Even the ancillary workers came out in sympathy!

Today’s public sector strike has seen a significant show of support for the call by ICTU to oppose public sector pay cuts. The media has portrayed the strike as effectively shutting schools and hospitals. However the real impact has gone much further than that.
In Wexford Town government buildings in Anne St are closed. This means that the Revenue Commissioners, Probation Service, Department of Social and Family Affairs are shut. Round the corner on Crescent Quay, the offices of Wexford Borough Council are closed with a large picket in place. This means that those wishing to enquire about local authority housing cannot do so, fines can’t be paid, rent or rates cannot be collected and planning applications cannot be lodged or inspected. At the local authority depot in Whitemill Industrial Estate pickets since 7.30 AM have been in place. This means maintenance on houses won’t be carried out, streets won’t be swept nor roads repaired. Fro the first time in many years traffic can move down Wexford’s Main St as there’s no one to block it at 11AM.

At County Hall similar pickets ensure that bins won’t be collected, water bills cannot be paid nor any leaks in the system be fixed and Wexford is a county with regular problems in water supply. Environment, Planning and Enforcement are also closed meaning that any contravention of planning law can go unchecked today. At the Garda station the small Social Welfare office is picketed and while the garda are not on strike it was evident to me as I made my own way for picket duty at lunch time that gardaí were sympathetic to the strikers.
Yes, the schools were on strike and while second level teachers picketed their own schools the primary teachers picketed offices in the Cornmarket as did the NEPS employees. Co Wexford VEC was also shut with pickets at Ardcavan. Next door at the District Court and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, pickets are also on duty. The office of the Department of Agriculture, at Johnstown Castle, was also shut by pickets. Wexford General Hospital also had a picket at the front gate although it’s relocation off a side road made the protest less evident. So the effect has been significantly more than kids not getting taught. Grants are not being processed by the department and routine operations are deferred at WGH.

By and large the response from the public has been supportive although I did notice one man who rolled down the window of his silver luxury Mercedes to tell us we should be ashamed of ourselves as we picketed. He returned 10 minutes later to tell us that he paid €40K last year in tax and that he paid our wages and that we should go back to work. Now given that the tax was €40K I reckon he surely grossed €180K in annual income. Strangely he didn’t say what he was going to contribute to get the state out of this slump.
That said, I’ve got to mention a parent that sent in a box of chocolates to the early morning picket. Much appreciated. I hope the chocs last as it seems likely that we’ll be on picket duty sooner rather than later.

Wexford Library project stalls

For the last decade Wexford town Library has been housed in a converted children’s playhouse in a car park to the rear of a shops. Not quite the landmark building that most people would expect to house a library in. The previous library was sold by the council about 10 years ago to facilitate the expansion of a hotel. While the staff have done their best to improve the service by opening longer and using the facility to educate and entertain all ages the reality is that Wexford needs a new library.
A site was identified by Wexford Borough Council and in partnership with the county council, our side of the deal was put in place. The new library was to be sited on the present Mallon St car park, as part of a cultural spine linking the new opera house, the arts centre and the historic Selskar Abbey. A competitive tendering process resulted in a successful bidder and contracts were about to be signed. We thought we were there despite the present economic realities until last night.
At the end of our meeting an official told us the Department of Environment had advised that a new tendering process had been put in place and that the previous competition which had produced a contractor was to be superceded by a new tendering process. I believe that the new process will fix costs for which the state is liable. Fair enough , who will argue with getting more bang for your buck? However one wonders what was going on before? We now know that contractors bidding for state contracts are tendering significantly below what the tender documents proposed just 1 year ago. Where was value for money when it came to handing out PPP contracts in the last 10 years? Presumably the new contractors are still making a profit of some description so how much was creamed off the state in past I wonder?

The down side for Wexford is that according to the department it will be another year before the new tendering process will see a contract in place for Wexford library. In the meantime users in Wexford will have to tolerate substandard conditions as indeed will staff. What concerns me however is that given the reality in the economy at the moment that it may be quite some time before the library in Wexford is built. The council has decided to spend €30,000 re-surfacing the site so that it can re-open temporarily as a car park. I don’t share the enthusiasm of the Fianna Fail councillors who immediately welcomed the re-opening of the car park. I accept that the officials need every last bob they can get but what becomes temporary has a habit of becoming permanent, as the library staff will tell you themselves. They after all are temporarily housed for over 10 years now!
And what about the man in the middle of all this the minister? During the last General Election the Green candidate made his feelings known about the library in no uncertain terms. The greens dismiss the need for a new library. Read the 2007 Green agenda for Wexford at http://wexwicca.blogspot.com. Mind you he didn’t get much support for it but if this is also the view of the Minister then it’ll be a long time before so much as a block is laid in the site let alone a book opened.

Call for changes to Newtown Rd layout at Coill Aoibhinn.

Coill Aoibhinn is an estate of about 60 houses on the edge of Wexford along the Newtown Rd. This road is the main road from the town to the N11 & N25. It leads to the hospital, race course and the new Head Quarters for the Department of Environment. On a typically sunny South East afternoon the accompanying video shows how difficult the entrance can be. Residents have huge difficulty entering their estate by car especially from the town side. Vehicles must take a right hand turn at the entrance. They must cross a white line (which is illegal) and also cross oncoming traffic which has just left the National primary route. The entrance to the estate is just yards inside a 60Km/hr zone. A car is a basic necessity in this estate. Residents need to drive the 2 miles to town as there is no public transport. Children regularly cross the road to go to a local shop at a filling station about 300M away.

I asked raised the matter at Wexford Borough Council. Wexford County Council who are responsible for this regional road to look into the matter. My motion was supported by the council. I support residents who believe that a filter lane should be provided. In the accompanying video watch the car trying to turn into the estate at the end. It takes about 25 seconds to turn safely. When the car is stationary other cars traveling behind it are forced to pass by moving into the yellow margin. This is where cyclists should be. In the 133 seconds of the video over 40 cars pass the entrance.
Motorists do not expect when they are accelerating away from town to have to brake because a car in front is slowing down on the inside of your lane, hugging the white line. There is no sign to indicate a turn, lighting is poor along the road and most important of all there is no provision for pedestrians to cross the road. Residents are rightly fearful of the possibility of a very serious accident. Already a number of minor accidents have occurred here. Permission has been given by the local authority already for another housing development to use the present entrance. I look forward to hearing back from officials as to how they believe they can resolve the matter.