Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

This is an important motion and I thank Fine Gael for tabling it. Reference has been made to Dublin, which is the capital city and it is only right that it should be kept open. I heard other comments to the effect that there are no farmers in parts of Dublin. People often believe there are no rural communities in Tallaght, but there are several. I received the same type of calls from such areas as Bothernabreena, Brittas and Ballinascorney that many of my country cousins received regarding the need for the council to be responsive. In fairness to the council, it did respond, although it needed a little prompting. By the way, South Dublin County Council is not controlled by Fine Gael; it is controlled by Labour and Sinn Féin, which is okay because they are nice people. It is very important that people like me are not afraid to speak up and not take this anti-Government stuff.

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