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The Late John Ryan

Posted on April 03, 2014 by Alan Kelly

It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of my predecessor and friend, former North Tipperary TD and Leas Ceann Comhairle, John Ryan. My thoughts are with his wife Ina and children Gerry, Diane and Paula. He was a giant of politics in Tipperary He was one of the hardest working TDs ever to enter Dáil Éireann. He would work for anyone and never took political allegiance into considera...tion. If he could help you he would leave no stone unturned. He was trusted and revered in a way you rarely see and news of his death will bring great sadness to many families especially in his hometown of Nenagh. He devoted all his working life to promoting social justice and a fairer society locally and nationally. He entered politics as a town councillor before being elected to the North Tipperary county council before being elected to the Dail in 1973. He also served in Seanad Eireann. He will be fondly by people of all political parties and none. He was a great campaigner, winning and holding seats often unexpectedly. On a personal level, he was an inspiration to me and one of the main reasons I decided to enter politics. I canvassed with him from a young age and I always looked up to him. I visited him a number of times in the recent past and he was always friendly and generous with his time even though his health wasn't always very good. John Ryan was absolutely dedicated to his family and he was particularly proud of Nenagh where he came from and the CBS who educated him and he also was a former president of Nenagh rugby club. The people of Tipperary and the Labour Party both locally and nationally will forever be in his debt. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam

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25 Schools in Tipperary Have Been Approved for the Summer Works Scheme

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Alan Kelly

Summer Works Scheme 2014
Summer Works Scheme 2014

I welcome the announcement this morning by my colleague Ruairi Quinn TD, Minister for Education and Skills that 386 schools across the country will be able to undertake school improvements this summer.
 
Almost €36 million is being provided by the Department, this is the first round of funding for the Summer Works Scheme. A second round of the scheme is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.   I am delighted to see that 25 schools in Tipperary will benefit from the scheme.  The scheme covers essentialvelectricity, gas and mechanical works.  These works will be carried out in schools over the summer months, when the pupils are on holidays, so the disruption in the schools will be kept to a minimum.
 
More than 98,000 students in primary and secondary levels will  benefit from the scheme.  The Summer Works Scheme is part of this Government's continued commitment to improve facilities in schools throughout the country. These projects will stimulate economic
activity by supporting 2,160 direct and 430 indirect construction jobs in the local economy.  Almost €470 million will be invested in the
school building infrastructure under the school building and moderation programme this year,

The 25 Schools in Tipperary that have been approved are: 

Read the full entry »

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Cyberbullying - Final call for submissions

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Alan Kelly

People in Tipperary have just a few days left to make their views
known to the Government on cyberbullying. A public consultation
process on cyberbullying is currently underway and the deadline is
next Tuesday, March 18th.


Views gathered from members of the public will feed into the work of
an expert panel set up by Minister Pat Rabbitte to advise him on the
issue. The process is a valuable opportunity for those who are
concerned about the issue to contribute to the debate about
cyberbullying.   People can submit their views by logging onto
www.dcenr.gov.ie and checking out the section on the Internet Content
Advisory Group. Views can be easily submitted online.

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Good News for Roscrea

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Alan Kelly

Shane, Alan and Jan
Shane, Alan and Jan

My colleague Jan O’Sullivan TD, Minister for Housing & Planning has announced that €1.1 million is to be invested in the 12 houses at Ros Na Cronan, Ashbury Roscrea. This is great news for Roscrea, with this investment; the town will see 12 extra local authority houses in the town.

I recently organised Minister Jan O’Sullivan to visit the estate with myself and local election candidate Shane Lee. This gave the Minister the opportunity to see first-hand the need for investment in the estate. Following on from her visit, I was in constant contact with Minister O’Sullivan to ensure that this funding would be delivered. I am delighted that my hard work has paid off and that the funding has been delivered.

I am pictured here with Minister Jan O'Sullivan and local election candidate Shane Lee in Ros Na Cronan recently.

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Government's Public Transport priorities for 2014

Posted on March 06, 2014 by Alan Kelly

My speech yesterday in the Dáil on the Government's Public Transport priorities for 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ja0zPoFqbI 

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Newport Playground

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Alan Kelly

I have been pushing the absolute need for a playground in Newport for some time now. It is completely unacceptable that there isn't a playground in Newport despite the years of development there and the number of young families that consequently now reside there.

That's why I brought senior North Tipperary Council officials to Newport on February 7th last to discuss this and other matters. I was assured then      by them and as recently as this Monday in a meeting with the Council County Manager Joe MacGrath that funding will be provided by the Council from their own resources to deliver this playground. This is fantastic news and I'm delighted we have taken this huge step.

It is now a case of locating an available and safe site for the playground and this is something I am working very hard on at the moment with the Newport Community Council and the Newport Playground Committee chaired by Fiona Bonfield

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Fab Lab

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Alan Kelly

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Friday morning last, I was pleased to open Ireland's first 'Fab Lab' in Cloughjordan. It's called 'We Create' and is basically an enterprise centre for SMEs and entrepreneurs. Key difference is that it offers its clients access to state of the art dig...ital fabrication equipment such as 3D scanners etc. Such equipment is quite expensive and not available to everyone so it's provision here gives capacity for SMEs and entrepreneurs to deliver products and technologies that they otherwise may never get a chance to. Its a co-operative in nature in much of its work but has the capacity to deliver hugely for all those who use it. Well done to Anthony Kelly and Ben Whelan who created the 'Fab Lab' and also to Leader, North Tipp Enterprise Board and the county council for their support.See More

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Labour Party Team for Local Elections 2014

Posted on February 07, 2014 by Alan Kelly

Labour Convention
Labour Convention
I am delighted to introduce the ten Tipperary Labour Party candidates selected on Friday night last in the Anner Hotel Thurles to run in the Local Elections in May. For the Nenagh electoral area, Labour selected four candidates, Fiona Bon...field from Newport, Nenagh-based councillors, Cllr Virginia O’Dowd and Cllr Lalor McGee while operation transformation’s Greg Starr completes the billing. All candidates spoke passionately about trying to improve the quality of life in their communities and to give the people of their area a voice to advance local issues. Fiona Bonfield, said that despite being new to politics, she was confident could represent her area on a new Tipperary local authority. For Fiona it is all about improving community life and building on much of the great work that is already being done locally. Cllrs Virgina O’Dowd and Cllrs Lalor McGee paid tribute to outgoing councillor Jonathan Meaney and both promised to build on their previous work on Nenagh Town council and North Tipperary County council with Virgina O’Dowd promising to pioneer local tourism projects if re-elected. Greg Starr thanked that people of Tipperary for supporting him through Operation Transformation and said he hoped to ‘return some of that support by way of actions that support communities’ For the Thurles/Templemore electoral area, Cllr John Kennedy and Roscrea-based Shane Lee will be flying the Labour banner. Cllr Kennedy paid tribute to outgoing Thurles town councillor, John Kenehen while the very popular Shane Lee told the crowd that he believed Roscrea had suffered from the lack of a local labour councillor. For the Tipperary/Cashel electoral area, retired council worker, Mick Byrnes was selected. Mick, who narrowly missed out on a seat at the last local election, said he was confident he could go one better this time. For the Clonmel area, Labour selected previous poll-topper and sitting councillor, Seanie Lonergan. Seanie said it will be tough but it is very enjoyable when you know you have helped someone or brought about a change to improve your community. For the Fethard/Carrick-on-Suir area, Cllr Michael Cleere, co-opted to the council last year will be seeking to retain the seat while running alongside him will be local Labour activist Liam Hayes.

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Sports Capital Grants

Posted on February 03, 2014 by Alan Kelly

I am encouraging all sports clubs across Tipperary to register for €40
million sports capital fund before 7th February.

The  2014 Sports Capital Programme is open for
applications since Friday 17 January, I urge all sports clubs across
the county to register as soon as possible to be in with a chance of
accessing funds. More than 1,000 clubs have already registered their
interested, and the closing date for registration is 5pm on Friday 7th
February.

The application process for grants has changed, and is now carried
out through a new online registration system. It means it is now
quicker and easier than ever before for sports clubs to apply for
grants, and will ensure a more streamlined and user-friendly service.
Any club interested in applying for the funding should go to
www.sportscapitalprogamme.ie to register and make an application.

Grants under this programme are available to sports clubs, voluntary
and community groups, national governing bodies of sports and local
authorities. I would be delighted to help any club with their
application.

“The two key dates that clubs should remember are 7th February when
all clubs must have registered their interest and 28th February, the
closing date for applications”.

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Greg Starr

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Alan Kelly

Greg Starr
Greg Starr

Delighted to announce that Greg Starr is putting his name forward as a Labour candidate in the forthcoming Local Elections. Greg is a fantastic guy who became a household name during last year's Operation Transformation. He's married to Clare and has an 8 year old son Eoghan. He comes from a fantastic family and I know he will be a great advocate for the Greater Nenagh/Borrisokane Area.

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