17th August, 2000
I haven't been to Kinsale in ages. Last Sunday
afternoon I decided to change that, I got a shock when I drove up
the Airport Road and reached the roundabout at the entrance to
the Airport the roundabout is a circle of weeds, no flowers, no
colour just a mess of weeds. A visitor to our city leaves the
airport and is greeted by a circle of weeds. Contrast that with
the Well Road and the roundabout at Carrigaline Church, both
beautiful. The Well Road Roundabout provided by the Cork
Corporation and the Carrigaline one by the County Council. Now
look at the roundabout between Shell and the main Douglas
entrance to Douglas Village Shopping Centre, now that the Douglas
Weekly is in colour I must take some colour photographs and show
you what I mean.
I took my Grandchild to the Community Park last Saturday evening
at about 7 o’clock. I was saddened to see so much litter,
fast food wrappers, cans, off licence bags, and the culprits?
Teenagers! There should be litter bins provided and positioned
next to seats. As far as I could see there was only one litter
bin in the entire park. The graveyard wall of St Luke’s was
destroyed with graffiti, as was the children's play area. A CCTV
system would seem to be the obvious solution to this scourge. I
often ask myself are we serious about the litter problem? The
authorities will take out page advertisements in a national
newspaper to tell the readers about the evils of litter. the only
problem with that is the people who throw the litter don't read
the national newspapers. Think about it, two full-page adverts a
year in a national newspaper would cost about £16,000, the cost
of a litter warden in Douglas? Probably about £16,000 per year.
Which makes more sense? The council tell us that they can't
afford to have Douglas swept on Sunday, what did they spend on
making Crosshaven look beautiful for the Ford Week.
Did I read somewhere that Killarney UCD want chip shop's to close
earlier because they attract trouble? Why not close pubs and off
licenses at 6 o’clock each evening and then we'll have no
trouble, ban cars and we'll have no road deaths. Do people
honestly believe that people ‘tanked up’ with drink and
looking for some trouble are going to go home like good little
boys because the chipper is closed? We have a police force whose
job it is to enforce the law and not let rowdies and vandals rule
our streets at night. The streets belong to us all, morning, noon
and night, and we should be able to walk them in safety without
fear of threat or intimidation.
I know somebody who took out a mortgage almost 20 years ago. The
amount was £22.500, now 19 years later he has paid back almost
£70,000, no problem with that everyone has to make a ‘buck’,
now thanks to the Celtic Tiger he has enough to clear the
remainder of the mortgage. He calls to his branch office and asks
how much is owed on the mortgage, he is told £5,339, he tells
the manager he can give them a cheque for £5,000 in half an hour.
The manager rang Dublin the answer was a swift ‘No’,
they want it all, this from an institution that has been involved
in some serious financial irregularities involving dirt tax. The
little man must always pay, he has no choice, but sometimes the
little man wins, remember David and Goliath? Anyway this is only
round one, next week round two continues with his story. I hope
that like all stories this has a happy ending, if not, it could
go on and on and on. Order your Douglas Weekly Now!
Bye for now,
Michael O’Hanlon.
