Encouraging women into local politics

Wexford Women’s Coalition members pictured ; (left to right); Cllr Mary Farrell, Cllr Maura Bell, Cllr Bridin Murphy, Mairead O’Shea of See Her Elected, Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy and Cllr Kathleen Codd Nolan

By Dan Walsh

Wexford Women’s Coalition which brings together the female Wexford County Council members is committed to ensuring that female members are supported in the Local Government System and has joined forces with See Her Elected, the award-winning Government funded project which aims to encourage women from rural areas to engage in local politics.

Together they visit secondary schools in County Wexford in a bid to encourage more young women to see politics as a possible career path. The Schools’ Roadshow is part of a political education series which hopes to encourage diversity in county council chambers in rural areas.

The Wexford Women’s Coalition and See Her Elected will visit Coláiste Átha in Kilmuckridge, Loreto College, Wexford and Selskar College, Wexford this month (November 8th and 9th). Schools will benefit from a See Her Elected presentation while members of the Wexford Women’s Coalition will share their lived experiences of the day-to-day life of being a county councillor.

This brings the number of schools visited in 2023 to six with plans to continue the initiative in 2024.

Chairperson of the Wexford Women’s Coalition Cllr. Maura Bell said; “It is so important that our political and civic structures are representative of the communities that they support and work for.”

The Coalition Members are very aware that only 26% of councillors in Ireland are women and there is a major difficulty with an under representation of women in local politics in rural Ireland. For example, there are only six women out of 34 councillors on Wexford County Council. In almost one hundred years there have only been 15 women elected to Wexford County Council (since 1925).

Communications Manager with See Her Elected, Mairead O’ Shea said; “We want to see more diversity in our rural county council chambers. As it stands, there are very few women councillors and virtually no representation of minority communities. Our aim is to increase the numbers of women in local politics in rural counties where anything from 78% to 95% of the elected local authority councillors are men.”

“As part of our political education series, we do a presentation for students from senior classes to encourage them to critically engage with See Her Elected’s work and the outcomes from having Council Chambers that do not reflect what the communities they represent look like,” said Ms. O’Shea, who added; “See Her Elected’s aim is to engage with students to increase their awareness and understanding of gender inequality in politics as well as encouraging them to get their names on the Register of Electors. Many 5th and 6th year students will be able to vote in the next Local Elections in 2024 so they are the ideal age group to address and the feedback and positive engagement from students has been fantastic.”

See Her Elected is a joint initiative between Longford Women’s Link and 50/50 North West. The project is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Women’s Coalition hope to reach as many secondary schools as possible around the county amongst other initiatives to encourage women to enter politics and in doing so help bring about change.

Good weekend for the Fogarty’s

By Dan Walsh

Jonathan Fogarty from Gaynestown Stud, Cleariestown, had a successful weekend with four of his runners finishing either first or second; A first and two ‘seconds’ at Lisronagh, on Saturday, and another victory today (Sunday) at Damma House, Kilkenny.

Today’s Fogarty handled newcomer was QuantumBoy, ridden by Derek O’Connor, and a four lengths winner of the maiden race for four-year-olds.

SEAN DOYLE kicked off his 2023-24 season with a winner at Kilkenny today.

Sean Doyle, handler from Monbeg, Ballindaggin, who enjoyed best his ever season with 19 winners in the 2022-23 season, saddled his first success of the 2023-24 season in Kilkenny today when Roe And Coe, ridden by Jamie Scallan, Tomhaggard, came home two and a half lengths to the good in the maiden race for five year old geldings.

Next Sunday, November 12th, the local point-to-point action switches to Knockmullen House, New Ross for the Wexford Hunt fixture. First race at 12.30pm and entries close on Tuesday.

In other point-to-point news The Island Hunt will race over a new track at Peppard’s Castle, between Balygarrett and Kilmuckridge, on Saturday, April 13th. The venue is described as “a stiff left-handed track with a one mile circuit over two fields.”  

Third race lucky at Tipperary

By Dan Walsh

BARRY STONE winner and two ‘seconds’ in Tipperary today.

Jonathan Fogarty and the Gaynestown Stud Partnerip and Cleariestown rider Barry Stone finished second with Visual Impact (four-year-old mares maiden) and Diagon Alley (division one of the maiden race for four year old geldings) in the first two races at today’s (Saturday) point-to-point at Lisronagh, Co. Tipperary before landing division two of the maiden race for four year olds with McLaurey.

A €55,000 Tattersalls Derby Day purchase, McLaurey who passed the post eight lengths to the good and will now be offered for sale.

As anticipated, there is a large Wexford entry for the Damma House point-to-point in Co. Kilkenny tomorrow (Sunday). The first race is off at 12.30pm. Ground conditions are reported to be “soft, soft and heavy in places.”

And in other point-to-point news The Island Hunt will race over a new track at Peppardscastle, between Ballygarrett and Kilmuckridge, on Saturday, April 13th. The venue is described as “a stiff left-handed track with a one mile circuit over two fields.”  

Civil War book launched in Gorey

CLLR DONAL KENNY, CLLR JOHN FLEMING, Cathaoirleach Wexford County Council, CLLR PIP BREEN, Cathaoirleach Gorey-Kilmuckridge Municipal District Council and BARRY BRENNAN at the book launch in Gorey Library on Thursday night

By Dan Walsh

On Thursday night Gorey Library facilitated the official launch of Wicklow Gaol Comrades – A Civil War Autograph Book – authored and researched by Aaron O Maonaigh in a collaboration between Wicklow and Wexford County Councils.

This innovative collaboration between the archive services of Wexford and Wicklow County Councils centres on a small autograph book (part of Wexford County Archive’s Civil War collection).

It was owned by Patrick Fitzpatrick from Kiltealy, a member of North Wexford IRA’s flying column who was imprisoned in Wicklow Gaol in late 1922, and following his escape and subsequent recapture, was interned again, including at Tintown Camp B, Co. Kildare until his release on 24 December 1923. The autograph book includes signatories of fellow internees from Fitzpatrick’s time in both places of detention.

This project was supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries programme 2012-23, and by the Archive Services of Wexford and Wicklow County Councils
“Congratulations to all concerned who made this possible and brought a humble 100-year-old autograph book back to life,” said Cllr John Fleming, Cathaoirleach Wexford County Council.

It is a most impressive book and available at Gorey Library where the exhibition will be on display for a week and will be available over the next few months in other libraries across counties Wicklow and Wexford.

Call to conserve water this weekend

By Dan Walsh

Pic; Uisce Eireann

Uisce Éireann is calling communities across Wexford town to continue with their efforts to conserve water over the weekend, to protect supply, and to enable Newtown and Coolcots reservoirs to fully replenish, following a prolonged outage due to a burst trunk main. 

Speaking to WexfordLocal.com today (Friday) about conserving water over the weekend, Jim Fitzgerald, Regional Operations Manager at Uisce Éireann, said; “We are appealing to customers in Wexford town to conserve water to give the reservoirs time to replenish. Any reduction that customers can make in their usage can collectively result in significant supply improvements for all customers.”

High usage can lead to pressure reductions which can impact the supply to customers. Uisce Éireann and Wexford County Council are thankful to communities and residents across Wexford town for their conservation efforts to protect this precious resource.

Uisce Éireann will continue to monitor the levels at Newtown and Coolcots reservoirs over the coming weeks and take any actions that may be necessary to maintain supplies, including communicating about localised issues as they arise.

For more simple ways to conserve water check out the Uisce Éireann conservation calculator (www.water.ie/calculator) which can help people work out how much water they are currently using and how they can conserve even more. 

Wexford water supplies return to all areas

By Dan Walsh

Uisce Éireann has successfully completed emergency repairs on a trunk water main supplying Newtown Water Treatment Plant at Wexford.

While repairs are now complete, the prolonged outage has resulted in reservoir levels at Newtown and Coolcots running low. The reservoirs and water network are currently refilling. However, due to the loss of treated water in storage, it may take until late this evening for water supplies to return to all areas, especially for those on higher ground or at the end of the network. 

(Pic; Uisce Éireann)

Once the burst was identified, water service crews were immediately dispatched and worked for hours repairing and refilling the trunk water main. Every measure was taken to reduce the impact to homes and businesses in Coolcots, Barntown Clonard, Townparks, Whitemill, Whiterock, Clonard, Mulgannon, Carricklawn and surrounding areas of Wexford town and to restore the water supply as quickly as possible.

Jim Fitzgerald, Regional Operational Manager at Uisce Éireann said; “We would like to thank the affected communities for their patience as the water supply returns to the network.  To help Newtown and Coolcots Reservoirs to refill as quickly as possible, we are appealing to customers to continue to conserve water until the network recovers.”

Following this type of work, occasionally issues such as cloudy water (air bubbles), discolouration or internal airlocks may arise. For advice on how to resolve these issues please visit www.water.ie/help/supply/after-an-outage/.

Burst water main on Wexford town supply

By Dan Walsh

A large burst on a water main supplying Wexford town is impacting treated water storage levels at Coolcots Reservoir Zone. Repairs are expected to be completed by this evening, (Thursday) and customers should note “that it typically takes two to three hours following repairs for normal supply to restore to all customers affected by an unplanned outage.”

A statement from Uisce Éireann informs that “Every effort is being made to maintain supply to as many customers as possible, however, repairs are complex due to the location of the burst and the wet weather conditions impacting ground conditions. 

Crews are working on repairs to restore normal water supply as quickly as possible. While repairs are underway, customers in the following areas of Wexford Town may experience supply outages and/or low pressure: Coolcots, Barntown Clonard, Townparks, Whitemill, Whiterock, Clonard, Mulgannon, Carricklawn, and surrounding areas of Wexford Town.

Uisce Éireann’s Jim Fitzgerald said; “The repairs in Wexford town are being conducted as quickly as possible to minimise disruption to the community and restore water for all customers. We understand the inconvenience unplanned outages can have on customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to repair the burst and return normal water supply.”

To support impacted customers, alternative water supplies with clean drinking water are in place at: Clonard Village, Cluain Dara, Ferndale, Belvedere, Ard Carman and Clonard Church until normal water supply returns. Customers are reminded to use their own containers when taking water from the tanker and to boil water before consumption as a precautionary measure as per Health Service Executive (HSE) advice. 

Enniscorthy 19th century church for sale

The Presbyterian Church and house at Mill Park Road, Enniscorthy, is for sale by private treaty.

By Dan Walsh

The former Presbyterian Church on Mill Park Road, Enniscorthy, and the adjoining house, is being offered for sale by private treaty with a price tag of €700,000. Enquiries to Sherry Fitzgerald O’Leary Kinsella estate agents.

The church on Mill Park Road was built in 1866 by Mr Patrick Kerr and on March 26th, 1867, Rev. William Arnold was ordained in the church as pastor of the little flock and lived to minister under those in his charge for almost 48 years.

A splendid manse, with charming grounds was built for Rev. Mr Arnold, immortalised as Arnold’s Cross, who for 48 years ministered to those under his charge and the Presbyterians congregation at that time numbered about twenty. Mr Arnold passed away peacefully on October 24th, 1916, at the aged of 76 years.

The church was known as the United Presbyterian and Methodist Church for several years.

In 1747 John Wesley began his preaching in Ireland and a small number of Wesleyans, of Methodists, had a conventicle in Enniscorthy from 1768-1798, and in 1812 a meeting house was rented on the Tanyard Lane, near the foundry, where an itinerant preacher minister to about a dozen souls for some years.

It was 1816 that the Wesleyan Conference determined permit themselves to dispense the Lord’s Supper and up to that date laymen were preachers.

In 1835, the former Methodist church at Friary Place was erected and first opened for divine service on September 2nd, 1836, by the Rev. J.B. Gillman, Dublin, and Rev. Fossy Thackaberry, Drogheda.

SOURCE; History of Enniscorthy by W.H. Grattan Flood, printed at The Echo Printing Works, Enniscorthy in 1920.

Flooding at the Heritage Park

By Dan Walsh

The Irish National Heritage Park at Ferrycarrig reopens its restaurant and crafts shop today (Tuesday) from 9.30am to 5pm following serious flooding that closed the complex over the weekend.

However, the outdoor experience will remain closed until Friday, November 3rd due to the flooding.

In a statement issued on social media yesterday, the Heritage Park “apologises for any inconvenience caused and looks forward to welcoming you back in the future.”

Speaking to RTÉ News, Bernie Rath stated; “Unfortunately our newly renovated building has flooded again. It’s quite devastating for us really. I suppose, we were nicely settled back in and everything was going so well but unfortunately we’re here again today. Hopefully, we can get back open again very soon and we hope to see everybody around the Heritage Park again shortly.”

The Irish National Heritage Park reopened two months ago following a €1 million refurbishment programme.

“This is the worst flooding we’ve had at the height of the flooding,” said Adrian Doyle, Chair of the Trustees of the Heritage Park. Although history recalls flooding up to two feet in November 2004!

“The previous flooding was more devastating because we weren’t ready at the centre, we were this time at least, but it’s very substantial,” concluded Mr. Doyle.

Rosslare Strand families devastated by floods

CLLR JIM CODD using an appropriate mode of transport while supporting homeowners at The Haven, Rosslare Strand, who are in temporary accommodation tonight, following serious flooding over the weekend.

By Dan Walsh

Families at The Haven housing estate in Rosslare Strand are in temporary accommodation tonight after being forced to leave seven homes that were impacted by severe flooding during a weekend of heavy rain in south Wexford.

Local Cllr Jim Codd visited the scene today to support the residents and empathise with them in what is “an exceedingly difficult situation”. “I intend to demand that real solutions are found to these ongoing flooding issues,” said Cllr Codd, who added; “A big word of thanks to all those that are battling the flood waters.”

Director of Services at Wexford County Council Eamonn Hore feels that everyone will have to wait until the flood waters to abate before a resolution is found.

Wexford County Council has supplied two industrial sized pumps to pump water from the houses, but the water keeps returning! Mr Hore described the flooding at The Haven, which is opposite Rosslare Golf Club, “desperate” for the homeowners who are now in temporary accommodation.