Local Democracy or Local Illusion?
I DON’T know about you but when I read news articles in the local media that they are “funded by the local democracy reporting scheme” I can only laugh. The irony being that there is less local democracy in the country than at any other time since the foundation of the State and we have to look no further than our new €12million civic offices in Fair Street minus a local authority for proof of that. Former Justice Minister Michael McDowell recently described the abolition of the country’s town councils as a “tragedy” and he’s not wrong but the Government has no intention of making it right.
He told RTE’s Today with David McCullagh that the system of local government in this country amounts to nothing more than a “system of prefectures run by county managers or chief executives appointed by the Custom House in Dublin…that’s how it works”. He is spot on, and he goes on to say “that is not local democracy” and it is hard to argue with that when there are now 744 less local politicians than there were before the town councils were abolished by Fine Gael and Labour in 2014. These were aldermen and town councillors who were in touch with local people and local issues and it was in their interest to make sure their areas they represented were looked after.
Had the Borough Council not been abolished, it is almost certain that Drogheda would not be in the dire state it finds itself in today, with dozens of derelict buildings. Many other towns also suffer from extreme dereliction but few are scarred with an entire derelict street off what was once Drogheda’s main thoroughfare but, with the exception of a fine hotel, is now reduced to a half-kilometer of vape shops and nail bars.
The recent collapse of the former Brady’s Drapery store on West Street could act as a metaphor for a town that is literally falling apart as the County Council in Dundalk the other way. But maybe there is hope, as this week it was revealed that as many as 19,000 properties could be covered by a new Derelict Property Tax, and undoubtedly many of them are in Drogheda. The new tax will replace the Derelict Sites Levy, which is charged at seven percent of the market value of the property, but wasn’t being collected by the local councils.
As of 2024, almost 70 properties in Louth were listed on the Derelict Sites Register, but there’s probably that amount in Drogheda alone, with over €105,000 in levies unpaid. Louth Labour TD, Ged Nash has been calling for the Revenue Commissioners to be given the power to collect the levy as more than €20 million in levies remains uncollected, with the real figure possibly multiples of that.
Nationwide there are around 2,100 properties on the Derelict Sites Register, but it is believed that the total number of derelict properties could be as high as 19,000. The fact that the Revenue Commissioners will now collect the Derelict Property Tax could be a gamechanger but it is imperative that it is applied to all derelict buildings in Drogheda and their owners traced. But the fact remains that if Drogheda had its Borough Council it would never have come to this.
The Dodgy Box Reality
THE dodgy box controversy rumbles on and that’s not surprising as around 400,000 households, or roughly one in five, are estimated to use one for illegal streaming of sports and television content. No doubt there are thousands of homes in this area who own one and have no intention of giving them up despite the prospect of being taken to court. The main reason for this is that most of the public simply can’t afford to subscribe to the major streaming services, and the dodgy boxes deliver content at a price much lower than the legal rights holder or broadcaster.
Another attraction is that these devices have only one interface making it easier for subscribers to access everything. A recent ruling by the High Court allowed Sky to obtain the details of hundreds of Irish dodgy box users which could have wider implications for many households which use them. This essentially means that the personal bank account details of Irish people who use dodgy boxes can be handed over to a British-based private corporation.
So much for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the EU law that supposedly governs the processing of personal data for individuals. This law prevents gardai from publicising the details of suspected criminals and local authorities from using CCTV cameras at bring sites to prevent illegal dumping but apparently it can be waived when the revenue of big corporations is at stake. While no one should break the law, the best way for the streaming companies and broadcasters to deal with this problem is to lower their charges because there is a general consensus that sub subscribers are being ripped off.
Hype Before Kick-Off
DOWN the years, we’ve laughed at England fans demanding too much from their team by expecting to win, not just games, but tournaments before a ball is kicked. Unfortunately, the joke’s on us as the hype leading up to Ireland’s clash with Czechia was totally over the top, which made the defeat all the more hard to take. Even RTE’s Liveline jumped on the World Cup bandwagon by broadcasting live from Prague and interviewing Troy Parrott’s family. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to, but hopefully lessons will be learned to celebrate after winning a match and not before it’s played.
The Portal That Fooled No One
I SPOTTED an online attempt to hoodwink the public into believing that two new portals, similar to the one in Dublin, were to be set up in Drogheda and Dundalk to allow people in both towns to communicate. Apparently, one was to go under Laurance’s Gate and the other near the Court House in Dundalk, but unfortunately the April 1st prank fooled no one in this area. As I’ve said before, I know many people who have been to Spain more times than they’ve been to Dundalk so a device allowing them to chat to Dundalk folk would not be a major draw. However on the night of a Louth derby the portal would be a lively place to be.
