I am Eoghan Dockrell, a first-time local election candidate and I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and set out my priorities. I grew up on the Portrane - Donabate peninsula and have recently moved back to Donabate. I count myself very fortunate to have grown up here; however, many of the problems we now face should have been foreseen by those planning the development of our community. Fingal County Council has a central role to play in how our peninsula is developed. I believe too much emphasis has been put on the development of large-scale housing estates, yet we still don’t have adequate social and cultural infrastructure. For a population our size, we should have better, more reliable transportation links. We should have better childcare facilities and not have young families traveling long journeys to drop off their children. We should have a dedicated cultural centre and performance space for local groups to use (musicians, artists, our drama society). We should have more Community Gardaí given how rapidly our area is growing. These are the issues that I’m prioritising. Our elected councillors are responsible for holding the executive of our local authority to account and this includes pushing for developing our community in a balanced and sustainable way. In my view, that hasn’t happened; In other areas of Fingal, outside of Portrane and Donabate, you see towns with similar populations that have more social and cultural infrastructure. If elected, I promise to bring new energy to the Council. I’ve already started working on the issues I’ve mentioned by making representations to the Council on behalf of residents of Donabate and Portrane. I have also been in contact with An Garda Síochána to discuss policing matters on the peninsula and how we can have more community Gardaí assigned to our area. In the coming months I will continue to meet as many people on the peninsula as possible in the hope of earning your support. Please contact me at: eoghandockrellfg@gmail.com if you have any issues, you need help with.