'Empowering the Citizen. Do you feel you have a voice?

meath | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Monday September 26, 2005 16:21 by Pat Raleigh - Tara Heritage Preservation Group St. Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co. Meath. 046 9021525

Guest speaker: Martin Kay, researcher at the University of Limerick,

The Tara Heritage Preservation Group would like to invite you to St. Columban's,
Dalgan Park, Navan for a seminar entitled ''Empowering the Citizen. Do you
feel you have a voice?''

Our guest speaker is Martin Kay, researcher at the University of Limerick,
an expert on PPPs and the sociological implications of the planning process.

Tara Heritage Preservation Group
St. Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co. Meath.
Telephone (046) 9021525

8th October, 2005.

The Tara Heritage Preservation Group would like to invite you to St.
Columban's,
Dalgan Park, Navan for a seminar entitled ''Empowering the Citizen. Do you
feel you have a voice?''

Our guest speaker is Martin Kay, researcher at the University of Limerick,
an expert on PPPs and the sociological implications of the planning process.

Among those invited are: The Taoiseach, Environment and Transport
Ministers, National and local politicians, the Irish Planning Institute, An
Bord Pleanala, Meath County Council, the NRA, An Taisce, The Heritage
Council, Tasc, national and local media. Also invited are representatives
from civic interest and campaigning groups who are involved with the
Planning Process. The seminar will also be open to the public.

Please join us from 1.30 to 5.00pm on Saturday 8th of October for what we
hope will be a thought provoking afternoon of learning and discussion.

For your information I attach a copy of our flyer and contact details.

If you think this may be of interest to others please feel free to
distribute .

Yours sincerely,

Pat Raleigh of THPG

RSVP to taraheritage@iolfree.ie
or to the above address.

Empowering the Citizen.
Do you feel you have a voice?

Are there adequate levels of accountability and stewardship in the planning
process?
Do you feel powerless, voiceless, disenfranchised? Join us in a
constructive and informative session with Martin Kay, researcher at the
University of Limerick, an expert on PPPs and the sociological implications
of the planning process. Learn how our system affects every man, woman and
child.

The seminar will be in two parts:
I 1.30-3.00pm Presentation by Martin Kay
3.00-3.30pm tea/coffee
II 3.30-5.00pm Discussion group on issues raised in part I

Information: Martin Dier 086 3375837 taraheritage@iolfree.ie A key extract
from a presentation by Martin Kay given at a seminar in Dalgan Park on June
11th 2005:

''Ireland has a serious infrastructure deficit and yet also a preoccupation
with remaining competitive.''

The simple sentence above masks a profoundly serious threat to democracy in
our nation.
This is because it rests upon absolute certainty at the heart of public
decision-making that anything done by way of infrastructure procurement has
lawful authority if undertaken in the name of 'competitiveness'.

The immediate consequences are that:
* things which are in the way of new projects fall easy victim to the
urgency of getting those projects underway as quickly as possible
* power attaches itself to those charged with delivering new projects as
quickly as possible
* those charged with delivery are only contractually accountable for project
delivery
* they are not accountable for the power which now surrounds them
* those, who try to point out that destroying things in the way of new
projects will diminish the heritage, are transformed from being normal to
being abnormal

The name for this effect is 'discourse'. It is a discourse of power in
which unaccountable people progressively dominate those to whom
accountability is due.
This is both a moral domination and a legal one: accusations of being
'extremist'
go hand in hand with excavation or compulsory purchase orders.

One of the side effects of discourse is that it controls what can be said
and by whom.
This is why unaccountable people begin to strengthen the grip of power as
well as their
own grip on it. In this way, discourse creates a regime which appears
to promote the
'truth' but doesn't. What looks like 'truth' could be called
propaganda or dogma.
But the real point is that discourse presents it as if it were the truth -
and very decent people, often working in the public sector of our country,
begin to believe what is said.

The medium by which the competitiveness imperative is being taken the
forward the most is
'public private partnership' or PPPs. There is nothing wrong with
PPPs. But there is
a lot wrong with the way we use PPPs in Ireland. The regime of 'truth'
created by
discourse presents PPPs as being legitimate and accountable, whereas
research suggests that they are not.

The discussion on 8 October will explore what legitimacy and accountability
mean.
And why the reaction of those who reject an infrastructure project can be
called stewardship. And also why stewardship is crucially important when
confronting unaccountable power.
Come and be empowered.


Tara Heritage Preservation Group is comprised of members of local groups and
residents, most of whom have been involved in the entire planning process
for the
M3 since 1999.
They represent St. Columban's Dalgan Park, Meath Archaelogical & Historical
Society, Bellinter Residents Association and local residents.

Committee:
Fr. Pat Raleigh, Julitta & John Clancy, Martin Dier, Kathryn Walley, Susan
Brennan, Reggie & Anne O'Reilly, Tommy Hamill, Claire Oakes, Jimmy Rafter,
Brenda Ferris & John Rooney