Cllr Keith Martin
6:06 PM
0
'A dog's dinner'
Labour Party spokesman on Education Ruairi Quinn TD describes the Budget
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Political Quote of the week
Cllr Keith Martin
6:03 PM
0
"To bring fairness to all our decisions so that those on lowest incomes and those who are vulnerable are protected".
Green Party Minister Eamon Ryan TD on why the greens are to stay in government.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Micheal D Higgins TD and Cllr Keith Martin protest means test for over 70s medical cards
Cllr Keith Martin
10:44 PM
0
Pictured here is Labour's Maria Parodi, Party President Michael D Higgins TD and Cllr Keith Martin outside Dail Eireann at the Irish Senior Citizens Parliment Protest at the introduction of means testing for the over 70s Medical Card.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Does FF stand for Free Fall?
Cllr Keith Martin
4:34 PM
0
Are Fianna Fail under Brian Cowen in free fall?
Fianna Fáil support has fallen by 10 percentage points since late September, and just 26 per cent of voters say they would vote for the party in a general election. This is their lowest result and one dreaded by FF backbenchers. Meanwhile FG are seven points ahead of FF while the Labour Party have picked up 6 points to bring them up to 15% just 11% short of Fianna Fail itself.
This is a shocking result which reflects the public's disgust with a FF government which did not prepare for, or even acknowledge that there could be, an end to the boom of recent years.
Worse still, instead of tackling the issue head-on and raising direct taxes and upping the tax rates, the government has tried to balance the books by introducing a "patriotic" levy and by chipping away at the more vulnerable, less vocal elements of society in the hope of keeping the majority onside.
However this approach has backfired horribly and FF are in poll free fall since they lost the trust of the pensioners. FF forgot that pensioners vote in every election and no party can afford to mistreat them. The attempts to remove their medical cards has completely undermined their trust in FF and so the house of cards has collapsed completely.
What's more FF have badly damaged themselves with the farmers (IFA say 60,000 farm families will lose 11% of their income under this budget) and are about to annoy every parent and teacher with a return to overcrowded and understaffed schools.
It seems FF have reached their tipping point and could be facing into a John Major/Conservative type collapse at the next election. So far the big winner has been Labour with a huge jump in the polls and the one thing Labour does well is health so we are likely to see an enlarged Labour Party in Government within the next 3 to 4 years.
The only way back to FF is win back the pensioners, but with poor budgets to come this is unlikely.
Its a dark day for Brian Cowen.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Eamon Gilmore to visit Westport
Cllr Keith Martin
11:30 AM
0
The Leader of the Labour Party Eamon Gilmore TD will be visiting Castlebar on Oct 30th and Westport on Oct 31st.
Deputy Gilmore will preside over a selection convention in Castlebar on Thursday night which will select a candidate to replace Cllr Johnny Mee on the party ticket for next year's elections. Deputy Gilmore will also be meeting with local groups and organisations and the general public. It is likely that he will also discuss budget and election strategy with Party members in Mayo.
The Mayo Constituency Council are attempting for facilitate all those who wish to meet with the Labour Party Leader. For more information on membership of the Mayo Labour Party call Keith on 086 0691182.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A brief history of filmmaking in Westport
Cllr Keith Martin
12:57 AM
0
Filmmaking in Westport
Westport Town Council took the decision during its 2006 Budget to provide funding to begin marketing the town to Irish and International filmmakers as a location for their production.
The allocation under the town's budget to promote filming was later incorporated into the Multi Agency Job Creation Taskforce and established as part of the Film Promotion and Broadband sub-committee of the Taskforce.
The sub-committee is comprised of the Cathaoirleach of Westport Town Council, Cllr Martin Keane, Cllr Keith Martin and Westport Town Manager Peter Hynes. Cllr Keith Martin is also the Mayo liaison officer with the Irish Film Board.
The purpose of the committee is to market Westport to filmmakers as a location for all kinds of productions from feature films like 'Heart's Desire' which is currently filming in the area to adventure programmes such as RTE's 'Celebrities go wild!'
The sub-committee also liaises with filmmakers before and during production to see how the production can be assisted by Westport Town Council and other local authorities such as Mayo County Council, and also provides a liaison and information service to the producers.
Westport Town Council is regarded as one of the most film friendly local authorities in Ireland and has worked very successfully with a number of productions to put Westport on the map.
According to Damien Devaney publicist for the Guinness Ad 'Pat's Bar' shot in Westport in 2004, "It just makes everything a lot easier when there's a welcoming mind set in a town and Westport Town Council staff and management certainly reflected that. It was a very positive environment to work in, even when we had to stop traffic, the Gardaí were so co-operative and the crew were all treated so well,"
From the very successful 'Pat's Bar' Guinness advert to films like 'Return to the River' and 'Heart's Desire' these high quality productions put Westport on the map with tourists from all over the world.
According to Cllr Keith Martin "these productions entice people to come and visit the places they see in the film. One only has to think about the impact that the Quiet Man has had on tourism in Mayo to appreciate how powerful these productions can work as an advertisement for our town.
"There are also the great benefits directly derived from having productions shot in Westport. For example on the current shoot of 'Heart's Desire' there is a crew of 40 people being accommodated, fed and entertained in the town along with all the other necessary provision purchasing for the production and the use of local locations and local talent in the form of additional crew members and those cast as extras."
According to Cllr Martin Keane, Cathaoirleach of Westport Town Council, "Filmmaking is a great asset to our town and I welcome it for the employment it provides in tourism and for the investment which the filming itself makes in Westport and in Mayo. We have a beautiful tidy town and it will be great to see it showcased all over the world. I hope that it will attract many of those people to come and visit us in Westport. They will be most welcome."
Productions recently filmed and assisted in Westport include
Feature Film Heart's Desire
RTÉ's Celebrities Go Wild!
TV3's Ireland Am (Live Broadcast)
RTE's About the House
Famine Ship (Documentary)
Guninnes Advert "Pat's Bar"
Calvin Klein Advert
Townlands "The seven wonders of Westport" (Documentary)
RTE comedy series "The Final Furlong"
History Channel's "Pirate Queen Grainne O'Malley" starring Lucy Lawless (Documentary)
Gaelforce Outdoor Adventure Competitions
TnaG's Carta Posta (Documentary)
TnG's Irish Gangsters (Documentary)
Feature Film "Return to the River"
TnaG's Treasure Hunt
Become Our Fan on Social Sites!