Councillors clash over book festival

DUN Laoghaire Rathdown
County Council has defended the locations it chose for the forthcoming Dlr
Mountains to the Sea Book Festival.

Ballinteer based councillor
Neale Richmond (FG) criticised the council as he said it failed to spread the
various events evenly across the council’s administrative area.

He pointed out that just two
out of the 44 festival events would be held in the west of the council area,
with the majority taking place in the Dun Laoghaire region.

Funds

The row has rekindled a
longstanding spat between some councillors in the western part of the county,
with its principal centre in Dundrum, and those in the east of the county based
in Dun Laoghaire.

Many councillors in the
Dundrum area believe that the local authority spends more of its funds in the
Dun Laoghaire area, despite the fact that ratepayers in the west of the county contribute
most to council coffers.

Cllr Richmond said:

“Once
again we see the Dublin South area of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown playing second
fiddle to Dun Laoghaire.

?

He claimed that when
councillors were briefed on initial plans for the festival earlier in the
summer they had

“implored

? council officials to include a number of key events
in the Dublin South part of the county.

“Yet despite this, Dublin
South gets just two events, the same number as the Royal St George Yacht Club
in Dun Laoghaire,

? he said.

“Both of these events will
take place in the Mill Theatre, Dundrum, while excellent venues such as Marlay
House and the Carnegie Library in Dundrum will go without.

“The festival is fantastic
and will run from September 1 until September 11 but for that period it will
simply snub most of Dublin South.

“The Dublin South area of
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown is the main generator of finance for the county from
commercial rates, development revenues and income from the Marlay Park
concerts,

? he added.

“Yet once again we are being treated as an insignificant
add on.

?

Stillorgan based councillor
Gerry Horkan (FF) said that while he believed that Cllr Richmond’s argument was
well founded, he maintained that Fine Gael, which controls the council along
with Labour, only had themselves to blame for the situation.

“The point he is making is
true,

? he acknowledged.

“There should be a better spread of spending and on
events.

“If you look at things like
the central library and Loughlinstown swimming pool, there is a lot of money
being spent on the other side of the county.

Committed

“But Fine Gael is in
Government. Cllr John Bailey is the cathaoirleach of the council and Cllr
Richmond and Fine Gael should be able to influence their group so that a
balanced allocation of resources comes across to this side of the county.

?

The cathaoirleach of the
local authority, Cllr John Bailey (FG), said the council was right to hold as
many events as possible in the Dun Laoghaire side of the county in a bid to
maximise the potential of its coastline.

“Dun Laoghaire is unique in
that it has water along its coast and it is up to the council to maximise the
usage of the coast,

? he said.

A council spokesperson said
it was committed to programming cultural events across Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.

“Splitting the Mountains to
the Sea festival into different areas of the county could have the effect of
dispersing the critical mass and crowds essential to a creating successful
festival,

? he said.

“Dún Laoghaire has a unique
advantage in that it offers a range of programme venues, ample accommodation
for visitors and participating authors, and an accessible and picturesque
setting, as well as a proven audience,

? he added.

He also noted that the vast
majority of the council’s budget for the Summer of Heritage programme was spent
in the Dundrum area.