Dear President McAleese, In connection with the contents of
the two e-mails dated June 16th 2006 reproduced below, which I feel are
self-explanatory, I am writing to you because I wish to be clear in my own mind
that you, and all of the other senior public officials I am copying this e-mail
to, have been made aware of the concerns relating to the possibility of serious
violations of
Article 28A.1 of
Bunreacht na hEireann (Constitution of
Ireland) in connection with the
Planning and Development (Strategic
Infrastructure) Bill 2006, which is now going through
Parliament.
Assuming you have read the copy of the e-mail I sent to
you last Monday, you will know that I am having an awful lot of very serious
problems (which remain unresolved) relating to legislation I understand you
signed into law a few years ago, which removed the decision making powers of my
democratically elected local government representatives (i.e. Galway County
Council) regarding the location of two huge rubbish dumps close to my
home. In case that for some reason you might not know about the e-mail I
sent to you last Monday, a copy can be now viewed at the following
Indymedia
(Ireland) location:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76326?comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment153828 There
is also a back-up copy of the above mentioned e-mail (together with scanned
copies of the associated Post Office registered receipt) at:
http://www.europeancourtofhumanrightswilliamfinnerty.com/CommissionerNoelConroy12June2006/Email.htm Though
I tried to raise the issue of Article 28A.1 with
An Bord Pleanala, in
connection with the now completed
Greenstar / National Toll Roads rubbish
dump in
Kilconnell, they completely ignored me. For further
information relating to the formal appeal I made to An Bord Pleanala on February
21st 2004, please see at
http://www.finnachta.com/BordPleanalaAppeal.htm
.
I would like to take this opportunity to also point out, to all
concerned, that I have never received any reply to any of the four letters I
sent through the registered post on
December 9th 2003 to:
Deputy Joe
Callanan T.D.,
Deputy Paul Connaughton T.D.,
Deputy
Paddy McHugh T.D., and
Galway Councillor Michael Mullins. A
copy of the letter (and the four associated Post Office receipts), which
directly related to major concerns about the likelihood of Article 28A.1
violations, can be viewed at the following location:
http://www.finnachta.com/Kilconnell8Dec2003.htm#LocalPoliticians For
reasons which I feel should be obvious, I truly hope you will decide to have the
constitutionality of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure)
Bill 2006 checked by the
Supreme Court before you sign it into law; and,
that you will have the full support of your senior public official colleagues in
doing so: even though, as I understand it, the final decision regarding referral
to the Supreme Court is your responsibility, and yours alone.
For
future reference purposes, I plan to place a copy of this e-mail at the
following address later today:
http://www.europeancourtofhumanrightswilliamfinnerty.com/PresidentMaryMcAleese17June2006/Email.htm Yours
sincerely,
William
Finnerty.
============================================================
"Vercingetorix
(Ireland)" <vercingetorixireland@yahoo.ie>
wrote:
From:"Vercingetorix \(Ireland\)"
http://ie.f259.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=vercingetorixireland@yahoo.ieTo:"Celtic
Party \(Yahoo Group\)" <TheCelticParty@yahoogroups.com>, Nature Ireland
<natureireland@yahoogroups.com>, Woodland League
<woodland-league@yahoogroups.com>, "King Ollamh Fodhla \(Tara / Turoe /
Ulster\)"
http://ie.f259.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ollamhfodhla@yahoo.co.ukCc:lettersed@irish-times.ie,
webmaster@aras.irlgov.ie,
Michael.Ring@oireachtas.ie
Subject:"Dangerous" planning
Bill
Date:Fri, 16 Jun 2006 18:38:05 +0100
(BST)
How, if at all, does the proposed new legislation
fit in with
Article 28A.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann (the BASIC Law of
Ireland), which 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." Information on
arrangements for challenging
"Unconstitutional Legislation and Decisions"
can be found at the following address:
http://oasis.gov.ie/government_in_ireland/the_constitution/unconstitutional_legislation_and_decisions.html
Part of the information at the above address reads as
follows:
"The Irish President also has the power to
start judicial review proceedings. Under the Constitution, if he or she
considers that a new Bill might raise constitutional problems, he or she may
refer the Bill to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will then examine the
Bill and hear arguments on both sides to decide whether or not the Bill is
constitutional and can be passed as legislation."
What will President Mary McAleese (the Guardian of our Constitution) do in
this case I wonder? Will she refer it to the Supreme Court to make certain
sure that everything is in order: before she signs her name to the papers which
will allow the "dangerous" Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure)
Bill to become law?
COPIES
TO: 1) The Irish Times ( lettersed@irish-
times.ie )
2) The Guardian of the Republic of
Ireland's Constitution, President Mary McAleese. (
webmaster@aras.irlgov.ie )
3) Deputy Michael Ring TD (
Michael.Ring@oireachtas.ie
)
==========================================
Vincent
Salafia <uatuathal@yahoo.com> wrote:
To:
taralitigation@yahoogroups.com,
hilloftara@yahoogroups.com,
carrickmines@yahoogroups.com,
natureireland@yahoogroups.com
From: Vincent Salafia
<uatuathal@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 05:11:45 -0700
(PDT)
Subject: [nature-irl] Irish Times: Ring breaks ranks over
'dangerous' planning Bill
Ring breaks ranks over
'dangerous' planning BillMarie O'Halloran
Irish
Times
Fri, Jun 16, 06 Fine Gael TD Michael Ring broke ranks
with his party to vote against a Bill to fast-track major infrastructure
projects through the Dail. The Mayo deputy described it as the
"most
dangerous legislation" ever to come before the
House.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said, however, that
the legislation was about streamlining the system to provide people with basic
infrastructure they had demanded for years. "We should be honest enough in our
political debates to accept that there has been a great deal of unnecessary
delay in the delivery of key infrastructure in this country over the
years."
Some 70 TDs spoke in the Dail on the Planning and
Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill, which passed second stage by 63
votes to 29. Labour, the Green Party, Sinn Fein, some Independent deputies and
the Socialist party opposed. Fine Gael supported the Government. The
legislation, which creates a new division within An Bord Pleanala to deal
specifically with major infrastructure projects, now goes to committee for
debate.
Mr Ring, who has fallen out with his party leadership on
previous occasions, said
the Bill showed the State was becoming a
dictatorship. "This is the most dangerous legislation that has ever
come before the House because it seeks to deprive people of the power to make
observations and objections in regard to planning matters. We are told its
provisions relate only to critical infrastructure but we can be certain it will
only be critical for developers.
"Evidence from successive
tribunals indicates who this Bill will ultimately benefit. In time, another
Minister will introduce additional legislation that will further expand the
provisions of this Bill to ensure developers are making enough money and paying
enough of it to politicians. "Developers may eventually be given such extensive
powers that they will no longer require planning permission for building
projects."
Jimmy Deenihan (FG, Kerry North), who said Fine Gael
supported the principle of the Bill, expressed concern that local councillors
would be seen as redundant because An Bord Pleanala's new planning division
would decide on incinerators and landfill instead of local authorities.
"If local people cannot have an input into the planning process, they will
see their local councillors as being irrelevant." Apart
from making a submission to the new division, a local council would have little
input into the final decision, he said.
Mr Roche insisted, however,
that the Bill did not threaten local democracy and it gave a very specific role
to councillors. "The abuse of the planning system means that people are
gridlocked on the roads and are waiting for basic infrastructure. We should not
lose sight of that.
"My constituents in Arklow have been waiting
for a sewerage system for 13 years. Successive governments have provided funding
but a small group of people exercising their rights have used every device to
delay that process."
==
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