A TOTAL of 50 community groups across the Southside have benefitted from a voluntary pay cut taken by the Mayor of South Dublin, Dermot Looney, last year.
Following his election as Mayor in late June, one of the first decisions Cllr Looney made was to take a pay cut and divert the money instead into a fund for community groups.
“My colleague, Deputy Mayor Eamon Tuffy, joined me in this and together we launched the
‘Mayors Fund’ back in September,
? he explained.
“In total, we have allocated e10,000 for this fund to be administered by the Community Department in South Dublin County Council.
“It was aimed towards the three priorities I outlined for my term as Mayor, including youth and sport, older persons and the environment.
“We expected to be able to make grants of up to e500 when we launched the fund, as we expected that 20 or 30 groups would apply.
“Instead, we have been overwhelmed with the level of applications which arrived in.
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In total, almost 75 separate applications were made to the fund.
“In consultation with the Community Department, myself and the Deputy Mayor have decided to make grants of e200 to 50 groups to ensure that as many groups as possible were helped out with a small, but significant amount of money,
? he stated.
“The groups come from all five electoral areas in South Dublin County and are across the three priorities that I listed.
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Cllr Looney thanked all those who helped in setting up the Mayors Fund and in spreading the word.
“Congratulations to the 50 groups who will receive cheques worth e200 in the New Year,
? he added.
“Commiserations to the groups who did not receive funding this time – we are writing to these groups to advise of alternative funding sources.
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The successful groups included Youth Horizons, the Perrystown Manor Estate Active Retirement, Tallaght Mens Shed and the Kingswood Kilnamanagh Active Age Club.
When he first announced his intention to give up part of his e45,000 mayoral allowance Cllr Looney said he was overwhelmed by the reaction
Cllr Looney explained that he felt people were
“fed up with a system where those in positions of power gain personally while the majority in society struggle to make ends meet
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“When it comes to the pay of politicians, special advisors and senior civil servants, along with scandalous pensions and other waste in politics, that righteous anger is fused with a jaded disappointment,
? he stated.
“The most important reason for doing this is to allow our local community organisations and clubs to apply for the kind of small grants which can make the difference in their day-to-day activities or events. But I wanted to make a political point by taking a pay cut too.
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