Labour’s Martin Farren to defend council seat in Carndonagh electoral area

Labour Party county councillor Martin Farren has announced he will be defending his seat in the local elections in June.

The Moville man has been a councillor since 2009 and won his seat in the four-seat Carndonagh electoral area in 2019 with 19% of the first preference vote.

Farren said he has been very successful in attracting funding for social and infrastructural improvements along the Foyle in his three terms on the council.

He stressed the improvements made to water services in the Greencastle and Moville areas which “were served by obsolete and unreliable water treatment and pipework systems”.

“The Greencastle plant was a risk to human health due to high levels of THMs (trihalomethanes) which can cause cancers,” he said. 

“In 2016, the Greencastle system had a total of 203ug/l THMs, the highest in Donegal. Since then, all domestic water supply along the Foyle is supplied through the modernised water treatment plant serving the Fullerton dam and the Moville and Greencastle treatment plants have been decommissioned.”

Since Uisce Eireann has taken over from Donegal County Council, Farren said he has campaigned for further improvements in water services and quality. Group water schemes have been taken over by Uisce Éireann, relieving the burden on local group water committees.

Albert Doherty first of two Sinn Féin candidates picked for Carndonagh EA

The Carndonagh-based councillor will be defending the seat he won in 2019 with the party set to run two candidates in the four-seat electoral area

He said he has convinced Uisce Éireann to introduce their new programme of strategic water main renewal, where sections of pipeline are being entirely replaced instead of constant repairs in the same area.

As part of this new programme, the water main from Greencastle to Shrove is in the process of being completely replaced with a modern pipework and delivery system, which should be completed by autumn.

Cllr Farren also expressed his disappointment with progress with the Moville-Greencastle wastewater treatment system but said he continues lobbying to have plans drawn up and approved as quickly as possible.

He also stressed he has been successful in accessing funding for many social and infrastructural projects including road surfaces, pavements and parking areas being upgraded and maintained “in a regular, planned programme and not piecemeal as in the past”.

Major works have been completed to restore Moville Green to its former glory, he said, with the addition of better play facilities and an outdoor gym. More works on the Moville / Greencastle shore path will commence shortly, he added.

He said the Government “has failed miserably in relation to the defective block remediation scheme and should be utterly ashamed of its reactions so far”.

He said he has been working with the council’s defective blocks committee to resolve the ever-changing issues as they emerge.

“I fully support a 100% remediation scheme, based on criteria that makes it fully 100% payback with no added, or hidden, costs to scheme applicants. It makes no sense for a Government to be introducing higher standards of insulation, energy conservation and modern improvements under climate change remediation programmes whilst, at the same time, asking others to deliberately revert to old standards when building a new house.”