Transport, Environment & Infrastructure Motions

Transport, Environment and Infrastructure

79. This Ard Fheis commends the work of former Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy to replace the outdated road system of the 6 counties, especially his efforts to see that the A5/Dublin to Derry Road project was advanced to its present stage during his term and recognises that;

This is a strategically important project for the further development of All Ireland infrastructure.
This project will provide much needed jobs and investment in the neglected North West.
It has been scrutinised through considerable public consultation and inquiry.

We therefore mandate the current Sinn Féin Assembly and Oireachtas Teams led by their respective Transport spokespeople in the 6 and 26 counties to advocate the continuation of work and the speedy completion of this project and others which offer similar benefits to communities and business north and south.

Ard Chomhairle

Passed Lost Referred

80. This Ard Fheis acknowledges the huge increase in investment in the roads network west of the Bann under Conor Murphy as Minister for Regional Development and calls for a ring road to be developed around Enniskillen.

Murphy/McManus Cumann
Derrylin/Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

Passed Lost Referred

81. This Ard Fheis calls for a major investment of funding to improve roads throughout the north-west which were overlooked entirely during the period of the so-called Celtic Tiger. We particularly call for revision of the strategy document Transport 21 to include the N16 Sligo to Blacklion link with A4 Belfast road; the N4 Sligo to Dublin road at Cloonamahon / Castlebaldwin; and the N59 Ballisodare to Ballina road

MacDiarmada Gilgunn, Manorhamilton

Passed Lost Referred

82. Sinn Féin should engage as a matter of priority with the new government in the 26 counties and the Executive and Assembly to ensure the Narrowwater Bridge is completed as soon as possible.

Campbell/Donnelly Cumann, North Louth

Passed Lost Referred

83. This Ard Fheis recognises the need for the development of a long term strategy for providing first class, affordable and accessible island wide public transport in order to allow Ireland to reach its potential as a thriving modern society with an economy which attracts investment, nurtures innovation and supports communities.

We recognise at present that in the 26 counties there is an inadequate, outdated and disjointed public transport system which has led to congestion, long commutes and pollution. This follows nearly two decades of a government which neglected and even worked against state provision of public transport leaving many successfully completed public transport projects in the hands of private industry due to short sighted and ideologically driven use of Public Private Partnerships.

With this in mind this Ard Fheis will;

oppose any privatisation of public transport services like Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann which are essential to providing affordable service to the greatest number of people.
campaign for greater state subvention for public transport both rural and urban to see that these services are able to provide first class service and remain affordable.
advocate the expansion of the use of Quality Bus Corridors in urban transport networks to combat congestion and encourage people to use public transport taking thousands of private cars off the roads at peak times and cutting commuter time considerably.
work to see the development of the rail network with a view to providing an affordable service to a much larger portion of the country especially in the case of a western rail corridor.
support measures for integrated ticketing of public transport.
encourage cyclists by ensuring their safety through improvements of current cycle lanes and expansion of new routes as well as giving them a voice to facilitate a move away from car centric urban planning. This includes support for the use of similar programmes to the Dublinbikes scheme where viable.

The importance of public transport as an integral part of modern life and key to achieving a sustainable future on this Island is clear to be seen. We must make public transport a 1st choice for the people not a last resort.

Ard Chomhairle

Passed Lost Referred

84. This Ard Fheis supports the re-creation of a railway network in the north west of Ireland, incorporating at least the counties of Donegal, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Donegal, which will link up with existing services in Derry, Dublin, Belfast and Sligo, as well as improving the internal network around the western coast of Ireland.

This Ard Fheis calls on the British & Irish Governments to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to explore the feasibility of completing the island’s railway grid, and linking it with European transport networks.

Murphy/McManus Cumann
Derrylin/Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

Passed Lost Referred

85. This Ard Fheis, in light of the last two winters, calls upon the local authorities to make provisions to source and acquire sufficient supplies of grit for any future snowfalls and frozen conditions.

Black/Ryan Cumann, Lucan,
Dublin

Passed Lost Referred

86. This Ard Fheis commends and supports the campaign for the retention of a 24 hour manned operational fire station in Dundalk.

Louth Comhairle Ceantair

Passed Lost Referred

87. This Ard Fheis calls on the mobile phone industry and those charged with regulating it to ensure that adequate a mobile phone signal is available, particularly in rural areas.

Murphy/McManus Cumann
Derrylin/Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

Passed Lost Referred

88. This Ard Fheis demands an immediate end to stealth roaming by mobile phone operators without users having even crossed a border.

Murphy/McManus Cumann
Derrylin/Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

Passed Lost Referred

89. This Ard Fheis recognises the centrality of high speed broadband connectivity for reducing peripherality in rural and isolated areas, promoting economic development, fostering small and medium enterprises, and job retention/creation, educational support, and providing equal access to modern communications. We note the failure north and south to adequately address this lack of provision.

We call on the Sinn Féin ministerial team in the northern Executive to exert maximum influence through the Executive and NSMC and all elected representatives across the island to advance strategies which address the defects in current broadband access, and secure the introduction of high speed, quality provision on an all Ireland basis.

Kevin Lynch Cumann, Park/Craigbane, Co. Derry

East Tyrone Comhairle Ceantair

Murphy/McManus Cumann
Derrylin/Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

Passed Lost Referred

90. This Ard Fheis reaffirms our position in support of communities in counties Armagh, Cavan, Meath, Monaghan and Tyrone who are engaged in a campaign against the plans of EirGrid and NIE to impose high-voltage 400kv pylon supported power-lines through their areas. We restate the Sinn Féin position that the North-South interconnector be undergrounded and call on our elected representatives in the Oireachtas and the Assembly to articulate this position at every appropriate opportunity.

That we further request that the party develops a comprehensive policy document on the provision of electricity throughout Ireland with a view to adopting a detailed people-centred approach on this issue that can deliver a sustainable electricity network that will have the full support of communities the length and breadth of the island.

Monaghan Comhairle Ceantair

Passed Lost Referred

91. This Ard Fheis supports the ongoing Sinn Féin campaign for the closure of the Sellafield Nuclear facilities and in the interim that they be put under EU nuclear stress tests. Sinn Féin demands that the Irish Government put pressure on the British government to carry these out, rather than their own stress tests.

Sinn Féin demands that the Irish Government campaigns against the British government’s plans for the building of (8) new nuclear power plants in Britain and the danger that this poses not only for the people of Britain or Ireland but also further afield. The plans of the British Government are tantamount to madness following the recent Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the decision of the German Government to phase out nuclear energy in favour of renewable sources.

Louth Comhairle Ceantair

Passed Lost Referred

92. This Ard Fheis supports the inclusion of social clauses in all Public Procurement contracts

West Belfast Comhairle Ceantair

Passed Lost Referred

93. This Ard Fheis calls upon the Irish government to repair and properly maintain the nation’s water supply system and to actively educate people in methods of water conservation. We also oppose the introduction of water meters and of water charges which will impact most heavily upon already hard-pressed ordinary citizens, given that this form of rate payment is unfair and inequitable and pledges Sinn Féin to campaign actively against them, north and south.

This Ard Fheis also believes that water and water infrastructure should be a public commodity and be within the ownership of the state, and therefore calls for all private water schemes to be taken into state ownership

Black/Ryan Cumann, Lucan,
Dublin

Charlie McGlade Cumann, Drimnagh,
Dublin

West Limerick Cumann

James Fintan Lawlor Cumann, Portlaoise

Passed Lost Referred