Calling Cllr Kennedy
...Are you receiving us?

OPINION

r town that I thought I’d never see. People are complaining of being pyschologically intimidated and a form of facism appears to be raising its head. Secret committees are allegedly in session that the general populace knows nothing about and from which a moderating voice seems absent. Now there is talk of the Sunday nationals being contacted to disseminate a particular agenda for the titillation of the masses. All this appears to have started from the night of the public meeting in the Abbey called by Cllr Jonathan Kennedy. We are not intimating that Cllr Kennedy has anything to do with these activities - however he seems to have gone to ground at least as far as the local press is concerned.
Before our last issue we phoned, left messages and faxed questions to the councillor, but received no answer. We did the same for this issue. The late Peter Kennedy, as we noted in our tribute to him, prided himself on his open door policy. It would be a pity if his son closed it!
When a person puts himself forward and is elected or co-opted as a public representative, as well as the photo-shoots and being present on the big occasions he/she takes on the nitty-gritty - the work behind the scenes, the unheard of graft, the answering of communications, the clinics, the little deeds on behalf of the community, and many other actions and services performed quietly out of the limelight. These are what make a successful public figure - also being candid and forthcoming on matters of public interest. Perhaps if we ask the questions in an open forum, we might have more success in getting answers. So here goes:
•Forget the ‘no hand, act or part’ - who left the leaflets naming members of the Keeney Consortium on seats the night of the public meeting organised and run by you? ‘The buck stops here’, applies in regards to this act which could only have been carried out to ferment further divisions in the community. •After this public gathering, did you hold a follow-up meeting to set up a committee? •If so, is this a sub-committee of the Chamber or a stand-alone organisation? •Who is on this committee? •Who organised the handing out of petitions for signing around the streets of Donegal Town (and even the AVS) a few weeks ago - who composed and got them printed? •You promised the Times answers to all points in the Keeney letter received at the meeting, within a short time - it’s now two months since the gathering and we haven’t heard them yet.
The honeymoon is over, Johnathan - responsibility and accountability must take its place. When people contact this paper but are afraid to have their names mentioned, there is something wrong.
Take my advice, dispense with the secrecy and bring everything out into the open.
We, and our people, await a detailed answer in the near future.

Mea Culpa

An ‘Opinion’ piece in our last issue on St Catherine’s Well spawned a lot of interest. We received copies of correspondence from Barry Sharkey obviously written over the years to various people and organisations in which he seems to be offering the religious and historical site to the people of Killybegs, possibly in return for being allowed to develop adjoining land. We also received phone calls from people who visit the Well regularly and swear by the stations practiced there. But we were wrong to single out people of Killybegs for neglecting anancient graveyard.
Last Friday, I paid a visit to the Old Abbey in Donegal Town and, while the gravestones have been restored, the general areas was badly overgrown, students loitered amid the ruins, and there was heaps of empty beer cans and litter lying around. Surely a guard could park on the pier and take an odd walk through this sacred site - it wouldn’t be long before this would have the desired effect. As for maintenance - that is another story. Jackie Gallagher and his crew did a great job - but it needs to be continued on an ongoing basis.