year is scandalous, but not surprising. The company with the main contract, builders BAM, has now missed the 18th completion deadlines the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, Pádraig Rice, has said during the week.
Originally priced at around €650 million, it could now cost the taxpayer as much as €2.4 billion, yet BAM continues to be handed massive State contracts. In 2016, then Health Minister and failed fortune teller Leo Varadkar predicted “short of an asteroid hitting the planet” the hospital would be open by 2020.
Six years on, there has been no asteroid, but the taxpayer has been hit with hundreds of millions more in cost overruns, and the hospital is still not finished.
The Government promised a “world-class children’s Hospital” but what we got is the world’s most expensive hospital, and what’s worse, lessons have not been learned, and the same company will be tendered to do it all over again.
Pothole problem worsening on Drogheda roads
SOME of the roads around Drogheda are in a shocking state, and are littered with potholes after months of rain, but there appears to be little being done to fix them. There’s a particularly bad situation outside the Drogheda Port facility at Tom Roe’s Point where the centre of the road is beginning to lift but it has been in that condition for months. It is particularly dangerous for cyclists, and I’ve noticed drivers swerving to avoid them endangering oncoming traffic.
Hopefully, the roads will be fixed before there are serious accidents.
When Butlins Was the Heart of Summer
I CAME across this old letter from when Butlins was a holiday camp, which gave much super employment back in the day. Half the town must have worked there sometimes down the years, and it was also a great spot for a night out, as well as it being the venue for the Community Games. I worked there as a tractor driver and general handyman in 1976, and it was one of the best years of my life.
But, like many other holiday camps, it was of its time and eventually couldn’t compete with the allure of sun holidays, but at the time, it was a great way to spend a working summer.
