Archive for the 'John Hardy' Category

GREEN PARTY APPALLED AT CASTLEWELLAN SCHOOL VANDALISM

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on September 3, 2010
in Cadogan Enright, Castlewellan, John Hardy, Littering/Vandalism/Crime and Schools
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John Hardy and Cllr Cadogan Enright and son CadÓg at the school, originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

The Green Party has expressed its disgust at recent vandalism and burglary at the Bunscoil Bheanna Boirche in Castlewellan.

Local Green Party co-ordinator John Hardy said ‘It is unsettling to hear the news that the school has once again been the target of anti-social behaviour, a year almost to the day since the old school was burned last year. It seems that young people are willing to attack services in their own community and steal from those providing education for young children- the children of their friends and neighbours. We totally condemn this activity and ask local people to be vigilant in observing and reporting any anti-social behaviour.’

He continued ‘The theft and damage to the school comes just before the start of the new school year when teachers and staff are busy preparing for the months ahead. This makes it all the more reproachable as children will be starting the new term without equipment and with damaged facilities.”

Cadogan Enright, Green Party Councillor, supported John Hardy and said “As a school governor, I can say that we were all looking forward to the exciting opening next Wednesday the 1st in what I believe will be the best primary school in south Down.

As a member of the Down Policing Partnership, I’ll be using my influence to ensure regular patrolling and I will be seeking the harshest treatment possible for people attacking our community’s new Bunscoil.

GREEN PARTY CANVASSES IN BURREN

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on August 27, 2010
in Cadogan Enright, John Hardy and Newry & Mourne
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GREEN PARTY CANVASSES IN BURREN, originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

Green Party members from Armagh travelled to Burren to help canvass for Cllr Cadogan Enright during the Westminster election campaign.

Greens celebrate Festival of Flight success

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on August 19, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, Council, John Hardy, Newcastle and Working with other Parties
. 0 Comments


Greens welcome Festival of Flight success, originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

Cllr Cadogan Enright welcomed the success of the ‘Festival of Flight’ at the weekend, and highlighted the importance of the inclusion of the Irish Air Corp in the event along with the Red Arrows.

“This changed the flavor of the event from a Militaristic display to that of celebration of Aerial Acrobatics” said Green Party Councillor Enright.

Cllr Enright said “When the Red Arrow proposal first came before council it looked like a Militaristic Display being underwritten by the council. Clearly this would have been offensive to many in South Down who were opposed to the Invasion of Iraq and who expressed worries about the role of the Red Arrow team in that conflict.

Additionally reservations were made by Nationalist Councillors that the proposal was not structured to deal with cross-community concerns. It is an established fact that over one third of this area votes Republican at elections.”

Cadogan Enright continued, “The Green Party’s proposal to include the Irish Air Corps was supported by the Ulster Unionist councillors, and won support from all sides”, this changed the flavor from one of welcoming the Red Arrows back from Iraq to focusing on the Aerial and Engineering legacy of Harry Ferguson. Any possibility of anti-war protests or complaints about lack of inclusiveness were averted.”

“This level of cooperation amongst our elected representatives for the benefit of the whole community is to be welcomed, and is yet another example of how working in a cross-community manner can reap great economic benefits to the district and for our image as a tourist destination.” Concluded Cadogan Enright.

GREEN PARTY WELCOMES COMPLETION OF SHIMNA RIVER MAINTENANCE

Published
by
Mark McCormick
on July 23, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, John Hardy, Newcastle and Wildlife/Trees/Nature
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John Hardy, Green Party Newcastle Spokesperson

The Green Party has welcomed the completion of dredging work in the boating pond area of the Shimna River in Newcastle after concerns were raised over the impact on local wildlife habitats.

The work, which was carried out by the Rivers Agency on the request of Down District Council, involved removing layers of silt from the river bed to enable it to be used for pleasure craft during the upcoming tourist season.

Local Green Party activist John Hardy said, “We welcome the completion of this maintenance work which has been ongoing for several months and which has necessitated the diversion of the river to drain the boating pond. We appreciate that this work is necessary to remove the silt which has accumulated over the past 15 years since the last time similar work was undertaken, and it will allow many people to enjoy the river over the busy summer season.”

“However, it is important to remember that the river is not only used by people, but is also home to numerous species of animals which depend on the habitat for survival, so the sooner the water is redirected to the pond the better as it will allow the wildlife to return to normal.”

Mr Hardy continued, “A number of local residents have raised concerns regarding the impact of the works on the local fish and birds, such as the heron which has taken up home in the area. While the Rivers Agency assures us that all work was coordinated with the fisheries department and the local council, we need to respect the fact that the Shimna is an Area of Special Scientific Interest and should be treated as such.”

“A large amount of silt has been removed from the river bed over the course of the maintenance work, and while a lot of this will be sent to landfill, some of it will be used to develop fish spawning beds and this is to be welcomed. There is a need to balance human activity with the needs of wildlife” he concluded.

PLANNING SERVICE SPINS OUT OF CONTROL ON REFUSING WIND TURBINES

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on April 29, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, John Hardy, Planning issues and illegal development and Renewable Energy
. 0 Comments

Photograph shows local businesses men (right to left) Paul McCrumlish from Banbridge, John Hardy of Newcastle, Paddy Flynn of Castlewellan and Arthur Davidson of Spa with Green councillor Cadogan Enright, Westminster Candidate.

Green Party Westminster candidate Cadogan Enright has slammed the local Planning Service for preventing the development of renewable energy from Sliabh Croob right across the Mournes area. He point out that the National Parks report had recommended in favour of a permissive regime for local farmers and businessmen for wind-turbines, and that planning policy PPS18 was equally in favour. Large numbers of planning refusals based on “visual amenity” were stopping the creation of jobs and blocking new income sources for farmers, businesspeople and householders.

Cllr Enright was responding to local renewable energy businesses which have been repeatedly refused planning permission for wind turbines in the face of planning policy PPS18 which was designed to facilitate renewable energy.

Cadogan Enright said, “I have been approached by a number of businesses which are trying to get planning permission for wind turbines where there have been no local objections, but are being refused because of mercurial local interpretation of planning policy by officials in Downpatrick. These businesses are being made to be pay large fees to apply; they then have to wait over 16 months for a response and in the end are being refused permission because of what appears to be a local personal bias against wind turbines in the planning office not found elsewhere in NI. These installations are vital as a means of achieving N.I.’s renewable energy targets, reducing our carbon footprint, creating employment opportunities and developing revenue opportunities for local businesses.”

Castlewellan businessman Paddy Flynn said, “People applying for planning are losing out on potential income through Renewable Obligation Certificates, where they are paid for generating renewable electricity. This failure to follow correct policy is acting as an impediment to business and jobs in Down District, as well as denying local landowners an additional income stream. Green tech businesses are the future for Northern Ireland, but they can only be so if the authorities are supportive in their application of policy. ”

John Hardy of SEA said, “Even in the rare instances where permission is given, ridiculous height restrictions are being imposed, which render the projects uneconomic. Wind turbines are most efficient at heights of up to 40 metres as recommended in PPS18, yet restrictions are being placed on all applications which limit the height to 15 metres which seriously impacts the ability of the turbine to produce energy”.

Green Westminster Candidate Cadogan Enright said, “If the local planning authority has unilaterally decided not to apply the same rules as the rest of Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland as a whole in regards to wind turbines, then they need to inform the public as to why this is so and tell them not to waste their money making applications. Local politicians from all parties need work together to re-establish normality in planning for renewable energy in the district”.

Press Coverage

– Councillors set to iron out wind turbine policy, Planners criticised as wind turbines are turned down.

GREENS GOING STRONG IN SOUTH DOWN

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on April 12, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, Downpatrick, John Hardy and Mark McCormick
. 0 Comments

Photo shows Green Party Westminster Candidate Cllr Cadogan Enright with Election Manager John Hardy from Newcastle postering near St. Patricks Church in Downpatrick.

Green Party Westminster Candidate Cllr Cadogan Enright said he was very happy with the work of his election team to date.

Cllr Enright said, “When Gordon Brown announced the start of the election our local team already had canvassed Downpatrick town, most of the Lecale Coast, Drumaness and Clough. We did Crossgar on Thursday along with the Minerstown and Tyrella coastal areas. This means this Saturday when we get Strangford and the Bright / Ballynoe area done we will have finished our canvass of the Western half of our constituency.”

Election Manager John Hardy said, “I decided to get Cadogan’s home area done first, but had a small team working away in Newcastle. I would expect to finish Newcastle, Dundrum and Castlewellan by next Saturday, and we may get time to do Seaforde and the Spa. I was delighted that in thirty four of thirty six towns across the constituency our posters were up first.”

Cllr Enright said, “The ‘Green Team’ in Down District has done a great job. From next week on we expect to go over to the Hilltown & Newry area to help my fellow Green Party Cllr Ciaran Mussen canvass his area all the way down to Warrenpoint. The County Louth and County Monaghan Greens have also promised to lend a hand when we are doing this. We are getting no help from the English and Welsh Greens in this election as they are running 300 Westminster candidates of their own in the UK”

Green Party PRO Mark McCormick said, “I have received calls from Green Party members in Donegal looking to see how they can come and help and Trevor Sargent TD from North Dublin wants to bring his canvassing team up on the 17th too. Our Obama style election website (www.southdowngreens.com/help) has enabled people from around Ireland to volunteer their time over the next few weeks and it has been a great boost to our campaign.”

“This is the first time the Green Party has stood for Westminster in South Down, and we are learning as we go along. I would like to publicly thank our leader John Gormley, Minister for the Environment in the Republic of Ireland, for his inspiring help in getting our election campaign started back in February.” Concluded Cllr Enright.

Press Coverage

- Busy time ahead for Greens

SOUTH DOWN GREEN PARTY ARE FIRST PARTY TO USE OBAMA-STYLE WEB CAMPAIGN TO MANAGE WESTMINSTER ELECTIONS

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on April 7, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, Downpatrick, John Hardy, Mark McCormick and Newry & Mourne
. 0 Comments

Green Party South Down Green Candidate Cllr Cadogan Enright (centre) with John Hardy from Newcastle (left) and Mark McCormick from Downpatrick (right) at the Green Party Campaign Launch.

The Green Party in South Down are the first political group in Ireland North or South to take an “Obama-Style” on-line approach to managing their campaign seeking volunteers and donations on a town-by-town basis throughout the constituency.

The Green Party is managing their campaign on-line and using this approach to let people donate or volunteer in each area around South Down at a very local level.

Green Westminster Candidate Cllr Cadogan Enright congratulated his team on a fantastic job and said “When my wife Brenda and I worked as volunteers on the Obama campaign in Chicago in 2008 for 3 weeks and we were very impressed with what they were doing. Each area being able to see their own leaflet or poster even before it was printed, how much it cost and who was donating to it locally. John Hardy my election campaign manager from Newcastle and Mark McCormick our PRO from Downpatrick and Garrett Mussen from Hilltown have done a great job recreating the Obama campaign approach in South Down.”

John Hardy said “Each town or village is shown separately, and even some townland areas like Bright or Chapeltown. Unlike the other parties we create very localised leaflets based on our campaigns in (for instance) Downpatrick, Ardglass or Rathfriland”.

Mark McCormick said “This gives our party the opportunity of really localising our literature and speaking to people in each area on the issues they have raised with us in those areas.”

Press Coverage

– Green Party's Obama approach to campaign, Greens launch Obama style online election system in South Down, Green Party looks to US for election model.

TREES PLANTED IN KILLOUGH BY YOUNG GREENS

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on April 1, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Bill Corry, Cadogan Enright, John Hardy, Killough, Mark McCormick and Wildlife/Trees/Nature
. 0 Comments

Photograph shows (back row left to right) John Hardy, Robert McGarrell, Bill Corry, Green Party Westminster Candidate Cllr Cadogan Enright and Lois Taylor. At the front is Mark McCormick and Christian Höing.

Green Party Cllr Cadogan Enright hosted an action day in Killough by NI Young Greens who met up in Downpatrick before bussing down to Killough for a “Tree Planting Action Day”.

The day was organised by the Queens University Branch of the Young Greens who have several members in the Down District area. This is the second time that Young Greens have organised a weekend in Down District – on the previous occasion they organised a clean-up of Ardglass Beach.

On arrival in Downpatrick the QUB Greens were greeted by members of the South Down Green Party and Cllr Cadogan Enright. Cllr Enright gave the Young Greens a talk about local campaigns that the South Down Party is involved in, the upcoming Westminster campaign and how the Green Party is developing on-line election management tools to manage the election.

The Young Greens also attended the Downpatrick Library Art Gallery that had a “protest exhibition” by 36 local artists of paintings of the St Johns Point, Minerstown and Tyrella areas of the beautiful East Down coastline. The exhibition was protesting the proposal from the NI Environmental Agency that this area will lose its designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty!

The Young Greens then travelled out to Killough were they spent the day being taught how to plant a variety of native trees by well-known retired Green Party Councillor Bill Corry who has himself planted 650,000 trees in Co Down since he retired 20 years ago from the Department of Agriculture.

Given the exposed coastal site in Killough, the new forest was planted in “layers” with the hardiest trees on the windward side. Layers included Blackthorn, Hazel, Ash, Downy Birch and Beech trees. Young NI Greens were joined for the planting by representative Young Greens from Scotland and Germany.

Local Downpatrick man Mark McCormick who is also the Co-Chair of the Young Greens at QUB said, “The Young Greens are a vibrant youth organisation involved in many campaigns, events and actions. The tree planting day was just one of a number of such events which we love to get involved in. If any young people from the area are interested in getting involved I would invite them to visit the Young Greens blog at www.qubgreens.blogspot.com were you can find contact information and also take a look at what its means to be a Young Green!”

The Young Greens thanked Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright and retired Green Party Cllr Bill Corry for making the day a great success!

Press Coverage:

Young Greens plant trees in Killough

GREEN PARTY PRAISES POLICE COMMANDER FOR A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO WILDLIFE CRIME IN THE DISTRICT

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on March 5, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, John Hardy, Newcastle and Wildlife/Trees/Nature
. 0 Comments

Cllr Cadogan Enright (right) with Commander Bones (centre) and Newastle Green Party leader John Hardy (left) at the District Policing Meeting in the Newcastle Centre.

Green Party Cllr Cadogan Enright has praised the PSNI Area Commander Deirdre Bones for her proactive approach to wildlife crime in the district area.

Cadogan Enright said, “local environmentalists had written to the Police Ombudsman about a number of detailed complaints were wildlife crime was not being investigated. The Ombudsman then referred this to the Deputy Chief Constable as it appeared to be a “systemic failure” in the PSNI. I also raised this issue with the new local police Commander Deirdre Bones at recent Down District Policing Partnership meetings in Downpatrick and Ballynahinch.”

Cllr Enright continued, “We were delighted to receive confirmation last Tuesday from Community Police Officers that Commander Deirdre Bones has arranged for all police officers in this area to receive additional training on the matter of crimes against wildlife.”

The campaign to get wildlife crime taken more seriously by the PSNI in the District has been ongoing for over a year with local organisations such as the Downpatrick Friends of the Earth, Lecale Conservation and the local Green Party being very active in this regard.

“Wildlife crime is quite widespread in Down District with reported cases of poisoning red kites near Castlewellan, badger baiting in Downpatrick, killing of seals north of Strangford town, otter trapping in the Quoile and the entire population of nineteen ravens poisoned last year between Downpatrick and Clough. Only with the arrival of Commander Bones does there appear to be a sea of change in attitudes to wildlife crime in our local area,” concluded Cllr Enright.

Press Coverage

– Green Party praise for new police chief's approach to wildlife crime in Down

GREEN PARTY WANT REMOVAL OF NEWCASTLE PHONE MAST

Published
by
Mark McCormick
on December 11, 2009
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, John Hardy, Newcastle and Planning issues and illegal development
. 0 Comments

Cllr Cadogan Enright & Newcastle Green Party Co-ordinator John HardyThe Green Party has called for the immediate removal of a mobile phone mast which was erected on Newcastle Main Street last week and believes that there is no need for numerous masts in the town.

Local Green Party co-ordinator, John Hardy, said “The location of the new mast is very worrying. Despite other locations being suggested, it has been installed in a prominent location on the Main Street, within metres of shop fronts. These masts are on twenty four hours a day, so the busy street will result in the public being exposed to microwave radiation at all times and at close proximity.”

“This is of great concern as some studies have found the most harmful effects even at the lowest levels of exposure. The Green Party has developed a policy on microwave radiation in which we call for action to be taken to limit microwave exposure in relation to places with vulnerable adults or children and so we want to see the immediate removal of this mast.”

Cllr Cadogan Enright stated, “The people of Newcastle do not want, and do not need, another mast in their town, particularly one located in the centre of the busy shopping area. If the telephone companies believe they need a mast, then they should relocate it to an unoccupied area. Alternatively, all the mobile phone providers should be made to share a single mast rather than installing several in the town.”

“We will be calling on the Council, the Chamber of Commerce and the local community to oppose this installation and to study the mobile phone coverage in Newcastle to ascertain if we really need it.”

Press Cuttings: Mobile phone mast row rumbles, People of Newcastle stand United Against Telephone Mast.