UPDATE: After publication, Sinn Féin did send a response to Gript’s query.
Residents of Marmion Court, which lies behind the quays in the north west part of Dublin’s inner city, last night held a meeting to express their frustration over ongoing problems related to structural issues, occasional flooding, sewage and water quality in their homes.
These problems have been brought regularly to the attention of Dublin City Council and many residents believe that much of the problems can be traced back to what they believe was a poorly planned and implemented regeneration scheme more than 20 years ago.
Wednesday night’s packed meeting was held in the hall within the complex off Blackhall Place where residents put their case to the local representatives.
TDs for the Dublin Central constituency, Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats and Neasa Hourigan of the Green Party were sufficiently interested to turn up, as did Labour Senator Marie Sherlock who is likely to be the party candidate in the next general election.
Residents appreciated that some of the Councillors who did not appear are from different parts of the electoral ward, and that TDs might have a busy schedule. They told Gript that they appreciated the attendance of the two deputies, who did come along even though TDs were not specifically invited. Councillors Ray McAdam of Fine Gael and independent Councillor and former Mayor Christy Burke sent their apologies.
However, several people who were at the meeting told Gript that Councillor Janice Boylan of Sinn Féin, whose electoral base includes Marmion Court, had not attended because she had objected to the presence of Independent Councillor Malachy Steenson. They said that they and others had been told by Councillor Boylan that she would not be at the meeting if Steenson was invited.
Gript contacted Councillor Boylan to inquire if this was in fact the case. We asked if it had been the case that she “had made it known prior to the meeting that you would not attend if Councillor Steenson was present.”
Councillor Boylan had not responded prior to publication.
Sinn Féin correctly objected to situations in the past where its own elected representatives both in the north and south were refused to be met or engaged with by other elected representatives and by officials of both states. To do so is, as they themselves and others who were not party members or supporters pointed out, a slight more on those who have elected the Councillor non grata than on the Councillor themselves who tend to have thick skins about such matters.
The meeting was told that Councillor Steenson has arranged for an engineer to carry out a test on the water supply in Marmion Court, the results of which should be known next week. A committee is being formed by residents to maintain pressure on their elected representatives, Dublin City Council and Irish Water to have their issues addressed.
Update 06.09.2024: We received this response from Sinn Féin after publication.