Brian McDowell

Welcome from Brian McDowell

My name is Brian McDowell and I contested the local elections in June 2009 for the Donaghmede ward as a Labour Party candidate.

I have asked Dublin City Council to establish a safer community forum in Donaghmede. We need a co-ordinated response from the Gardai and different stakeholders to the problems of anti social behavior occurring on our streets. Relevant resident associations, local people, the Gardai, local public representatives and local stakeholders would be included in the make up of the forum. I am currently carrying out a survey of Anti Social Behaviour in the Donaghmede area to help support this request. You can fill out this survey at this link

I live in Donaghmede with my wife Linda and our two children, Ian and Sarah.
I received 1744 first preference votes at the last election missing out on the last seat by less than 150 votes.

The issues that I fought the recent election on are as relevant today as they were before the election. Transport, anti social behaviour, the proper use of our green spaces and a coordinated approach to planning are issues that need to be addressed and I will continue as a Labour Party member to do my part in providing new solution to these problems.

Politics is about ideas and been elected to local or national government gives you the opportunity to implement those ideas. It is not the only way to make a difference and I intend to work with local community organisations, the local Labour Party and local people to ensure that our community gets its fair share of the resources available. I would like to publicly thank all the people who supported me over the last year and in particular to the people who voted for me on June 5th last.

One of the reasons why I decided to contest the election was when Minister O’Keefe closed more than 100 special needs classes for children with mild general learning needs. The disclosure that he never sought or received advice from his own department’s inspectorate before taking that decision and based his decision purely on a financial assessment is an indictment of what is wrong with Irish Politics and a great reason to continue to fight the case for social justice in this country