Remembering Toyosi Shitta-Bey

I headed into town today to the march in memory of Toyosi Shitta-bey. Thousands of people walked from the Garden of Remembrance to the Dail. On behalf of the Minister for Integration I addressed the March and here's what I said:

Friends,

We are one.

There is no black Ireland or white Ireland there is one Ireland. There is no old Ireland and new ireland, there is one Ireland.

Today is day of sadness, a day to remember and a time of sorrow.

It is a day to remember the all-to-short life of young, talented member of his community and a gifted footballer

It is a day to remember and to celebrate the life of Toyosi Shitta-bey. My heart goes out to his family. My two young boys are privilaged to go to school with children of different colours, from different nations. It makes their lives richer and it makes Ireland richer. I can not imagine what it would be like for a parent to lose a child in this way.

Today is a day of peace and a day of solidarity.

My colleague the Minister for Integration and Equality Mary White TD stood in solidarity with Toyosi's friends and family at his funeral and is working hard to tackle this act of madness.

She will meet in the coming days with the Nigerian Ambassador. She will work with the Minister for Justice to make sure those who committed this crime face the penalties that they deserve under the laws of this land. She will review the work of the Equality Authority, and if laws need to be changed she will not be found wanting.

Today is also a day to stand together. It is a day to pay tribute to the work of Hartsown Community School, to Shelbourne Football Club, to Sports Against Racism in Ireland (SARI) and the people of Tyrallstown. It is a day to stand up to bullying, to stand up to racism, a day to stand up for integration, for tolerance and a day to stand up for Ireland.

I spoke with friend from SARI in Ireland earlier and they tell me that on the 8th May a memorial game will be played between a team from Charter in Northern Ireland and a team from SARI. Toyosi missed the last game in Belfast. This game will be in his memory.

Assistant Commissioner Mich Phelan from the Garda Forum on New Communities rang SARI last night and asked "How can we help?". On their behalf I appeal to leaders from Ireland's new communities to go to their Garda stations and offer their help to combat racism.

In the words of the late Dr. King it is a time for "dignity and for discipline". We are created equal and we shall work together to "hew a stone of hope out of this mountain of despair".

Let us go in peace to seek justice.

We stand in solidarity with Toyosi and his family

Joining the Dots

That's the view from the Limerick-Galway train looking out on the platform at Sixmilebridge on the 29th March.

The weather was absolutely miserable, but there were crowds on every platform welcoming the return of a train service linking the two cities by rail once more after a thirty-four year gap. That was my first 'official' engagement as the new Minister for State with responsibility for Sustainable Transport and Travel, and there was a great turn-out of support for the service in each of the stations that we passed through on the journey up from Limerick through Clare and up to Galway.

I've moved across the road from Leinster House and I'm now based in the Department of Transport on Kildare Street. The new job is, both wide-ranging and challenging. In a sense I'm trying to join up the dots on sustainability between the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Environment, Heritage and Local Government; and Transport. The official job title covers horticulture, sustainable transport and travel, planning and climate change.

In the Department of Transport there's a lot of projects slowly coming to fruition that have been around since the early nineties. The old Dublin Transportation Initiative report advocated integrated ticketing as well as real time passenger information, and hopefully I'll be able to push these issues along to implementation. There's also other opportunities. One challenge is the issue of rail freight. Tonnage has declined in recent years, and I'll be doing what I can to make the case for sending goods by rail where possible, in order to improve safety as well as reduce carbon emissions.

In agriculture it has been a tough winter after several years of wet summers. Last week the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food launched the new agri-environment scheme. It replaces the old Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) , and will make payments to farmers for their careful stewardship of the land such as protecting watercourses, and conserving birdlife and built heritage.This was my first formal introduction to the Department, and the agriculture media, so I made a point of stressing my agricultural credentials. My first job was on John Leeson's farm in South County Dublin - milking cows, snagging fodder beet and painting gates. Trevor Sargent has done great work over the last few years in building up the organic sector, promoting a GM-free island developing the 'incredible edibles' campaign as well as the food dudes, and it'll be a hard act to follow, but I'll be doing my best to continue with that work.

In the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, I'll be focussing on steering the Planning Bill through the Oireachtas. A proper planning system can help Ireland avoid future boom-bust cycles by removing some of the 'hope value' from land. I'll also have an involvement in facing up to climate change, peak oil and energy security - three inter-twined issues that require a coherent approach as oil prices head back up again.

Last week we also had Dáil votes on the future of Ireland’s banking system. Politics is the art of the possible, not the theoretical. There are no quick-fix solutions to the mistakes that were made between 2005 and 2007. A friend rang me up to pass on the bad news about the architectural firm Murray O’Laoire going into liquidation. I explained that we have to recapitalize the banks so that good business proposals receive the cash they need to create jobs. Just before Easter I met with Professor Alan Ahearne, economics advisor to an Taoiseach. He impressed me with his coherent analysis of Ireland’s financial challenges.


It’s only as we start filling packing cases in my Dáil office that it finally sank in. I have a new job, new responsibilities and a wide-ranging brief covering agriculture, transport, planning, heritage and climate change. In the course of the week I’ve been down to the Customs House to meet up with their management team. I’ve attended my first press conference in Agriculture House with Minister Brendan Smith and Minister of State Sean Connick. I’ve also met the enthusiastic team running the Sustainable Transport and Travel office.


On Good Friday I was in the constituency office on Patrick Street in Dún Laoghaire reading the Green Party’s submission on proposals for the Deansgrange Local Area Plan. It would be easy to get distracted or spread myself too thinly with the many challenges in each of the three Departments that I cover. However, all politics is local politics as the late Senator Tip O’Neill once stated, and it is important to cover the bases in Dún Laoghaire, as well as working on global and national issues.

And they just got busier

Tired, emotional, and over the moon.

That's myself and Mary White at the front of Leinster House earlier this evening. We've both just become Ministers for State. Mary will have responsibilities in the new Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, and I'll be continuing the work that Trevor Sargent has been doing in the Department of Agriculture relating to food policy and horticulture, as well as taking on the Smarter Travel Plan and responsibilities in Environment, Heritage and Local Government in planning, architecture and climate change. No pressure, as they say!

It is a huge honour, and one heck of a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. Our annual Convention kicks off in Waterford on Friday night, and on Monday I'm hoping to be on the first

scheduled train on the restored Western Rail Line between Galway and Limerick.

The job description consists of joining the dots in sustainability in the way we plan, the way we farm and the way we travel. As we cope with the the huge financial and employment challenges in Ireland it is easy to forget about the need to tackle climate change, peak oil and energy security. Hopefully my new role will allow me address these issues in some small way in each Department. I'm sad to be leaving behind the work I was doing, particularly in Justice, Equality and Law Reform, but I'm pleased to hand over the work to Mary White who is more than capable. She will be kept busy with the Civil Partnership Bill in Committee later this month, and lots more besides.

Everyone I met after the announcement has been full of helpful advice, from Enda Kenny to Donie Cassidy. I guess I'll sleep on it all, and see if I can find myself a new office in the morning.

Busy times

World Water Day today, and thanks to an invitation from Sarah Franklyn from the Water for Life! Ireland Campaign I found myself outside Leinster House with children from Scoil Cholmcille in Ballybrack, women from various African countries and the Lord Mayor Emer Costello.

I had a great chat with Ifrah Ahmed, a Somalian women living in Ireland Ironically enough the heavens opened as we posed for the pix, but all for a good cause.

There's a lot going on around Dún Laoghaire at the moment, and lively enough on the national stage as well. Dún Laoghaire Enterprise Week kicked off today in the Royal Marine Hotel, and Nicola Byrne founder of 11890 Directory Enquiries gave an upbeat speech. She's banning the use of the R word and wants us to refer to this period as the 'pre-boom'. I'm not sure about that though, I think we've seen how booms can go wrong, and I'd prefer a 'fáda' shaped smoother tranjectory out of our current difficulties.

Owen Keegan the County Manager was at the launch of County Enterprise Week, and I caught up with him a few weeks ago where he outlined a few of the positive developments that are happening the town of Dún Laoghaire. Here's an overview:

The Metals Upgrade
The covering over of the Dart line at the Pavilion complex has resulted in a great civic space where people can sit and enjoy views of the Harbour. The next phase begins this month and will see new café terraces, pathways, seating areas and a new small play space installed. There will also be new lighting, umbrellas and an information kiosk, as well as trees planted in the area.

Under the government’s Smarter Travel Fund, the 3.5km Metals pathway will be upgraded by the end of the year. The work will involve upgrading the road crossings that intersect with the path to make them safer, with better facilities for those with mobility and visual impairments. New directional signs and informational panels illustrating the history of the Metals will also be installed. These works will make this valuable resource better and safer for pedestrians and cyclists alike.
You’ll find further information on these projects and how to make a submission here:

Laneways Taken In Charge
For too long, Dún Laoghaire’s laneways have been in a bad state. Now, the Council is taking control of the lanes between George’s St, Northumberland Ave, Cross Ave and Patrick St. The paving, street lighting, landscaping and traffic management will all be improved. The Council wants your input into this process. More information here:

Marine Road Improvements
The Council intends widening the foot-paths, narrowing the carriageway and planting trees so as to provide a ‘boulevard’ appearance to the street. This will make the area more attractive for residents and visitors alike

Dún Laoghaire Harbour
On March 15th we will see the return of the Ferry Service to Dún Laoghaire Harbour after the winter break using a smaller Express vessel, and the HSS during July and August.
The old ferry terminal on the Carlisle Pier has been demolished. However I have asked Bord Pleanála to decide whether or not the Harbour Company illegally demolished the old nineteenth century railway building, and if so I will pursue the restoration of this part of the town’s heritage.

Pedestrian Improvements beside the DART Station
Proposals are afoot to relocate the ‘Gateway’ Sculpture, previously located at the Pavilion, to a new spot outside the Dún Laoghaire Dart station. The Council are constructing a new traffic island and pedestrian crossing at this location, which will hugely improve access to the station. The Council will seek submissions on these proposals shortly. Judging from the feedback I'm getting though, it seems like half the town would rather see Michael Warren's gateway sculpture recycled, so we'll see how this consultation goes.

Anyway, that's the view from Dún Laoghaire. Meanwhile I'm hosting a special screening of "The End of the Line" (short clip and website here) in the Oireachtas Audio-Visual room at lunchtime on Thursday 25th March 2010. It addresses how overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. It's based on Charles Clover's excellent book of the same name, and if you know of anyone with an interest in sustainable fisheries drop me a line, and I'll try and arrange for them to attend. Thanks to Mike Walker at Pew Environment for making this happen. Mike will say a few words and we'll also have a speaker from the Irish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd, so it'll make for an interesting discussion towards the end of another exciting week in politics.