| |
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| billyfinnerty1945@hotmail.com |
|
| William Finnerty
<wfinnerty@eircom.net> |
| Sent : |
Saturday, September 4, 2004 10:22 AM
|
| To : |
"Ray Norton (Director of Services,
Mayo County Council)" <rnorton@mayococo.ie>
|
| CC : |
"New Inn Anti-Dump Chairman (Vincent
Costello)" <repsvc@indigo.ie>, "Kilconnell Anti-Dump Group Secretary
(Annette Gilchrist)" <kilconnellantidumpsecretary@yahoo.co.uk>, "An
Taisce (Yahoo Discussion Group)" <atdiscussion@yahoogroups.com>,
"Ann Marie Kelly Discussion Group" <annmariekelly@yahoogroups.com>,
"CelticParty(Yahoo)" <TheCelticParty@yahoogroups.com>, "East Galway
Green Party (Siobhan Nevin)" <siobhannevin2004@yahoogroups.com>,
"Green Party Ireland (Yahoo Group)" <greenireland@yahoogroups.com>,
"Kilconnell Anti-Dump Internet Group"
<KilconnellAntiDump@groups.msn.com>, "Nature Ireland"
<natureireland@yahoogroups.com>, "New Inn AntiDump Internet Group"
<NewInnAntiDump@groups.msn.com>, "Tara / Skreen Group"
<taraskreen@yahoogroups.com>, "Woodlawn House Preservation Society"
<WoodlawnHousePreservationSociety@groups.msn.com>, "Martin Egan
(Principal Lawyer, Fair Murtagh Law Firm)"
<martinegan@fair-murtagh.ie>, "Gearoid Geraghty (Lawyer, Fair
Murtagh, Ballinasloe)" <gearoidgeraghty@fair-murtagh.ie>, "Law
Society (Republic of Ireland)" <H.Mountaine@LawSociety.ie>, "05 Yah"
<finnachta@yahoo.co.uk>, "04 Hot" <finnachta@hotmail.com>, "03
Hot" <billyfinnerty1945@hotmail.com>, "02 Yah"
<newinngalway@yahoo.co.uk>, "01 Eir" <wfinnerty@eircom.net>,
"President Mary McAleese" <webmaster@aras.irlgov.ie>, "Prime
Minister Bertie Ahern" <taoiseach@taoiseach.irlgov.ie>, "Minister
for Justice (Michael McDowell TD)" <Michael.McDowell@oireachtas.ie>,
"Martin Cullen T.D. (Republic of Ireland Minister for the Environment and
Local Government)" <press-office@environ.irlgov.ie>, "An Bord
Pleanala" <bord@pleanala.ie>, "Environment Protection Agency"
<info@epa.ie>, "Ian Lumley (An Taisce)"
<heritage@antaisce.org>, "Friends Of The Irish Environment"
<admin@friendsoftheirishenvironment.net>, "VOICE of Irish Concern
for the Environment" <avoice@iol.ie>, "The Democracy Commission
(Ireland)" <democracycommission@tascnet.ie>, "Vincent Salafia
(Lawyer, Tara/Skreen Group)" <vsalafia@eircom.net>, "Garda
Commissioner Noel Conroy (Chief Commissioner of Police, Republic of
Ireland)" <comstaff@iol.ie>, "Assistant Police Commissioner (Galway
area)" <ekeating@iol.ie>, "Jim Higgins (MEP)"
<Jim.Higgins@finegael.ie>, "Marian Harkin (MEP)"
<marianh@marianharkin.com>, "Sean O'Neachtain (MEP)"
<seanoneachtain@eircom.net>, "Stavros Dimas (EU Commissioner for
Environment & Social Affairs)" <empl-info@cec.eu.int>, "Jose
Manuel Barroso (President of EU Commission)" <press-web@cec.eu.int>
|
| Subject : |
Review of Connaught Regional Waste
Management Plan |
|
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Dear
Mr Norton,
I am writing to you in response to information circulated recently by
Galway City Councillor Niall O'Brolchain.
It is my understanding that a review of the
Connaught Regional Waste Management Plan is to take
place shortly, and that members of the public have been invited to
submit their views to you on the matter before September 7th 2004.
According to information available to me,
which can be viewed at Internet address
http://www.finnachta.com/bunreacht.htm, Galway County Council
(i.e. Local Government) has TWICE rejected the
Connaught Waste Management Plan; and, on both occasions, the decisions
taken were arrived at UNANIMOUSLY.
Following the above mentioned decisions, and through the use of what
I (and other local people) regard as UNCONSTITUTIONAL
LEGISLATION, the Government then altered parts
of the Waste Management Act so that decision making
powers regarding the location and use of superdumps and
incinerators were removed from the democratically
elected local government representatives, and placed instead in the
hands of non-elected County Council managers.
It appears to me that the legislation which has been generated to bring
about the above mentioned shift in power represents a straightforward,
and totally unacceptable, violation of Article 28A of
the Constitution, or "Bunreacht" (i.e.
the "Primary Law"), of the Republic of Ireland
- part of which (Item 1), reads as follows:
"The State recognises the role of local government in providing
a forum for the democratic representation of local communities, in
exercising and performing at local level powers and functions conferred
by law and in promoting by its initiatives the interests of such
communities."
Please note that one of the local residents where I live, law student
Ms Ann Marie Kelly, is at the present time preparing to
have the constitutionality of the Waste Management Act alterations
referred to above challenged in the High Court. As you may already
know, our particular part of East Galway is now
threatened with TWO huge superdumps (separated by a
distance of just a few miles): one in New Inn, and one
in Kilconnell; and, that BOTH of the locations chosen
have been repeatedly rejected by our democratically elected local
government representatives - on the grounds that the locations in
question are totally unsuitable, partly because of the numbers of people
living very close to each of the 2 sites involved.
With further reference to the Connaught Regional Waste Management Plan,
there also appears to be a second very important (and very
relevant) Constitutional issue connected with the Aarhus
Convention Agreement, which the Republic of Ireland signed on
June 25th 1998. According to Article 29
(Section 5, Point 1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland:
"Every international agreement to which the State becomes a
party shall be laid before Dail Eireann". In so far as I can
establish, and with due regard for the fact that well over SIX YEARS
have now passed, the matter of the State signing the Aarhus Convention
Agreement has NEVER been laid before Dail Eireann (the
Republic of Ireland Parliament). As can be seen at Internet address
http://www.finnachta.com/Oireachtas30June2004.htm, this matter was
brought to the attention of Environment Minister Martin Cullen
T.D. on June 25th 2004.
It would be much appreciated if you could please ensure that all those
connected with the Review of the Connaught Regional
Waste Management Plan are made aware of the contents of this letter.
Later today I will also send a printed (and
signed) copy of this e-mail to you through the registered post, which I
will address as follows: Mr Ray Norton, Director of Services, Mayo
County Council, Aras an Chontae, The Mall, Castlebar, County Mayo.
Yours sincerely,
Mr William Finnerty.
"St Albans"
New Inn
Ballinasloe
County Galway
Republic of Ireland.
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