At a special sitting of the circuit court in Dundalk on Tuesday 30th March, an interim order was granted directing the tenant of the Drogheda Head Shop on Scholes Lane to cease operating the head shop immediately.
The premises which were previously used as a costume shop was made into a head shop by the tenant Brendan Russell. The court order was sought on behalf of the landlord, Peter McCluskey, by barrister Kevin Callan, who is also the deputy mayor of the town. The order granted by Judge Matt Deery said the use of the premises as a head shop “is directly affecting the plaintiff’s ability to insure his premises which is in clear breach of the terms of the existing tenancy agreement”.
Senator James Carroll has welcomed the latest measures taken by the Government to deal with the growing problems associated with Head Shops. Senator Carroll told the Drogheda Independent “The head shop issue has been around for some time now and does not seem to be going away. I welcome the Garda Commissioners’ commitment to enforce the upcoming government legislation on head shops with the same vigour that they pursue gangland criminals”
From June next, it will be illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act to possess and sell a range of substances currently available through the network of Head Shops that have sprung up across the country. The banned substances will include Mephedrone BZP derivatives and so-called spice products – synthetic Cannabinoids. BZP has been banded since last year and magic mushrooms have already been put on the banned list by the Minister for Health.
Senator Carroll has congratulated Peter McCluskey and Cllr Callan for delivering another welcome blow against head shops.
ENDS
I have decided that it would be a good approach to show people what I have been doing for the last week in my role as a Senator so here goes for Monday 22nd – Monday 29th March 2010. I intend on publishing these each week for people to see what I am doing and to get their feedback:
- Monday 22nd March:
I helped launch ‘Guitar Fest’ in the new TLT (Tommy Leddy Theatre) in Drogheda. It is taking place from the 7th-11th April throughout Drogheda and the link for it is at www.irishguitarfest.com. I spent the afternoon following up on people’s representations after my first clinics on Saturday, 20th March in the Waterside Inn in Termonfechin and The Monasterboice Inn in Monasterboice. I spent the evening visiting three constituents’ houses where they had not got a chance to call to my office during the day to assist them with their issues.
- Tuesday 23rd March:
I had a meeting in Millmount in the morning where a number of people are trying to further promote Drogheda and the region as a tourism hub. I learned a number of things in the meeting, one of which was that Drogheda’s two towns unified in 1412 and the 600th anniversary of this is in two years time. I also learned that Monasterboice is the oldest working graveyard in Europe having first buried people there in the 6th century and we are still burying people there today. In the afternoon, I was off to Dublin to the Seanad. We have our Fianna Fáil Senators meeting every Tuesday at 1.15pm where we discuss and plan our strategy for the legislation and debates going through the Seanad for the week.
In the afternoon, the Energy (Biofuel Obligations and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010 Report Stage was debated as well as the Statements on Mental Health Vision for Change took place. The Cabinet reshuffle took place at 3.15pm and a number of people were surprised at how little change took place. I hope to work with Mary Hanafin in her new role as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport to follow up on the meeting of Drogheda business people on Tuesday, 9th March and my meeting in Millmount. I had to zip back to Laytown for a FF meeting at 9.30pm after I finished our last vote and meeting in Leinster House.
- Wednesday 24th March:
We are debating and voting the Finance Bill all day which is implementing the Budget from December. A number of votes take place throughout the day and we see the Opposition taking pot shots at the Government over the tough but fair Budget. I met an IFA delegation from Louth to discuss their opinions on the new Agri-Scheme to replace the old REPS scheme which they feel needs to be amended further to make it attractive for farmers. In the evening, I organised for UCD’s Kevin Barry Cumann to come in at 7pm and they had a tour of Leinster House. I love when people come here for the first time because it really shows me how historical the building I am fortunate enough to work in.
- Thursday 25th March:
I had a meeting at 10am with an economist who is working on electoral and banking reform to pick his brain and discuss my views. Next week’s announcement on NAMA will be a serious investment by the State in the banking system and we should see a ferocious ‘haircut’ on the loans that have lost their value. Again, in the Seanad we are debating and voting on the Finance Bill all day. We thought we would be sitting on Friday also but we finished our last vote just before 8.30pm.
- Friday 26th March:
I visited a house this morning which was hosting a coffee morning and afternoon for Daffodil Day for cancer research. They rang me in the evening to tell me that they raised over 2,000 euro. This is a huge credit to them and I hope it goes to making a difference for cancer sufferers. I was in my Drogheda Office from 2pm to 6pm meeting various people and groups in my clinic. I attended a fundraiser in Shearmans in Dunleer for Dromin FC soccer club. We got 79/90 which was healthy but we messed up picking our joker round (you pick a round before the start of the quiz and whatever score you get, you get double points for that round) when we only got 6/10 in that round gaining 12/20 whereas the next round we got 10/10 so we would have got 20/20 and 8 extra points and we would have won!
- Saturday 27th March:
I visited a couple of constituents in the morning and early afternoon for some house calls.
-Monday 29th March:
Mondays are always busy in the office with a number of people calling in. The public sector talks are ongoing and hopefully,they can come to a resolution to assist everyone because no-one is gaining at the minute. I attended a meeting at 8pm in the evening regarding a health issue in the north east. Hopefully progress can be made on this for all involved soon.
I am going to start a new video blog for YouTube in the not too distant future. This will be to update people on what I do on a day to day basis and also to express my opinions on whatever the issues of the day happens to be. Rather than just have my head talking at a camera for X number of minutes, I would like this to be in the format of an interview. So this is an appeal to any budding young journalists that would like to take part in this project. If you’re interested, give my office a call on 041-9843974.
A report from the Society of Irish Motor Industry indicates that new car sales have surged by nearly 40% last month on the same month last year according to Louth Fianna Fail Senator James Carroll speaking in Seanad Eireann.
“While the figures were starting from a very low base this is really good news for such a hard pressed industry.”
“I was delighted when the Minister for Finance announced the scrappage scheme that would allow those participating to avail of VRT relief of up to €1,500 per new car purchased when trading in cars 10 years or older While the amount may seem small, it is proving to be a positive incentive.”
“Over 10,000 jobs had been lost in the car sales sector and this practical measure is obviously having a positive impact.”
“There is also a big focus on environmentally friendly cars and the development of new technology in this field. There is now a VRT exemption for electric cars and VRT relief of up to €2,500 for plug-in hybrid electric cars and this will be extended until the 31st of December 2010.”
“I hope that is an upward trend and that it helps to protect jobs in the sector. The purchase of new cars also brings much needed taxes into the Government coffers. Those interested in availing of the car scrappage scheme can access more information at http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/faqs-scrappage-scheme.html.” concluded Senator Carroll.
ENDS
Contact Senator James Carroll, Seanad Eireann, Leinster House, Dublin 2
Tel: 01-6184374
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