Mannix Flynn

Independent Councillor, Dublin City Council. Writer, Artist, Performer

Mannix Flynn

Tag Archives: Truth

Unsound legislation and unsafe procedures surrounding the manner in which BID plebiscite was conducted

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25th July 2017

No to BID Campaign Vows to Continue their Campaign to Stand-Down BID Scheme

Calls on Gardaí to Investigate Vote

The No to BID Campaign group, formed to campaign against the renewal of the Dublin BID scheme, have announced that they will continue their campaign. The announcement comes in the wake of the narrow vote among city centre businesses on the renewal of the Dublin BID scheme for another five years. The No to BID group have renewed their mandate to ramp up their campaign following a huge 50% increase on the No vote from 2012.

A statement from No to BID spokesperson Kim Condon raised some of the concerns that arose during the campaign and during the election count on the 17th July; ‘’We also have extremely grave concerns about the unsound legislation and unsafe procedures surrounding the manner in which the plebiscite was conducted. A senior official in Dublin City Council admitted opening the ballot box and placing a large number of envelopes inside. We have written to An Garda Síochana asking them to investigate this incident. The No to BID Campaign will continue to campaign for transparency, accountability and corporate governance.’’

Ms Condon went on to say that the group will continue its campaign to disband Dublin BID; ‘’Following a meeting yesterday, the No to BID Campaign came to a unanimous decision to continue the campaign to disband the Dublin BID scheme and the private company DublinTown. We would like to thank all of the businesses for their continued support for the campaign to end the BID. We will represent the best interests of the city centre business community going forward.’’

The vote to disband the Dublin BID was held among certain business (double) ratepayers in the city centre. After a divisive campaign, the Yes vote has seen a collapse in its support with 843 business voting yes, compared to almost 1,100 in 2012 or a drop of over 20%. The No vote has seen its share surge from 511 in 2012 to 715 in 2017, an increase of almost 50%

The No to BID Campaign represents over 700 small and medium sized businesses. The No campaign had wide support, including the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation, the Irish Hairdressers Federation and the Irish Newsagents and Convenience Stores Association.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

Attached is Joe McCarthy’s note, an independent observer at the count on July 17th.  His note provides detail on the No to BID Campaign’s concerns over the voting and counting procedures.

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Cllr’s on board of BID support private quango

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street cleaningCllr Lacey (Labour) and Cllr Nial Ring (Independent) have come out in support of the privitisation of street cleaning services in defiance of SIPTU, Trade Union, Shop stewards and DCC waste management workers. Both Cllrs are on the Board of the ‘BID/We are Dublin Town’ a private Company and a Quango which has basically been engaged in misinformation and scaremongering in the face of many businesses who wish to end their involvement with this quango.

(See statement here:

http://www.wearedublintown.ie/2017/07/cllrs-reaffirm-council-no-budget-dublintown-cleaning-service/

 

This is the letter, below, that SIPTU issued to Owen Keegan (CEO Dublin City Council) and also to all street cleaning workers on July 10th.

I find it difficult to understand how Cllr Lacey and Cllr Nial Ring who profess to be ardent trade unionists, indeed Cllr Lacey is a member of the ‘Labour party’, can come out against the Dublin City Council workers and Trade union members who have great concerns about losing their jobs to private companies like ‘BID/Dublintown”.

These double standards need to be exposed irrespective of the outcome of Monday’s vote on the BID/Dublintown.

It really is unprecedented that Cllr Lacey and Cllr Ring would issue such a contemptuous disregarding press statement in support of a private company.  A true slap in the face to the DCC workers they are elected to protect!

We all know what happened and what is still happening as a result of privatizing, general waste and the bins.

Let’s keep it Council.

page 1 SIPTU

Letter sent by SIPTU officials to City Manager, Owen Keegan with the concerns their workers have in relation to BID

 

page 2 SIPTU

Letter sent by SIPTU officials to City Manager, Owen Keegan with the concerns their workers have in relation to BID

 

More Dublin Businesses Vote NO to BID

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More and more businesses are speaking out about the waste of their money spent by the Dublin BID company (Dublintown) and are voting NO to the continuation of this BID scheme.

 

Joe Macken (Jo Burger, Crackbird, Bear and more), Kim Condon (Magill’s Delicatessen) Margaret Brannigan (Gollum’s Jewellery) are just a few of the hundreds of businesses who are saying NO, Voting NO – Join them. Why pay Double Rates?

Regeneration Land Grab

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This is what is happening all over Ireland and Dublin, whole communities being displaced from their traditional homeplace all for the sake of privatization under the guise of ‘rejuvenation’.

Hurray for the RIff Raff shine a light in this dark corner.

I gcuimhne Danny Sheehy

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Blasket-Island

Blasket Island by Norman Ackroyd (RA)

 

IN MEMORY OF DANNY SHEEHY – DANNY AN TSÍTHIGH 

Today we lost Danny Sheehy -Danny an tSíthigh or Domhnall Mac Síthigh, poet, boat-maker, sailor, teacher,  Irish language expert, Kerryman and absolute gentleman.

Thank you for all you gave us and the love you instilled in us for our culture, land, ancestors and Irish ways.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

 

 

Lightenings      viii

The annals say: when the monks of Clonmacnoise
Were all at prayers inside the oratory
A ship appeared above them in the air.
The anchor dragged along behind so deep
It hooked itself into the altar rails
And then, as the big hull rocked to a standstill,
A crewman shinned and grappled down the rope
And struggled to release it. But in vain.
‘This man can’t bear our life here and will drown,’
The abbot said, ‘unless we help him.’ So
They did, the freed ship sailed, and the man climbed back
Out of the marvellous as he had known it.

 

by Seamus Heaney

 

POET DANNY SHEEHY DIES AFTER BOAT OVERTURNS OFF SPAIN https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0610/881677-spain/

Tuam Babies

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Essex Street Site, Temple Bar Dublin -Above, a list of institutions under investigation in the Mother and Baby home  inquiry

 

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Nora at Exchange Street Lower, Temple Bar West

 

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Names of infants buried at Tuam Mother and Baby home

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Silence is Violence

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artane-demo-3Today a group of us took to the streets of Coolock at Northside Civic Centre where my motion regarding the history of the Artane Band and the Artane Industrial School was put before the North Central Area Committee. In what can only be described as a gross act of denial only one Councillor voted in favour of the motion. (Cllr Michael O Brien)

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Denial ruled the day. It was an act of shocking violence the deafening silence.  How can it be that the findings of the Ryan Report and the finding of serious Garda inquiry into child abuse, wholesale criminal and sexual violence that was perpetrated in Artane industrial school can be written out of history?
It is a great shame that the Cllrs in this instance chose to keep Ireland and it’s people in the dark and protect the Christian Brothers and their manifestation through the present Artane Band.  The people of Artane and indeed the North Central Area need now to stand up to this shameless shameful act.
The paedophiles and rapists and child abusers will take great comfort in today’s decision by this area committee and its councillors.  While we, the people who experienced this abuse in our childhood, carry a much heavier burden as a result of today’s refusal by the Cllrs to acknowledge the true and proven history of the Artane Boys Band, the Artane Band and the Artane Industrial School.
Like the dark days of the beginning of this journey for justice, we stood alone against the Catholic Church, the Christian Brothers and the orders of nuns.  Sad today, that we stood alone again at the North Side Civic Centre.


We take comfort from the many people, local residents  who we met, all of whom understood our issue and were fully supportive.
We thank you for your hospitality and we will be visiting with you again soon.
Truth and Justice are what we seek.

These two motions below were fully supported last month by all but two Councillors at the North Central Area Committee Meeting. 

Again supporting a true denial of the accurate and true history of the Artane Industrial School and the Artane Boys Band – Artane Band.  History repeats itself in the form of gross denial.  Our lives don’t matter.

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SNAP support Artane Band Disbandment

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 SNAP  (SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS)

snapheader5The group at the centre of the recent Oscar winning film, Spotlight have today issued a statement in support of our motion to have the Artane Band disbanded. www.snapnetwork.org/ 

Barbara Blaine, the founder and president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an international advocacy group for survivors of clerical sexual abuse, has come out in support of a campaign to have the Artane School of Music disbanded.

SNAP is supporting a motion by Dublin councillor Mannix Flynn for the disbandment of the music school, an establishment jointly run by the Christian Brothers and the GAA. The band in its current form wear the original and traditional insignia and uniforms worn by the band from when it started at a time when children attending St Joseph’s Industrial School in Artane were subjected to sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the religious.

Speaking from Chicago in support of councillor Flynn, Blaine said: “I believe that so much suffering and pain has been caused to those who lived through the horrors of the industrial school in Artane. They have been through enough. We should be doing all we can to prevent any further pain and suffering.”

Petition to Disband the Artane Band

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I just started a petition: Disband the Artane  Band.
It is no longer appropriate, with what we now know, about residential institutional child abuse at St Josephs Artane, that this band, should be still in existence, wearing the uniform of that institution – St Josephs Industrial School Artane, and making statements that they are proud of their history when in actual fact, the vast part of that history was engulfed in horrendous human rights breaches upon children, including child sex abuse at St Josephs Industrial school, Artane, where the band was founded.
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We who are the survivors should not have to endure the ordeal of this band in that uniform, parading around Croke Park, or any other public place. This is a constant active reminder of our ordeals and every effort should be made for this to stop.

Our lives, in those institutions, matter. What happened to us matters. We have a right to get on with our lives to recover and to heal. The Artane Band, in its present form, is a major obstacle to that process. No other band of its type would be allowed to get away with what they are getting away with. The band is still under the control fo the Christian Brothers through the Artane Music School.

If enough people sign my petition, we can make a difference.

Here’s a link to the petition: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Awo8W/zoyY/CRT_0
And here’s a link to share it on Facebook: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Awo8x/zoyY/CRT_0

If there’s anyone you know who might be able to help me spread the word, please let me know. Thanks so much — I really appreciate your help!

Kind regards,  Gerard Mannix Flynn
Artistic Director,
Farcry Productions

 www.farcryproductions.ie

disband-the-artane-band

Truth by James Gandon

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In October 2012 I put in a question to the City Manager in relation to a statue by James Gandon that had been knocked over by a Film Unit truck in Kings Inn, Dublin.  The statue, known as Truth (or ‘Henrietta’ locally) was left in the car park for over a year without protection except a bit of sacking.  In April 2013, again after many concerned locals asked about the protection of the statue, I again raised the issue with the City Council.  This statue formed part of the Four Courts prior to the Civil war.  After the shelling of the Four Courts there was not a scratch on this sculpture.  It was removed to the Kings Inns for safe keeping and good custody where it was more or less destroyed by wrecklessness and lack of due care.  Not only from the driver of the truck (who reversed into her) but from all of those who are charged with its safe keeping.  If those who are charged with the protection of our heritage fail at this level, God only knows what the future holds.

Henrietta Street is almost now an extension of a Film studios.  The impact of these trucks on this delicate area and the residents who live there needs to be addressed and we need far more transparency and accountability as to what is exactly happening to this sculpture (Truth) which was recently removed for supposed repairs.  Also, a date when it will be returned to its rightful place.

We certainly don’t want the kind of vandalism thats been shown by their most recent installation and its new unsightly plinth.

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Reinstalled Sculptures at Kings Inn with ‘out of place’ plinth.

 

 

October 2012  Questions to the City Manager:

Can the City Manager issue a report with regard to damage caused to a protected structure, an 18th century statue, at the Kings Inn in Henrietta Street Dublin on 4/5th April, 2012.  This damage would appear to have been caused while filming was taking place in this locality which is a heritage site and a protected structure.  It would appear a film truck backed into the plinth, toppling the statue to the ground. This protected heritage item has been removed and its whereabouts is unknown. The use of dwellings and listed buildings on Henrietta St has led to a careless disregard for these masterpieces of 18th century architecture.  Not withstanding the enormous disruption and inconvenience caused to residents by the constant use of this area as a film location, both day and night.  It would appear that no permission for change of use from dwelling to studio was sought by the owners of these properties.  It is the responsibility of the City Council to protect these structures and insist on compliance with the principles of care for listed buildings.

April 2013 Questions to the City Manager:

Question to City ManagerCity Council Meeting 04/02/2013

Q72.COUNCILLOR MANNIX FLYNN

Can the City Manager supply an updated report on what action has been taken in relation to the damaged ‘Gandon’ Statue at Henrietta St/Kings Inn which was damaged recently by being knocked over by a truck that was associated with the film unit engaged in filming in this location. This report to include assessment of damage to the statue, proposed repair works, who is liable and responsible for the damage and the cost of repair and who will pay. Also what steps have been taken to manage traffic and vehicle transport in this location with regards to filming and what safety measures have been initiated in order to protect similar objects and the protected structures.

 

CITY MANAGERS REPLY

“Truth” commonly known as Henrietta, was accidentally knocked off her pedestal in April 2012 by a film truck.  Immediately advice was sought from the Society’s Architect, stone and monumental sculpture conservators and from two well respected Architectural Historians (one gave advice on the author of the sculpture (believed not to be any person of significance)), the second gave advice on reinstatement, location, and possible alternative solutions.  All the fragments of Henrietta, including her head have been removed to a safe storage place in King’s Inns.  The three main pieces have been moved to temporary safety and will be stored in a properly protected storage area within the King’s Inns building as soon as the budget will allow for the hire of a crane.  To date, King’s Inns (a private unincorporated association of members) has incurred all the costs involved in the professional advices received.  King’s Inns has a working party in place to oversee the replacement / reinstatement of the statue as soon as is feasible.

 

Following the accident (involving a film truck), the King’s Inns Health and Safety Adviser was asked to work on a plan for the occasional use of the grounds by delivery trucks, by film trucks (mainly static once they park in an assigned place) and other vehicular traffic.  Advices are awaited.  The cost of this advice will be borne in its entirety by King’s Inns.