Andrews Should Stay at Home on Incinerator Issue
During his relatively short time in representative politics, former Councillor Chris Andrews, has undoubtedly acquired some of its worst attributes – an ability to ignore the facts, distort the truth and attempt to mislead the public.
So for the record let me correct some of the false impressions (Village 18th December) left behind by Mr Andrews. The proposal to locate an Incinerator at Poolbeg, stems directly from the failed policies emanating from the Custom House. The last three Ministers for (sic) the Environment and Local Government, Noel Dempsey, Martin Cullen and now Dick Roche advocate that policy. All three are leading members of Fianna Fail.
No Labour Councillor has ever voted in support of Dublin City Council locating or considering an Incinerator at Poolbeg. In fact, at my instigation a joint proposal from myself, Councillor Kevin Humphreys and former Councillor, (now MEP) Eoin Ryan specifically ruling out Poolbeg was adopted by the Council. Then, under instructions from the same Fianna Fail controlled Custom House and more importantly through legislation introduced by a Fianna Fail Minister, it was ignored by the City Manager. Of course Mr Andrews would know this had his attendance at Council meetings, during his five-year term, been as frequent as his inaccurate utterances to the media.
I am quite prepared to allocate blame to Michael Mc Dowell where its is deserved. On this issue, at least, however, he has been as consistently opposed to the Poolbeg Peninsula as Fianna Fail Ministers have supported it. The plan to locate an Incinerator, with the enormous traffic implications for the area, is a Fianna Fail proposal pure and simple. No amount of shifting the blame will change that simple truth.
Councillor Dermot Lacey
