SKERRIES COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION - CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT TO AGM 19TH MAY 2005

Last year the Chairman’s statement was made against a backdrop of a low profile organisation, the SDCA. We had then been through an internal renewal. I confidently predicted “We are convinced that this more structured approach will allow us serve the needs of the people of Skerries more effectively, and will over time make us visibly more relevant to the day-to-day lives of all residents”. I think we have proven in the past year that we are relevant, and that we can achieve worthwhile improvements for the people of Skerries, through the efforts of the association, and all its supporters.

We have had a large number of very successful projects. We lobbied for the retention of the harbour in public ownership. We lobbied for needs of the elderly and the young to be included in the Fingal Development Plan, and to restrict the spread of the town to the seaward side of the railway. In all these, we had the support of the town, based on the signatures for the development plan, and the turnout at the harbour protest. We have also lobbied on behalf of St. Michael’s House, and are currently supporting the swimming pool project in their efforts to get a pool for Skerries. We also garnered the goodwill and generosity of the people of the town by organising a very effective collection for relief of distress caused by the tsunami in Asia at Christmas.

We are very keen to create in Skerries a town that is modern in its outlook on quality of life issues, and that respects the lifestyle of all peoples both here and elsewhere. Many of our current and proposed projects are based around this theme. Among them are Green Schools, welcome pack, fair trade, arts festival and traffic measures to encourage healthy activities and reduce car dependency. We have other plans, and will have an announcement about one at the AGM.

Green schools is about making our children more aware of their environment, and encouraging behaviour that supports rather than destroys the world in which we live. The success of this project can be seen in the display currently at Skerries Mills. Skerries Community Association has managed this project, and has been supported by parents associations, Crann Phadraig, and Fingal Council.

We are working with Community Information Centre on the Welcome Pack. The objective is to make all our new residents welcome to the town by providing them with information, and by encouraging them to integrate into all the activities in the town. This applies equally to new residents who are of Irish background and those who come from abroad. Many of us came to Skerries in years past, and were delighted when we were made feel welcome in the town. We owe it to our new neighbours to extend the same welcome.

Many Irish towns and traders are now consciously encouraging purchase of products that carry the fair trade label, indicating that the primary producers have been given a fair price for their produce. We are keen to promote this concept in Skerries, and will pursue it over the next few months.

The inaugural “Sound Waves” festival in November was a great success. It showcased much of the talent in the town, and gave people an opportunity to entertain and be entertained. This year the festival will be in September and will be broadened into an arts festival. We look forward to your support for this great occasion.

We have a very valuable amenity in the coast. We held a sandcastle competition in summer, and we have an ongoing Clean Coast project.

Skerries is now having its traffic plan put in place. While there are some negative aspects to it, we welcome the plan as much needed. We will be vigilant in ensuring that money collected is spent on town improvement projects, as has been promised. We are keen to support the “European car free day” concept on 22 September. We are looking at the “walking bus” concept for schools, as is working very well in Donabate. We would like to encourage other measures, but this will be difficult this year due to the traffic plan implementation.

No more than other towns, Skerries residents who have to travel to work are suffering the congestion that has become a feature of Irish life. Less than ten years ago, you could get a seat on a morning train, or you could drive to Swords or Santry without any delay. All this has changed. Skerries Community Association is active in lobbying both Fingal Council and Iarnrod Eireann. The M1 has not helped as we are delayed at Lisenhall. Is seems extraordinary that this intersection was not planned to cope with the traffic volumes that would be there even from day one. We have lost out on rail service, with peak capacity not keeping up with demand, and with Maynooth getting priority. We also are the only part of the city or county of Dublin that has ever been denied an all day bus service to the city. So we have a lot more work to do to improve travelling conditions for the people of Skerries, and for our visitors.

Our sub-committees continue to be very effective. The Community Centre had a successful year. Graham Russell, manager, left and we wish him well. His successor, Sharon Guinane, has impressed with her commitment and her ideas, and we look forward to working with her for the future. The big project for this year is to extend the gym. Tidy Towns has entered Skerries as Fingal’s representative in the Business Against Litter competition. We deserve to give the Tidy Towns all the support we can as a community. They are very effective in improving the town and in working with Fingal Council. Crann Phadraig and Skerries Tourism continue to be active and successful.

Skerries Community Association has renewed efforts to link with other groups in the town. This includes Chamber of Commerce, St. Michael’s House, schools and some sports clubs. These relationships are developing to everyone’s benefit.

Declan O’Sullivan has decided to retire after thirty years in the Association. He has served as both Treasurer and Chairman. I would like to thank Declan for his service to the Association and the town over those many years.

We continue to upgrade our website and to use our database as a way of communicating with residents of the town. We want to get to the situation where we can reach most people in the town through the website, and use it as a vehicle to keep them up to date on a weekly basis on activities in the town. We would also like to use it to get feedback from residents on issues we should be pursuing, or getting their opinions on various projects.

I will conclude as I did last year by encouraging more people to get involved in the activities that we are pursuing. We are not short of ideas on how we can improve our town. We are not short of goodwill, and we have plenty of talented people. But we cannot pursue all the projects that need to be done without more support. I would encourage you to get involved and do your bit for your community.

Bob Laird

19 May 2005