Barry Heneghan

Overall sentiment: 0.08
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I thank the Minister of State for all his work and his engagement with Clontarf since I was elected to this House. This is a story that needs to be put on the record. I am speaking to people from across Ireland who think that Clontarf and north Dublin residents objected to a wall. We are seeing flooding across my constituency, including in Howth on one of the beaches. I welcome what has been done in Portrane and I would love it to be implemented for the houses that are now at risk at the Hole in the Wall beach. Back in 2008, Irish Water wanted to put an artery across Clontarf seafront and cover it with a berm. This was rejected, rightly so, because anyone who was elderly or vulnerable would not be able to have surveillance by passing traffic. After that, the community came together and asked for Dublin City Council to make a plan for kerbside demountables. The community never received any such proposal, so how could people accept a proposal they were not given? I thank the Minister of State for how he has been dealing with the OPW and Dublin City Council engineers and for getting rid of the sandbags in Clontarf, alongside me, after the meeting. It shows what political pressure was needed. The people of Clontarf and surrounding areas were being punished for objecting to a giant berm along the seafront. The Minister of State has seen recently how things have gone on and the dangers of flooding. On the original promenade, there was already a plan for a mountable wall that was built over 150 years ago. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement at a meeting yesterday at which he showed me other plans. I look forward to meeting with him and local residents. The other thing I hear constantly is that residents in Clontarf and north Dublin asked for a wall to be lowered. That is a completely different wall, which is down at St. Anne's Park. These things get confused and stories are spread by the media to build up hate and mistrust in the system. It is important to get that on the record. I thank the Minister of State again for his engagement. People are very happy. I look forward to working with him and his Department to get this finalised.

Sentiment score: 0.08