·With the impending General Election we feel it is timely to remind our members of the performance of our politicians to date. During the whole rezoning campaign they have abandoned their constituents in Dunboyne.
· The 2,300 people who submitted written objections and the 700 people who attended a public meeting were all totally ignored. Even the very real prospect of increasing the flooding risk was obviously of no concern to our Councillors who were committed to rezoning at all costs.
· The facts are clearly laid out here so that people are informed when making up their minds for whom to vote.

Fianna Fail
· The three local FF Councillors all strongly supported both the green belt and castle rezonings. When they refused to take on board the views of the people of Dunboyne, we requested a meeting with our local FF TD and Junior Minister Mary Wallace in the hope that she might exert some influence, as she had given very strong commitments to protect both the green belt East of the disused railway line and Dunboyne Castle and lands.
· She eventually agreed to meet DCRA, after our third request, in November 2000, a full nine months later. Deputy Wallace basically said that she knew nothing about the plan even though she replied to our first request in February saying she needed more time to study the it. She also said that she never discussed it with anyone even though Cllr. Nick Killian worked with her daily in her office.
· She was unable to attend the public meeting in the Community Centre but was represented there by Cllr. Nick Killian who refused to be influenced by the views of the 700 objectors present.

Fine Gael
· We met with John Bruton, TD and Cllr. Bergin on the whole rezoning issue and we welcomed his stated position that there should be no development east of the railway until work had started on reopening the railway line, and he put forward the view that there should be no rezoning of the Castle Lands at that stage to allow time to pursue our plans to develop it into a public park for all residents, similar to Malahide Castle or Marley Park, with more than adequate facilities for all sporting organisations. However, only ten days later, Cllr Bergin proposed the rezoning of the Castle Lands.
· Regretfully, the two FG Councillors voted against each other on the development of the Green Belt.

Independent: Brian Fitzgerald
· Prior to the 1999 local elections Cllr. Brian Fitzgerald stressed among his priorities for Dunboyne were
Preservation of the Green Belt East of the rail line and as he said : "To ensure that Dunboyne Castle and its lands remain zoned as special zoning and not changed to residential."
· What he did when elected.
At the Dunshaughlin Area meeting of Meath Co. Council on 24th October 2000 he seconded the proposal to rezone Dunboyne Castle lands and later at the same meeting went on to propose the rezoning of green belt lands East of the disused railway line. To have reneged on his of pre-election
commitments only a year after his election and his failure to represent his constituents, was a blatant breaching of democratic accountability and places a huge question mark over the sincerity of this Councillor's promises for the forthcoming election.

Candidates Standing for the First Time

Responding to an invitation by DCRA Committee, the following Candidates attended a meeting held on 24th April 2002. Because we can only note some points from each Candidate's presentation we advise that their election publicity be read.

Damien English FG
Aged 24 and wants major change. He is concerned about traffic congestion. He wants infrastructure before building development. Flooding must be addressed and must be taken into account in planning in and around Dunboyne. Waste management - yes; incineration - no. By voting against the Dunboyne Development Plan 2001 he voted against his local Dunshaughlin Area FG colleagues in the County Council. He is however in favour of development after the railway line is constructed.
He is in favour of Public Parks being established in Meath.

Pat O'Brien Anti-Incinerator
He made a convincing argument that incineration of waste is not an acceptable way to deal with the problem. Some County Councillors made it known that they did not fully understand what they were voting for when supporting incineration of waste nor the consequences of incineration to the health and environment of communities. He wants democracy returned to communities, as the present representative democracy is highly questionable in that it does not represent the electorate. He is against political corruption that is nurtured on a culture of conspiracy and collusion. The planning fee introduced by Noel Dempsey, to be paid by people who lodge a planning objection, must be taken out. It is pro developer and anti community. This candidate says that he is an environmentalist committed to the protection of water, food and air.

Fergal O'Byrne Green Party
Waste management initially was ridiculed but now it is of major importance. Recycling of waste is feasible, desirable and possible. It needs political drive to make it happen. He deplores what happened about the rezoning of the Green Belt East of the old railway line in Dunboyne and how Councillors ignored the will of the electorate in Dunboyne. The Green Party fought strongly for the preservation of the Green Belt East of the disused railway line. Why are there no playgrounds in Meath? Dunboyne needs one. Corruption is a shame on our country. The Green Party was first to raise the subject of corruption in a Dail debate. Trevor Sargent TD handed back a cheque to a developer when he was a County Councillor. The Navan to Drogheda rail line should be opened up and used for passenger service. Put resources to dealing with crime and corruption and not to the Bertie Bowl.

Peter Ward Labour
To return the same Government is to endorse all that had gone on including corruption. He is against voting for Independents as they can distort the political process. Rezoning for development in Dunboyne is in flagrant contravention of the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Region. Huge rezonings in Meath for development is not acceptable. People choose to live in villages and towns in Meath to enjoy a rural environment. The Strategic Planning Guidelines was their assurance. He is in favour of disbursement of the Bertie Bowl money to local sports organisations.

DCRA INFORMS - RESIDENTS DECIDE

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