This article is from page 6 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
LIMERICK City Council was yes- terday accused of seeking to achieve a boundary extension by stealth through purchasing houses for peo- ple on its housing list in south-east ETc
Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley said the policy was “unacceptable” and that the council’s actions had the potential to create local authority ghettos.
“Clare County Council carefully implements a housing policy of en- suring there is a spread of local au- thority tenants in housing estates in the interests of social harmony.
‘However, if Limerick City Coun- cil is purchasing in these areas you won’t get the balance right. What Limerick City Council is doing is en- tirely wrong. It is not acceptable and should not be seen as a solution to the
problems that Limerick City Council eke
“Where do you stop with this? Will Limerick City Council be able to purchase homes in Dublin? The mat- ter needs to be regulated and legisla- tion may be needed.”
Clare County Council has written to the Limerick City Council Man- ager, [om Mackey, on the matter.
The Clare letter asked to know Where the houses had been pur- chased.
In response, Mr Mackey stated, “You will appreciate that in the inter- ests of both protecting people’s right to privacy and in promoting social integration, it would not be appropri- ate for me to make public the details requested by your council.”
Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) of Meelick said, “If Limerick City Council is ex- porting into Clare the small minority of families that have been causing
trouble, it would be met with staunch Opposition.
“However, as a councillor in the area, I would be the first to welcome genuine people into the community fabric in south-east Clare.
“It is regrettable that Limerick City Council could not have been more honest and forthright in relation to its policy.”
Describing Limerick City Council’s attitude as “cavalier”, Cllr Crowe said that he believed that Limerick City Council had purchased up to seven homes in Westbury.
“I believe that the city council has enquired about purchasing homes in Clonlara, Meelick, Parteen and Ard- nacrusha,” he said.
Cllr Crowe said that he had request- ed Limerick City Council to provide details of the number of homes it had purchased in Clare, but that the city council had refused.