I am going Poster Free for the Local Election Campaign 2019 ...while the motion I tabled at Roscommon Municipal District meeting this morning was not supported by all members my resolve remains I will not use Posters regardless of what other candidates decide to do. 
This is the motion: 
"That Roscommon Municipal District supports a Poster Free Local Election 2019 Campaign in the Roscommon Local Electoral Area in the interest of the environment, local amenity and in the interest of promoting a plastic free Roscommon"
Reply from Executive:
The members of the Roscommon Municipal Distrct can agree by resolution to support a Poster Free Local Election Campaign in 2019, however there is no legal foundation for the proposal and therefore it cannot be enforced if other candidates choose to erect posters.
I proposed the motion. It was seconded by Cllr. Kathleen Shanagher (who ran a poster free campaign in 2014). Unfortunately the motion was not passed. 
Cllr Paschal Fitzmaurice (who was supportive) and Cllr. Michael Creaton both said that they supported the sentiment of the motion but that if other candidates had posters then they would have to consider that. 
Cllr Nigel Dineen was vehemently opposed to the motion and made it clear that he would be using Posters in Campaign but would respect Tidy Towns committees where requests were made for no Posters
I will be running a No Poster Local Election Campaign 2019. 
If we could all take action in our lives to Rethink our use of plastic then collectively we can make a difference!
Posters are made of a single use plastic and the cable ties are plastic. By saying no to posters hopefully I will be one less cause of unsightly unnecessary plastic waste. I can't change others but I can change myself. 
In 2014 I used very few posters - no posters in villages and towns...this time I take the final step and will eliminate posters from my campaign entirely. 
The focus on plastic reduction since programmes such as the BBC Blue Planet 2 is making an impact. I have taken up the challenge not just in my personal life ...in my political life too

https://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/eco-eye-1112/10985567/ 
Eco Eye - Roscommon #EcoEye – Plight of the Bumble Bees on RTE 1 last night featured County Roscommon and a Bumble Bee Monitoring Scheme workshop hosted by Castlecoote Tidy Towns and the National Biodiversity Data Centre last June. I was delighted to organise this workshop and thank Dr. Tomás Murray of the National Biodiversity Data Centre for coming to Roscommon to deliver it and thank Eco Eye for featuring it. 
Tidy Towns, community groups and individuals from around the County attended the workshop last June. Flash back to a fabulous warm Summer! Filmed in Castlecoote Village and other parts of Castlecoote Loop of the Suck Valley Way.
The workshop was really informative and we learned more about the Bumble bee monitoring scheme which is a Citizen Scientist Driven Scheme to monitor how our bumble bee population are changing across the year and across years (now in operation 6 years). The scheme engages a network of volunteers to undertake bee surveys which are feed back to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
To find out more about the scheme and to get involved:
http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/record-biodivers…/surveys/
With one third of Bee Species threatened with extinction in Ireland and sadly with two species already lost - we must choose to take action to save our wild bees. Without Bees one third of our food supply could disappear.
Here’s 5 things you can do in your garden to be Pollinator friendly from #EcoEye Facebook page:
1. Make sure you have at least one flowering food source from spring right through to winter
2. Leave small areas of your lawn uncut to allow clovers to flower 
3. Don’t view dandelions as a weed but as a vital spring food source for hungry bees 
4. Avoid using pesticides 
5. Try to avoid disturbing nesting or hibernating bees in area like long grass, bare soil, dead wood or walls.
Here’s a link to the full All Ireland Pollinator Plan with lots more details- a must read for any Tidy Towns group!
http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/…/All-Ireland%20Pollinato…
BIODIVERSITYIRELAND.IE

I was delighted to be asked recently to launch, “Through the Eyes of Margaret Cousins – Irish & Indian Suffragette” by Dr. Munro in King House, Boyle. 
Margaret Cousins established the Irish Women’s Franchise League with Hannah Sheehy Skeffington. She campaigned for women’s suffrage attending rallies in Ireland and England and was imprisoned in Holloway prison and in Tullamore Prison for a month on both occasions. The descriptions in the book of conditions are extremely interesting. Later she moved to India and continued her equality work there. She established the first All India Women’s Conference, a democratically elected body composed of Indian women delegates from throughout the subcontinent. 
She launched the All-Asian Women’s Conference in India which now has 200,000 members and 500 AWCI Centres. She was also involved in the establishment of a ‘Child Welfare and Maternity Centre in India. She was the first non-indian woman magistrate in Indian history and she had an observer seat at the League of Nations.
As Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council (2017-2018) , I initiated the Vótáil 100Roscommon Commemorative Lecture Programme which was held in the magnificent King House, Boyle in April 2018. This event celebrated the centenary of women’s suffrage and reflected on Margaret Cousin’s legacy and the pioneering work of the irish Women’s Franchise League. It was at the Votail 100 event that I met Dr Keith Munro’s and heard about the publication he was then working on “Through the Eyes of Margaret Cousins – Irish & Indian Suffragette”.
Thank you Dr. Munro for bringing Margaret’s legacy back to Boyle, for reminding Boyle and County Roscommon of this great pioneering women’s contribution so she can be heralded in her own place. A plaque was unveiled at her birthplace in the Crescent, Boyle in 1994 - this book I believe can act as a catalyst to further recognition of Margaret Cousins in Boyle, in Roscommon and in Ireland. 
It seems most appropriate and touching that Dr Helen Pankhurst great granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst has commended the book: 
“Dr Munro’s great-aunt, Margaret Cousins, jointly founded the irish Women’s Franchise League in 1908 and collaborated with my great grandmother, Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters on the quest for 
suffrage, suffering a period in Holloway Prison as a result. Mrs Cousinsemigrated to india in 1915 and played an important role in indian women’s fight for the vote, subsequently devoting her life to the education of indian 
women and striving for their equality with men in all things. She was also a vegetarian and a Theosophist who lived a long and purposeful life, dying in india in 1954. My thanks to Dr Munro for bringing Margaret Cousins’ life and work out of the shadows, sharing her story primarily through her diary records and those of her husband James. So many women fought to make a difference to the lives of others and yet their contributions are being, or have been, forgotten. Hopefully this book will ensure a better fate for Margaret ‘gretta’ Cousins.”
Photo credit: Dermot Leyden 
Press cuttings: Most recent edition of Roscommon Herald

Roscommon History and Society Interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish County edited by Richie Farrell, Kieran O'Conor and Mattew Potter launched by John Waters in Aras an Chontae, Roscommon County Council this evening. 

I look forward to learning more about our incredible County from the learned contributors of the thirty- five chapters examining the history and archaeology of Roscommon in Roscommon History and Society.
Thanks Richie Farrell for putting your heart and soul into this publication.
Supported by Roscommon County Council, Creative Ireland Programme and 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage.

Front Cover: Water colour painting by William Percy French, On the French Park Estate 1893.

​

http://www.rosfm.ie/orla-leyden-talks-about-the-dermot-earley-bursary-scheme/

Fianna Fail Councillor Orla Leyden has described the visit of the Minister for Health, James Reilly T.D. to turn the sod on the new Endoscopy unit at Roscommon County Hospital as a complete farce and insult to the people of Roscommon.

Cllr. Leyden said that what we urgently need is the re-instatement of our 24/7 state of the art Accident and Emergency Unit at Roscommon County Hospital not more empty pre-election promises by this Fine Gael led Government.

Cllr. Leyden said that she would boycott the official turning of the sod on the endoscopy unit and protest with the people outside the Hospital to send the message to government that what we need is the re-instatement of our 24/7 A&E Unit.

She described the turning of the sod on the Endoscopy unit as a meaningless gesture to try and appease the anger of the people of Roscommon prior to the Local and European Elections on the 23rd May.

The government needs to get real to the needs of the people of Roscommon – the same people they made binding commitments to before the 2011 general election and reinstate our 24/7 A&E unit. Cllr. Leyden concluded that everyone knows of people whose lives were saved because they had immediate access to an effective A&E unit at Roscommon County Hospital. The government has betrayed the people of Roscommon who are geographically remote from other units by closing our 24/ 7Accident and Emergency Unit and putting Roscommon lives at risks.



Cllr. Leyden is calling on Minister Reilly to reinstate the 24/7 Accident and Emergency Unit at Roscommon County Hospital.



End.

CLLR ORLA LEYDEN CALLS ON IDA TO INVEST IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON

Cllr. Orla Leyden said that the IDA cannot keep ignoring the needs of County Roscommon. She said that the County is crying out for investment and job creation yet it is being ignored by the Fine Gael government and the IDA.

Most recent figures show that the IDA Ireland paid out grants of €89,326,201 in 2012 and yet County Roscommon received only €13,098. Meanwhile adjoining counties received funding of from €347,378 to €12,252,609 in 2012. Cllr. Orla Leyden asked how can County Roscommon recover economically if it is being starved of investment.

As the IDA plans its strategy for 2014, it is crucial that the Government now takes the need for regional fairness seriously and targets job creation in County Roscommon.

It’s proven that when the IDA focuses on investment in a certain area, that area benefits from job creation. The infrastructure network is excellent and with a highly educated potential workforce from Roscommon. In 2004 the IDA completed a €2 million upgrade to the Business & Technology Park on the Racecourse Road to bring the Park to Flagship Status within the IDA Property Portfolio and that there was no excuse that this park which has 7 HA (c. 17 acres) is not being used by government to bring foreign direct investment to Roscommon. It is a fantastic park that has been designed and landscaped to a high standard including a services infrastructure to suit both manufacturing and international services sectors. The county has all the ingredients for Foreign Direct Investment. The Government and IDA need to prioritise Roscommon for Foreign Direct investment

Cllr. Leyden concluded by saying that she is challenging the Fine Gael Government and the Government T.D. Frank Feighan to deliver employment to Roscommon and ensure IDA investment and job creation in the County. IDA job creation in Roscommon has to move beyond Monksland, the rest of the County is crying out for investment.