Sinn Féin Councillors voted against this years annual Dublin City budget as it contained austere cuts that would hit working class communities hardest. We were particularly disappointed that Independent and Labour Councillors supported such an inequitable budget. Targeting inner city areas for cuts in critical service provisions simply does not make sense on any level. Yet this is exactly what Labour has done by supporting this year’s budget. Shutting down sporting outlets for kids and adults in deprived areas is just crazy and it is hard to understand how a party of the left can rationalise this kind of decision.
The future of Sean McDermott Street pool has been secured for the short term but this issue will come before Councillors again at the end of the year when next years budget will be debated and voted on. I urge Labour Councillors to reflect on the impact of the budget on inner city communities and to ensure that they do not vote again in favour of a budget that impact’s so negatively on inner city communities.
The least well off in Irish society are paying the harshest price for the financial mismanagement of the public purse by the government. Dublin City Council, with the support of Labour & Fine Gael, must not add to this wrong by penny pinching in all the wrong places!
